Tin Machine - Tin Machine II

Tin Machine II is the second and final studio album by British American hard rock supergroup Tin Machine, originally released in September 1991 via Victoria and London Records.

Tin Machine consisted of David Bowie on lead vocals, sax, and guitar; Reeves Gabrels on guitar and vocals; Tony Fox Sales on bass and vocals; and Hunt Sales on drums and vocals. 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" and to rejuvenate himself artistically.

The band recorded two studio albums and one live album before dissolving in 1992, after which Bowie returned to his solo career. Bowie would later credit his time with Tin Machine as instrumental in revitalising his career after the 1980s.

Tin Machine II's reputation has only increased over the years. Uncut magazine placed the album on their list of 50 Great Lost Albums (their list of great albums not currently available for purchase), calling the album "extraordinary".

The band reconvened following their 1989 tour, recording most of the album in Sydney. The band played an impromptu show at a small Sydney venue on 4 November 1989, before taking a rest while Bowie completed his solo Sound+Vision Tour and filmed The Linguini Incident.

As with all Bowie albums, there are plenty of strong tracks here to make this a must-have.  Opening track "Baby Universal" is pure Bowie. He re-recorded this track in 1996 for his 1997 album Earthling, but the track was not released on the album. It was eventually released in 2020 on the Bowie EP Is it Any Wonder?.

The first single "You Belong In Rock n' Roll" was released ahead of the album and peaked at #33 in the UK. The second single "Baby Universal" achieved success on the Modern Rock chart in the USA, where it reached #21, and the third and last single "One Shot" became an even bigger hit, reaching #3.

The album's cover (which was censored for its original USA release) was created by Edward Bell, who had previously worked with Bowie in making artwork for Scary Monsters. The cover art consists of a photo of the Kroisos Kouros repeated fourfold, in a manner similar to pop art.

This album is a limited edition 2022 reissue of 5,000 individually numbered copies on 180 gram crystal clear & turquoise mixed coloured audiophile vinyl housed in a special spot varnished sleeve with a printed insert, pressed in Europe via Music On Vinyl.