1.OUTSIDE is an album first released September 26, 1995 by David Bowie on Virgin Records. 1995's ambitious, quasi-industrial 1. Outside, supposed to be the first volume in a still-unfinished nonlinear narrative of art and murder, reunited David Bowie with Brian Eno.

Concept

1. Outside introduced the characters of one of Bowie's short stories; a "non-linear hyper cycle" called the "Diaries of Nathan Adler." It was Bowie's most complicated and frightening concept album yet. The album pamphlet outlined the story of a somewhat sci-fi version of the year 1999, in which the British government had created a new bureau to investigate a new phenomenon called Art Crime. In this future, murder and mutilation of bodies had become a new underground art craze. The main character, Nathan Adler, was in the business of deciding what of this was legally acceptable as art and what was, in a word, trash. The album is filled with odd references to characters and their lives as he investigates the complicated events leading up to the murder of a fourteen-year-old girl.

Public reception and tour

The album put Bowie back into the mainstream scene of rock music with its singles such as "Hallo Spaceboy" and "The Heart's Filthy Lesson". In September of 1995 Bowie began his the Outside Tour with Gabrels again joining Bowie as his live band's guitarist. In a move that was equally lauded and ridiculed by Bowie fans and critics, Bowie chose Trent Reznor's Nine Inch Nails as the tour partner. NIN & Bowie toured as a co-headlining act. NIN always went on stage first, though always playing an equal amount of stage time as Bowie. The musicians changed slowly during the course of the last two NIN songs, the last song always being a song Bowie & NIN sung together. This agreement was an effort to keep young concert goers interested in staying for Bowie, though in each city less and less of the younger crowd stayed for the Bowie set until finally the tour was canceled early due to poor sales / reception of the further out of touch pop-star Bowie. At this time Bowie made several attempts to court the up & coming electronic musician NIN as an attempt to rekindle a Eno / Bowie type collaboration with the youth market. Reznor has gone on record numerous times as being heavily influenced by David Bowie, and further collaborated with Bowie by remixing "The Heart's Filthy Lesson ".

Track listing

Lyrics on all songs by Bowie. Music by Bowie and Brian Eno except "Leon Takes Us Outside," "The Heart's Filthy Lesson," "Baby Grace (A Horrid Cassette)," "Algeria Touchshriek," "I Am With Name," "Nathan Adler" by Bowie, Eno, Gabrels, Garson, Kizilcay and Campbell, "Outside" by Armstrong and Bowie, "A Small Plot Of Land" by Bowie, Eno, Gabrels, Garson, and Kizilcay, "The Voyeur Of Utter Destruction (As Beauty)" by Bowie, Eno and Gabrels, "Thru' These Architect's Eyes" by Bowie and Gabrels, and "Strangers When We Meet" by Bowie.

1. "Leon Takes Us Outside" (1:25)
2. "Outside" (4:04)
3. "The Heart's Filthy Lesson" (4:57)
4. "A Small Plot of Land" (6:34)
5. (Segue) "Baby Grace (A Horrid Cassette)" (1:39)
6. "Hallo Spaceboy" (5:14)
7. "The Motel" (6:49)
8. "I Have Not Been To Oxford Town" (3:47)
9. "No Control" (4:33)
10. (Segue) "Algeria Touchschriek" (2:03)
11. "The Voyeur of Utter Destruction (As Beauty)" (4:21)
12. (Segue) "Ramona A. Stone / I Am With Name" (4:01)
13. "Wishful Beginnings" (5:08)
14. "We Prick You" (4:33)
15. (Segue) "Nathan Adler" (1:00)
16. "I'm Deranged" (4:31)
17. "Thru' These Architect's Eyes" (4:22)
18. (Segue) "Nathan Adler" (0:28)
19. "Strangers When We Meet" (5:07)

Production credits

• Producers:
  • David Bowie and Brian Eno
  • Co-produced and engineered by David Richards
• Musicians
  • David Bowie: vocals, saxophone, guitar, keyboards
  • Brian Eno: synthesizers, treatments, strategies
  • Reeves Gabrels: guitar
  • Erdal Kizilcay: bass, keyboards
  • Mike Garson: grand piano
  • Sterling Campbell: drums
  • Carlos Alomar: rhythm guitar
  • Joey Barron: drums
  • Yossi Fine: bass
  • Tom Frish: additional guitar on "Strangers When We Meet"
  • Kevin Armstrong: additional guitar on "Thru' These Architect's Eyes"
  • Bryony, Lola, Josey and Ruby Edwards: backing vocals on "The Heart's Filthy Lesson" and "I Am With Name"
• Assistant Engineers
  • Ben Fenner, Andy Grassi, Jon Goldberger, Domonik
• Album Design & Image Manipulation
  • Denovo
• Album Cover Concept
  • David Bowie and Denovo
• Front Cover Painting
  • "Head of DB" (11"x11") acrylic on canvas 1995 by David Bowie
• Photography
  • John Scarisbrick
• Stylist
  • Jennifer Elster

Recorded at Mountain Studios, Switzerland
Mixed and additional treatments by David Richards, assisted by David Bowie
Mastered by David Richards and Kevin Metcalfe at The Town House Digital Mastering Studio, London