Tin Machine Tin Machine

Yup, Tin Machine. Now, the only time I ever even hear this name anymore is when some music writer wants to disparage some other musician's side project. And I am one of the very few who don't laugh at the jokes. Because I like Tin Machine. I would go as far as saying that I love all three of their records.

But I can start with this one. It's probably the most solid and definitely the one that grabbed my attention. I remember watching this thing on ABC called the International Rock Awards and seeing the debut of David Bowie's new band. They played this album's opening track, "Heaven's In Here", and I recall it so well because I watched it with my jaw in my lap. Once the song reached the solo and guitarist Reeves Gabrels laid into his solo, I was in. Not too long after a 13 minute video with a medley of most of this record popped up on MTV and I had to have this record.

It's aged just fine with me. Brothers Hunt and Tony Sales, on drums and bass respectively, had worked with Bowie before on some of the music he did with Iggy Pop, including playing on "Lust for Life", which let's face it...that track has one of the best rhythm section performances ever. With Tin Machine, their playing provides the perfect grounding for Gabrels to soar over with some of the most unorthodox rock playing I've ever heard. Bowie, at the time, seemed content to just be one of the guys in the band. It put a lot of casual Bowie fans off, but me, not a big Bowie fan at the time it came out in 1989, I got more interested in Bowie because of it.

And the songs are there, regardless of what you may have heard otherwise. "Amazing" would probably find its way into my Top Album Tracks Ever conversation over some drinks one night. "Under the God" sounds like a punk song after all these years. The studio recording off the aforementioned "Heaven's In Here" has some excellent soloing on it. "Crack City" rides a great lazy riff. All of it is delivered by a truly great group of musicians.

On paper, the straight-forward, muscular rock power of the Sales brothers and the avant-garde explorations of Gabrels should be a mess. And most people think it is. But I don't. And I know a handful of others who agree. Henry Rollins gave the track "Prisoner of Love" some love in his book, Fanatic!. A couple of other musicians I've met over the years have told me they love the Tin Machine records. Some of the good folks at the record store I shopped at for years (and worked at for awhile) had my back on this one, too. I know this record lives in the cheap bins at most used record shops. Actually, it's really easy to find either one of their first two records, this one and the cleverly titled follow-up Tin Machine II. Your collection would really benefit from either of them. Now, if you really want to go over the edge and lose your cred with your friends, get the live one, Oy Vey, Baby. It opens with one of the best covers ever: their live version of Roxy Music's "If There Is Something". There's a studio version on II, but the live one smokes it.

Okay, so it's a punchline for most music fans. But most of the people who drop that reference probably never even listened to a whole record. And if, they did back then, a second listen now would probably surprise most. They only lasted three or four years, but long live Tin Machine!

Here's the video for "Under the God" on YouTube.
Here's that performance of"Heaven's In Here" from the International Rock Awards, also from YouTube. The fifth person on stage is Kevin Armstrong, who played some additional guitar on the first record.