NEVER LET ME DOWN

This is an Enhanced audio CD which contains regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Personnel: David Bowie (vocals, guitar, keyboards, tambourine); Mickey Rourke (rap vocals); Carlos Alomar (guitar, synthesizer, tambourine, background vocals); Peter Frampton, Sid McGinnis (guitar); Erdal Kizilcay (violin, trumpet, keyboards, bass, drums, background vocals); Stan Harrison (alto saxophone); Lenny Pickett (tenor saxophone); Steve Elson (baritone saxophone); Earl Gardner (trumpet, flugelhorn); Laurie Frink (trumpet); Phillipe Saisse (piano, keyboards); Carmine Rojas (bass); Crusher Bennett (percussion); Robin Clark, Loni Groves, Diva Gray, Gordon Grodie (background vocals). Recorded at Mountain Studios, Switzerland. Originally released on EMI America (46677). Digitally remastered by Peter Mew and Nigel Reeve (1999, Abbey Road Studios, London, England). After having spent the the mid-'80s putting on his acting shoes for Absolute Beginners and Labyrinth, Bowie returned to music by grabbing his usual henchmen Carlos Alomar and Carmine Rojas and joining forces with old schoolmate Peter Frampton. NEVER LET ME DOWN found Bowie writing or co-writing everything with the exception of Iggy Pop's "Bang Bang." Songs such as "Day-In Day-Out" and "Time Will Crawl" were perfect Bowie songs that worked opposite ends of the spectrum; the everyday reality of a struggling woman living on the periphery of society versus the ambiguity of time itself. Although the creamy synths and slick production are occasional reminders that NLMD was cut in the '80s, these flourishes work especially well on "Zeroes" and the title track. The only hint of indulgence comes in the semi-mythical "Glass Spider" and the rap duet vignette with Mickey Rourke (!) that Bowie drops into the middle of "Shining Star (Makin' My Love)." After that chilling encounter, Bowie fled the solo life for the safer confines of Tin Machine in 1989.