Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: Robert Downey, Jr. (vocals, piano, Wurlitzer organ, keyboards, percussion, background vocals); Robert Downey, Jr.; Jon Anderson (vocals, background vocals); Steve Dudas (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, balalaika); Jimmy Haun (electric guitar); Charlie Bisharat (violin); Jim Cox (piano, Hammond b-3 organ); Alan Broadbent (piano); Tom Canning (Hammond b-3 organ); Armand Sabal-Lecco (bass instrument); Charlie Haden (bass guitar); Alec Puro (drums); Sarah Hudson (background vocals); Mark Hudson (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, percussion, background vocals); Cameron Stone (cello); Jeff Bunnell (flugelhorn); Gregg Bissonette, Chad Wackerman, Vinnie Colaiuta (drums). | | Audio Mixers: Dave Way; Lior Goldenberg. | | Recording information: Elias Arts, Santa Monica, CA; The Village Recorder, Los Angeles, CA; Whatinthewhatthe?, Los Angeles, CA. | | Photographers: Jonathan Elias; Robert Downey, Jr.; Mark Hudson; Jimmy "SprĀnge" LaRiccio; Vicenzo LoRusso; Amy Galland. | | Unknown Contributor Role: Russell Nachman. | | Robert Downey Jr.'s debut album features a star-studded cast of musicians, not the least of whom is Yes's lead singer Jon Anderson (who performs backing vocals on his own "Your Move"). This is a confident step for an actor whose drug problems were making lurid headlines just a few years before this record's 2004 release. Allusions to these tribulations form the bulk of the material on THE FUTURIST, from the opening "Man Like Me" with its "This is a habit I'm breaking now forever" lyric, to the 12-step program reference in "Broken." Downey's voice sounds suitably lived-in, displaying more than a passing acquaintance with the oeuvre of Elton John, and the arrangements are played as impeccably as you'd expect by the outstanding roster of Los Angeles session musicians. Lyrically, Downey can be quite dark, as his macabre role as the corpse in the album's artwork (a tribute to Rembrandt's "The Anatomy Lesson") implies. However, the inclusion of Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" (Downey played Chaplin in the eponymous 1992 biopic) is perhaps an indication of a brighter future for the troubled star. |
Producer: Jonathan Elias; Mark Hudson; Vicenzo LoRusso; Jonathan Elias; Mark Hudson |
Engineer: Bruce Sugar; Vicenzo LoRusso; Doug Reid; Kevin Churko; Bruce Sugar |
Musical Guests | | Vinnie Colaiuta | | Chad Wackerman |
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