Heathen marked the return of record producer Tony Visconti, who co-produced (with David Bowie himself) several of Bowie’s classic albums. The last album Visconti had co-produced was Scary Monsters in 1980. This was the first album since Bowie’s pre-Tin Machine work to not include guitarist Reeves Gabrels, who is replaced by David Torn and Carlos Alomar (and other guest guitarists).