History Music / Reality

''Reality'', released in 2003, is the twenty-fourth studio album by Music/DavidBowie and the second album produced after the reunion of Bowie with longtime collaborator Tony Visconti.

* CoverVersion: "Pablo Picasso" by Music/TheModernLovers and "Try Some, Buy Some" by Music/GeorgeHarrison (originally written for and performed by Music/RonnieSpector); the latter was originally slated for inclusion on the never-released, never-''produced'' ''Music/PinUps'' sequel ''Bowie-ing Out''. During this period he also released "Love Missile F1-11" (originally by Sigue Sigue Sputnik) as a B-side for "New Killer Star". These songs would be the final examples of this trope in Bowie's studio backlog, with all later published songs (barring archival releases) being original compositions.

Containing more straightforward AlternativeRock compared to its predecessor, the album was followed by ''A Reality Tour''. It was the highest-grossing tour of 2004, gaining more than 700,000 attendees and a DVD release in 2010. However, Bowie suffered an eye injury from a lollipop being thrown at a concert in Oslo, and only a week later had a heart attack while performing at a festival in Germany in what would be his last major concert. The events led to a long break, during which time Bowie would become more involved with raising his young daughter, save for the occasional guest vocals, acting role or assistance with music production. For nearly ten years, ''Reality'' was [[SeriesFauxnale considered his last album]], with fans and press accepting that Bowie had comfortably retired, until an [[HesBack unexpected comeback]] in 2013 occurred with ''Music/TheNextDay''.

''Reality'', released in 2003, is the twenty-fourth studio album by Music/DavidBowie and the second album produced since the reunion of Bowie with longtime collaborator Tony Visconti. The album began production unusually quickly, with Bowie first writing the songs for it while the sessions for ''Music/{{Heathen}}'' were wrapping up. This overlap enabled ''Reality'' to be the fastest-released studio album of Bowie's (by distance between its own release and the release of the preceding studio album) since ''Music/TheBuddhaOfSuburbia'' in 1993[[note]]it's not the top contender for fastest-released Bowie studio album though; that position goes to ''Music/PinUps'', which was released just six months after ''Music/AladdinSane''[[/note]].

More straightforward AlternativeRock compared to its predecessor, it was followed by ''A Reality Tour''. It was the highest grossing tour of 2004, gaining more than 700,000 attendees and a DVD release in 2010. However, Bowie suffered an eye injury from a lollipop being thrown at a concert in Oslo, [[FromBadtoWorse only to be followed a week later]] by a heart attack while performing at a festival in Germany. It would be his last major concert. The events led to a long break, during which time Bowie would become more involved with raising his young daughter, save for the occasional guest vocals, acting role or assistance with music production. For nearly ten years ''Reality'' was [[SeriesFauxnale considered his last album]], with fans and press accepting that Bowie had comfortably retired, until an [[HesBack unexpected comeback]] in 2013 occurred with ''Music/TheNextDay''.

* {{Mondegreen}}: Invoked with "New Killer Star", which is written and pronounced to make fun of the way UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush pronounced the word "nuclear."

* CoverVersion: "Pablo Picasso" by Music/TheModernLovers and "Try Some, Buy Some" by Music/GeorgeHarrison (originally written for and performed by Music/RonnieSpector); the latter was originally slated for inclusion on the never-released, never-''produced'' ''Music/PinUps'' sequel ''Bowie-ing Out''. During this period he also released "Love Missile F1-11" (Sigue Sigue Sputnik) as a B-side for "New Killer Star". These songs would be the final examples of this trope in Bowie's studio backlog, with all later published songs (barring archival releases) being original compositions.

* SharpDressedMan: Bowie in the pose that [[https://bowiesongs.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/r-440226-1300817809.jpeg?w=450&h=412 inspired the cover for the album]].

More straight-forward AlternativeRock compared to its predecessor, it was followed by ''A Reality Tour''. It was the highest grossing tour of 2004, gaining more than 700,000 attendees and a DVD release in 2010. However, Bowie suffered an eye injury from a lollipop being thrown at a concert in Oslo, [[FromBadtoWorse only to be followed a week later]] by a heart attack while performing at a festival in Germany. It would be his last major concert. The events led to a long break, during which time Bowie would become more involved with raising his young daughter, save for the occasional guest vocals, acting role or assistance with music production. For nearly ten years ''Reality'' was [[SeriesFauxnale considered his last album]], with fans and press accepting that Bowie had comfortably retired, until an [[HesBack unexpected comeback]] in 2013 occurred with ''Music/TheNextDay''.

* StealthPun: What better way to promote an album titled ''Reality'' than with a cartoon drawing of your likeness.
* TakeThat: To the Bush/Cheney Administration through the songs "New Killer Star" and "Fall Dog Bombs the Moon"
* TitleTrack[=/=]TitleDrop: "Reality", the tenth track on the album

** "Bring Me the Disco King" was intended to be released on ''Black Tie, White Noise'' but ended up being reworked twice, first unsuccessfully for ''Music/{{Earthling}}'' and then successfully for this album.

While ''Reality'' was and still is fairly well-regarded by fans and critics, it's generally considered a step down from ''Heathen'' and one of Bowie's lesser post-''Music/NeverLetMeDown'' albums in part due to its more mainstream-friendly sound. The album's cover art is also a common punching bag for jokes on account of its chaotic design and UncannyValley depiction of Bowie. That said, it's acquired a greater reputation as an underrated album in Bowie's back-catalog with the passage of time, partly spurred on by the long hiatus that followed it and [[DeadArtistsAreBetter galvanized]] with Bowie's death in 2016. The album was also a decent commercial success for Bowie, peaking at No. 3 on the UK Albums chart and topping both the Danish Albums chart and the Billboard European Albums chart (on the broader Billboard 200 though it ranked at a more modest No. 29), in addition to being certified gold in the United Kingdom, France, and New Zealand.

While ''Reality'' was and still is fairly well-regarded by fans and critics, it's generally considered a step down from ''Heathen'' and one of Bowie's lesser post-''Music/NeverLetMeDown'' albums in part due to its more mainstream-friendly sound. The album's cover art is also a common punching bag for jokes on account of its chaotic design and UncannyValley depiction of Bowie. That said, it's acquired a greater reputation as an underrated album in Bowie's back-catalog with the passage of time, partly spurred on by the long hiatus that followed it and [[DeadArtistsAreBetter galvanized]] with Bowie's death in 2016. The album was also a decent commercial success for Bowie, peaking at No. 3 on the UK Albums chart and topping both the Danish Albums chart and the Billboard European Albums chart (on the broader Billboard 200 though it ranked at a more modest No. 29), in addition to being certified gold in the United Kingdom, France, and New Zealand.

* CoverVersion: "Pablo Picasso" by Music/TheModernLovers and "Try Some, Buy Some" by Music/GeorgeHarrison (originally written for and performed by Music/RonnieSpector); the latter was originally slated for inclusion on the never-released, never-''produced'' ''Music/PinUps'' sequel ''Bowie-ing Out''. During this period he also released "Love Missile F1-11" (Sigue Sigue Sputnik) as a b-side for "New Killer Star". These songs would be the final examples of this trope in Bowie's studio backlog, with all later published songs being original compositions.

* TakeThat: to the Bush/Cheney Administration through the songs "New Killer Star" and "Fall Dog Bombs the Moon"