Earthling

David Bowie's Earthling, released February 3, 1997 on Arista Records, is his industrial and drum and bass album, a fully committed embrace of the electronic dance music underground that placed him alongside Trent Reznor and Aphex Twin in the mid-90s avant-garde. Bowie wrote all nine tracks, most in collaboration with guitarist Reeves Gabrels and co-producer Mark Plati, with Brian Eno contributing to 'I'm Afraid of Americans.' 'Little Wonder' reached number six in the UK and became one of his most successful singles of the decade, while 'Dead Man Walking' and 'Seven Years in Tibet', which was banned in China, also received significant airplay. The album's breakbeat-heavy production was partially inspired by Bowie's friendship with Nine Inch Nails, who he toured with in 1995. Earthling demonstrated that at 50, Bowie remained one of the few artists of his generation capable of genuinely engaging with contemporary music on its own terms rather than approximating its surface.