Reality by David Bowie

For this album, Bowie was focused on pulling together a set of songs that could be played live and form the heart of an extensive live tour, calling on regulars Mike Garson and Gail Ann Dorsey amongst others. Also returning as producer was Tony Visconti, as reliable as always, playing bass on the recording sessions as well.

The tracks are all solid rock songs, and sound pretty much timeless with callbacks to the 70s, 80s and 90s. There are two covers - one from the Modern Lovers and a George Harrison song from 1973. The lyrics seem to be about Bowie’s thoughts on aging, not really surprising as he approached the mid point of his 50s. The title track is an absolute banger, as he sings about his failing eyesight and mortality. The jazz themed Bring Me the Disco King is another highlight for me, with some of Garson’s best piano work accompanying some of Bowie’s most introspective lyrics.

The Reality Tour was the biggest that he’d ever attempted, running from 2003 into 2004 and generally acknowledged to be one of the best he’d put together. It was unfortunately cut short near the end when Bowie suffered a heart attack on stage in Prague requiring an emergency angioplasty to clear a blocked artery. Fortunately he seemed to make a good recovery from surgery, but all future appearances were cancelled.

After that, all went quiet and we thought that he’d retired …

https://album.link/i/1676545706