Scary Monsters (And Tremendous Creeps) (1980)
David Bowie’s first album of the Eighties was a milestone document for a lot of causes. It was his final to be co-produced with collaborator Tony Visconti for greater than 20 years, his swansong for RCA and for a lot of acolytes,
the ultimate time that the star may very well be hailed as a real musical visionary.
Launched only a yr after wrapping up the Berlin trilogy that had seen him drift additional in direction of the avant-garde, Scary Monsters (And Tremendous Creeps) introduced Bowie again to the mainstream, topping the UK charts and spawning solely his second ever No.1 single.
With its self-mythologising nods to House Oddity’s Main Tom, Ashes To Ashes actually owes a thematic debt to his first hit single. However sonically it sounded poles aside, its chunky funk basslines and springy synths primarily shaping the sound of the last decade forward.
In the meantime, its surrealist video – on the time the costliest ever made – was equally pioneering, an look from Visage’s Steve Unusual giving the burgeoning New Romantic scene, (and the Bowie-worshipping Blitz membership) one almighty seal of approval.
Additionally proving that Bowie nonetheless had his finger firmly on the heartbeat, the title observe’s account of a girl descending into insanity evoked the claustrophobic post-punk of Pleasure Division.
Kingdom Come, his first cowl since Station To Station, helped to carry the artwork rock of Tv frontman Tom Verlaine’s solo profession to the plenty.
Elsewhere, Style, each a celebration and mockery of society’s have to sustain with sartorial developments, channelled the mechanical new wave of Speaking Heads.
Teenage Wildlife, the closest Bowie got here to a “Heroes” sequel, suggests he wasn’t completely enamoured with each newcomer nipping at his heels, with the final interpretation being that it’s a riposte to his imitators, together with man of the then-moment Gary Numan (“Standard factor in model new drag comes sweeping into view/ As ugly as a teenage millionaire pretending it’s a whizz child world”). Bowie additionally threw issues again to the classic rock’n’roll of Bo Diddley on Up The Hill Backwards whereas providing a uncommon perception into his break-up with first spouse Angie. And the entire opus is bookended by songs titled It’s No Sport, the primary an abrasive mix of Japanese spoken phrase and intense guitars courtesy of Robert Fripp, the second a extra sombre affair through which the narrator seems resigned to their destiny.
As famous by Nicholas Pegg in The Full David Bowie, Visconti claimed: “We form of felt that we’d lastly achieved our Sgt. Pepper” – a daring assertion, however one which in the end rang true.
Let’s Dance (1983)
“I really need you to make hits.” That’s what Bowie informed Rolling Stone journal he requested from producer Nile Rodgers for his first album with EMI. With Let’s Dance spawning a No.1 7″ plus a duo of No.2 singles, choosing up his first and solely Album of the 12 months Grammy nod and shifting greater than 10 million copies to turn into his all-time largest vendor, it’s truthful to say the Stylish founder fulfilled the transient.
Certainly, Rodgers’ fingerprints are all around the chart tour-de-force, from the Little Richard-inspired call-and-response of Trendy Love to the title observe, one of many Eighties’ best No.1s which initially pays homage to The Beatles’ Twist And Shout earlier than striding on to the dancefloor with some elegant New York funk.
Rodgers even manages to imbue the unrequited love story of Iggy Pop’s China Lady, written and produced by Bowie for The Fool, in fact, with a playful disco-adjacent sheen.
Nicholas Pegg relays in The Full David Bowie how Bowie would say, “It’s extra Nile’s album than mine.”
Whereas Let’s Dance is Bowie’s industrial peak, it does symbolize the beginning of his inventive decline. The truth that three of its eight tunes are reworkings means that Bowie had but to rediscover his musical mojo: he’d spent a lot of the final three years residing as a recluse over fears of a John Lennon-style assassination, solely often resurfacing to pursue his appearing profession.
Bowie did, nevertheless, add no less than one bona fide basic throughout this comparatively fallow interval: the Giorgio Moroder-produced theme to erotic horror Cat Individuals. Unwisely, nevertheless, he tinkered with the unique just a little an excessive amount of right here, turning what was a creeping little bit of gothic rock into AOR.
Nonetheless, Bowie, who for the primary time in his profession determined in opposition to enjoying any devices to focus solely on his vocals, is at all times in nice kind, whether or not it’s enjoying the crooner on the nostalgic pop of With out You or delivering simply the correct amount of swagger on the extra experimental Ricochet.
In the end, Let’s Dance is a superb mid-80s pop document, however solely a great Bowie one.
Tonight (1984)
Bowie appeared to undergo one thing of an existential disaster throughout 1983’s Critical Moonlight Tour, the ocean of recent faces reeled in by Let’s Dance a perturbing presence for a person who’d beforehand at all times identified his viewers. That maybe explains why he ditched final hitmaker Rodgers for its follow-up Tonight, changing him with the longer term producer of Phil Collins’ No Jacket Required.
To be truthful, Hugh Padgham had solely stepped in on the final minute following one too many inventive disputes with authentic selection, Derek Bramble. And he later admitted that he’d felt too moist behind the ears to inform a bona fide rock god that his materials wasn’t as much as scratch. The music press, nevertheless, had no such qualms, with most retailers seeming to take nice glee in giving a kicking to a person who had beforehand been untouchable.
Bowie himself proved to be simply as dismissive. In line with Nicholas Pegg in The Full David Bowie, the singer later mentioned, “It was only a assortment of songs” that “sounded type of jumbled; it didn’t maintain collectively effectively in any respect.”
Whereas Tonight undoubtedly has its justifiable share of issues – the terrible model of The Seaside Boys’ God Solely Is aware of is a powerful contender for an all-time profession nadir, whereas no fewer than three perfunctory Iggy Pop covers (together with a reggae remodeling of Don’t Look Down) exemplify simply how low the inventive juices have been flowing – it’s not a complete write-off both.
The eerie sophistipop of opener Loving The Alien, one of many few tracks Bowie was joyful to return to throughout subsequent excursions, is arguably the standout.
Blue Jean is a rollicking throwback to the rock’n’roll of Eddie Cochran, and the rhythmic worldbeat of Tumble And Twirl, written with Iggy about their current hedonistic escapades in Bali, is healthier use of his common partner-in-crime’s musical skills.
However the title observe collaboration with Tina Turner, is extra consultant of the document’s “this may do” strategy. Certainly, there’s a powerful sense that Tonight is extra of a rush-release to capitalise on Bowie’s industrial rejuvenation than a crucial inventive assertion.
By no means Let Me Down (1987)
The maligned Tonight is taken into account a masterpiece in contrast with its much more scorned follow-up, with Bowie arguably its harshest critic: “I actually shouldn’t have even bothered going into the studio to document it,” he later admitted to Rolling Stone journal. In actual fact, the star was so shameful concerning the 50s throwback Too Dizzy he later deleted it from all future pressings.
Following collaborations with Mick Jagger and the Pat Metheny Group, Bowie continued to widen his circle, inviting his outdated mate Peter Frampton to play lead guitar and, bizarrely, actor Mickey Rourke to rap on the falsetto-led survival story Shining Star (Makin’ My Love).
But Bowie remained closely in thrall to Iggy Pop, tapping up David Richards, the producer who’d simply labored on his Blah-Blah-Blah album, and protecting his 1981 hit Bang Bang. The continued over-reliance on drum machines and rudimentary synths means it’s dated simply as badly, too.
It isn’t solely with out benefit. The title observe is a beautiful Lennon-esque dedication to his private assistant Coco Schwab and can be Bowie’s final US High 40 hit for almost 30 years.
Commentaries on Los Angeles’ homelessness drawback (Day-In Day-Out) and Thatcherite Britain (87 And Cry), in the meantime, proved that Bowie nonetheless had a potent approach with phrases.
Black Tie White Noise (1993)
Following two unloved onerous rock albums with facet challenge Tin Machine, Bowie primarily hit the reset button along with his first solo LP in six years, and arguably his first satisfactory in 10. Impressed by each his marriage to supermodel Iman and the Los Angeles riots that occurred 5 days later, Black Tie White Noise is, unsurprisingly, a document of two halves.
It opens with The Wedding ceremony, a sensuous mix of trip-hop beats, Center Japanese woodwind and church bells that Bowie composed particularly for his nuptials, and closes with a vocal reprise through which he describes his bride as an “angel for all times.”
He additionally performs the romantic on Miracle Goodnight, a crooning rendition of Morrissey’s I Know It’s Gonna Occur Sometime and Don’t Let Me Down & Down, an English-language remodeling of an obscure ballad from Mauritanian singer Tahra Mint Hembara.
Amongst all of the unabashed expressions of affection, nevertheless, Bowie additionally addresses a lot darker points. The title observe, an unlikely duet with new jack swing favorite Al B. Positive!, holds a mirror as much as each white privilege (“Getting my information from a Benetton advert”) and the beating of Rodney King.
In the meantime, he additionally tackles the tragic suicide of his schizophrenic half-brother Terry Burns on the paranoid funk of Leap They Say, his first High 10 hit since Absolute Newcomers seven years earlier.
Additionally that includes covers of Cream’s I Really feel Free and The Walker Brothers’ Nite Flights – the previous boasting outdated cohort Mick Ronson – a Tin Machine outtake (You’ve Been Round) in addition to a jazz instrumental (Trying For Lester) which allowed Bowie to point out off his sax expertise, Black Tie… kickstarted an experimental interval through which the star’s crucial status regularly recovered.
Though consciously rallying in opposition to the concept of creating Let’s Dance Half II, Bowie’s reunion with Nile Rodgers sparked the same renaissance. Certainly, not solely did Bowie begin rubbing shoulders with Brett Anderson on the entrance cowl of the NME, he additionally coincidentally changed Suede’s self-titled debut on the high spot of the UK Albums Chart, too.
However whereas the 10-track affair is way from top-tier David, there are nonetheless a number of lesser-known gems. Intercourse And The Church is a pulsating electro-funk quantity which harnessed the thrill of the vocoder a number of years earlier than Cher. Strangers When We Meet is way superior to the remodeling that later appeared on Outdoors, whereas Bleed Like A Craze, Dad, a collaboration with little-known trio 3D Echo, is a slinky throwback to the white boy funk of Fame.
Ambient instrumental Ian Fish, U.Ok. Inheritor – an anagram of Kureishi’s title, in case you have been questioning – spends greater than six minutes aimlessly wandering searching for a melody, and Lenny Kravitz fails to make his presence heard on an alternate lower of the eponymous opener.
Extra intriguing stopgap than an underappreciated hidden treasure.
Outdoors (1995)
By no means one for following the group, Bowie determined the obvious plan of motion through the top of Cool Britannia was to launch an industrial rock idea album concerning the homicide of a teenage lady which sat someplace between 9 Inch Nails and Twin Peaks. In actual fact, David Lynch’s cult basic seems positively simple in comparison with the non-linear narrative that stretches throughout a extremely difficult 75 minutes.
Certainly, good luck making any sense of the story set between 1977 and 1999 within the fictional New Jersey setting of Oxford City, one populated by characters together with a hardened detective, 70-something loner and shadowy entity named the Minotaur. Even the a number of spoken phrase interludes and CD booklet’s diary entries fail to make issues a lot clearer. “There’s an excessive amount of on it,” Bowie acknowledged to Los Angeles journalist Mark Brown in 1997, referring to a document that additionally spawned a comic book e book collection and a three-hour bootleg.
Reuniting with Brian Eno for the primary time for the reason that Berlin trilogy, Outdoors’s sound is not any much less unorthodox, whether or not the squalling cabaret jazz leanings of A Small Plot Of Land, the avant-garde minimalism of Wishful Beginnings or the pummelling sci-fi rock of Hallo Spaceboy, virtually unrecognisable from the Pet Store Boys-assisted remix that made the UK High 20 the next yr.
Whereas most of Outdoors wilfully defies the idea of a straightforward pay attention, it does comprise no less than one instant gem within the form of The Hearts Filthy Lesson, a muscular slab of cyber-rock that appeared ultimately credit of David Fincher’s 1995 movie Seven and whose grotesque MTV-banned video proved that Bowie nonetheless possessed the facility to shock. In the meantime, We Prick You and I’m Deranged, the latter of which neatly introduced issues full circle because the bookending theme to Lynch’s headscratcher Misplaced Freeway, cleverly teased the drum ’n’ bass course that may outline its successor.
Outdoors is unlikely to high any Bowie fan’s all-time listing nevertheless it stays an admirably audacious, if self-indulgent, affair.
Earthling (1997)
“I believed that what we should always do was develop our vocabulary of dance types, however incorporate rock,” Bowie defined to Reside journal about what turned identified, usually in a derogatory method, as his drum ’n’ bass album. Earthling could have been launched just a few years too late to be thought of pioneering however contemplating Roni Dimension’s New Kinds gained the Mercury Prize just a few months later, it’s hardly the out-of-step affair a few of its critics purported.
Solely a handful of tracks totally decide to the breakneck pace style. Single Little Marvel is probably the most convincing, combining weird stream-of-consciousness lyrics impressed by the Seven Dwarves (“Dopey morning Doc, grumpy gnomes”) with thrilling stop-start beats and shrieking guitars. However Telling Lies, which as the primary official download-only single additional bolstered Bowie’s status as a technological soothsayer, additionally subscribe to the “jungle is huge” ethos with aplomb.
Likewise, Battle For Britain (The Letter) through which the star questions his id (“And a loser I might be for I’ve by no means been a winner in my life”) earlier than being interrupted by a piano solo impressed by Stravinsky.
Elsewhere, Seven Years In Tibet picks up the place the economic rock of Outdoors left off. Having cited The Prodigy’s Music For The Jilted Technology as an all-time pet sound, Bowie echoes its thunderous techno-rock on Lifeless Man Strolling (initially a tribute to Susan Sarandon would you consider?).
Persevering with the unlikely origin tales, I’m Afraid Of Individuals started life as a Showgirls soundtrack lower named Dummy earlier than being repurposed right into a crunching and ever-timely critique of Uncle Sam. Time has actually been a lot kinder to its full-throttle sound, actually in comparison with the dying days of the Britpop scene.
Though he sported an Alexander McQueen-designed Union Jack go well with jacket for its cowl artwork, the forward-thinking Earthling – as with its predecessor – as soon as once more proved that Bowie had little or no curiosity in fetishising the previous.
Hours (1999)
Whereas his earlier 90s data gave the impression to be dripping in pre-millennial pressure, Bowie’s ultimate album earlier than the dreaded Y2K was a much more meditative affair, the place the one angst on present involved the inevitability of ageing.
Opening lead single Thursday’s Youngster is a fantastically melancholic declaration of affection, completely set the tone forward. Certainly, the tempo solely actually picks up on Stooges-esque glam of The Fairly Issues Are Going To Hell and the tempo-shifting nearer, The Dreamers, which centres on a traveller questioning whether or not his greatest days are behind him.
If I’m Dreaming My Life is a seven-minute sleepwalk by way of the breakdown of a relationship, and the eerie rocker What’s Actually Occurring, co-penned by a BowieNet songwriting competitors winner, chugs alongside searching for a solution.
Sensible Journey is a koto-led instrumental which sounds extra suited to a day spa than the wild trip promised by its title.
Intriguingly, Hours, which was launched on-line a number of weeks earlier than hitting cabinets, was initially devised as a soundtrack to Omikron: The Nomad Soul, a online game combining the supernatural with a murder-mystery. It’s an odd match for a document which, though tasteful and timeless, gives few thrills or surprises.
Heathen (2002)
“The circumstances, the setting, all the things about it was simply excellent for us to search out out if we nonetheless had a chemistry that was actually efficient,” Bowie remarked to Richard Buskin (Sound On Sound), when reflecting on working with Tony Visconti for the primary time since 1980. It was a reunion which additionally birthed arguably the star’s most well-received album since they ended their fruitful partnership.
Launched by way of his personal ISO Data label, Heathen noticed Bowie bag nominations on the Mercury Prize and Grammy Awards (the latter for Sluggish Burn that includes Pete Townshend) whereas additionally reaching his highest charting place within the States for 18 years.
Clearly, after 20 years of experimenting with various levels of success, the broader world had been ready for the musical chameleon to get comparatively again to fundamentals.
Certainly, solely the skittering drum ’n’ bass of I Would Be Your Slave and pulsing techno-rock of The Legendary Stardust Cowboy’s I Took A Journey On A Gemini Spaceship, the sci-fi story Bowie freely admits he pilfered for his Ziggy Stardust days, actually locations the document within the modern-day. The person himself seems to acknowledge the time warp issue, singing “Down in house, it’s at all times 1982” on Slip Away, a House Oddity-esque ballad bizarrely impressed by the puppetry of youngsters cult favorite The Uncle Floyd Present.
There are additional nods to his basic again catalogue on lead single Everybody Says ‘Hello’, a jaunty tribute to departed guitarist Reeves Gabrels which may have simply slotted onto Hunky Dory, the Berlin-era new wave of Afraid and I’ve Been Ready For You, the Neil Younger cowl which was a staple of Tin Machine’s early 90s setlists.
Having turn into a brand new dad at 53 and having lately misplaced his mom, Margaret, Bowie is in a much more reflective mode on Heathen. A Higher Future pleads with the next energy to make the world a lot much less of a hellfire (“Give my kids sunny smiles/ Give them moon and cloudless skies”).
“I wouldn’t change a word of it,” he declared per The Full David Bowie, a few document that proved he was discovering a brand new middle-age groove.
The curiously named anti-war anthem Fall Canine Bombs The Moon serves up a blistering assault on Dick Cheney. And whereas Bowie had refuted claims that Heathen was closely impressed by 9/11, opener New Killer Star seems to obviously reference the tragedy that unfolded a mile from his Massive Apple dwelling (“See the good white scar/ Over Battery Park”).
Though its lyrical themes are steeped in melancholy, the returning Visconti’s manufacturing is positively buoyant and the title observe is the toughest Bowie had rocked since Tin Machine. In the meantime, nearer Deliver Me The Disco King is an eight-minute musical odyssey which delves into his love of New York jazz.
Actuality proved as soon as once more that is David Bowie’s world and we’re all simply residing in it.
The Subsequent Day (2013)
Other than the odd visitor look (TV On The Radio, Scarlett Johansson), Bowie’s music profession had lay dormant since a well being scare compelled him to cancel the A Actuality Tour in 2004.
So, his unannounced comeback 9 years later was inevitably met with a mix of shock, awe and uncertainty about whether or not he was set to increase his legacy or tarnish it. Fortunately, it proved to be the previous.
The Subsequent Day primarily picked up the place his Noughties output had left off.
The Stars (Are Out Tonight), a propulsive alt-rock quantity which imagines A-listers as cannibalistic aliens, and the damaged beats of If You Can See Me, for instance, each proved Bowie hadn’t misplaced his capacity to remain on pattern. Nonetheless, nods to former companions in crime Iggy Pop (Soiled Boys) and Lou Reed (Valentine’s Day), the Ziggy Stardust-referencing torch track You Really feel So Lonely You Might Die and The Shadows-interpolating post-war story How Does The Grass Develop? all brilliantly filtered his musical heritage by way of Visconti’s up to date sheen.
A twilight-years basic which deservedly returned Bowie to the higher reaches of the charts.
Blackstar (2016)
After the discharge of The Subsequent Day, Bowie as soon as once more caught everybody off guard when he launched the whole lot of his twenty sixth album Blackstar with none prior warning. In fact, that was nothing in comparison with the stunning information simply two days later of his premature dying.
Inevitably, followers rapidly started reassessing its lyrical content material, poring over every line for something which hinted the tip was close to. “Lookup right here, I’m in heaven,” from Lazarus, the soporific piece of chamber pop which had simply graced the same-named off-Broadway musical, was an apparent instance.
But Bowie’s studio swansong, which turned his first Billboard chart-topper, has much more to supply than its barely morbid treasure hunt.
Whereas its predecessor was joyful to depend on the tried and examined, Blackstar was decided to push issues ahead. “Keep away from rock’n’roll” was primarily the mantra of an album which delved deep into the star’s longtime ardour for jazz and explored his love for thought-provoking hip-hop.
This experimental strategy immediately reaps its rewards with the opening title observe, an audacious fusion of ambient R&B and freeform jazz which at over 10 minutes is second solely to Station To Station as Bowie’s longest. Few different artists may get away with releasing such a intentionally uncommercial jam as a lead single.
’Tis A Pity She Was A Whore and Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime), each derived from 2014 retrospective Nothing Has Modified, are given beefier upgrades. The ominous funk of Lady Loves Me incorporates the queer slang generally known as Polari and the Nadsat register devised for A Clockwork Orange alongside the repeated question of “The place the fuck did Monday go?” And nearer I Can’t Give Every part Away reveals how he remained splendidly contradictory (“Seeing extra and feeling much less/ Saying no however that means sure”) proper to the tip.
A ultimate superb reinvention from probably the most chameleonic man ever to grace the world of pop.
Eager to salvage the fabric, nevertheless, Bowie later repurposed a number of reworkings for Heathen.
The album was launched in November 2021, within the boxset Sensible Journey (1992-2001), in addition to an expanded 3CD launch titled Toy:Field on the eve of what would have been his seventy fifth birthday.
So was Toy value all the trouble? Nicely, for Bowie’s loyal fanbase, sure. Having been left within the vaults since being dropped from The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust, the resurfacing of Shadow Man is one thing of a holy grail. There’s additionally a curiosity issue to his new takes on You’ve Acquired A Behavior Of Leaving and Can’t Assist Pondering About Me. However for informal followers, it’s little greater than a sidenote.
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