Heathen is an album by the
British singer-songwriter
David Bowie, released in 2002. It was considered something of a comeback for Bowie in the U.S. market; it was his highest charting album (#14) since
Tonight (1984), and earned some of his strongest reviews since
Scary Monsters (1980). Worldwide, it sold over two million copies and experienced a four-month run on the UK charts. Essentially, the album deals with Bowie's impressions of the
September 11 attacks in 2001.Simon Groth,
Off the Record: 25 Years of Music Street Press, p.310. Univ. of Queensland Press, 2010. ISBN 0702238635James E. Perone,
The words and music of David Bowie, p.137. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. ISBN 0275992454
Recording and production
Heathen marked the return of record producer
Tony Visconti, who co-produced (with Bowie himself) several of Bowie's classic albums. The last album Visconti had co-produced was
Scary Monsters in 1980.
Originally, Bowie had recorded the album
Toy for release in 2000 or 2001. This album was meant to feature some new songs and remakes of some his lesser-known songs from the 1960s. Although
Toy remains officially unreleased, a few of its tracks — including "Afraid" and "Slip Away" (then titled "Uncle Floyd") — appear on
Heathen. Some other re-recorded songs were included as
B-side to the singles from
Heathen.
The album features guest...
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