Reality - David Bowie
Metascore
74 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 18
  2. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. Reality is easily one of his most emotionally transparent albums.
  2. 80
    Bowie's best album for 20 years. [Oct 2003, p.104]
  3. 80
    While it's very much a rock album... it kicks in a very 'now' way (this ain't Tin Machine). [Oct 2003, p.112]
  4. It's a little artier than Heathen, but similar in its feel and just as satisfying.
  5. Bowie's best music since Scary Monsters. [Oct 2003, p.101]
  6. While it might not push the experimental envelope as forcefully as some critics or fans would like, it nonetheless sounds as vital and vibrant as any pop-rock record released this year.
  7. 80
    By keeping it simple, Bowie has avoided the stupid, said more with less and made the clearest record of his career. [#61, p.88]
  8. Neither a calculated trip to Bowie's past nor a wagon-hitching ride to current pop trends, the album has an energy all its own.
  9. This is as close as Bowie has ever come to simply "pretty good" in his storied career.
  10. It's the sound of a man who's worked out how to be good again, who finally understands his own strengths and limitations.
  11. So, his best album since 'Scary Monsters' (ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!).
  12. 70
    Lucid, enjoyable and occasionally full-on rockin'. [Oct 2003, p.115]
  13. Bowie toughens up his sound, sawing at the edges of Jonathan Richman's "Pablo Picasso" and, on "New Killer Star," reclaiming the insinuating guitar propulsion he'd loaned to Lou Reed when he produced Transformer.
  14. The album quickly reveals itself to be a muddled effort of overproduction and drab lyrics.
  15. 67
    A relaxed, even graceful affair. [Dec 2003, p.123]
  16. Reality's core flaw is the same on e that has marred Bowie's work since 1993's Black Tie White Noise: studio-slick production that drowns even the best musical ideas in digitally processed canola oil. [19 Sep 2003, p.85]
  17. It’s solid, but it has no power over me.
  18. While Reality isn't a failure by anyone's standards, there's precious few moments that you can recall, much less hum, an hour after listening to it.
User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 39 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 26
  3. Negative: 1 out of 26
  1. Obviously his best album since...maybe Scary Monsters (no...don't say Let's Dance ¬¬).

    Rocker numbers, pop numbers, and some kind of Flamen
    enco stuff ('Pablo Picasso' and yes, I'm Spanish) mixed with Pop-rock. Great album with two instant classic (New Killer Star and Reality).

    Unfortunately, Bowie was so great with The Spiders and in his Berlin Era that this have to be a 7 album and not a 9 or 10 one, but obviously is better than any average Pop artist from the 2010s.

    Those who don't like it: sorry, you don't like the REAL David Bowie.
    Full Review »
  2. KylarL
    10
    Finally a return. This most definitely is his best work since Let's Dance. Let's hope for more along this quality.
  3. FourSkin
    10
    I bought the version with the DVD. It works as well live as does in the studio. So much for the layering. His band is fantastic. I always like Bowie music best when its got a kickarse bass played by a kickarse bass player. Full Review »