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| Baal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| EP by | ||||
| Released | February 1982 | |||
| Recorded | September 1981 | |||
| Studio | Hansa by the Wall,Berlin | |||
| Length | 11:14 | |||
| Label | RCA | |||
| Producer | ||||
| David Bowie chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "The Drowned Girl" onYouTube | ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
Baal is anEP by the English musicianDavid Bowie, comprising recordings of songs written forBertolt Brecht’s playBaal. It is sometimes referred to asDavid Bowie in Bertolt Brecht's Baal, as credited on the sleeve.The EP was Bowie's final release of new material forRCA Records; he signed withEMI Records for his next album.
In August 1981, Bowie had begun rehearsals to appear in the BBC version ofBaal. The lyrics to the songs were all translated byRalph Manheim andJohn Willett. Bowie did not think of thetelevision play as a success on broadcast due to its cinematography, but had grown to appreciate it by 1983.[2]Dominic Muldowney provided all new musical settings, except for "The Drowned Girl", which was a setting byKurt Weill done originally forDas Berliner Requiem. In September 1981, Bowie andTony Visconti returned to the Hansa studios in Berlin to re-record the five songs Baal performed in the play.
"Baal's Hymn" is a combination of the vignettes spread throughout the play and establishes Baal's amoral character. "Remembering Marie A." concerns Baal's reminiscences of a past conquest, where he can remember a cloud drifting overhead but not the face of the girl he was with. "Ballad of the Adventurers" is Baal's aggressive lament to the death of his mother. "The Drowned Girl" relates the suicide of one of Baal's conquests – a video clip for this song was shot byDavid Mallet at the same time as the one for "Wild is the Wind". "The Dirty Song" is a short number, with Baal humiliating his lover Sophie.
Bowie's performance as Baal was transmitted on 2 March 1982, and RCA issued the EP to coincide with this. Both the play and EP were well received, with the latter reaching No. 29 in the UK chart, commendable considering the unconventional tracks. In addition to the 7" edition, which came packaged in a double gatefold sleeve containing extensive notes pertaining to the musical content and a short biography of Bertolt Brecht, the EP was released as a 12", which gained it some play in clubs as well as radio airplay. It would mark Bowie's final new release for RCA Records. Bowie's next release was issued byEMI.
Chris O'Leary calls the EP "a kiss-off to a label Bowie had grown to hate" and writes that "Baal is often considered a strange cul-de-sac in Bowie's career... ButBaal, afterScary Monsters, is Bowie's best record of the decade [1980s]."[3]
"The Drowned Girl" was featured on the 2005 triple CD setThe Platinum Collection and then the 2007 re-release of its third CD under the titleThe Best of David Bowie 1980/1987; the latter also included a music video for the song on DVD. "The Drowned Girl" and "Baal's Hymn" are both included on the 2003 and 2014 expanded re-issues ofSound + Vision. The EP was re-released as a digital download in 2007.[4] All five tracks were also included as part of theRe:Call 3 compilation disc, exclusive to theA New Career in a New Town (1977–1982) box set, released in September 2017.[5]
All lyrics are written byBertolt Brecht and translated byJohn Willett, except "Remembering Marie A." which istraditional, adapted by Brecht and translated by Willett
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Baal's Hymn" (Der Choral vom großen Baal) | uncredited,Dominic Muldowney | 4:02 |
| 2. | "Remembering Marie A." (Erinnerung an die Marie A.) | traditional,adapt.Franz Servatius Bruinier,arr. Muldowney | 2:07 |
| Total length: | 6:09 | ||
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ballad of the Adventurers" (Die Ballade von den Abenteurern) | Muldowney | 2:01 |
| 2. | "The Drowned Girl" (Vom ertrunkenen Mädchen) | Kurt Weill,arr. Muldowney | 2:26 |
| 3. | "The Dirty Song" | Ludwig Prestel,arr. Muldowney | 0:38 |
| Total length: | 5:05 | ||
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