In 1989, if David Bowie was trying to exorcise the ghost of his softer, radio-friendly mid-80's image, this was the album to do it. There is nothing soft or poppy about this music. It is straightforward and loud rock.Another thing is that the album is GUITAR-DRIVEN, to the max. One reviewer complained that you can have too much guitar. Well, I might not go that far, but the fact is, this band does everything that can be done with guitars, sometimes seemingly 3 or 4 things all at once, and there are few moments without loud guitar music. It isn't noise, it is sophisticated, talented artistry, but it is THERE, deliberately noticeable. And the drumming on the album is very strong. As an example of how this works out, John Lennon did his song "Working Class Hero" as a somber folk piece; the Tin Machine version opens with fast drumming, and once the guitars start, they are pervasive, and they aren't folkish either.Bowie, the consummate rock star, has the juice to stand up to these strong musical tracks. In another comparison to Lennon, Bowie's emotional, sometimes strained vocals echo the "primal screams" on Lennon's first solo album, although to a lesser degree. Perhaps this was therapy for Bowie (shedding his mainstream skin) as Lennon claimed it was for himself. Bowie's vocals also remind me to some extent of those on his last album, "The Next Day": generally leaning away from the melodic. As for lyrics, he sings about sex ("Think about a reason to see you tonight/Something getting hard when you rock it up"), drug addiction ("And you the master dealer/May death be on your brow/May razors slash your mainline/I'm selling you out right now"), neo-Nazis ("White trash picking up Nazi flags/While you was gone, there was war/This is the West, get used to it/They put a swastika over the door"), religion ("Now Jesus he came in a vision/And offered you redemption from sin/I'm not sayin' that I don't believe you/But are you sure that it really was him"), and love ("I'm lazy/You're crazy, girl/Stay by my side").So, what type of music are we talking about here? The tracks vary. "Heaven's In Here" is like bluesy bar-rock, but classy and top-flight, not sloppy. "Tin Machine", "Pretty Thing" and "Sacrifice Yourself" are faster, punky tracks. "Crack City" is slower rock, like The Troggs from the 60's, and includes some psychedelic guitar licks. Probably the best and most representative track is "Under The God": hard-driving, grating rock. Another highlight is "Video Crime", with Slash-like G'nR guitar blended with grungier sounds. If there are any ballads on this album, I guess they would be "Prisoner Of Love" and "Amazing", simply because they are a little slower, the vocals are a little more melodic, and the production is a little more mainstream. "Baby Can Dance" closes the album with as much volume as there has been throughout. No mercy. And after that track, you can exhale.