Getting Inside David Bowie’s 1.) OUTSIDE

“It Was Definitely Murder-But Was It Art?” 

David Bowie’s discography is a wild ride through the mind of a man who played with (and sometimes redefined) the limitations of what popular music could achieve. Bowie made no bones about the fact that rock and roll was a vehicle for him to explore whatever concepts and artistic movements were commanding his curiosity.  But as with any musician with a decades-spanning career, some of his albums didn’t land as well with audiences as others. One example is Bowie’s imperfect-yet-fascinating 1995 album, 1.) OUTSIDE.

1.) OUTSIDE or, 1.) OUTSIDE: THE NATHAN ADLER DIARIES: A HYPER CYCLE, is a concept album that saw Bowie collaborating again with producer Brian Eno, with whom he had teamed up with back in the 1970’s to create a trio of classic albums—LOW, HEROES, & THE LODGER—known as “The Berlin Trilogy”, although the storyline the album presents us is something more akin to DIAMOND DOGS or STATION TO STATION: In the then-near future of 1999, ritualistic murder has become an underground art craze, with all sorts of elaborate displays of mutilated corpses being found in public spaces. The particular murder-piece the listener is confronted with is that of Baby Grace Blue, a teenage girl who is killed, dismembered, and displayed in front of the entrance to the Museum of Modern Parts.

The central character that Bowie inhabits in the story is Nathan Adler, A “Professor-Detective” working for Art Crime Inc, a division of The Arts Protectorate of London. The ghoulish hook is that Adler isn’t investigating Grace’s murder to bring the killer(s) to justice; he’s doing it to determine whether or not these ritual murders truly qualify as “art”, and therefore can be sanctioned and funded by an endowment from the government.

The amorality of this idea is instantly intriguing, and it lends a misanthropic edge to the music and even the album’s liner notes, which Bowie wrote entirely in character as Adler, although portions of the diary do make references to real-life “outsider” performance artists like Ron Athey and even Bowie himself, with allusions to his time living amongst Turkish immigrants in Berlin. Bowie introduces us to other characters, such as Leon Blank, Ramona A. Stone, & Algeria Touchshriek, all of whom have spoken word interludes/songs on the album told & sung from their perspectives. Ramona in particular is an interesting gal, as Adler’s writings seem to imply a long history between the two of them (she’s also most likely the one who killed Baby Grace, even though Leon’s taking the rap).

The opening track “LEON TAKES US OUTSIDE” is suitably ambient, drenched in reverb and echoing endlessly. It’s the kind of song that evokes the sight of a sprawling city landscape at night, something akin to the opening shot of BLADE RUNNER. Also audible is a strange voice, reading off a series of dates and diary snippets. This track bleeds right into the song “OUTSIDE”, a cryptic little number wherein Bowie sings about “The fisting of life/ to the music outside” with desperation in his voice. The verses repeat the line “It’s happening now” with a weary fearfulness that leaves us wide open for the dirty, industrial sounds of “THE HEARTS FILTHY LESSON.”

It’s a dense song, with fuzzy guitar licks and atonal piano riffs floating over the mixed electronic/natural drum beats and Bowie’s frantic vocals, singing through Adler’s POV, crying out the names of mysterious women and marveling at something he calls a “fantastic death abyss.” The song itself, as well as its accompanying music video, all have a very Nine Inch Nails vibe, with the latter borrowing heavily from the aesthetics of the video for “CLOSER.” It’s another example of Bowie filtering his voice through the trends of the era, and in this case he doubled down and enlisted Trent Reznor /Nine Inch Nails as a supporting act for the ’95-’96 Outside Tour.

The album has many other highlights—“HALLO SPACEBOY,” a song that crashes down on you like a torrential downpour. With thundering drums, screeching guitars and brazen, squealing saxophones, Bowie rightfully referred to the track as his idea of “Jim Morrison meets industrial.” Tunes like “I HAVE NOT BEEN TO OXFORD TOWN”, “THE VOYEUR OF UTTER DESTUCTION (AS BEAUTY)” and “THRU’ THESE ARCHITECTS EYES” all further the story with deceptively upbeat instrumentals, while the lyrics grant us glimpses of a dystopian world seen through the eyes of warped artists and criminals looking for spirituality in pain, suffering, and art.

Another notable cut from the album is “I’M DERANGED”, which combines a frantic bass and drum loop with discordant keys and ethereal vocals, suggesting the inner landscape of a diseased mind running too fast for its own good. Fittingly enough, the song ended up bookending the soundtrack to David Lynch’s 1997 Neo noir classic LOST HIGHWAY.

The album is not without its flaws though; certain tracks wear out their welcome quickly. Both “A SMALL PLOT OF LAND” and “WISHFUL BEGINNINGS” would probably work better as thirty-to-sixty second interludes as opposed to bloated six minute audio improvisations. Bowie himself admitted that at almost seventy-five minutes, the album was too long. While some critics responded warmly, many lambasted it as dense and overindulgent. The lukewarm response torpedoed Bowie’s plans to continue the story with an annual record release up to the year 2000, hence the “1.)” in 1.) OUTSIDE.

Overall, 1.) OUTSIDE still remains a gem in Bowie’s discography; a cyberpunk saga in stereo that has a lot to offer for those who seek a dark and enigmatic listening experience from a master musician. Give it a listen to lose yourself in its world and wonder where else within it Bowie could have taken us, what other faces he might have shown us. And hey, while you’re there, check out that fantastic death abyss.