Tin Machine was a hard rock band formed in 1988, famous for being fronted by singer David Bowie. The group recorded two studio albums and a live album before dissolving in 1992, when Bowie returned to his solo career. The group was generally reviled, often receiving scathing critical reviews. David Bowie's Never Let Me Down album (already a move into slightly "harder" rock territory) and subsequent "Glass Spider Tour" had been savaged by critics, and the singer was aware of his low stock. ...show more

Tin Machine was a hard rock band formed in 1988, famous for being fronted by singer David Bowie. The group recorded two studio albums and a live album before dissolving in 1992, when Bowie returned to his solo career. The group was generally reviled, often receiving scathing critical reviews. David Bowie's Never Let Me Down album (already a move into slightly "harder" rock territory) and subsequent "Glass Spider Tour" had been savaged by critics, and the singer was aware of his low stock.

Eager to return to making music for himself rather than the mainstream audience he had acquired following the Let's Dance album, Bowie began collaborating with Reeves Gabrels (who pushed the singer to rediscover his experimental side and went on to work closely with Bowie for much of the next decade) and multi-instrumentalist Erdal Kizilcay on new material in 1988. The first fruits of this came with a new version of Bowie's 1979 song "Look Back in Anger", performed at the "Intruders At The Palace" benefit concert on 1 July 1988. They then began to plan a concept album based on Steven Berkoff's play East as a Bowie solo album, but this idea was scrapped. Bowie and Gabrels began working with producer Tim Palmer on new material.

Bowie then recruited brothers Hunt Sales and Tony Sales (the sons of comedian Soupy Sales) as a rhythm section. Bowie had worked with them on Iggy Pop's Lust For Life album and ran into them at a party in Los Angeles around this time. The Sales brothers moved the tone of the sessions in Nassau away from art-rock and more towards hard rock, and Bowie looked to one of his favorite bands at the time, Pixies, for inspiration. The Sales brothers heckled Bowie into greater spontaneity, with most songs recorded in one take, and lyrics left unpolished, thus giving the band a ragged, punk rock edge similar to the Pixies. ...show less