David Bowie Hours released

Hours David Bowie

Released: October 4, 1999 Peak: 47 US, 5 UK, 21 CN, 33 AU Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.06 UK, 1.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: glam rock/classic rock veteran

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Thursday’s Child [5:24] (9/20/99, 16 UK) Something in the Air [5:46] Survive [4:11] (1/24/00, 28 UK) If I’m Dreaming My Life [7:04] Seven [4:04] (7/1/00, 32 UK) What’s Really Happening? (Bowie/Gabrels/Grant) [4:10] The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell [4:40] (9/20/99, B-side of “Thursday’s Child”) New Angels of Promise [4:35] Brilliant Adventure [1:54] The Dreamers [5:14] Songs written by Bowie/Gabrels unless indicated otherwise. Total Running Time: 47:02 The Players: David Bowie (vocals, drum programming, 12-stirng guitar, keyboards, producer) Reeves Gabrels (programming, synthesizers, guitar) Sterling Campbell, Mike Levesque (drums) Mark Plati (bass, guitar, synth and drum programming, mellotron on “Survive”) Everett Bradley (percussion on “Seven”) Chris Haskett (rhythm guitar on “If I’m Dreaming My Life”) Holly Palmer (backing vocals on “Thursday’s Child”)

Rating: 3.206 out of 5.00 (average of 21 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Since David Bowie spent the '90s jumping from style to style, it comes as a shock that Hours, his final album of the decade, is a relatively straightforward affair. Not only that, but it feels unlike anything else in his catalog. Bowie's music has always been a product of artifice, intelligence, and synthesis. Hours is a relaxed, natural departure from this method.” AMG “Arriving after two labored albums, the shift in tone is quite refreshing. Thursday's Child, the album's engaging mid-tempo opener, is a good indication of what lays ahead. It feels like classic Bowie, yet recalls no specific era of his career. For the first time, Bowie has absorbed all the disparate strands of his music, from Hunky Dory through Earthling.” AMG “That doesn't mean Hours is on par with his earlier masterworks; it never attempts to be that bold. What it does mean is that it's the first album where he has accepted his past and is willing to use it as a foundation for new music. That's the reason why Hours feels open, even organic — he's no longer self-conscious, either about living up to his past or creating a new future. It's a welcome change, and it produces some fine music, particularly on the first half of the record, which is filled with such subdued, subtly winning songs as Something in the Air, Survive, and Seven.” AMG “Toward the end of the album, Bowie branches into harder material, which isn't quite as successful as the first half of the album, yet shares a similar sensibility. And that's what's appealing about Hours — it may not be one of Bowie's classics, but it's the work of a masterful musician who has begun to enjoy his craft again and isn't afraid to let things develop naturally.” AMG Notes: The Japanese release includes bonus track “We All Go Through.” The 2004 Columbia Records reissue includes “We All Go Through” as well as alternate versions of “Survive,” “Seven,” and “The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell.”

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for David Bowie AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 2/20/2008; last updated 8/3/2021.