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Look Back in Anger (song)
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Look Back in Anger
| cover = Look Back in Anger label.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = David Bowie
| album = Lodger
| released = (US)
| B-side = Repetition
| recorded = *September 1978
*March 1979
| studio = *Mountain, Montreux
*Record Plant, New York City
| genre =
| length = 3:08
| label = RCA
| writer = *David Bowie
*Brian Eno
| producer = * David Bowie
* Tony Visconti
| prev_title = Yassassin
| prev_year = 1979
| next_title = John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)
| next_year = 1979
| misc =
}}
"'Look Back in Anger'" is a song written by English artists David Bowie and Brian Eno for the album 'Lodger' (1979). It concerns "a tatty 'Angel of Death'",Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). 'Bowie: An Illustrated Record': p.106 and features a guitar solo by Carlos Alomar.
RCA Records was unsure if America was ready for the sexual androgyny of "Boys Keep Swinging",Nicholas Pegg (2000). 'The Complete David Bowie': p.43 the lead-off single from 'Lodger' in most territories, and "Look Back in Anger" was issued instead.Nicholas Pegg (2000). 'The Complete David Bowie': p.131 The B-side was another track from 'Lodger' called "Repetition", a story of domestic violence. The single failed to chart.
"Look Back in Anger" has a mixed reputation among Bowie commentators. 'NME' critics Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray described it as "probably the low point" of the album, while Nicholas Pegg considers it "one of 'Lodger's' dramatic highlights" and Chris O'Leary has called it "one of Bowie's strongest songs of the late Seventies".Chris O'Leary (2019). 'Ashes to Ashes: The Songs of David Bowie, 19762016': p.128
Beyond the shared title, the song has nothing to do with the John Osborne play 'Look Back in Anger'.
Bowie performed the song on his 1983 Serious Moonlight Tour (it is the opening number on the 'Serious Moonlight' film) and reworked it in the mid-1990s as a heavy rock song for the Outside and Earthling tours.
Track listing
# "Look Back in Anger" (David Bowie, Brian Eno) 3:08
# "Repetition" (Bowie) 2:59
Personnel
* 'Producers':
** Tony Visconti
** David Bowie
* 'Musicians':
** David Bowie: vocals, guitar
** Dennis Davis: drums
** George Murray: bass
** Carlos Alomar: guitar
** Sean Mayes: piano
** Brian Eno: synthesizer, horse trumpet, Eroica horn
** Tony Visconti: backing vocals
Music video
David Mallet directed a music video for the song, featuring Bowie in an artist's studio. The scenario was based on the conclusion of Oscar Wilde's 'The Picture of Dorian Gray', as a self-portrait of the protagonist grows more handsome while he himself physically decays.David Buckley (1999). 'Strange Fascination David Bowie: The Definitive Story': p.355
Other releases
"Look Back in Anger" has appeared on the following compilations: 'Chameleon' (Australia/New Zealand 1979), 'Christiane F.' soundtrack (1981), 'Golden Years' (1983), 'Sound + Vision' (1989), 'The Singles Collection' (1993), 'The Best of David Bowie 1974/1979' (1998), and 'The Platinum Collection' (2005/2006).
A concert performance recorded on 12 September 1983 may be heard on the live album 'Serious Moonlight (Live '83)', which was part of the 2018 box set 'Loving the Alien (1983-1988)' and was released separately the following year. The filmed performance appears on the concert video 'Serious Moonlight'.
In summer 1988 Bowie recorded a "new, brutal version of the song" with Reeves Gabrels on lead guitar, Kevin Armstrong on rhythm guitar, and Erdal Kizilcay on bass and drums; it was the first arrangement Bowie and Gabrels collaborated on, taking place shortly before the formation of the band Tin Machine.David Buckley (1999). 'Strange Fascination David Bowie: The Definitive Story': pp.449450Chris O'Leary (2019). 'Ashes to Ashes: The Songs of David Bowie, 19762016': pp.126, 128, 278279 The recording was issued as a bonus track on the Rykodisc release of 'Lodger' in 1991.
Bowie subsequently performed the song on several of his later tours, including the 1995 Outside Tour, the 1997 Earthling Tour, and his 2002 Heathen Tour. Live versions from the 1995 tour were included on 'Ouvrez le Chien (Live Dallas 95)' and 'No Trendy Rchauff (Live Birmingham 95)' (both released in 2020).
References
Category:David Bowie songs
Category:1979 songs
Category:Songs written by David Bowie
Category:Songs written by Brian Eno
Category:Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti
Category:Song recordings produced by David Bowie
Category:Music videos directed by David Mallet (director)
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