On the Shelf 091: David Bowie
Jun. 18th, 2013 06:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23As you may know, David Bowie has a new album out.
It's got a ot of buzz, probably because many assumed Bowie had retired, while certainly the album cover (which recalls "Heroes") showed that the ambition was there.
Personally, I found the cover to be a grand statement and am glad the record strived for it.
This also means the recent Bowie discography (as per usual) gets re-evaluated.
"Next Day" got a lot of comparisons to Lodger right out of the gate and a lot of positive reviews (CBS News, the most grandiose, calling it the best Bowie album 'to date'.)
Which scared me a bit. As a teenager, Lodger was where I dropped off. On one hand, it actually does contain some of my favorite Bowie songs ("DJ", "Boys Keep Swinging") but the rest of the album just isn't for me.
That said, I can't place a finger on Day. There are Lodger moments but also Scary Monsters moments and certainly, despite the mix of sounds, it isn't much of a departure from other 21st Century Bowie.
And come to think of it... I like 21st Century Bowie. While, this album means every reviewer is also re-evaluating his recent art, and it generally has fared well; I say it's better than it gets.
Heathen was particularly good and to dip into the 90s, Earthling and Hours.. are pretty solid albums taken away from the inevitable comparison to the previous discography.
So, I will come out and say Day is as good as they say, in that it bests the last 30 years of work, but I will also say that work was better than you remember and Day isn't perfect either. It does have some standout singles (in an alternate world, "The Stars Are Out Tonight" would be a smash hit (it did do well in Adult-alternative outlets) and stands well as a whole.
Equally worth noting are Bowie's videos. I will suspect everyone has seen the video for "The Stars" in either it's explicit or safe version which features Tilda Swindon. If not, i know In have some Swindon fans here, and would recommend googling it.
The new video is for the title track, and is currently raising ire among The Catholic League. It features a Catholic Priest played by Gary Oldman, and features religious imagery, scantily clad women, S&M images, stigmata, and a possible Bowie-as-Christ metaphor.
Anyway, check it out. there is an explicit version and a version that isn't explicit but would still anger the right people, so watch carefully.
It's got a ot of buzz, probably because many assumed Bowie had retired, while certainly the album cover (which recalls "Heroes") showed that the ambition was there.
Personally, I found the cover to be a grand statement and am glad the record strived for it.
This also means the recent Bowie discography (as per usual) gets re-evaluated.
"Next Day" got a lot of comparisons to Lodger right out of the gate and a lot of positive reviews (CBS News, the most grandiose, calling it the best Bowie album 'to date'.)
Which scared me a bit. As a teenager, Lodger was where I dropped off. On one hand, it actually does contain some of my favorite Bowie songs ("DJ", "Boys Keep Swinging") but the rest of the album just isn't for me.
That said, I can't place a finger on Day. There are Lodger moments but also Scary Monsters moments and certainly, despite the mix of sounds, it isn't much of a departure from other 21st Century Bowie.
And come to think of it... I like 21st Century Bowie. While, this album means every reviewer is also re-evaluating his recent art, and it generally has fared well; I say it's better than it gets.
Heathen was particularly good and to dip into the 90s, Earthling and Hours.. are pretty solid albums taken away from the inevitable comparison to the previous discography.
So, I will come out and say Day is as good as they say, in that it bests the last 30 years of work, but I will also say that work was better than you remember and Day isn't perfect either. It does have some standout singles (in an alternate world, "The Stars Are Out Tonight" would be a smash hit (it did do well in Adult-alternative outlets) and stands well as a whole.
Equally worth noting are Bowie's videos. I will suspect everyone has seen the video for "The Stars" in either it's explicit or safe version which features Tilda Swindon. If not, i know In have some Swindon fans here, and would recommend googling it.
The new video is for the title track, and is currently raising ire among The Catholic League. It features a Catholic Priest played by Gary Oldman, and features religious imagery, scantily clad women, S&M images, stigmata, and a possible Bowie-as-Christ metaphor.
Anyway, check it out. there is an explicit version and a version that isn't explicit but would still anger the right people, so watch carefully.
David Bowie - The Next Day from Gluver on Vimeo.
