Rocktrospectiva: The Dark And Conceptual "Outside" Turns 30

Released on 25 September 1995, "Outside" was (stylised as 1.Outside and subtitled The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper-cycle) was the twentieth studio album by the English musician David Bowie.The album reunited Bowie with the musician Brian Eno following the late 1970s Berlin Trilogy, the two were inspired by concepts "outside" the mainstream, such as various outsider and performance artists. 

Recorded throughout 1994, the experimental sessions saw Bowie conceive a world where "art crimes", such as murder, pervade society. The resulting Leon project initially faced resistance from labels due to its uncommercial nature. The project's bootlegging led to additional sessions in 1995 to revise the concept and record more commercial material, inspired by a diary Bowie wrote for Q magazine.

Influenced by the television series Twin Peaks, the nonlinear narrative of Outside concerns the residents of the fictional Oxford Town, New Jersey, and follows the detective Nathan Adler as he investigates the murder of a 14-year-old girl. The tracks show perspectives of specific characters, while spoken word between-song segues convey more character ideals; the story and Adler's diary entries were presented in the album's CD booklet. Musically, Outside displays styles from art rock, industrial rock and jazz, to electronica and ambient. The album spawned three singles "The Heart's Filthy Lessons", "Strangers When We Meet" & "Hallo Spaceboy". 

Released at the height of Britpop in the UK, Outside received mixed reviews from critics. While most praised the music, others found the concept pretentious and hard to follow. Nevertheless, many considered it Bowie's finest record since 1980's Scary Monsters. Outside peaked at number 8 in the UK and number 21 in the US. The lead single, "The Hearts Filthy Lesson", performed poorly but the following singles, "Strangers When We Meet" and a remix of "Hallo Spaceboy" featuring Pet Shop Boys, performed well in the UK.

Outside was plenty dark and concept album, that told the story of a bleak future, an old-school gumshoe detective, an artist that is also a sociopath who creates her works from the organs of dead people, here Bowie played all the roles: Nathan Adler, the detective; Baby Grace Blue, the young teenage victim and, gruesomely, the work of art; Ramona A. Stone, artist/presumed murderess; Leon, a streetwise intermediary; and Algeria Touchshriek…well, maybe that name says enough. David Bowie managed to broaden his appeal in the 90's again. Outside was for the 90's generation the same milestone as was "Ziggy Stardust" for the 1970's glam rockers and "Let's Dance" for the new wavers in 1980's. 

"Heart's Filthy Lesson" and "Hallo Spaceboy" are top tracks indeed, but also the title track and haunting songs "The Motel," and "I'm Deranged" stand out. "Oxford Town" is such a great song, while the more light-hearted and the most immediately accesible tune "Strangers When We Meet" fits nicely in the end. 

Bowie envisioned an ongoing narrative, which lends clarity to the record’s official title: 1. Outside. He imagined an audio novel, divided into three concept albums, and further exploration of this alternate end of the century, as described by a lyric from "I Have Not Been To Oxford Town" — "Toll the bell, pay the private eye, all is well, twentieth century dies." 

The key factor on this album was the return of Brian Eno as a producer, 16 years after the Berlin-trilogy concluded. However, unlike on those albums, which were as much Eno projects as they were Bowie ones, Outside merely betrays an abstract semblance of Eno's style.

The influences of this album were far and wide, and as a result, Outside is a broad panorama of mid-90s culture. You hear the subtle effects of the developing industrial and tip hop scenes, both informing, but not commanding Bowie and Eno. The duo were also heavily affected by outsider art, and the newest trends of the cultural underground, and they embraced this grimy, sticky and imperfect mess that comes from these sources.

Apart from this very 90s atmosphere, which feels closely related to Nine Inch Nails or Pixies, the grooves were intense from fast paced, unrelenting guitar and drum grooves with insane jazzy madness. Amongst the bangers, "The Hearts Filthy Lesson" was well known for playing over the end credits of the Fincher movie, Seven, a neurotic, dirty as hell and has a very memorable guitar riff leading it. "Hallo Spaceboy" also had addictive drumbeat courtesy of the Pet Shop Boys remix. "The Motel" was a trippy, quietly beautiful song, with a strong piano, "I'm Deranged. Again", was an incredibly groovy song, with some incredible synth ambiances produced by Eno. It keeps up such a steadily high level of energy output throughout. It's truly brilliant. "Strangers When We Meet" was also a stunning piece, it's incredibly lush, and is definitely inspired by the Eno-produced U2 album, The Joshua Tree.

Outside was an ugly record that dared to show where it was going, and still had songs with deep hooks and hummability. Critical reviews of Outside were mixed on release. While the majority praised the music as challenging, many felt the overarching concept was hard to follow, some welcomed it and called it an excellent David Bowie album, a genuine creative rebirth, a fantastic comeback album, praising the music as a callback to the Berlin Trilogy and concluded: it was mad, bad, dangerous album – by turns, chilling, pretty, ugly, scary, gripping and vastly intriguing and truly innovate, although others called the record as something confused that lacked of musical innovation except for certain tracks, obviously appealed Bowie fans but not the new ones, and in the end it was just a quite simply rubbish record. Nevertheless the album pushed Bowie who initially envisioned the album as the first in a series of records that would be released each year until the end of the millennium, in the end Bowie and Eno liked so much this record.

 

Outside Track List:  

 

1. Leon Take Us Outside 

2. Outside

3. The Heart's Filthy Lesson

4. A Small Plot Of Land

5. Segue-A Baby Grace (A Horrid Cassette) 

6. Hallo Spaceboy

7. The Motel 

8. I Have Not Been To Oxford Town 

9. No Control

10. Segue - Algeria Touchshriek 

11. The Voyeur Of Utter Destruction (As Beauty)

12. Segue - Ramona A. Stone "I Am With Name"

13. Wishful Beginnings

14. We Prick You 

15. Segue - Nathan Adler 

16. I'm Deranged

17. Thru' These Architects Eyes

18. Segue - Nathan Adler

19. Strangers When We Meet