| David Bowie | 1967 |
| Space Oddity | review #2 | 1969 |
| The Man Who Sold The World | review #2 | 1970 |
| Hunky Dory | review #2 | 1971 |
| Ziggy Stardust | review #2 | 1972 |
| Aladdin Sane | review #2 | 1973 |
| Pin Ups | 1973 |
| David Live | 1974 |
| Diamond Dogs | 1974 |
| Young Americans | 1975 |
| Station To Station | 1976 |
| Low | 1977 |
| Heroes | 1977 |
| Lodger | 1979 |
| Scary Monsters | 1980 |
| Let's Dance | 1983 |
| Tonight | 1984 |
| Never Let Me Down | 1987 |
| Changesbowie (compilation) | 1990 |
| Black Tie White Noise | 1993 |
| Singles: 1969-1993 (compilation) | 1993 |
| Outside | 1995 |
| The Buddha Of Suburbia | 1995 |
| Earthling | 1997 |
| The Deram Anthology (compilation) | 1997 |
| Hours | 1999 |
| Heathen | 2002 |
| Reality | 2003 |
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
This is actually David Bowie's first album; not Space Oddity which was his breakthrough that came out a whole two years later. On this album David Bowie is a struggling pop artist who doesn't have a name for himself yet. It's a rather slight collection of silly and strangely humorous Tin Pan Alley pop songs. The lyrics and music, which is childlike, are a far cry away from his glam era five years later; besides having that distinctive Bowie voice it almost sounds like a different man doing these tunes. Many of the songs lyrics and tunes are downright silly, simple, and catchy like "Sell Me A Coat" ('sell me a coat cause I feel cold'), "Rubber Band" ('my moustache was stiffly waxed and one foot long'), and "There Is A Happy Land" ('sissy Steven plays with girls, someone made him cry').
Horns play a good role in many of these tunes- --"Rubber Band" has a little brass band in it and some funny Bowie lines at the end, also "We Are Hungry Men" (one of my favorites) uses lots of horns and has a strange middle part. Unlike the dramatic experimentation of Sgt. Pepper these songs are just very lightweight and fun. It is an enjoyable album -- it is not supposed to be serious or high art, just a whole bunch of child-like songs that can make you laugh at their corniness.
There are some orchestrated big pop ballads on here too like "Love You Till Tuesday" and "When I Live My Dream" which are decent and melodic if kind of shmaltzy, but the worse offender of them is "Silly Boy Blue" because of its annoying vocals and it being the longest song on here. The rest of the album is full of ditties too: "Come And Buy My Toys" (pop folk), "Join The Gang" (acid pop), and the closer "Please Mr. Gravedigger-vers. 2" (an odd spoken piece). Nothing to really get excited about on here but it's an interesting album and an odd way to start Bowie's career.
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(Casey Brennan's review)
This is Bowie's breakthrough release that shows that he grew by leaps and bounds in the lyrics department and the overall drama of the music itself, while also creating a more distinct style. Although he developed greatly as a songwriter here, the songs are only a little better because he didn't quite have everything down pact; the lengthy songs are sometimes too long for their own good like "Cygnet Committee", which rises into a big dramatic type ending and isn't structured too great, although it's still a not half-bad song.
Overall, Bowie is in a kind of folky-Dylan mode here; songs like "Janine" and especially "Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed" show him in this state. The latter song is another lengthy one that could of been cut down a little because of the two minute jam at the end of it. The best songs on here though are "Wild Eyed Boy From Free Cloud" which is a highly orchestrated song that gets dramatic halfway through and shows that Bowie can really sing.
The other great song is "Space Oddity" and it is nothing like the rest of the album. It is the major hit that has more production to it than the others, and is by far the highlight. "Letter To Hermoine", "An Occasional Dream", and "Memory Of A Free Festival" are some other songs that are pretty good too; the latter song starts off with a slow harmonium but then a few "Space Oddity"-type sound effects come in and the song goes into a long refrain ('The sun machine is coming down, and we're gonna have a party'). The shorter 1970 single version of the song (which is a bonus track on here) is much better, because it is faster and flows better. Overall this is an average album full of folky and acoustic charm; in contrast to this his next release, The Man Who Sold The World, would show a much more gloomy and harder rocking side to him.
HIGH POINTS: Space Oddity, Memory Of A Free Festival, Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud. LOW POINTS: Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed, Cygnet Committee.
Following the mostly forgotten collection of Kinks-ish pop tunes that made up the material on his debut, Bowie emerged again two years later with an album that showed he was beginning to find a songwriting voice for himself. The overall sound of here is mostly folkish, but many of the songs themselves display considerable ambition, though being David's songwriting talents weren't fully focused at this point, there are moments here that show signs of the dreaded 'reach exceeding grasp' syndrome, where in many cases, the music and melodies are often similar to each other, but it's almost as if the lyrics and arrangements are trying to make some sort of grand statement, and the music doesn't quite do justice to it. But there are a few exceptions to this rule.
The title track, incidentally, is of course the most major exception. An epic that predates the supposed 'moon landing' in the summer of that year, the lyrics perfectly convey the feelings of 'Major Tom' being in space and not wanting to come down despite calls from Ground Control. The music, with the simple acoustic guitar over sound effects and orchestrated majesty, is gorgeous and majestic, and the multi-faceted melodies flow incredibly well (especially that acoustic guitar and handclap portion!). It's a rock classic that the rest of the album can't hope to come close to, and sure enough, things fall a bit flat afterwards with "Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed", a very primitive folk rocker that drags for over 6 minutes with all the emphasis being on the Dylan-inspired lyrics and not the strength of the music, which is as dull as can be.
The album does recover from that misstep in the next two tracks - the 40 second "Don't Sit Down" is a funny interlude, and "Letter To Hermione", while somewhat unmemorable and overly simplistic, is a very pleasurable acoustic ballad. The 9-1/2 minute "Cygnet Committee", though, again finds overambitiousness taking over. Some of the melodies here are truly captivating and anthemic (especially at the end), but if you're not paying attention to the lyrics (which are quite interesting if maybe a bit meaningless), it's very dull to sit through the way overlong arrangement and repetitive, underdeveloped music. Then we start recovering again with the start of side two - "Janine" is more folk rock, but it's quite catchy and refreshingly unambitious, and "An Occasional Dream" is a very beautiful poppy ballad with a solid melody and a 'dreamy' atmosphere.
"Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud" is an even better excursion into that previous track's style, though, as it has a great orchestral sweep that truly does the introspective nature of the melody and lyrics justice, and the mood gets even more powerful toward the middle. Winding down the album is another decent acoustic tune "God Knows I'm Good" (lyrically centering on a shoplifter's lament) and the other major highlight here besides the title track - "Memory Of A Free Festival". Starting off with a pretty and understated harmonium introduction, with a melody that slowly builds the song toward majestic heights, and it finally comes to the climax at its' repeated chant of 'sun machine is coming down, and we're gonna have a party'. It may be an obvious ripoff of the "Hey Jude" coda, but is it ever an entertaining and breathtaking note to end the album on. This admittedly isn't the most adequate Bowie collection imaginable, though, as it doesn't even much hint at the superior directions he would take later on, but there are enough good, even awesome, cuts here to push it above merely 'decent' status.
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(Casey Brennan's review)
A very bleak and gloomy mood is what sets the tone for this album, which also rocks really hard in a bluesy, yet odd, way. David Bowie lets his voice croon and swagger throughout here while telling futuristic tales in a paranoid and haunting state. The first song, "Width Of A Circle", is eight minutes long and starts off with a little feedback before going into a sweeping and hopeful intro. Then it turns into a dissonant rocker with some great lyrics and tasty guitar solos in the middle section. Mick Ronson was recruited as lead guitarist for this album, and for awhile would be Bowie's regular guitarist (he does a bang-up job on here).
Many of these songs are great and carry an interesting mood; "All The Madmen" starts off with an acoustic guitar and some circus type sounds before turning into a heavy riff rocker. Other songs like "Saviour Machine" and "After All" are creepy and have minor melodies; the latter has a twisted sideshow middle to it, while the other one makes good use of the moog synthesizer at the end to give it an ethereal quality. Their is some pure rocking fun like "Black Country Rock", in which Bowie's voice gets really weird at the end; there is the pure heavy blues of "She Shook Me Cold", and the excellent title track with its calypso rhythm.
"The Supermen" and "Running Gun Blues" aren't slouches either; "Running Gun Blues" follows in the same vein as "All The Madmen" by having a quiet intro before the loud guitars come in. The atmosphere of this album is excellent and couldn't get much more bleak, except for maybe some of his mid 90's work. This is the start of Bowie's classic period that shows him as a long haired rock star at this point. This is quite a distinctive and engaging album that shows him in a gloomy mood; that mood would go into surrender on his next album Hunky Dory.
HIGH POINTS: The Man Who Sold The World, Width Of A Circle, Saviour Machine. LOW POINTS: She Shook Me Cold.
The approach Space Oddity went for would have been a very limited path to take for anyone, but with this Bowie guy wanting to become more interesting and varied in his approach to music, the folky vibe that album had all over the place has pretty much disappeared. Instead, this effort shows a lot more of the 'hard rocking' side that might not quite be a prelude to Ziggy, but does it ever have an cool sound of its' own. Of course, for some people, Bowie's take on raw bluesier forms, on which he's joined by one of the most important and talented players throughout his career (guitarist Mick Ronson) isn't quite as exciting, and I can see why to a point. Very few songs might strike the listener as memorable - I definitely admit this is not one of his strongest albums as far as awesome melody writing is concerned, and some of them don't really develop much, but I for one have several reasons for digging this.
Reason number one is probably the atmosphere. It's not really lifeless or depressing or anything like that... just unsettling. Like the kind of unsettling where even the quieter tracks aren't very peaceful - the Syd Barrett tribute "All The Madmen", for one. Check out the demented circus organ and the way he sings lyrics like 'day after day... they take some brain away' over the stripped down acoustic landscape. It's neat. As is the really creepy side closing ballad "After All" - its' repeated 'oh by jingo...' chanting is one of the most lasting experiences on the album, and those keyboard parts are eerie! Almost like it conveys the mood someone might be in when they can't fall asleep for fear of something happening to them during the night or something like that (at least it does to me). And even the closing track "The Supermen", with its' wall of background singing, creates a booming, epic effect that still has a big hint of ominousness.
Of course, that very atmosphere plays a big part in the worthiness of two big highlights here. "Saviour Machine" in particular may be deceiving with its' bouncy guitar-dominated rhythm, but the lyrics tell an effectively bleak tale of the future, quickly setting a mood that takes a turn for the worse, especially with the use of synths during the 'pleeeeeease don't belieeeeve in me...' portion. And I really love the majestic vocals on this one! Then there's the title track, a song that successfully combines this aspect of the album with another factor: Mick Ronson's guitar work. Seriously, that one not only has the most memorable vocal melody here by far, but the way the totally eerie power of it combines with the dark lyrics, a few curious embellishments (like wind-up toy sounds and organ touches) and one of the coolest stinging guitar riffs of all time makes it the pinnacle of the listening experience.
The remaining tracks are the more raw and guitar dominated of the bunch. Well, admittedly, one of them ("She Shook Me Cold") is a really lame headache of an unfinished 'jam' that totally sounds like it was made up right on the spot (idiotically simplistic melody, too), but the others are cool. In fact, Ronson's playing on the 8 minute opening epic "Width Of A Circle" smokes, with his lead breaks in between the two simple but powerful riffs that appear throughout the song being some of the album's finest work, and the great uptempo 'turn around... go back!' portion is extremely high on excitement. Love the 'ohhhh oooohhhhh' vocal bursts, too, as well as that introductory buildup. Great song.
The last two songs that fit within this category admittedly aren't great, but "Black Country Rock" is probably the closest thing you're going to get to an all-around rousing time here. Curiously, it starts out like a lost R.E.M. song (I'm dead serious!) in its' brief jangly intro, but it talkes a completely different turn to a bluesy structure. It pretty much consists of one verse repeated throughout heavy backing music, but it works - the refrain ('some say the view is hazy...') and the stinging guitar breaks are more tasty moments here. Finally, "Running Gun Blues" is a fine aggressive acoustic/electric piece with some exciting rawness and violent lyrics in the chorus. Nice. This might not be one of Bowie's best or catchiest albums, but I believe it is an intriguing and entertaining one that's really underrated by some people (yeah, you know who you guys are!). And hey, if it weren't for the total crap of "She Shook Me Cold", the rating would probably be even higher.
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(Casey Brennan's review)
While The Man Who Sold The World was bleak, the tone on this album is mellow, light, and optimistic. Bowie is at a peak in his career with this release; his songwriting is masterful and a great deal of the songs are highly melodic. Rick Wakeman (who would later join the band Yes) colors the album with his piano work on a good amount of the songs such as "Oh! You Pretty Things", "Changes", and "Life On Mars?". These songs are among the strongest on the album; "Oh! You Pretty Things" has some great piano work and an absolutely breathtaking chorus, "Changes" is effective and the major hit on here, and "Life On Mars?" is a highly dramatic song with some melancholy orchestration.
On the even mellower side, "Kooks" is the most lightweight and funny song on here that has some playful tuba going along with it, and "Fill Your Heart" is very melodic and has some strange singing on it. In fact Bowie's voice is perfect on most of these songs; his strange English voice gives the songs more weight to them and makes them them all the more detectable. Other outstanding songs on here is the acoustic-laden "The Bewlay Brothers", a spacey and folky track that is highlighted by a great, weird, and very creepy chant at the end of it. Distinctive and pure Bowie.
There are odes to famous (or notorious) people on here too; "Andy Warhol" is a fastpaced acoustic song that ends with the sound of firecrackers, and the one immediately following it is "Song for Bob Dylan" which has some inspired guitar playing in it. Elsewhere we have "Eight Line Poem" which has a lazy melody and subtle guitar playing, it isn't quite as good as the other ones but makes the grade with its vocal delivery. "Quicksand" is another dramatic song in the form of "Life On Mars?" and is the centerpiece of the album. "Queen Bitch" is the lone rocker on the album and is fairly evident of things to come; its a prelude to Ziggy Stardust with its vocals and raunchy guitar playing. This is a very powerful collection of songs that are lightweight and melodic while sometimes being dramatic and emotional at the same time. This is possibly his greatest achievement, although he would record albums almost as good as this in the future, he would never reach or surpass what he has on here.
HIGH POINTS: Life On Mars?, The Bewlay Brothers, Changes, Oh! You Pretty Things, Kooks. LOW POINTS: None.
Strange. This doesn't sound like the most natural followup in the world to a record that had a somewhat strange take on blues rock, but of course, that's the way things tend to go when you're following the path of a talented and ambitious musical chameleon. This one's often seen as Bowie's first masterpiece, as its' overall sound takes a traditional folk rock and piano pop style and filters it through his own mind, as if it were a lot more focused and more ambitious version of Space Oddity. For the most part, I can buy into this opinion, as many of these songs have such great ideas and twists going for them, and it's never a bad idea to have Rick Wakeman playing piano on these songs, either. The best aspects of this record, though, are that the melodies (especially the choruses!) are absolutely top-notch on the best material, plus Bowie's voice really suits these songs, even when they're not classics.
The three most known pop classics on the album pretty much fit this description perfectly - it's simply wonderful how the warm verses of the opening "Changes" gradually rise to its' insanely memorable refrain ('ch-ch-ch-ch-changes... turn and face the strain...') Now that's an awesome melody. "Oh! You Pretty Things" can just about match it in terms of arrangement, though, as its' quirky piano-laden verses (with a really neat vocal approach there) move seamlessly into another highly entertaining chorus.
Finally, "Life On Mars?" is even better as the pop masterpiece here, and my favorite on the album. It seems to me this song has a lot more resonant power in its' approach than Bowie usually has, with a lot of vocal conviction. In fact, the real treat of the song is how he just belts out one of the most incredible, sweeping choruses ever written, with a majesty that just gives me chills every time. The lyrics on this one are also a great example of how a flowing stream of consciousness approach should work, and I just love how the verse melody turns from lovely to ominous just before the chorus. I also have to mention another lesser known gem in this vein, too, as "Kooks" just has an extremely beautiful charming approach to its' lyrics and vocal melody, with a really groovy, appropriate bassline in yet another transcendently singalong-ish chorus ('soon you'll grow and take a chance with a couple of kooks / hung up on romaaaaaancing').
Plus, it's my belief that Bowie and his band were so creatively inspired that he even manages to make the two tracks that look most like filler here come to life. The melody to "Eight Line Poem" might not be very good at all, but the tone of the vocals is captivating, and the guitar parts (probably Mick Ronson's doing) sound really, really neat on headphones. The cover version here in "Fill Your Heart" (a move that kickstarted a tradition of including one of these things on the next few albums) is sung in such a hilariously overexaggerated tone that it's really hard not to get carried away by it. The first song of the celebrity sequence, the memorable acoustic number "Andy Warhol" even has an intro of really neat spaceship noises and hilarious warm-up takes that sound almost as cool as the actual song itself.
The only aspect of the album that kinda prevents me from calling it an undeniable classic (though it's close to one, and there's not a single unenjoyable song here) is that most of the second half doesn't really pretend to approach the better material on here. The exception is the closing "The Bewlay Brothers", a stunning mini-epic that begins as a gripping acoustic song with wonderfully pompous, educated lyrics, a captivating refrain ('oh but we were gone...') and an incredible creepy spine-chilling ending that I won't ruin for the listener. The other songs are fascinating enough, though - "Queen Bitch" is probably a prelude to the glam rock of Ziggy, with a great heavy riff and rousing energy, and "Song For Bob Dylan" is a self-explanatory tune with more intriguing lyrics, powerful guitar work, and another striking chorus.
Finally, to round out the album comes "Quicksand", which is often seen as one of the stronger points of this one, and I confess that I don't quite love it as much as I should. For the most part, this is because I couldn't even remember how the vocal melody went the first few times I heard it, and to me it doesn't have the same immediately striking power as the other songs on here do, though lyrically, it's certainly one of the more interesting pieces Bowie came up with here, and I still like it quite a bit. Much like this album to an even greater extent - Rick Wakeman certainly thinks it's much better than Tales From Topographic Oceans, and I can thoroughly understand his reasoning for calling it a truly classic album, one of the most powerful 'chorus' records ever made, and it for me definitely ranks as a near-classic for the man.
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(Casey Brennan's review)
This was released a mere 7 months after Hunky Dory but Bowie had gone through some significant changes. After announcing that he was 'bisexual' in January of 1972, he formed a band called The Spiders From Mars and formulated his first persona as Ziggy Stardust. Bowie spiked his hair and cut it short to be this character and started wearing makeup. This album basically ushered into the glam rock era; the songs are energetic, punky, melodic, and catchy. This is one of his best and definitely most known too, that officially gave him mainstream success that was highly deserved.
"Five Years" is the opener and a highlight on here; it is quite an emotional song that slowly builds up to an exciting crescendo at the end. The other songs are mostly hard rocking, poppy, and full of great hooks like "Soul Love", "Moonage Daydream", and the short and snappy numbers, "Star" and "Hang On To Yourself". It's Glam rock at its best; every song is and has a catchy chorus, well maybe except for "It Ain't Easy" which is a cover. "Ziggy Stardust" carries the most memorable riff on here (a loud riff that goes along with great lyrics), and "Suffragette City" follows it and contains a driving synthesizer riff that quickly makes it one of the most distinctive songs in his whole catalog.
Elsewhere we have the spacey "Starman", an orchestrated song which has a classic refrain, "Lady Stardust", a piano ballad that has some powerful singing, and the closer "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide" which is a very effective way to end the album. This is another classic album that mixes poppy and melodramatic melodies with hard rocking glam. Bowie would keep his Ziggy persona and glam rock style for another year or so, until he got tired of it. This is arguably one of his best albums.
HIGH POINTS: Moonage Daydream, Five Years, Suffragette City, Ziggy Stardust, Lady Stardust, Soul Love. LOW POINTS: None.
Yet another change in persona comes here, and it's arguably the best one that Bowie could ever come up with. He assumed the role of some rocker named Ziggy Stardust, labeled his backing band as The Spiders From Mars, and created an album that I seriously doubt the guy himself, or glam rock as a whole for that matter, could ever top. Basically, the album is sort of structured like a concept one, chronicling the adventures of Ziggy and other such things I wouldn't want to get into, but fortunately, this is a sort of concept effort where the music and melodies are what mostly comes to the forefront. We've got exciting rockers with convincing singing and more typically showstopping Mick Ronson guitar work, simple but extremely catchy pop melodies, and very nice ballad-style songs - all with a generally engaging atmosphere overall. Sure, maybe it isn't revolutionary, but what album defines this style better? I can't think of anything.
There are so many great moments on these songs that I wouldn't know where to start. Ah, how about with the opening "Five Years"? Over a steady drum beat and a simple, yet captivating, piano line/vocal melody, this one has lyrics that seem to get more and more epic in their 'apocalyptic' mood as the song goes on. It actually only first reaches its' majestic 'fiiiiiiiive years... that's all we got!' chorus more than halfway through the song, then keeps repeating it as a terrific coda, all with powerful singing and atmosphere. Absolutely awesome. It isn't exactly energetic rock the way that, for example, the fast and furious "Hang On To Yourself" is (appropriate title there, and more kickass riffing and energy to boot), but what kind of album wouldn't want to have an epic like that? Or incredibly catchy pop songs like "Soul Love", which has as quality a singalong melody as any chorus of Hunky Dory (a huge compliment), and the kick in energy at the 'love is careless...' countermelody is great!
My undeniable favorite on the album, though, comes in the stunning "Moonage Daydream", which jumps right out of the fadeout from the aforementioned "Soul Love" (a really great transition). The lyrics are probably meaningless, but Bowie delivers them with such conviction over the melody that such nonsensical lines like 'make me jump into the air...' and 'you're squawking like a pink monkey bird...' totally come to life. Not only that, but the interplay between the electric and acoustic guitars here rule, and that ending... holy crap. The last minute and a half or so of this song (starting with 'freak out... in out...') might be one of my favorite musical stretches ever, as the song rises in power with this absolutely mindblowing echoey guitar solo. Whether it's a triumph of production or Mick Ronson's talents, the sound achieved here is epic beyond imagination. Totally gives me chills.
As far as the actual concept of the album goes, it seems to me that it's mostly apparent in the songs that happen to have 'star' in the title (coincidence?). There's the excellent pop of "Starman", whose bouncy verse is contrasted wonderfully by a glorious orchestral chorus ('he's a starmaaaaan waiting in the sky....'), the heavenly Elton John-ish piano ballad "Lady Stardust" ('Lady Stardust sang his songs of darkness and disgrace....' - fantastic chord progression and excellent singing!) and the less spectacular, more unmemorable, but still fine rocker "Star" (gotta love the pace shifting chorus). There's also the culmination of the whole concept in the hit title track, another classic. What a great anthemic riff and melody, plus the lyrics are absolutely crazy here, with all sorts of neat character defining phrases contained within (my particular favorite: 'jivin us that we were voodoo... the kids were just crass... he was the nazz... with God-given ass....')
The other major hit besides the title track, of course, is the fast-paced and totally thrilling "Suffragette City", probably the most defining song on here in terms of glam rock excitement. The riff might be pretty simplistic, but the overall incredibly energetic drive and entertaining melody here is convincing as hell, as is the totally random, yet hilarious, 'wham bam thank you ma'am' declaration towards the end of the song. And to close everything out, there's "Rock And Roll Suicide", a neat vaguely conceptual song that manages to build up from an acoustic ballad to a completely bombastic orchestrated coda (where he just belts out those vocals - 'you're not alone!') in just under three minutes.
Finally, in the tradition started by Hunky Dory, there's another silly cover version, though despite its' status, the somewhat bluesy tune "It Ain't Easy" still fits nicely into the framework of the album. I actually almost love it, if only for the way the chorus explodes right out of the quieter verses - the yells of 'IT AIN'T EAAAAAASYYYYY' over heavy guitar is a heck of an adrenaline rush that is extremely easy for me to appreciate at high volume. So that's it - in large part, this is a very special, and extremely captivating, experience. I originally wasn't sure whether or not this deserved a 9 or 10 at first, but I finally decided there's enough classic material on here for me to push it over the edge. Bowie's peak? Most likely.
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(Casey Brennan's review)
This album actually has a more glam rock sound to it than its predecessor. Although it isn't quite as focused as Ziggy Stardust, it does show Bowie at his raunchiest and most theatrical here; he was at the highpoint of his Ziggy persona on stage. The guitars are way up high in the mix and Bowie's lyrics are very sleazy and sexual. "Watch That Man", "Panic In Detroit", and "Cracked Actor" are all strong songs done in that style; the latter is the most perverted one of the lot. Their is also the bluesy and great "The Jean Genie", which has the most immediately memorable riff on the album, and Bowie's take on a Rolling Stones cover, "Let's Spend The Night Together", which is done in an energetic and twisted way. Tacked on near the end of the album it showed what Bowie was going to do next, a covers album which would be called Pin Ups.
Only about half the album is loud glam rock though. One of the strongest songs on here is "Aladdin Sane" which creates a strange atmosphere with its beautiful piano and haunting tune. There is an excellent broken up piano solo (quite unlike the fluent Hunky Dory piano sound) in the middle of the song and some honking saxes in the background. The 50's flaired "Drive In Saturday" is another great song, with some necessary sound effects going along with it. "Time" is a powerful listen with its soaring vocals and bombastic dynamics, it also has some great 'la, la, la's' in the refrain at the end. There aren't really any noticeable weak spots, although "The Prettiest Star" and the closer "Lady Grinning Soul" pale in comparison to some of the more memorable songs. This is an intriguing and odd album that was released at his most successful stage, and although not quite as great as Ziggy Stardust, it probably shows him at his most exciting.
HIGH POINTS: Aladdin Sane, Watch That Man, Cracked Actor, The Jean Genie, Panic In Detroit. LOW POINTS: Let's Spend The Night Together.
Hey, nice title. Get it - 'A lad insane'? Har har har. Anyway, this is a step down from Ziggy Stardust, but what wouldn't be for Bowie? It's still a wonderfully interesting and fun effort we have here, both continuing the line of Ziggy's more harder-rocking moments and theatrical approach and adding in a more curious mix of styles to ensure that this ain't no weak repeat - this musical chameleon almost never repeats himself throughout his long career. A couple songs on here, actually, are every bit as good as your average track from the last two albums, and the first half of this pretty much has to rank among his best album sides ever, an unstoppable musical force of pure flair and excitement. I wouldn't want to run into this guy on a street corner in 1973 judging by his pics on the album cover and in the liner notes, though - extremely campy stuff. I guess he definitely was at the height of his glam rock powers.
As opposed to the building mini-epic of "Five Years" from last time out, this time we get straight to the point and plunges straight into energetic glam territory with the great "Watch That Man". The vocals are a bit buried in the mix, but other than that, the anthemic power of the music with powerhouse riffing and rousing catchy hooks (I particularly love the way it builds up to the chorus with the 'Yeah!' bursts) can't be beaten on this one. In the same vein, the more wobbly but addictive "Panic In Detroit" is also a treat, with excellent vocal charisma and a somewhat danceable groove going on, and with its' typical bass-heavy production (As an aside, why have a lot of modern day bass players become so unimportant that they're either relegated to following the guitar note-for-note, merely providing a low end or just plain old buried in the mix, as opposed to early-to-mid 70's releases like this one where they were way upfront playing interesting independent parts that help carry along the melody? It bothers me so much!) I love the way "Cracked Actor" just pounds its' chorus hook and guitar riffs into your head, whether you actually want that nonsense 'crack baby crack' refrain in your head or not, damn it.
Elsewhere, "Drive-In Saturday" is basically 50's doo-wop filtered through trashy glam lyrics a la Ziggy, wonderful use of sax playing, and a top-notch melody, making for an incredibly fun time, and then there's the jazzy title track. Oh man, the title track - this one's definitely a top-tier A+ level Bowie song if I've ever heard one. It has some of the greatest use of piano I've ever heard, from those trills in the haunting opening verse that, coupled with the awesome vocal melody, feels kinda like you're just floating away, and what about the middle section, where a whole bunch of broken up dissonant piano bits are actually playing completely against the main rhythm of the song (which shows up in the unforgettable 'oooh we'll love Aladdin Saaaane' chorus), and it actually works in an indescribably trippy way? An absolutely awesome, epic masterpiece, and one of his career highlights songs for sure.
It's just too bad the second half can't sustain that level of inspiration, or else we'd be talking a no doubt about it 9 here. It also doesn't help the three weakest songs on here come all in a row to start the second half - the vaguely soul-ish "Time" may be Bowie at his most theatrical and strange (especially in the bombastic arrangement and far-out character of the lyrics), though it lacks a super strong hook to carry it like the other highlights I mentioned. Plus, "The Prettiest Star" is a melodically challenged little groove (there's a good way to work around the reviewing cliche 'this song has no melody') that's nice while it's on but leaves no impression, and the cover of the Stones' "Let's Spend The Night Together" is a little too misguided - yes, it's energetic and in places even futuristic, but I hate it when cover versions try to mess with a perfect pop melody by changing it around, and it doesn't really add anything to the original. Pointless.
That being said, none of these weak spots (which are mostly still decent) are enough to knock the rating down much, and it does rebound at the end with the most straightforward, pounding rocker on the album "The Jean Genie" (this definitely has the most memorable to-the-point chorus, and cool harmonica work) and "Lady Grinning Soul", pretty much in the same vein as the title track with a less spectacular melody and without the staggering piano work that carried things to immortality there, but still a good, even a little haunting and unsettling, closing track. In the end, though, Aladdin Sane is still a really, really excellent record on the strength of its' curious array of styles and the highs it hits - I can't imagine any serious Bowie fan not digging the hell out of this one.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
This was released in the same year as Aladdin Sane so the sound on this record is typically done in the same style as that album. This is a covers album though, full of Bowies favorite 'swinging 60's British pop' songs that were made in between 1964 and 1967. Strangely his favorite song "Arnold Layne" from Pink Floyd isn't on here (I guess he couldn't get the copyrights to do it). Is Bowie successful at making his versions of the songs good? Well in a way yes, he makes them all exciting; whether its making them all loud and glammy or giving them strange sound effects and vocals he makes them interesting. But the one flaw is that some of the tunes he picks are not that great, and he doesn't really add on to the originals(but who can anyway), it's just a nice little album in his back catalog.
The strongest songs are the aggressive "Friday On My Mind", "Sorrow", and the dissonant strangely-done songs "Shapes Of Things" and "See Emily Play". There is a lot of loud energetic playing and saxes abound on here that keep everything driving so it doesn't get boring. Some of the weaker songs that are nothing more than OK are "I Wish You Would", "Everything's Alright", "Don't Bring Me Down", and a few others. Bowie was about ready to retire his Ziggy act now though, and it was a good thing too, as it would take him in a different direction.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
This was released 6 months after Pin Ups and shows him in a transitional stage; he didn't quite drop the look Ziggy look yet, but he goes for a more subdued and less aggressive sound on here. It's a somewhat ambitious futuristic concept album that is certainly one of the weirdest albums he's recorded. Their are a few fairly straightforward rock n' roll songs, but the rest of the album is made up of some confused, eerie, and melodically odd songs.
The first song "Future Legend" opens up the album with some dissonant guitar and a spoken intro that segues right into "Diamond Dogs" which has a live feel to it (I wouldn't be surprised it if was recorded live). It's a rambling six minute shot of straightforward rock n 'roll full of honking saxes and a repeating chorus. Next comes the medley of "Sweet Thing", "Candidate", and "Sweet Thing Reprise" which is probably the highlight of the whole album. It's a tour de force that starts off with backwards piano, that then goes into one of the best melodies on here. "Candidate" which is the second part, has great lyrics with a tune that gets faster and faster until it comes to a sudden stop with a wailing sax, and proceeds into the jarring reprise.
"Rock And Roll With Me" ruins the mood of the album a bit with its gospel sound, being in the center of the album that is a bad thing. Things look brighter with the sleazy hit "Rebel Rebel", before getting strange again with "We Are The Dead" which is haunting. "1984" is the most futuristic song on here, it's a spacey song that predates disco (yes, it's beats are disco sounding), and is a highlight on here too. The last two songs "Big Brother" (full of eerie background vocals), and "Chant Of The Ever Circling Skeletal Family" end this neat and pleasing, but somewhat inconsistent album.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
Bowie went into a very different direction here, he now ventured into Philly soul and R'n'B music. The hit singles off of the album, "Young Americans" (which has a great sax groove), and the funky "Fame" (which John Lennon helped write) are bona-fide classics on here. Besides those two hits though, the album is unsuccessful at what it does, so it is very spotty. The only other outstanding song is "Win" which has a nice melody with subtle keychanges and good background vocals. The whole middle portion of the album is fairly weak since the blue eyed soul doesn't work and the melodies aren't really there.
"Fascination" (a danceable song) is probably the worst, the next one "Right" starts off promising and upbeat but it rambles on, and "Somebody Up There Likes Me" is just ok, because it goes on way too long, although there is a nice mellotron in the background. Next is a cover of a Beatles song, "Across The Universe" which fails because he can't pull off the vocals too well, and then "Can You Hear Me" which is just OK. Although not one of his better albums, the production is excellent; a kind of squeaky clean smooth soul sound. Their is some nice light sax played throughout the album, but there aren't enough good melodies or exciting playing to keep you tuned in.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
On here Bowie adds in some fast rhythms, disco elements, and funkyness into the mix, which moves the album away from the Philly soul of Young Americans and overall makes this sound very slick and polished. There are only six songs on here and they are fairly long, like the escalating 10 minute title track that shows Bowie in his 'thin white duke' persona. The great and expressive song starts off with some synthesized train sounds that go from one speaker to the other, before going into a nice midtempo groove. Halfway through, it changes into a fast tune with a repeating refrain that fades out the long ending.
Next is the hit "Golden Years", a bouncy and danceable track that is definitely a highlight on here. "Word On A Wing" is good too; it's a smooth, soulful, and emotional song that would fit in fairly well on Young Americans, but being a better song than almost everything on there and having a more sleek sound to it. "TVC15" starts off with a little piano introduction before turning into a jaunty and melodic song that has some bouncy bass and enlightening sax in it, maybe my favorite on the whole album.
"Stay" follows it, and is the most discofied song on here; it has a great rhythm and nice disco club atmosphere to it, so it's a decent song. The last song, "Wild Is The Wind", is not bad, but it's kind of a weak way to end otherwise great album. For being released in 1976 this album is very fresh and modern sounding; it is already miles away from his conceptual Diamond Dogs album, released only two years before. Bowie was getting more into European sounds at the time which would contribute to what he would do next.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
Bowie went to Berlin to record this, which became the first of the three albums he collaborated with Brian Eno on. Dominated by Eno's sonic landscapes and ambient sounds, this was mostly uncommercial, with Bowie opting for a low profile to get away from all the hype and success he had over the past few years. Half of this set is comprised of short and catchy songs, with the second half having four subtle instrumentals (which take a while to get used to). Of the shorter songs "Sound And Vision" (a catchy tune with some bouncy bass), "Always Crashing In The Same Car" (a great song with an amalgam of instruments and noises in the background), and "Breaking Glass" (a short song with electronic drums and a repeating synthesizer bleep every now and then) are the strongest on here.
"Speed Of Life" which opens up the album with a descending synth, is a melodic and successful instrumental on here. The closing instrumental on the poppy side of the album, "A New Career In A New Town", the upbeat "What In The World" and the unusual pump bass of "Be My Wife" are also good. The four ambient songs that Eno collaborated with are quite different than Bowie has ever done before; they are mostly slow, brooding, and atmospheric pieces that take patience to get used to. Once you do though they are quite excellent and really take you on a journey.
"Art Decade" which is quite unnerving, and "Weeping Wall", the fastest moving one, are the best of these four. Synthetic strings, guitars, vibraphones, xylophones, pianos, cellos, the mini-moog and other instruments all help to create the perfect atmosphere of the city Berlin. "Warszawa" and "Subterraneans", which are even longer and slower moving, show the textures of the countryside in Berlin. They can sometimes get boring, but they usually create good mood pieces and are structured fine. To most casual listeners these ambient songs are difficult to appreciate though. This album was quite innovative because its electronic sounds, expressionless vocals and ambient backgrounds influenced tons of 1980's techno and post- punk bands and artists.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
The second set of the Brian Eno trilogy is a much more discordant, moody, and somber album than Low, but is structured the same way with the more conventional songs on side one and the longer ambient instrumentals on side two. Instead of the regular songs being upbeat and poppy, they have a somewhat darker edge to them. The guitarist Robert Fripp (leader of King Crimson) was recruited for this album, so his haunting style of playing is dominant throughout the songs on side one and is what makes the album.
The most known song on here is the six minute classic "Heroes" which is built on a repetitive melody that comes to a great climax (Bowie's singing is incredible on here). "Joe The Lion", "Beauty And The Beast", "Blackout", and "Sons Of The Silent Age" are all good songs too; they are pretty discordant tracks with even more going on in the background musically than the songs on 'Low'. "Joe The Lion" is probably the best, which has some interesting vocals that keep you interested until the noisy song fades.
"V-2 Schneider" is the best instrumental song on here, with some great saxes and a fine melody too it. The other ones don't live up to "V-2 Schneider" or most of the instrumentals on the previous album, most notably the boring "Moss Garden" which uses a Koto (a Japanese instrument). The disturbing "Sense Of Doubt" though is a fine minimalist piece, and the last one "Neukoln" has its moments, like at the end where the effective sax comes in at full force out of nowhere. But wait, after all those ambient songs is another song called "The Secret Life Of Arabia" which is usually forgotten but is a great tune. This is an excellent album that shows Bowie working with Eno the most, although Eno's influence would diminish on the next release.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
This time there are no instrumentals, and the sound is less intense on here. Instead the songs are rather conventional, although the musical ideas are unique and strange. "African Night Flight" is a great, fast song that drags you along on its ride; African drumbeats and rhythms play a big role on here, with Bowie singing at breakneck speed. Arguably the best song on here, it is very weird and comes as a surprise after the melodic and beautiful opener "Fantastic Voyage", which harks back to the Hunky Dory days. "Repetition" is a neat, snappy song with a thumping beat that sounds sort of New Waveish because of the singing style and guitars, but who knows what it was intended to sound like.
Other songs like "D.J." (which has some gloomy synthesizer), "Look Back In Anger" (a not bad song with lots of tribal drums), and "Boys Keep Swinging" (another of his bi songs), are all done in fine style. The only apparent weak spot comes at the end in "Red Money" because is is very redundant and repetitious, much more so than the song "Repetition" on here (maybe the titles of the songs should be switched around). The rest of the album is typical good Bowie; it's a nice little album that sets a more positive mood overall than it does on Heroes. Lodger is just a little less recommended than Low or Heroes because it doesn't have the innovations of them, and as many outstanding songs.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
After the lightweight (compared to what albums it is sandwiched in between) Lodger, Fripp is recruited as guitarist again, which gives the sound on here an expansive, intense, and chilling tone kind of like what Heroes had. This is Bowie's first release in the 80's and would be his last in a long run of consecutive year by year albums, giving him a three year break before his next one. Nevertheless, this is Bowie's strongest album since Aladdin Sane because of the strong playing, great unpredictable guitar, and a scariness that lurks on some of the tracks.
"It's No Game(Part 1)" is an effective opener, with a Japanese singer translating Bowies screaming vocals and a great drumbeat pumping along. "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" and "Scream Like A Baby" are excellent songs that have a certain weird edge to them; two neat schizophrenic vari-speeded vocals highlight the latter, and the first one has a good beat that chugs along. The sequel to the story of Major Tom in "Space Oddity" is updated on here with "Ashes To Ashes", and the new wave funk of "Fashion" are the hits and great highlights on here.
The epic centerpiece "Teenage Wildlife" is the most telling and lyrical song on here, quite an ambitious outing with great vocals on it. Some of the songs on side two though, pale in comparison to the rest like "Because You're Young" which doesn't get the weirdness the other tunes go for quite right, plus it has a weak melody, and "Kingdom Come" is a cover without the thrilling edge that makes it just decent. Elsewhere we have the neat "Up The Hill With Backwards" (with some manic guitarwork in the last minute of it), and the closing "It's No Game(Part 2)" which is a great way to end the album. It's an appropriately tired sounding song with a slacking beat that gets rid of all the excitedness that flowed throughout the album. His best album of the 1980's, and maybe his best since it's release in 1980.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
Reappearing as the pop idol three years later, Bowie gained a very big audience when this came out. This is a very commercial album and although not as good as Scary Monsters it sure has that appeal to it. One of the best pop songs Bowie has ever written is "Modern Love" which is the opener and best on here. Its opening and exciting drum beat, plus its uplifting lyrics really set a tone for this album. "China Girl" and "Let's Dance" are classics pop songs too, the latter reaches seven minutes and is his best dance-pop single with its direct instrumentation.
Besides those three first monster songs, the rest is just OK (well for the most part); it would be a classic album if the rest was in the same commercial formula as them. "Without You" is just a weak love song, "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" is a guitar dominated song that doesn't catch fire, and the groove of "Shake It" is fun but doesn't have a strong melody. "Ricochet" and "Criminal World" are two good songs that have a less commercial sound on them then the hits do. It's a successful comeback for the most part, because the hits are so awesome, but it just doesn't capture the fire and thrill of his past work, the songs are much more average on here. A lot worse was to come though.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
After becoming an immediate pop-star with the hit-laden release Let's Dance the year before, David Bowie quickly went into the studio again to record his upcoming 'hit' album. Well, I'll give him one thumb up for actually going in the studio, but hey Bowie did you forget to bring enough material with you? There are two bona-fide popsters from the man on here, but the rest of the album is littered with Bowie/Iggy Pop collaborations, and a couple covers. It's these non-Bowie songs that really suffer, as they are carelessly written and sometimes over-simplified to the point of sounding trite and boring. If Bowie took a little bit of extra time and came up with several more tracks (without Iggy that is), this album probably wouldn't have turned out half bad. Wow, I said the word Bowie five times (make that six now), which means I haven't made a sentence yet without saying his name. I better stop that now!
Anyway, the sound of this album isn't all that different from the post new-wave pop of the last album, except that courtesy of 'the borneo horns' there are more saxes, and the production is a bit less atmospheric (bar the opener "Loving The Alien") Very catchy and simple pop throughout, but besides an easily digestive and inviting production-job, many of these songs are severely devoid of solid melodies and memorable pop hooks. In a way, where Young Americans is Bowie's soulless soul album, this could very well be looked at as his soulless pop album.
You wouldn't think that when hearing the seven minute opener "Loving The Alien" though, which is almost as mighty as each of the first three tracks that open Let's Dance ("Modern Love", "China Girl", & "Let's Dance"). It is built on a solid and enjoyable melody with appropriate marimba chiming along, an excruciatingly wonderful vocal-job during the chorus that in parts harks back to his vocal performance on "It's No Game" from Scary Monsters (sorry but I had to refer to that album - at least you won't be hearing me use the old cliche' 'this is his best album since Scary Monsters for this album though), and a great chilly atmosphere. Then there is the down-to-earth "Blue Jean", which though not particularly striking, is an immediately memorable pop tune with a friendly stop-start sax sound in the chorus. The other seven songs, however, are either plain old filler or completely disposable. The lightweight "Don't Look Down" and reggae-tinged title track don't have strong hooks and are just catchy for catchy's sake; ok filler that just passes you by.
The uptempo keyboard-driven pop/rocker "Neighborhood Threat" suffers from the same problem, even if it contains enough spark to be one of the better ones, and the heavy percussion and sax mix of "Tumble and Twirl" decides to become another forgettable dirge with a repetitive melody after opening up on a promising note. That's nothing compared to Bowie's cover of that Beach Boys classic "God Only Knows" though, the ultimate low-point of the whole album. With its' plodding and ungraceful rhythm, a bad 'deep-voiced' vocal job from Bowie that shows him trying to sound like some contemporary pop star, a butchered melody (especially during that unforgettable musical twist in the middle), totally uninspired production, and unnecessary orchestration, this is a really horrid version that shouldn't have been made in the first place. The other cover, "I Keep Forgettin' " is nothing to write home about either (and it's the most forgettable song of them all... funny how that worked out eh), but at least its' better. Finally, the cornily-energetic and lame "Dancing With the Big Boys" closes off an album that starts Bowie's commercially unsuccessful and artistically mediocre period. Unfortunately, a long period it would be.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
Taking a backseat on making albums and starring in a few films like Absolute Beginners and Labryinth, perhaps because he was lost musically during these years, he returned with the slightly experimental pop/rock of Never Let Me Down. Being his only solo album from the low profile period in-between 1984-93, this record gets the distinction of being one of his least successful and universally liked among Bowie fans. Certain albums' that get a bad rap like that turn out to be underrated, but in the case of this release the dislike for it is all-out justifiable. A Heavily produced affair with tons of drum machines, synthesized keyboards, big-80's horns, and the like, it is filled to the brim with one semi-interesting, boring, repetitive, and half-baked pop tune after another. While the quality of the material is about the same as Tonight, what makes it ultimately worse is that there is no single killer track on it like that one, and also because most of the songs are on average a minute or two longer (a whole bunch of four and five minute songs).
Overlong and boring is "Day-In, Day-Out", a song with a catchy chorus that gets very old by songs end, the repetitive "Time Will Crawl", and the over-produced weirdness of "Zeroes", which probably has the weakest melody of all. Almost every song on here is pretty poor as a matter of fact. The last four songs starting from the uptempo pop of "Shining Star (Makin' My Love)" through "New York's In Love" and especially " '87 and Cry" and the horrible closer "Bang Bang" are just poor, poor, poor, and very forgettable. Not a brick through a window could wake me up from the slumber I enjoy when listening to most of side two of this album.
Only the struggling experimental track "Glass Spider" is of interesting note on that side; the lengthy spoken-word intro is set up against a suitably 'eerie' atmosphere of sounds, and the gothly dance beat that takes up the latter half of the song is neat. It's not a really good song, but it's decent. The same goes for the over-long "Beat Of Your Drum" (trim it by two minutes) on side one, but the one track that doesn't bore me in any way is the title track, which is a good dance-pop ballad with a decent melody, and nice synthesized guitar licks during the choruses. The only tune that wouldn't be considered filler on your average 'great' Bowie record. Or maybe it would, depending on your tastes. Poor pop for the now people (if you get my obscure joke) Needless to say, this album is only for completists of the man's catalog; his solo career was waning so bad at this point that he decided to ditch it all together and form a band called Tin Machine to see what lie ahead. Maybe things would get better for this artist/mime/painter/actor.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
Fast forward six years. David Bowie goes through a short-lived two-album group called Tin Machine and gets married to beautiful African model Iman. Then in late 1992 he gets a bunch of musicians together and starts making an album that contains a solid mixture of soul, funk, light jazz, pop, and dance set to a bunch of hop-hop beats. To put it bluntly, the turn-out of it all is the absolute worst album of Bowie's career. His previous flops (Tonight and Never Let Me Down) were filled to the brim with filler, but they at least had diverseness and a few moments of decency to back them up. Black Tie White Noise on the other hand, is very monotonous from beginning to end, and even worse, doesn't contain that edge of excitement or weirdness that you can find on any other record from the man.
It's that certain edge that Bowie has that can make some of the most mediocre material interesting. On here it's just one mid-tempo soulish pop number after another, all with the same uncreative and mind-numbingly repetitive drum-beat. This goes specifically for the house party "Pallas Athena" (which contains a D.J. saying 'God.. is on top of it all' over and over) and "Looking For Lester", two instrumentals that just have no point on being here whatsoever. The Cream cover "I Feel Free" could have been a good cover if those same drum machines didn't knock the life out of it, and if Bowie didn't sing in such a dull monotone all the way through it. The good melody it had to begin with keeps it from being totally unlistenable, but it's still another butchering of an old classic. Keep Bowie away from those 1966 gems I say.
Elsewhere, drum machines punctuate "Nite Flights" (maybe the worst song from here), "You've Been Around", and "Miracle Goodnight" (a goofy-sounding pop number with an annoying five-note riff), which are all melodically-weak and bad songs to begin with. The soft pop of "Don't Let Me Down & Down" and the monotony-breaker "It's Gonna Happen Someday" are mediocre efforts as well, though just a bit better than those previous three I listed. In any case, all those songs are pretty weak and belong in the dustbin (or banana bin... if you are a fruity bastard that is). The other four songs, or one-third of the album, keep the album from becoming truly bad though.
The opener "The Wedding" (along with "The Wedding Song") is a decent (even if a bit repetitive) instrumental, that starts off with the sound of church bells and a little bass-riff, before the steady drum-machine rhythm comes on, and some pleasurable and smooth saxophone work takes place. Unfortunately, it also gives a false impression of the quality of the album early on. Even so, the danceable "Jump They Say" (the hit from the album) and the soulful title track also make for pretty good songs too. Overall, this album is very close to 3 quality, but due to a few decent cuts it can still get a low 4. Still, as a whole, it is duller and more predictable than any Bowie album preceding this release. Now Bowie was ready to change again.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
David Bowie was back working with Brian Eno again on this chilly and dark follow-up to Black Tie White Noise. While way too long to be thoroughly enjoyable (over 70 minutes long) all the way through, it clearly shows Bowie going in a better direction after dreadfully toying with the soul/pop dance scene on his last album. Bowie may just be on the cutting edge of music once again (he's been pretty out of it artistically since Let's Dance), as he seems to have a good hold of the mid-90's industrial/techno-styled Rock that bands like Nine Inch Nails were largely known for at the same time. OK, obviously not as cutting edge as Ziggy Stardust or Low, but Bowie was at least trying harder to make a unique product, putting out something which gathers these influences into something artistically interesting.
Obviously influenced by Nine Inch Nails, whom he toured with quite a bit during 1994/95, and Brian Eno, this album was to be part of a 'five album cycle' (to further explore the musical styles on this album and beyond) which hasn't yet seen the light of day, and probably never will. In any case, Outside is a weird concept album about the investigation into the murder of a 14-year-old girl named Baby Grace, with a bunch of one and two minute segues that show Bowie impersonating the voices of the various people. Besides knowing that though, the concept generally loses me and fails to come across importantly in the scheme of things. The music itself is scary and intriguing enough, but the plot is not very clear, or is just not worth worrying about amidst some of the more boring tracks.
Specifically, the most boring chunk of the album ranges from the dark incessant rhythms of "No Control" to about "Wishful Beginnings", a slew of songs that are made up of haunting soundscapes, such as the evil laughs and overall ambience of that latter track. They aren't particularly bad tunes, it's just that they drag on a bit and are on the whole unmemorable dirges. The longer acid-jazz ambient-filled pieces like "The Motel" and "A Small Plot of Land" also drag on a bit pointlessly, though I'll admit that they portray the cold and forbidding mood quite well (plus the guitar solo on the latter track is really neat). A ton of un-easy background music to be found throughout these nineteen tracks, as you can just imagine now. But really, the more enjoyable tracks are usually the catchiest ones off of this album.
Coming in number one is probably the industrial rave-up "Hallo Spaceboy", which contains a very catchy and infectious riff, along with computer-processed synths and all sorts of neat sounds. "Heart's Filthy Lesson" (a compelling number with treated piano), the title track (a valuable introduction), and "I'm Deranged" all come in a healthy second, and the ultra-catchiness of "I Have Not Been To Oxford Town" (this can annoyingly stick in your head for a long time) and "We Prick You" (absurdly danceable tune) are memorable additions too. As for the segues, the most mind-blowingly chilling one is the one where Bowie imitates Baby Grace's voice in a goofy and scary way at the same time - the rest of the segues are ok in their own little way. Well, that's the gist of it. Outside is a decent offering that is light years away in sound from what he had done in the ten years preceding this, while also better than anything he released in that same time frame. That's not saying a whole heck of a lot, since this isn't a very solid album, but it sure should count for something.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
This album is Bowie's best since Scary Monsters, mostly because of the neat production and use of rhythms. Not all of the melodies are to be desired, but their is a lot of dense instrumentation going on in each track. Drum and Bass, Jungle Rhythms, and a tad of industrial and dance music are put into the mix; they are usually longwinded songs that exceed 4 and a half minutes. "Little Wonder", "I'm Afraid Of Americans", and "Law (Earthlings On Fire)" are the undisputed highlights on here. "Little Wonder" has an excellent instrumental section that actually works well, tons of industrial noises, swirling synthesizers, and tons of drum machines pull it off together.
Too many of the songs drag on though, like "Dead Man Walking" and "Looking For Satellites" which are just OK tunes that repeat the same idea over and over. Another fault is that Bowie doesn't always sound comfortable doing these songs, his singing lacks the fire that he had on his great 70's work. Although there are some major flaws, he has gotten himself back on track and made some good songs here. What really makes the songs is that they have ultra-cool sound effects and interesting introductions to each one. Definitely an album for headphones late at night.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
The late 1990's saw David Bowie gaining popularity with the younger generation (teenagers basically) due to a number of things: touring with Nine Inch Nails (in the mid-90's), heavily promoting his website Bowie.net (a lot of young people logged on to it - not me though), hangin' with the industrial crowd in general, and keeping up with the modern sounds of jungle, techno, and drum's 'n' bass music on Earthling. I don't mean he was popular in sales like the way Creed or even Matchbox 20 were, but many fans of industrial or artsy alternative music certainly got into him into during this period, one of them being my good friend Jason.
Though I think it's wonderful that him and many others got into Bowie during this period, rather unfortunately, most become associated so much with Bowie's last three albums that they generally miss out on what really makes the man special - his whole 70's period. The way he moves from genre to genre so flawlessly (except for soul on Young Americans), adding his strange imprint on everything along the way. My friend thankfully does acknowledge his 'classic' period and actually knows a fair amount of it, but when he told me that he loved how diverse and weird Hours was, it just totally threw me off. Diverse? After hearing the album Earthling this album may seem a bit diverse, but after hearing Diamond Dogs or many of his other records, this is indeed not a diverse Bowie record.
Sure, there are a few ballads, a couple spacey and hard-edged rockers, and one pointless instrumental called "Brilliant Adventure" (which is a forgettable Japanese-tinged track), but the general vibe of the record is all the same. The general atmosphere of Hours is very airy and lushly-produced, sometimes to the point of sounding like easy-listening music, and a good deal of the record is made up of mid-tempo tunes with melodies of an uplifting quality. I'll stop my raving and say that's not a bad thing at all though, since the two most luscious songs on here are also the best. I'm talking about "Thursday's Child" and "Something In The Air", two tracks that open up the album with soothing and really nice melodies. Given a special aura by the lush synths' that make it up, the former song is made into a top highlight with its' immediately memorable choruses, and the latter track, though a bit longer than it really should be, has some neatly processed vocals during the verses and a textured atmosphere that is pretty engaging.
The following tracks can't hope to live up to these two great songs, though there is still enough to enjoy moderately. One of them is the big hit "The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell", a song that doesn't rip off of his early classic "Oh! You Pretty Things", as it is a hard rocking tune with a galactic synth lick after each chorus. It's not a great song, but it's solid and catchy enough. While "What's Really Happening?" doesn't rip off one of his earlier songs either, he does, for some strange reason, use the same exact melody from the Supremes hit "You Keep Me Hangin' On" on it. As obvious a rip-off as it is, it's enjoyable to hear the melody set against a dense instrumental backing and with monotone-styled vocals from Bowie. Speaking of vocals, "New Angels Of Promise" has a vocal job that recalls the style he used on Heroes, albeit not as good as anything from that album - just an OK tune.
Now that I talked enough about song or vocal rip-offs, let me get on to the rest of the songs. "Survive" is probably the weakest due to its' lack of melody and lifeless atmosphere (a little too lush for its' own good), "The Dreamers" is an unspectacular closer, and the seven minute epic "If I'm Dreaming My Life" never gets going during the faster sections of the first half - only the last three minutes save it from being a total bore. "Seven" has a catchy little melody that gives us a breath of fresh air after that 'epic', but would you say a bit underdeveloped? Well, those are the ten tracks that make up David Bowie's latest release (ya know what sucks? when he releases another album I'll have to get off my lazy ass and change this sentence. Ugh.) In any case, Bowie does seem to be mellowing out in his older age, as he was already a little over the age of 50 when he released this. Not a bad album, and no harm intended upon my friend if he does decide to read this review.
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