Studio Album · No. 20
Outside Songwriting Credits by David Bowie
Produced by David Bowie, Brian Eno · Engineered by David Richards, Kevin Metcalfe
Holds writing credit on 14 of 14 tracks
Authorship Breakdown 14 / 14 documented
Scored across the 14 tracks with documented writers, by whether David Bowie carries a lyricist or composer credit.
Share of the 14 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.
By the Numbers
David Bowie wrote all the lyrics and built the album's non-linear murder-mystery narrative around recurring characters, while the music grew out of improvised studio sessions co-composed with Brian Eno, who shared production duties and reunited with Bowie for the first time since the Berlin Trilogy. Guitarist Reeves Gabrels and other band members including Kevin Armstrong and Mike Garson contributed to individual compositions, several of which were credited to the full ensemble. The pair used Eno's Oblique Strategies cards and role-playing prompts to generate material before Bowie shaped the results into songs.
David Bowie's Outside, released September 25, 1995 on Arista Records, is a sprawling industrial-art-rock concept album co-written and co-produced with Brian Eno, their first collaboration since the Berlin Trilogy sixteen years earlier, and subtitled 'The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper Cycle.' Structured as a non-linear murder mystery narrative set in 1999, with Bowie voicing multiple characters including Detective Nathan Adler, the album's sixteen tracks blend post-industrial noise rock, ambient passages, and art-pop in ways that directly influenced Nine Inch Nails and mid-90s alternative rock. Bowie and Eno co-wrote the majority of the album, with guitarist Reeves Gabrels, keyboardist Mike Garson, and drummer Sterling Campbell contributing to the dense textural sound. 'Hallo Spaceboy', remixed by the Pet Shop Boys, reached the UK top ten. Outside represents Bowie's most ambitious collaborative writing project since the Berlin Trilogy, with Eno's influence most heard in the dissonant ambient passages between the more structured songs.
Track Listing & Credits 14 tracks
| # | Title | Lyricist(s) | Composer(s) | Producer(s) | Performers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Leon Takes Us Outside
|
David BowieBrian EnoReeves GabrelsMike GarsonErdal KızılçaySterling Campbell | David BowieBrian EnoReeves GabrelsMike GarsonErdal KızılçaySterling Campbell | David BowieBrian Eno | David Bowie (Vocals, Multi-Instrumentalist) |
| 2 |
Outside
|
David BowieKevin Armstrong | David BowieKevin Armstrong | David BowieBrian Eno | David Bowie (Vocals, Multi-Instrumentalist) |
| 3 |
The Hearts Filthy Lesson
#35
|
David BowieBrian EnoReeves GabrelsMike GarsonErdal KızılçaySterling Campbell | David BowieBrian EnoReeves GabrelsMike GarsonErdal KızılçaySterling Campbell | David BowieBrian Eno | David Bowie (Vocals, Multi-Instrumentalist) |
| 4 |
A Small Plot of Land
|
David BowieBrian EnoReeves GabrelsMike GarsonErdal KızılçaySterling Campbell | David BowieBrian EnoReeves GabrelsMike GarsonErdal KızılçaySterling Campbell | David BowieBrian Eno | David Bowie (Vocals, Multi-Instrumentalist) |
| 5 |
Hallo Spaceboy
#12
|
David BowieBrian EnoReeves GabrelsMike GarsonErdal KızılçaySterling Campbell | David BowieBrian EnoReeves GabrelsMike GarsonErdal KızılçaySterling Campbell | David BowieBrian Eno | David Bowie (Vocals, Multi-Instrumentalist) |
| 6 |
The Motel
|
David Bowie | David Bowie | David BowieBrian Eno | David Bowie (Vocals, Multi-Instrumentalist) |
| 7 |
I Have Not Been to Oxford Town
|
David BowieBrian EnoReeves GabrelsMike GarsonErdal KızılçaySterling Campbell | David BowieBrian EnoReeves GabrelsMike GarsonErdal KızılçaySterling Campbell | David BowieBrian Eno | David Bowie (Vocals, Multi-Instrumentalist) |
| 8 |
No Control
|
David BowieBrian EnoReeves GabrelsMike GarsonErdal KızılçaySterling Campbell | David BowieBrian EnoReeves GabrelsMike GarsonErdal KızılçaySterling Campbell | David BowieBrian Eno | David Bowie (Vocals, Multi-Instrumentalist) |
| 9 |
The Voyeur of Utter Destruction (as Beauty)
|
David BowieBrian EnoReeves Gabrels | David BowieBrian EnoReeves Gabrels | David BowieBrian Eno | David Bowie (Vocals, Multi-Instrumentalist) |
| 10 |
Wishful Beginnings
|
David BowieBrian EnoReeves GabrelsMike GarsonErdal KızılçaySterling Campbell | David BowieBrian EnoReeves GabrelsMike GarsonErdal KızılçaySterling Campbell | David BowieBrian Eno | David Bowie (Vocals, Multi-Instrumentalist) |
| 11 |
We Prick You
|
David BowieBrian EnoReeves GabrelsMike GarsonErdal KızılçaySterling Campbell | David BowieBrian EnoReeves GabrelsMike GarsonErdal KızılçaySterling Campbell | David BowieBrian Eno | David Bowie (Vocals, Multi-Instrumentalist) |
| 12 |
I'm Deranged
|
David BowieBrian EnoReeves GabrelsMike GarsonErdal KızılçaySterling Campbell | David BowieBrian EnoReeves GabrelsMike GarsonErdal KızılçaySterling Campbell | David BowieBrian Eno | David Bowie (Vocals, Multi-Instrumentalist) |
| 13 |
Thru' These Architects Eyes
|
David BowieReeves Gabrels | David BowieReeves Gabrels | David BowieBrian Eno | David Bowie (Vocals, Multi-Instrumentalist) |
| 14 |
Strangers When We Meet
#39
|
David Bowie | David Bowie | David BowieBrian Eno | David Bowie (Vocals, Multi-Instrumentalist) |