Heathen is an album by the
British singer-songwriter
David Bowie, released in 2002.
Heathen was considered something of a comeback for Bowie
in the U.S. market; it was his highest charting album (#14) since
Tonight (1984),
and earned some of his strongest reviews since
Scary Monsters
(1980). Worldwide, it sold over two million copies and experienced
a four-month run on the UK charts.
Recording and production
Heathen marked the return of
record producer Tony Visconti, who co-produced (with Bowie
himself) several of Bowie's classic albums. The last album Visconti
had co-produced was
Scary Monsters from 1980.
Originally, Bowie had recorded the album
Toy for release
in 2000 or 2001. This album was meant to feature some new songs and
remakes of some his lesser-known songs from the 1960s. Although
Toy remains unreleased, a few tracks — including "Afraid"
and "Slip Away" (then titled "Uncle Floyd") — appeared on
Heathen. Some other re-recorded songs were included as
B-side to the singles from
Heathen.
The album features guest appearances from
Who guitarist
Pete
Townshend (who had played guitar on an earlier Bowie track,
"
Because You're Young" from
Scary
Monsters ),
Foo Fighters
frontman
Dave Grohl,
Dream Theater veteran keyboardist
Jordan Rudess, pianist
Kristeen Young and prolific bassist
Tony Levin of
King
Crimson.
Song details
Most of the song lyrics for
Heathen are focused on the
degradation of mankind and the world. This is evidenced in songs
like "Slow Burn", "Afraid", "A Better Future" and the title
track.
The album contains three
cover songs:
"
Cactus" by
Pixies; "
I've Been Waiting
for You" by
Neil Young; and "
I Took a Trip on a Gemini
Spaceship" by Norman Odam aka the
Legendary Stardust Cowboy, from
whom Bowie lifted the "Stardust" moniker in 1972.
Alternate versions
A remix of the song "Everyone Says 'Hi'" is featured in the
PS2 rhythm game
Amplitude.
The song "Sunday" was played live at the
Heathen Tour and
A
Reality Tour concerts.
A live version recorded at The Point,
Dublin,
Ireland
in November 2003 was included on the A Reality
Tour DVD. A
Moby
remix is available on the bonus disc of the 2-CD version of
Heathen, and a
Tony Visconti
remix was released on the
European version of
the single "
Everyone Says 'Hi'"
and the single "I've Been Waiting for You."
Heathen has also been released on a
SACD in a limited number of copies with
slightly longer versions of five of the songs.
Track listing
All songs written by
David Bowie except
as noted.
- "Sunday" – 4:45
- "Cactus" (Black Francis) – 2:54
- "Slip Away" – 6:05
- "Slow Burn" – 4:41
- "Afraid" – 3:28
- "I've
Been Waiting for You" (Neil Young) –
3:00
- "I Would Be Your Slave" – 5:14
- "I Took a Trip
on a Gemini Spaceship" (Norman Carl
Odam) – 4:04
- "5:15 The Angels Have
Gone" – 5:00
- "Everyone Says 'Hi'" –
3:59
- "A Better Future" – 4:11
- "Heathen " – 4:16
+
"Wood Jackson" (Japanese
release
bonus track)
Limited edition bonus disc
- "Sunday" (Moby Remix)
– 5:09
- "A Better Future" (Remix by Air) – 4:56
- "Conversation Piece"
(Written in 1969, recorded 1970, re-recorded 2000) – 3:51
- "Panic in Detroit" (Outtake
from a 1979 recording, released on Scary Monsters Rykodisc in
1992) – 2:57
Personnel
- David Bowie – vocals, keyboards, guitars, saxophone, Stylophone, backing vocals, drums
- Tony Visconti – bass, guitars, Recorders, string arrangements, backing vocals
- Matt Chamberlain – drums, drum loop programming, percussion
- David Torn – guitars, guitar loops,
Omnichord
- The Scorchio Quartet:
- *Greg Kitzis – 1st violin
- *Meg Okura – 2nd violin
- *Martha Mooke – viola
- *Mary Wooten – cello
Additional personnel
- *Lenny Pickett
- *Stan Harrison
- *Steve Elson
Design & Photography Credits
Charts
Album
Notes
- David Bowie. Heathen (ISO, 2002).
's Album
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