Grown Backwards

Album by David Byrne

Grown Backwards
Studio album by
David Byrne
ReleasedMarch 16, 2004 (2004-03-16)
RecordedKampo Studios, New York City; strings recorded at Tequila Mockingbird, Austin, Texas and several other locations
GenreArt pop, chamber pop, orchestral pop, baroque pop, opera
Length57:46
LanguageEnglish, French ("Au fond du Temple Saint"), Italian ("Un Dì, Felice, Eterea")
LabelNonesuch/Warner Bros.
ProducerDavid Byrne and Patrick Dillett
David Byrne chronology
Lead Us Not into Temptation
(2003) 		Grown Backwards
(2004) 		David Byrne Live at Union Chapel
(2004)

Grown Backwards is the seventh studio album by musician David Byrne, released on March 16, 2004.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic78/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Pitchfork Media7.6/10[3]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Grown Backwards received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 from 17 critic scores.[1]

In 2010, Byrne wrote in his book How Music Works it has sold 127,000 physical albums, 8,000 digital albums and 53,000 digital singles (overall 140,000 units sold of albums).[4] The album peaked at #178 and #88 in the US and UK respectively.[5][6] The album was released on vinyl for the first time on March 15, 2019.[7]

Track listing

All tracks written by David Byrne, except where noted.

  1. "Glass, Concrete & Stone" – 4:13
  2. "The Man Who Loved Beer" (Donald Charles Book and Kurt Wagner of Lambchop) – 2:41
  3. "Au fond du temple saint" (From Les pêcheurs de perles) – 4:49
  4. "Empire" – 4:12
  5. "Tiny Apocalypse" – 4:03
  6. "She Only Sleeps" – 2:57
  7. "Dialog Box" – 3:30
  8. "The Other Side of this Life" – 4:00
  9. "Why" – 2:54
  10. "Pirates" – 3:52
  11. "Civilization" – 3:17
  12. "Astronaut" – 2:55
  13. "Glad" – 1:58
  14. "Un Dì, Felice, Eterea" (Giuseppe Verdi, from La Traviata) – 2:51
  15. "Lazy" (bonus track) (Byrne/X-Press 2) – 9:35

Bonus tracks on 2019 vinyl edition

  2. "Strange Enough" – 2:35
  3. "50212" – 3:40
  4. "Ausencia" – 3:51
  5. "Dreamworld" – 5:01
  6. "Show and Tell" – 2:41
  7. "The Bumps" – 3:25

Personnel

Musicians in the Hollywood Bowl
Byrne on the My Backwards Life tour with Tosca Strings

"Glass, Concrete & Stone"

Recorded at Loveshack Studio, New York City

"The Man Who Loved Beer"

  • Ames Asbell – viola
  • Jamie Desautels – violin
  • Douglas Harvey – cello
  • Leigh Mahoney – violin
  • Sara Nelson – cello
  • Tracy Seeger – violin

Recorded at Avatar, New York City

"Au Fond du Temple Saint"

  • Elaine Barber – harp
  • Stephen Barber – prepared piano
  • Tom Burritt – marimba, tympani
  • David Byrne – vocals
  • Pamelia Kurstin – theremin
  • Mike Maddox – accordion
  • Freddie Mendoza – trombone, euphonium
  • John Mills – clarinet, bass clarinet, flute
  • The Tosca Strings
  • Rufus Wainwright – vocals

"Empire"

Recorded RPM Studio, New York City

"Tiny Apocalypse"

  • Lisa Aferiat – violin
  • Georgia Boyd – viola
  • Barry Burns – spacey guitar, Rhodes
  • David Byrne – vocals, Rhodes
  • Donald Gillan – cello
  • Robert Irvine – cello
  • Greg Lawson – violin
  • Una McGlone – bass
  • Johnny Quinn – drum kit
  • Fiona Stephen – violin

Recorded at CaVa Sound Workshops, Glasgow

"She Only Sleeps"

  • David Byrne – vocals, electric guitar
  • Joe Cooper – percussion
  • Paul Godfrey – sequencing
  • Ross Godfrey – keyboards
  • Andy Waterworth – bass guitar

Recorded at Cheeba Central, London Produced by Morcheeba Productions

"Dialog Box"

  • Jon Blondell – trombone
  • David Byrne – vocals, electric guitars
  • Paul Frazier – bass guitar
  • John Mills – baritone sax
  • Mauro Refosco – percussion
  • Steve Williams – drum kit

Recorded at Avatar, New York City, horns recorded at Congress House Studio, Austin, Texas

"The Other Side of This Life"

  • Elaine Barber – harp
  • David Byrne – vocals, semi-nylon guitar
  • Paul Frazier – bass guitar
  • Mauro Refosco – percussion, samples, kitchen implements
  • The Tosca Strings
  • Steve Williams – drum kit, cowbell

Recorded at Avatar, New York City

"Why"

  • David Byrne – vocals, electric guitar, programming
  • Paul Frazier – bass guitar
  • Mauro Refosco – percussion
  • Jon Spurney – keyboards
  • The Tosca Strings
  • Kenny Wollesen – drum kit

Drums recorded at Skyline, New York City

"Pirates"

  • Jon Blondell – trombone
  • David Byrne – vocals, acoustic guitar
  • Paul Frazier – bass
  • John Mills – baritone sax
  • Mauro Refosco – percussion
  • The Tosca Strings
  • Kenny Wollesen – drum kit

Drums recorded at Skyline, New York City, horns recorded at Congress House Studio

"Civilization"

Drums recorded at Skyline, New York City

"Astronaut"

  • David Byrne – vocals, electric guitar
  • Paul Frazier – bass guitar
  • Pamelia Kurstin – theremin
  • Mauro Refosco – percussion
  • Steve Williams – percussion

"Glad"

  • Jon Blondell – trombone
  • David Byrne – vocals, nylon-string guitar
  • Paul Frazier – bass
  • John Mills – clarinet, bass clarinet
  • Mauro Refosco – percussion
  • The Tosca Strings
  • Steve Williams – spaghetti percussion

Horns recorded at Congress House Studio

"Un di Felice, Eterea"

  • David Byrne – vocals
  • David Creswell – viola
  • Katherine Fong – violin
  • Soo Hyun Kwon – violin
  • Dawn Hannay – viola
  • Philip Myers – French horn
  • Mark Nuccio – clarinet
  • Sandra Park – violin
  • John Patitucci – bass guitar
  • Alan Stepansky – cellos
  • Jeremy Turner – cellos
  • Jon Vercesi – Rhodes
  • Shelly Woodworth – oboe, English horn
  • Sharon Yamada – violin

Recorded at Sound on Sound, New York City

"Lazy"

  • David Byrne – vocals, electric guitar, keyboards, drum programming
  • Patrick Dillett – background vocals
  • Paul Frazier – bass
  • Mauro Refosco – percussion
  • The Tosca Strings
  • Steve Williams – drum triggers

References

  1. ^ a b "Grown Backwards by David Byrne". Metacritic. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  2. ^ link
  3. ^ link
  4. ^ Byrne, David (2 May 2017). How Music Works (2nd ed.). Crown/Archetype. p. 251. ISBN 978-0804188944.
  5. ^ "David Byrne". Billboard. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  6. ^ "DAVID BYRNE | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  7. ^ "David Byrne's Nonesuch Debut Album, "Grown Backwards," to Get First Vinyl Release with Six Bonus Tracks, March 15". Nonesuch Records. Retrieved 13 February 2019.

External links

  • Official website Edit this at Wikidata
  • Press release from Nonesuch on the vinyl re-release
  • Grown Backwards at Discogs (list of releases)
  • Grown Backwards at MusicBrainz (list of releases)
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