22. Tin Machine actually made a second album: TIN MACHINE II. And, believe it or not, it’s not that bad. I hated the first Tin Machine album so much that I never bothered buying the second one, so I never heard it until after David Bowie’s death when I began to re-examine his entire oeuvre. The first three songs on the album, in fact, I like quite a bit. The album sounds more like traditional Bowie material rather than the endless, droning noise of the first Tin Machine album. There is one giant flaw on this album, however: two of the twelve songs are sung by drummer Hunt Sales. Tin Machine was still a band, mind you, so I guess Bowie wanted things a bit more egalitarian…even though he had sung every track on the first album! Unfortunately, those two songs are atrocious and they mar what is otherwise a very recommendable album.
This album marked the second time Bowie had to have male genitalia excised from an album cover. As with the dog penis on DIAMOND DOGS, the four ancient Greek statues adorning the TIN MACHINE II album cover had to have their penises airbrushed off for the U.S. release. Yes, puritanical America was the only country that required the removal.
Although written by Bowie, the song “A Big Hurt” sounds like it could be a Pixies cover. The Pixies was one of Bowie’s favorite bands. My favorite track on the album is “You Belong in Rock n’ Roll.” It’s the one song that’s most Bowie-like, with a sound far removed from Tin Machine’s first album. Plus, it has a fun video with all kinds of Bowieness in it. (Work those shoulders! Suck that toe! Oh, I love him…)
In 1999, when Virgin Records remastered and reissued Bowie’s entire back catalog, the first Tin Machine album was rebranded as a David Bowie album with the title TIN MACHINE. The second Tin Machine album was ignored and not reissued, presumably because of the poor decision to include two songs sung by the drummer, and/or the fact that the album sold very poorly in the first place. It’s unfortunate because this album is a million times better than the first.