As long as Ed will discuss Bowie with me, I’ll do the thread. Surely there must be some other Bowie fans.
So dish, Ed. What are those bootleg 7"s you have? I’m very curious.
As stated in the other thread, I would call Hunky Dory his peak, but Low is right up there. On the opposite end, Tin Machine is definitely his nadir. I didn’t care much for Black Tie White Noise either (there are some good songs on it, but the title track in particular is pretty awful). I know that Tonight & Never Let Me Down are generally considered to be his worst albums, but I don’t mind them too much. Tonight is mostly filler, but Never Let Me Down has some choice cuts.
Also, it’s disappointing that the period from Reality to now is the longest he’s gone between releases. I’ll pick up the VH1 Storytellers collection, but I’d really like to know if he’s working on a new proper album.
got’s to do the dig. seriously.
the wicked pickett did a couple of 7"s with cheesy style liners/ graphics.
i believe he was the president of the bowie fan club for a time.
(keep diggin’)
“Fame” is my fav Bowie moment. Pretty goddamn fonky for a honky.
Have you heard his take on Footstompin’? It’s from a TV show right before Young Americans, and the riff directly translated into Fame. Fame is pretty essential.
I was first exposed to Bowie’s 80’s material before discovering his back catalogue, so I don’t mind Let’s Dance, Tonight, and NLMD. I realize now that they’re not his best albums, but I do like Tonight, namely “Loving The Alien”, and always liked Blue Jean (MTV used to play that extended video ‘movie’ all the time, remember?). Today, I’d say that the Berlin era LPs are his best, Low is one I’ll put on frequently. I imagine we’ll hear from Connelly on this thread, pretty sure Station To Station is near the top of his list.
Though the Outside album is a bit of a mess, I’ve always dug “I’m Deranged”, and of course it always reminds me of Lost Highway (very good soundtrack, actually). I’ve been fortunate to see Bowie live…but only once, on the Outside tour with NIN, which was pretty amazing.
I think Let’s Dance is a fantastic album. The title track, Cat People, and Modern Love all rank up with his best work.
I totally agree with you on Outside. It’s too long, and it meanders too much, but it has some excellent work on it. It’s also the most inspired sounding stuff he’d done since Let’s Dance. Too bad he never followed up with 2. Contamination.
while outside was a little incosistant I really really liked it for some reason.
Since reality he did the area tour that moby put together, then did his own headlining world tour. He’s put out some stuff recently. The ‘live in santa monica 1972’ cd. He had a box set which was all the albums since outside with all the b-sides on a second cd (so 2 for each album) that was really really good.
But i mean he did have that heart attack or whatever it was, that kinda set him back a bit i’m sure. Plus he’s raising his second kid.
if your missing bowie fix check out scott walker in the meantime. Like bowie, started out rather mainstream and then progressively pushed the boundaries and morphed into a completely different thing
I love him. An immensely talented man. Probably my favourite artist working under his own name.
Who else has dabbled in so many musical styles and has had moments of greatness in all of them. There’s no one period or album of his that I’m familiar with that I hate (though some of his stuff in the electronic period and since have been forgettable). ‘Let’s Dance’ is easily one of the best 80s albums. ‘I’m Deranged’ was the best thing about Lost Highway, next to Robert Loggia
Bowie + Eno = Magic ie. ‘Low’
Who the fuck knows where this thread will go but it’s the most important thread since the BBW one.
This is one of my favourite songs and the best music video to watch when blasted:
True, he certainly hasn’t been JD Salinger since Reality (and the heart attack is definitely a good excuse to take a break), but he’s never gone more than 3 years without a studio album, and we’re going on 6 now. I don’t begrudge him for the gap, and if he never put out another album I’d be happy with the discography as is, but a fan can still hope for new material.
On the Scott Walker front, I have to confess that I’ve never gotten into him. I’ve given some cursory listens to his stuff just because of the amount of times I see him get name dropped, but it never grabbed me. I’ve heard Tilt is supposed to be his masterpiece (right?), and I was interested in The Drift just because I’m a 4AD junkie. Is there a different/better entry point?
my favorite memory of bowie is seeing him and iggy walking towards neos in chicago.down that alleyway.
i love bowie’s music. would take a long time to analyze, but go.
i be up for it.
I would liken 1.Outside to watching a really beautiful girl gorge herself on a really large meal and then throwing up. She’s beautiful and all but why the fuck did she have to go and eat to excess and make a complete fool of herself in public?!?!
I like Bowie. Some of my all time fave albums are Bowie albums (Low, StationToStation). Yet he’s a genre hopper and a scene stealer. He’s like an ADD affected child who can’t sit still for two seconds. Sometimes this works to his advantage and he it pulls off with style. His work with Eno is exemplary and still sounds relevant 30 years later.
And then he goes and does things like 1. Outside or adopts embarrassing personas like Ziggy Stardust (c’mon admit it…) or goes all 80s pop on us and dresses up like a clown. Or appears in Labyrinth. Or makes a drum’n’bass album. Or… yeah well… y’know.
Anyway, he’s ok. I’d have to give him at least a B+ for effort. After all, he did put out that amazing ‘John I’m Only Dancing’ single didn’t he.
I like some Bowie but have never really been thoroughly engrossed by him. I do really like “Space Oddity” though, that’s a great album and the one Bowie album I listen to quite a bit.
Low is still my favorite Bowie album of all time, arguably the best album of all time. So much depth to it, especially in the moody, somber 2nd half with all of the instrumentals. The entire Berlin trilogy is fantastic but Low simply takes the cake. You can see glimpses of the greatness to come in Station to Station and even Young Americans.
If you consider that Low & KW’s Trans Europe Express both came out in the same year, you have a pretty solid blueprint for the beginnings of industrial & ambient music (sandwiched between Eno’s 2 best works, of course).
I’m actually a fan of most of the overlooked albums & periods of Bowie’s career. And I cannot overlook Scary Monsters…another hugely slept on piece of work and much better than the sell-out, cash grab 80s material that was to follow.
I also agree that Outside is too meandering and unfocused but its strongest bits are some of his best-ever songs. Earthling was a bit “me too” sounding in its limp-wristed drum’n bass production and should’ve been out a year earlier but there’s still some very good songwriting in there. Black Tie White Noise has improved tremendously with age and the Buddha of Suburbia soundtrack is probably his 2nd-best “modern” material. Buddha is really a superb companion piece IMO to Outside. A shame it was absolutely overlooked upon its initial release and then again in its rerelease.
Tin Machine wasn’t THAT bad, just…silly and pointless. And Bowie’s final three albums are just dreadful, much like Uncle Al’s final 3 efforts. At this point, I think Bowie should just hang it up and enjoy his remaining years, health and family. Now, if he uncovers any unreleased rarities from the Outside sessions, I’d be delighted to see those released.
P.S. Remember his promise to release an album a year right up until the Millennium? HAH! I knew it’d never happen. Sounded like the kind of half-arsed promise Uncle Al would make to a reporter!
ONe of the best night s of my life was when “heathen” came out bowie did a show at Roseland in NYC and he did 2 sets… the first was low in it’s entirety and the second was all of heathen.
But i guess it seems the general consensus here would say that’s like seeing an artist do his best album then his worst
I’m down with his last three albums. Of those, I think Heathen is particularly strong. I’m surprised that ‘Hours…’ hasn’t gotten more respect. If I’m disappointed in those 3 at all, it’s because they don’t seem to be particularly adventurous. He’s not really breaking new ground, even for himself. Still, good stuff. And I’d love to hear the unreleased Toy album, especially since I’ve enjoyed the odds and ends from it that have spilled out onto other releases.
Outside seems to get a bit of a bad rap but there are some great songs on it. ‘Outside’, ‘Wishful Beginnings’, ‘I’m Deranged’, I really like. If he got rid of all the sequeways it’d work better.
I’d nominate ‘Earthling’ as his worst (I don’t like ‘Little Wonder’ at all) but there are still some ok tracks there.
One of the biggest concert disappointments I’ve ever had was when he had cancel 'cos of the heart back in '03 or '04 or whenever it was. I had forked out a lot to see just him at a festival. The Darkness headlined in his abscence… what a fucking insult to the fans by the promoters.
Actually I better go back and edit that greatest album thread and shtick in Low.
Outside seems to get a bit of a bad rap but there are some great songs on it. ‘Outside’, ‘Wishful Beginnings’, ‘I’m Deranged’, I really like. If he got rid of all the sequeways it’d work better.
the version of ‘strangers when we meet’ on there is one of the best ending tracks to a bowie cd. especially to have such a wonderfully cheerful song after all the twists and zany turns that is outside
I know they did do a unofficial sequal called like
2. contamination, or something a few years back… i forget who was on it besides the dresden dolls.
I vaguely remember watching an episode of SNL with Macauly Culkin hosting the bitch, and Tin Machine was playing what sounded like a really kickass song. I loved it, but it struck me as hilarious when Bowie motioned for the audience to start clapping… and no one did.
I vaguely remember watching an episode of SNL with Macauly Culkin hosting the bitch, and Tin Machine was playing what sounded like a really kickass song. I loved it, but it struck me as hilarious when Bowie motioned for the audience to start clapping… and no one did.
[laugh]
he should have walked over and turned on the applause sign they have there… THAT would have been funny