View source for Tin Machine

{{Short description|British–American rock band}}
{{for|the band's debut album of the same name|Tin Machine (album)}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Tin Machine
| image           = Tin machine (band) 1988 promo photo.jpg
| caption         = Tin Machine in 1991<br>Left to right: Reeves Gabrels, Tony Fox Sales, Hunt Sales and David Bowie 
| image_size      = 250px
| background      = group_or_band
| origin          =
| genre           = {{flatlist|
* [[Rock music|Rock]]
* [[hard rock]]
}}
| years_active    = 1988–1992
| label           = {{flatlist|
* [[EMI Records|EMI]]
* Victory Music
}}
| past_members    = {{unbulleted list|[[David Bowie]]|[[Reeves Gabrels]]|[[Tony Fox Sales]]|[[Hunt Sales]]}}
}}
'''Tin Machine''' were a British–American [[Rock music|rock]] band formed in 1988. The band consisted of English singer-songwriter [[David Bowie]] on lead vocals, saxophone and guitar; [[Reeves Gabrels]] on guitar and vocals; [[Tony Fox Sales]] on bass and vocals; and [[Hunt Sales]] on drums and vocals. The Sales brothers had previously performed with Bowie and [[Iggy Pop]] during the 1977 tour for ''[[The Idiot (album)|The Idiot]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Seabrook |first1=Thomas Jerome |title=Bowie in Berlin: A New Career in a New Town |date=2008 |location=London |publisher=Jawbone Press |isbn=978-1-906002-08-4 }}</ref> [[Kevin Armstrong (guitarist)|Kevin Armstrong]] played additional guitar and keyboards on the band's first and second studio albums and [[Tin Machine Tour|first tour]], and American guitarist [[Eric Schermerhorn]] played on the [[It's My Life Tour|second tour]] and live album ''[[Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby]]'' (1992).

Hunt Sales said that the band's name "reflects the sound of the band", and Bowie stated that he and his band members joined up "to make the kind of music that we enjoyed listening to",<ref name=RSDec89>{{cite magazine| title=Year in Review | magazine=Rolling Stone | issue=567–568 | date=14–28 December 1989 | pages=61, 96}}</ref> and to rejuvenate himself artistically.<ref name=RSSTS93>{{cite magazine | url=http://www.algonet.se/~bassman/articles/93/rs.html | title=Station to Station | year=1993 | magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] | last=Sinclair | first=David | access-date=24 May 2013}}</ref>

The band recorded two studio albums and one live album before dissolving in 1992, after which Bowie returned to his solo career. By the end of 2012, they had sold two million albums.<ref name=DBWeb>{{cite web | title=About – David Bowie | url=http://www.davidbowie.com/about | access-date=12 August 2019}}</ref> Bowie said Tin Machine helped revitalise his career.<ref name=RSSTS93 /><ref name=Live97 /><ref name=Pulse97 />

==History==
===1987–1988: Band genesis===
[[File:150-minute almost non-stop show not enough for The Cure at Frequency Festival (7815846936).jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|alt=An older man with a gray beard playing a red guitar against a green backlight|[[Reeves Gabrels]] in 2012]]
The 1987 Bowie album ''[[Never Let Me Down]]'' and subsequent [[Glass Spider Tour]] had left critics unimpressed,<ref name=JA89>{{Citation| last=Barton| first=David| title=David Bowie puts career on the line| newspaper=Journal-American| date=8 June 1989| page=D5}}</ref> and Bowie was aware of his low standing. Eager to return to making music for himself rather than the mainstream audience he had acquired following the ''[[Let's Dance (David Bowie album)|Let's Dance]]'' album,<ref name=SpinInterview>{{Citation| last=Levy | first=Joe| title=I'm with the Band | journal=Spin Magazine | volume=5 | issue=4 |date=July 1989 | pages=35–36}}</ref> 
Bowie looked around for collaborators. He briefly worked with [[Bon Jovi]] producer [[Bruce Fairbairn]] in Los Angeles, recording a few tracks, including a demo of "Lucy Can't Dance" (which was eventually re-recorded and released on Bowie's 1993 solo album ''[[Black Tie White Noise]]'') and a version of [[Bob Dylan]]'s song "[[Like A Rolling Stone]]", but this did not bear much fruit, and the Dylan cover was passed to his friend [[Mick Ronson]], where it was released on his posthumous album ''[[Heaven and Hull]]'' (1994).<ref name="npcdb">[[Nicholas Pegg|Pegg, Nicholas]]. ''The Complete David Bowie'', Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2004, {{ISBN|1-903111-73-0}}</ref> Soon after, Bowie began collaborating with [[Reeves Gabrels]], who pushed the singer to rediscover his experimental side.<ref name=Live97>{{Citation | last=Pond| first=Steve| title=Beyond Bowie| journal=Live! Magazine |date=March 1997 | pages=38–41, 93}}</ref>

Bowie and Gabrels had initially met through Gabrels' then-wife Sara Terry, who was part of the press staff for the North American leg of Bowie's 1987 Glass Spider world tour. The two men had struck up a friendship when Gabrels visited at several tour venues. Notably, their relationship began as a social one, as Gabrels did not mention that he himself was a musician. Common interests in popular culture and the visual arts provided more than enough to talk about, Gabrels explained in later interviews, and also because he was in his wife's workplace, he felt it was not appropriate to bring up his own music.<ref name="guitar moderne">{{Cite web | url=http://www.guitarmoderne.com/artists/the-ultimate-reeves-gabrels-interview| last=Ross| first=Michael| title=The Ultimate Reeves Gabrels Interview| magazine=guitar moderne: The Zine for Adventurous Guitarists| location=Nashville, Tennessee| date=August 2016}}</ref> At the tour's end, Bowie kindly asked Terry if he could do anything for her. In response, Terry gave Bowie a tape of Gabrels' guitar playing. Months later, after listening to the tape, Bowie phoned Gabrels to invite him to get together to play and write. Bowie told him that he felt he had "lost his vision" and was looking for ways to get it back.<ref name=MusicPaper>{{cite journal |last=Derringer|first=Liz |title=Tin Machine – Bowie's Latest Vehicle| journal=The Music Paper |volume=22|issue=1 |date=August 1989 |pages=16–17}}</ref> After a month working together, Gabrels asked Bowie what he wanted of him, and, according to Gabrels, Bowie said "Basically, I need somebody that can do a combination of [[Jeff Beck|Beck]], [[Jimi Hendrix|Hendrix]], [[Adrian Belew|Belew]] and [[Robert Fripp|Fripp]], with a little [[Stevie Ray Vaughan]] and [[Albert King]] thrown in. Then, when I’m not singing, you take the ball and do something with it, and when you hand the ball back to me, it might not even be the same ball."<ref name="bohd">{{cite web | url=https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/beat-of-his-drum | title=Beat of His Drum | first=Joe | last=Bosso | date=2 November 2018 | access-date=8 November 2018 | publisher=GuitarPlayer.com}}</ref>

[[File:Tonysales.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.66|alt=A man with a bass guitar against a green backdrop|[[Tony Fox Sales|Tony Sales]] in an undated picture]]
The first public fruits of Bowie and Gabrels working together came with a new arrangement by Gabrels of the song "[[Look Back in Anger (song)|Look Back in Anger]]" which Bowie had written with Brian Eno in 1979 for the album ''[[Lodger (album)|Lodger]]''. The occasion was a benefit show at London's [[Institute of Contemporary Arts]] (ICA) on 1 July 1988 at which Bowie had been invited to perform with the avant-garde dance troupe [[La La La Human Steps]]. Bowie sang, played and danced with troupe members while in lighted grottoes upstage three musicians (Gabrels on guitar, Kevin Armstrong on guitar, and [[Erdal Kızılçay]] on bass) played the new {{frac|7|1|2}} minute score that Gabrels created from the three-minute song; the new material included drums programmed by Kızılçay. "We went into the studio to rearrange it", said Bowie in a filmed interview; "I like the hard-edged wall of guitar sound that we put into it."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnZIR41ZuyU  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/hnZIR41ZuyU |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live| publisher=YouTube | title=1988 David Bowie with La La La Human Steps – Intruders At The Palace | access-date=25 November 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Gabrels recalled that early on, they were not sure whom they would work with. They discussed working with [[Terry Bozzio]] on drums and [[Percy Jones (musician)|Percy Jones]] on bass.<ref name="nrc">{{cite web | url=http://news.radio.com/2017/02/20/david-bowie-90s-era/ | title=David Bowie: A Look Back at His '90s Era – When He Got Weird Again | date=20 February 2017 | access-date=27 March 2018 | last=Ives | first=Brian | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180328102454/http://news.radio.com/2017/02/20/david-bowie-90s-era/ | archive-date=28 March 2018 | url-status=dead}}</ref> But Bowie, who had run into Tony Sales in Los Angeles at a wrap party for his Glass Spider Tour, convinced Tony to call his brother Hunt so they could work together again, as Tony and Hunt had performed with David Bowie in support of [[Iggy Pop]] in the late 1970s. Tony recalled that Bowie was "thinking about getting a band together — ''something'' together. He didn't know exactly what he wanted to do, but he wanted Hunt and I to meet Reeves and maybe we could all write together, come up with something."<ref name=MusicPaper />

Bowie himself was surprised with how things came together with the band, saying, <blockquote>I'd never wanted to be in a band until we got together. And as we were getting together, it wasn't really occurring to me that this is what I wanted to do. It took a week or so of actually being in the studio and working, and then I think we fully realized the potential, musically, for what we were doing and wanted to stick with it. I was quite happy to go off and make a solo album. I was quite excited about a couple of things I was doing, which I brought into the band and which were irrevocably changed. But that's the nature of the band.<ref name=DBMI /></blockquote>

{{Quote box
 | quote  = "Their attitude was kind of, 'He's David Bowie, we're the Sales brothers, who the fuck are you?'"
 | source =&nbsp;—Reeves Gabrels, on how the group bonded when they first came together<ref name=Q91>{{Citation | last=Murray  | first=Charles Shaar | author-link=Charles Shaar Murray | title=And the Singer's Called Dave... | magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q magazine]] | issue=61 |date=October 1991 | pages=56–64}}</ref>
 | width  = 20em
 | align  = right
 | style  = padding:10px;
 | border   = 1px
 | bgcolor  = #c6dbf7
 | fontsize = 85%
}}

Bowie was pleased that the band members clicked, calling the ease at which the personalities came together "inspired guesswork".<ref name=Q91 /> Hunt and Tony, the two sons of comic [[Soupy Sales]], kept the mood jovial during recording sessions and interviews.<ref name=BKP89>{{citation | url=http://www.algonet.se/~bassman/articles/89/qm.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010716142216/http://www.algonet.se/~bassman/articles/89/qm.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=2001-07-16 | title=Boys Keep Swinging | journal=[[Q magazine]] | date=June 1989 }}</ref> Bowie later rejected the idea that Reeves, Hunt and Tony were backing members of his band. "The Sales brothers would never accept having another boss. They are far too stubborn and aware of their own needs. They're not in the market to be anybody's backing band, either of them. You do not fuck with the Sales brothers, or Reeves Gabrels."<ref name=RSSTS93 /> Gabrels said that Bowie came in one day while the group was first forming and said, "I think this has got to be a band. Everybody's got input. Everybody's writing. You guys don't listen to me anyway."<ref name=Creem91>{{Citation| last=di Perna| first=Alan | title=Ballad of the Tin Men| journal=Creem| volume=2 | issue=1 | year=1991| pages=50–59}}</ref> The band split profits four ways, no one was on a salary and each member paid for his own expenses. Bowie also clarified that "the band will cease to exist the moment it ceases to be a musical experience for any of us. None of us wanted to get into the kind of situation where you find yourself making albums because you're contracted to."<ref name=Creem91/> The group setup allowed Bowie a certain level of anonymity, and to that end, Bowie stipulated that all four members divide interviews equally between them and that in the cases where he was interviewed, that another member of the band be present as well. He made a point to clarify that he did not invite the others to join "his" band, rather, "the band literally came together."<ref name=DBMI>{{Citation| last=Varga| first=George | title=David Bowie Music Interview| newspaper=The Star Entertainment Weekly | location=Lynnwood, WA | volume=2 | issue=5 | date=1–7 January 1992 | page=2,10}}</ref>

The Sales brothers moved the tone of the sessions away from art-rock and more towards hard rock, and Bowie looked to one of his favorite bands at the time, [[Pixies (band)|Pixies]], for inspiration. The Sales brothers heckled Bowie into greater spontaneity, with most songs recorded in one take, and lyrics left unpolished, thus giving the band a ragged, punk rock edge.<ref name="npcdb" /> On tour, Bowie said of the band and its music, "This is not music to get up and have breakfast to by any means. And we're not the most comfortable band in the world to watch. If you're looking for a dance band, we ain't it."<ref name="tbs91">{{cite web | url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1991-11-14-1991318200-story.html | title=Bowie on the road with Tin Machine | date=14 November 1991 | access-date=1 July 2020}}</ref>

[[File:HuntSales450.jpg|thumb|left|[[Hunt Sales]] in 1981]]
In contemporary interviews, the band said their musical influences were [[Gene Krupa]], [[Charlie Mingus]], Jimi Hendrix, [[Glenn Branca]], [[Mountain (band)|Mountain]],<ref name=RSDec89 /> [[Cream (band)|Cream]], and the [[Jeff Beck Group]].<ref name=MusicPaper />

According to Bowie, the group decided when they formed that they would play from album to album, and that "if we were still getting on with each other – which was the priority – that we'd continue."<ref name=Smart90>{{Citation | title=David Bowie Interview| journal=Q|date=April 1990 | pages=60–70}}</ref>

====Band name====
The group chose the name Tin Machine after one of the songs they had written.<ref name=SpinInterview /><ref name=MusicPaper /> Tony Sales joked that, as all four members were divorced when the band formed, originally the band was going to be called "The Four Divorcés" or "Alimony Inc."<ref name=Q91 /> Gabrels suggested calling the band "White Noise", but Bowie dismissed it as too "racist".<ref name="nrc" /> Other names that were considered and discarded included "Leather Weasel"<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/david-bowie-soul-of-new-machine-199453/ | title=David Bowie: Soul of a New Machine | date=31 October 1991 | access-date=4 April 2019 | magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref> and "The Emperor's New Clothes".<ref name="npcdb" /> Gabrels later elaborated on the real name choice, saying the band's name "worked on a number of levels for us. The archaic – the idea of tin, which is still everywhere: tin cans, when you go to the supermarket; when you walk down the street you find rusting tin. It's such a supposedly archaic material, but it's everywhere. Sort of like the idea of us playing this music and not using drum machines and sequencers and things like that. There's a point at which it connects. At least for us. And the final thing, for lack of a better name."<ref name=SpinInterview />

===1988–1989: First album and tour===
The band's [[Tin Machine (album)|self-titled first album]] was recorded in late 1988 and early 1989. It produced mixed but generally positive reviews<ref name=JA89 /> upon release in May 1989, picking up favourable comparisons with Bowie's two more recent solo albums. Commercially, the album initially sold well, reaching No. 3 in the [[UK Albums Chart]], but sales quickly tailed off. Gabrels claimed in 1991 that album sales from the first album were "ten times better" than he had anticipated.<ref name=RS91>{{Citation | title=Rock 'n Roll notes | magazine=Rolling Stone | year=1991}}</ref> At the time of the release of the album, Bowie was enthusiastic about the band and the work they'd done, and felt that band had in them "another two albums at least."<ref name=BKP89 />

Contrary to common reports, the band's first live performance together wasn't at the [[International Rock Awards]] Show on 31 May 1989.<ref name=IRA>{{Citation | last=Fantino| first=Lisa | title=International Rock Awards | newspaper=The Music Paper | location=Manhasset, NY | volume=22| issue=1 |date=August 1989 | page=14}}</ref> Prior to that show, the band played an unannounced show in Nassau. Bowie recalled "We showed up at a club in Nassau where we were recording and did four or five songs. We went down to the club and just did 'em." Added Gabrels, "We just walked up on stage and you could hear all these voices whispering, 'That's David Bowie! No, it can't be David Bowie, he's got a beard!{{'"}}<ref name=BKP89 />

The band recognized that some fans and critics didn't like Bowie's new role in the band. Said Tony Sales, "Mainly, people are pissed off because David's not doing 'David Bowie.{{'"}}<ref name=MusicPaper /> Bowie confirmed that Tin Machine live shows would be "non-theatrical" in contrast to his [[Glass Spider Tour|most recent tour]].<ref name=BKP89 />

The band undertook a [[Tin Machine Tour|low-key tour]] in small venues between 14 June and 3 July 1989,<ref name=MusicPaper /> before further recording sessions in Sydney, Australia. During these sessions Tin Machine contributed to a surfing [[compilation album]], ''Beyond the Beach'', with a new instrumental song titled "Needles on the Beach". A partial recording of their show from this tour recorded at La Cigale in Paris on 25 June 1989 was released digitally in August 2019.<ref name=lcp>{{citation | url=https://www.davidbowie.com/blog/2019/8/30/tin-machine-at-la-cigale-in-paris-1989 | title=Tin Machine at La Cigale in Paris 1989 | date=31 August 2019 | access-date=4 September 2019}}</ref>

===1990–1991: Second album and tour===
[[File:David Bowie Chile.jpg|thumb|upright|David Bowie during his [[Sound+Vision Tour]] in 1990]]
The group went on hiatus for most of 1990 while Bowie conducted his solo [[Sound+Vision Tour]], which lasted through September,{{sfn|Pegg|2016|p=676}} and then went straight into filming his role for the film ''[[The Linguini Incident]]'' (1991).{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=415–417}}{{sfn|Sandford|1997|p=282}} Gabrels worked on some tracks during the year, occasionally catching up with Bowie on tour during Bowie's days off and recording guitar solos on his own in the studio.{{sfn|O'Leary|2019|p=305}} In December 1990, Bowie split from [[EMI]]; Hunt Sales said that EMI "kind of freaked out a little bit at the strident, single-less Tin Machine debut", which partially explained why Bowie switched music labels.<ref name=Creem91 /> In March 1991, the band signed to Victory Music,<ref name=DBMI /> a new label launched by [[JVC]] and distributed worldwide by [[London Records]] and [[PolyGram]], and recorded more new material. This was combined with tracks from the Sydney sessions to form the ''[[Tin Machine II]]'' album. The album was described as "just as impure and twisted [as their first album], but more R&B and less abrasive."<ref name=Details91>{{Citation | last=Cohen | first=Scott | title=From Ziggy Stardust to Tin Machine: David Bowie Comes Clean | journal=[[Details (magazine)|Details magazine]] |date=September 1991 | pages=86–97}}</ref> Gabrels explained the change between the first and second album was because by the second album, "we knew one another as musicians. ... It wasn't as dense. And we actually left more room, I think for David to come up with some interesting melodies. There was more room for vocals on this record."<ref name=Creem91 />

In late 1991 Bowie reiterated that he was still happy being in the band during that time, stating "I'm content. … I'm deriving a great deal of fulfillment from working with Tin Machine",<ref name=Details91 /> and band-mate Gabrels agreed, saying "we're doing exactly what we wanted to do."<ref name=RS91 /> During press performances for songs on the album, Gabrels played his guitar with a [[Vibrator (sex toy)|vibrator]] and for a performance on [[BBC]]'s [[Top of the Pops]], who banned the use of the vibrator, he mimed playing his guitar with a [[Éclair (pastry)|chocolate éclair]].<ref name=PI91>{{citation| title=In Tin Machine, David Bowie is just one of the boys in the band| first=Gene | last=Stout | journal=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|date=20 December 1991}}</ref>

In early August 1991, the band began promotional performances for the album, starting with TV appearances in the UK.<ref>{{Cite tweet |user=Bowiesongs |number=1422273593958879236 |title=30 years ago: Tin Machine begins its promo cycle for "TM II" with their first TV appearance in '91, "Paramount City." | access-date=2 August 2021}}</ref> From 5 October 1991 to 17 February 1992, the group went on their [[It's My Life Tour]], which was a longer tour than their first. The band was joined on this tour by guitarist [[Eric Schermerhorn]].<ref name=JA91>{{citation | title=Bowie, Tin Machine offer what may be rock's new frontier | first=Cary | last=Smith | journal=Journal-American | date=December 1991}}</ref> On 23 November 1991, the band was the musical guest during ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''{{'}}s [[Saturday Night Live (season 17)|17th season]].

===1992: Live album and dissolution===
Tracks from the "It's My Life" tour were released on the July 1992 album ''[[Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby]]''. The album did not sell well and there was speculation that the failure of this album to achieve commercial success was among the reasons that the band ultimately broke up.<ref name=AMOVB>{{citation | url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/oy-vey-baby-mw0000081831 |title=Oy Vey Baby, Review | first=Mark | last=Allender | access-date=29 July 2013}}</ref> As early as 1990, Bowie knew he'd be going back to solo work, although not because he disliked working with the band, saying "I have very definite ideas of what I want to do as a solo artist, which I'll be starting on probably late next year [1991], again completely different, hopefully, from what I've done before."<ref name=MEMag>{{citation | title=Watch That Man | first=Tina | last=Clarke | journal=Music Express Magazine | date=March 1990 | page=12}}</ref> In the middle of 1992, around the time of the release of ''Oy Vey, Baby'', the band submitted their cover version "[[Go Now]]" to the ''[[NME]]'' compilation album ''[[Ruby Trax]]'' (released in November of 1992) and Bowie returned to solo recording with his single "[[Real Cool World]]" while maintaining intentions to return to the studio with Tin Machine in 1993 for a third album.<ref name=Wedding93>{{citation | title=Bowie's Wedding Album | first=David | last=Wild | magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] | date=21 January 1993 | page=14}}</ref> These plans would fail to come to fruition, however, and the band shortly thereafter dissolved; there were allegations that Hunt Sales' growing drug addiction was responsible for the band's end, but of Tin Machine's dissolution, Bowie merely said "personal problems within the band became the reason for its demise. It’s not for me to talk about them, but it became physically impossible for us to carry on. And that was pretty sad really."<ref name=UC13>{{citation | url=http://www.uncut.co.uk/david-bowie/david-bowie-im-hungry-for-reality-part-3-feature | title=David Bowie: "I'm hungry for reality!" part 3 (originally published October 1999) | year=2013 | first=Chris | last=Roberts | access-date=26 July 2013 | archive-date=6 February 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130206232830/http://www.uncut.co.uk/david-bowie/david-bowie-im-hungry-for-reality-part-3-feature | url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Band legacy==
The band earned mixed reviews during their short career.<ref name=JA89 /><ref name=AllMusicReview>{{Allmusic|class=album|id=r20239}}</ref><ref name=BlenderReview>[http://www.blender.com/guide/back-catalogue/53982/tin-machine-ii.html ''Tin Machine II''] {{dead link|date=March 2017|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} at Blender.com</ref><ref name=QReview>{{citation | title=Tin Machine II Album Review | first=Adrian |last=Deevoy | journal=[[Q (magazine)|Q Magazine]] | date=October 1991 | page=105}}</ref> Starting in the late 1990s, critics reappraised the band more warmly and Tin Machine were found to have been "unjustly" harshly reviewed.<ref name=Live97 /><ref name=Pulse97 /><ref name=SER>{{citation | url=http://somethingelsereviews.com/2011/06/22/forgotten-series-tin-machine-live-oy-vey-baby-1992/ | title=Forgotten series: Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby | first=Tom | last=Johnson | date=22 June 2011 | access-date=29 July 2013}}</ref> One critic suggested that part of the reason for its poor reception was that Tin Machine's music was somewhat ahead of its time, and that the band "explored [[alternative rock|alternative]] and [[grunge]] before the styles were even widely known to exist."<ref name=WMDB>{{citation | title=The Words and Music of David Bowie | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C6bz2BFdPawC&q=oy+vey+baby+review&pg=PA106 | first=James | last=Perone | access-date=10 June 2013 | publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group| isbn=9780275992453 | year=2007 }}</ref> Another critic agreed,<ref name=tmp95>{{citation | url=http://www.algonet.se/~bassman/articles/95/tmp.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020328145059/http://www.algonet.se/~bassman/articles/95/tmp.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=2002-03-28 | title=David Bowie: Outside Looking in | date=November 1995 | first=Mark | last=Hendrickson | access-date=1 August 2013 }}</ref> with yet another suggesting that Tin Machine and Bowie were "merely ahead of the curve. A prophet, a voice in the desert predicting the coming of [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]]. At the time, Nirvana was toiling in [[Seattle, Washington|Seattle]] obscurity, pushing its debut ''[[Bleach (Nirvana album)|Bleach]]'' on [[Sub Pop]] at every dive it played."<ref name=PDFB09>{{citation | url=http://popdose.com/popdose-flashback-tin-machine-tin-machine/ | title=Popdose Flashback: Tin Machine, "Tin Machine" | first=Mojo | last=Flucke | date=2 March 2009 | access-date=26 July 2013}}</ref> Tim Palmer, after producing Tin Machine's two studio albums, would go on to mix [[Pearl Jam]]'s grunge album ''[[Ten (Pearl Jam album)|Ten]]'' in 1991,<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.algonet.se/~bassman/articles/95/h.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130616041825/http://www.algonet.se/~bassman/articles/95/h.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 June 2013 |title=Can the Real David Bowie Rise, Please? |journal=[[HUMO]] |date=5 December 1995 |access-date=6 June 2013 }}</ref> and later recalled to Gabrels that he had come into the studio one day to find Pearl Jam listening to Tin Machine's "[[Heaven's in Here]]".<ref name="nrc" />

In 1996, Bowie reflected on his time with Tin Machine: "For better or worse it helped me to pin down what I did and didn’t enjoy about being an artist. It helped me, I feel, to recover as an artist. And I do feel that for the past few years I’ve been absolutely in charge of my artistic path again. I’m working to my own criteria. I’m not doing anything I would feel ashamed of in the future, or that I would look back on and say my heart wasn’t in that."<ref name=telegraphinterview>{{citation | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/david-bowie-interview-from-1996-i-have-done-just-about-everythin/ | title=David Bowie interview from 1996: 'I have done just about everything that it's possible to do' | first=Mick | last=Brown | access-date=11 January 2016| newspaper=The Telegraph | date=2016-01-08 }}</ref>

In 1997, when asked if he thought the band was still underrated, Bowie said, "It's going to be interesting, isn't it? As the songs creep out in different forms over the years, I assume that eventually it'll be evaluated in a different way. I'm not sure people will ever be sympathetic to it entirely. But as the years go by, I think they'll be less hostile. I think it was quite a brave band and I think there were some extremely good pieces of work done. And I think they'll kind of show themselves over time."<ref name=TTWE97>{{citation | url=http://www.algonet.se/~bassman/articles/97/ttwe.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991013194902/http://www.algonet.se/%7Ebassman/articles/97/ttwe.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=13 October 1999 | title=The Thin White Earthling | first=Mark | last=Brown | year=1997 | access-date=5 August 2013 }}</ref> Bowie and Gabrels re-recorded a few Tin Machine tracks during this time, including "[[I Can't Read]]" and "[[Baby Universal]]", with the former being released on the soundtrack to the movie ''[[The Ice Storm (film)|The Ice Storm]]'' (1997) and both as a part of Bowie's posthumous ''[[Is It Any Wonder? (David Bowie EP)|Is It Any Wonder?]]'' (2020).

By the end of the 20th century, Bowie looked back at his time with the band as invaluable, saying "I had to kick-start my engine again in music. There'd been a wobbly moment where I could quite easily have gone reclusive and just worked on visual stuff, paint and sculpt and all that. I had made a lot of money: I thought, well, I could just bugger off and do my [[Paul Gauguin|Gauguin]] in [[Tahiti]] bit now. But then what do you do – re-emerge at 60 somewhere? So I look back on the Tin Machine years with great fondness. They charged me up. I can’t tell you how much."<ref name=UC13 />

Despite some reports to the contrary,{{sfn|Sandford|1997|p=278}} Bowie stated several times over his years with Tin Machine that he was happy working in the band.<ref name=DBMI /><ref name=Details91 /><ref name=Wedding93 /> Bowie used his time with the band as a way to revitalise himself and his career,<ref name="Live97" /> which he would later in March 1997 call a "lifeline",<ref name=Pulse97>{{citation | last=Sprague | first=David | title=After a decade of missteps, David Bowie reinvents himself again ... and this time he's on target | journal=Pulse! | issue=156 |date=February 1997 | pages=34–37, 72–73}}</ref> citing Reeves Gabrels as a source of his new-found energy and direction:
{{quote|Reeves took me aside and spent many hours explaining it in very simple terms. 'Stop doing it' was, I think, the key phrase he used. 'Stop doing it.' 'But you know, I've got all these shows I've got to do, and I hate having to do these hits, and ...' 'Stop doing it.' That was essentially the reasoning, which I found extremely complicated to understand at first. And then it dawned on me – he meant stop... doing... it. And I did.<ref name=Live97 />}}

==Personnel==
{{See also|List of David Bowie band members}}
* [[David Bowie]] – lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, piano, [[saxophone]]
* [[Reeves Gabrels]] – electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals, organ
* [[Tony Fox Sales]] – bass guitar, backing vocals
* [[Hunt Sales]] – drums, percussion, backing and lead vocals

==Discography==
===Studio albums===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:20em;" | Title
! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:20em;" | Album details
! colspan="9" scope="col" | Peak chart positions
! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:15em;" |[[List of music recording certifications|Certifications]]
|-
! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;" |[[UK Albums Chart|UK]]<br /><ref name="UK">{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/25512/tin-machine/|title=Tin Machine {{!}} full Official Chart History|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|access-date=8 October 2022}}</ref>

! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;" |[[ARIA Charts|AUS]]<br><ref>Peaks in Australia:
* ''Tin Machine'': {{cite web|url=https://australian-charts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Tin+Machine|title=Discography Tin Machine|website=australian-charts.com|access-date=8 October 2022}}
* ''Tin Machine II'': {{cite web|url= https://www.bubblingdownunder.com/2022/10/week-commencing-7-october-1991.html| title=Bubbling Down Under Week Commencing 7 October 1991|website=Bubbling Down Under|access-date=8 October 2022}}</ref>

! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;" |[[Ö3 Austria Top 40|AUT]]<br /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://austriancharts.at/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Tin+Machine|title=Discographie Tin Machine|website=austriancharts.at|language=de|access-date=8 October 2022}}</ref>

! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;" |[[GfK Entertainment charts|GER]]<br /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.offiziellecharts.de/suche?artistId=Tin+Machine|title=Discographie von Tin Machine|website=offiziellecharts.de|language=de|access-date=8 October 2022}}</ref>

! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;" |[[Dutch Album Top 100|NLD]]<br /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Tin+Machine|title=Discografie Tin Machine|website=dutchcharts.nl|language=nl|access-date=8 October 2022}}</ref>

! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;" |[[VG-lista|NOR]]<br /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://norwegiancharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Tin+Machine|title=Discography Tin Machine|website=norwegiancharts.com|access-date=8 October 2022}}</ref>

! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;" |[[Official New Zealand Music Chart|NZ]]<br /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://charts.nz/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Tin+Machine|title=Discography Tin Machine|website=charts.nz|access-date=8 October 2022}}</ref>

! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;" |[[Sverigetopplistan|SWE]]<br /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://swedishcharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Tin+Machine|title=Discography Tin Machine|website=swedishcharts.com|access-date=8 October 2022}}</ref>

! scope="col" style="width:2.6em; font-size:90%;" |[[Billboard 200|US]]<br /><ref>Peaks on the US ''Billboard'' 200:
* ''Tin Machine'': {{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/1989-07-01/|title=Billboard 200: Week of July 1, 1989|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|access-date=8 October 2022}}
* ''Tin Machine II'': {{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/1991-09-21/|title=Billboard 200: Week of September 21, 1991|magazine=Billboard|access-date=8 October 2022}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row" | ''[[Tin Machine (album)|Tin Machine]]''
|
* Released: 22 May 1989
* Label: EMI USA
* Formats: LP, CD
| 3 || 42 || 19 || 13 || 24 || 9 || 14 || 9 || 28
|
* [[British Phonographic Industry|BPI]]: Gold<ref>{{cite certification|region=United Kingdom|type=album|artist=Tin Machine|title=Tin Machine|id=7625-1126-2|access-date=8 October 2022}}</ref>
|-
! scope="row" | ''[[Tin Machine II]]''
|
* Released: 2 September 1991
* Label: [[London Records|London]]
* Formats: LP, CD
| 23 || 139 || 25 || 56 || 33 || 14 || — || 19 || 126
|
|-
| colspan="12" style="font-size:85%" | "—" denotes releases that did not chart.
|}

===Live albums===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan="1" scope="col" style="width:20em;" | Title
! rowspan="1" scope="col" style="width:20em;" | Album details
|-
! scope="row" |''[[Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby]]''
|
* Released: 27 July 1992
* Label: London
* Formats: LP, CD
* Film: ''[[David Bowie discography#Live concert films|Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby]]{{Broken anchor|date=2024-06-12|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=David Bowie discography#Live concert films|reason= The anchor (Live concert films) [[Special:Diff/1066842253|has been deleted]].}}''
|-
! scope="row" |''[[Tin Machine Tour#Live recordings|Tin Machine: Live at La Cigale, Paris, 25 June 1989]]''
|
* Released: 30 August 2019
* Label: Parlophone
* Formats: DD, streaming
|}

===Singles===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:20em;" | Title
! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:1em;" | Year
! colspan="3" scope="col" | Peak chart positions
! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:12em;" | Album
|-
! style="width:3.5em;font-size:90%" | [[UK Singles Chart|UK]]<br /><ref name="UK"/>
! style="width:3.5em;font-size:90%" | [[Irish Albums Chart|IRE]]<br /><ref name="irma">"[http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement The Irish Charts – All there is to know] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602061251/http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement |date=2 June 2009 }}". [[Irish Recorded Music Association]]. Retrieved on 15 October 2008. Note: User needs to enter "David Bowie" or "Tin Machine" in the "Search by artist" field and click the "search" button.</ref>
! style="width:3.5em;font-size:90%" |[[Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks|US Main.<br />Rock]]<br /><ref name="billboard singles">"[{{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p3753/charts-awards/billboard-singles|pure_url=yes}} David Bowie > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles]". [[Allmusic]]. [[Rovi Corporation]]. Retrieved on 15 October 2008.</ref>
|- style="text-align:center;"
! scope="row" | "[[Heaven's in Here]]" <small>(promo only)</small>
| rowspan="4" |1989
| —
| —
| —
| rowspan="4" |''Tin Machine''
|- style="text-align:center;"
! scope="row" | "[[Under the God]]"
| 51
| 23
| 8
|- style="text-align:center;"
! scope="row" |"[[Tin Machine (song)|Tin Machine]]"/"[[Maggie's Farm|Maggie's Farm (live)]]"
| 48
| ×
| ×
|- style="text-align:center;"
! scope="row" | "[[Prisoner of Love (Tin Machine song)|Prisoner of Love]]"
| 77
| —
| —
|- style="text-align:center;"
! scope="row" | "[[You Belong in Rock 'n' Roll]]"
| rowspan="3" |1991
| 33
| —
| —
| rowspan="3" |''Tin Machine II''
|- style="text-align:center;"
! scope="row" | "[[Baby Universal]]"
| 48
| —
| 21
|- style="text-align:center;"
! scope="row" | "[[One Shot (Tin Machine song)|One Shot]]"
| —
| —
| 17
|-
| colspan="6" | <small>"—" denotes releases that did not chart. "×" denotes single not released in that territory.</small>
|}

=== Other appearances ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="width:1em;" | Year
! Song(s)
! Album
! Notes
! Ref.
|-
|1992
|"Go Now"
|''[[Ruby Trax]]''
|
|<ref>"[{{Allmusic|class=album|id=r301316|pure_url=yes}} Ruby Trax: The NME's Roaring 40 > Overview]". [[Allmusic]]. [[Rovi Corporation]]. Retrieved on 10 March 2009.</ref>
|-
|1993
| "Baby Can Dance"
|''Best of Grunge Rock''
| Live version recorded in [[Hamburg]] on 24 October 1991
| style="text-align:center;" |<ref>Pegg, p. 213</ref>
|-
|1994
|"Needles on the Beach"
|''Beyond the Beach''
|
|
|}

===Music videos===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="width:1em;" | Year
! Song title
! Director(s)
! Notes
|-
| rowspan="4" | 1989
| "Heaven's in Here"
| rowspan="7" |Julien Temple
|unreleased single and video
|-
| "Under the God"
|
|-
| "Maggie's Farm" (live version)
|
|-
| "Prisoner of Love"
|
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1991
| "You Belong in Rock 'n' Roll"
|
|-
| "Baby Universal"
|
|-
| "One Shot"
|
|}

=== Music video films ===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
! scope="col" style="width:20em;" | Title
! scope="col" style="width:20em;" | Album details
|-
! scope="row" |''[[Tin Machine (album)#Music video|Tin Machine]]''
|
* Director: Julien Temple
* Screened: 1989
* Unreleased to home video market
|}

=== Live concert films ===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
! scope="col" style="width:20em;" | Title
! scope="col" style="width:20em;" | Album details
|-
! scope="row" |''[[Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby|Oy Vey, Baby – Tin Machine Live at The Docks]]''
|
* Released: 1992
* Distributor: [[PolyGram Video]]
* Format: VHS
|}

== Concert tours==

* [[Tin Machine Tour]] (1989)
* [[It's My Life Tour]] (1991–1992)

==References==
===See also===
* [[List of musical supergroups]]

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last=Buckley |first=David |year=2005 |orig-year=1999 |title=Strange Fascination – David Bowie: The Definitive Story |location=London |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |isbn=978-0-75351-002-5}}
*{{cite book |last=O'Leary |first=Chris |year=2019 |title=Ashes to Ashes: The Songs of David Bowie 1976–2016 |location=London |publisher=[[Repeater Books|Repeater]] |isbn=978-1-91224-830-8}}
*{{cite book |last=Pegg |first=Nicholas |author-link=Nicholas Pegg |title=The Complete David Bowie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LqFkDQAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Titan Books]] |location=London |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-78565-365-0 |edition=Revised and Updated}}
*{{cite book |last=Sandford |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Sandford (biographer) |title=Bowie: Loving the Alien |location=London |publisher=[[WarnerMedia|Time Warner]] |year=1997 |orig-year=1996 |isbn=978-0-306-80854-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/bowielovingalien00sand}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoxGZhv9wik, Tin Machine's live performance at the 1989 International Rock Awards (Youtube)]
* {{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p5664}}

{{David_bowie}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:British hard rock musical groups]]
[[Category:American hard rock musical groups]]
[[Category:Rock music supergroups]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1988]]
[[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1992]]
[[Category:EMI Records artists]]
[[Category:David Bowie]]