David Bowie Is...

I've been listening to Black Star a lot lately. One thought I keep having is, if we were all under the impression that his health was fine, would it be as praised as it is? Am I only into it so much because I knew it was his final musical statement?

I mean, it's impossible to listen to it on its own; you have to factor in that he knew he was dying when he was recording it. But would I have liked it so much if it was just another new Bowie album? I didn't give much time or love to The Next Day or really any of his 90s and 00s albums.

Babble babble babble

Relaxer wrote:
I've been listening to Black Star a lot lately. One thought I keep having is, if we were all under the impression that his health was fine, would it be as praised as it is? Am I only into it so much because I knew it was his final musical statement?

I mean, it's impossible to listen to it on its own; you have to factor in that he knew he was dying when he was recording it. But would I have liked it so much if it was just another new Bowie album? I didn't give much time or love to The Next Day or really any of his 90s and 00s albums.

Babble babble babble

yes but before his death… in that window when it was circulated to critics etc the response was very positive.. more so than the next day… but I don't think we can discount the subsequent impact of his death on its appraisal

but its no john lennon-yoko ono final album which kinda sucked but when he died everybody decided it was really good…

for me it ranks with scary monsters, lets dance (yes Side B is weaker but I dont' get the hate for an album with modern love, chinagirl, lets dance and cat people!), Buddha of suburbia soundtrack, and outside as my favorite post 70s Dylan…I think Reality/Heathen/Hours/The Next Day are good albums but they don't do that much for me…

Let's Dance is like Born in the USA or Eliminator – mega albums from the 80s that stand apart from their creators' otherwise awesome output. I'm not saying they're bad albums, but for me, Let's Dance is a few songs I've heard a billion times and some other songs that don't remotely stand up to his 70s records.

I think the run he had from Man Who Sold the World to Scary Monsters is absolutely unprecedented. No one has a streak that long of such quality.

Relaxer wrote:
Let's Dance is like Born in the USA or Eliminator – mega albums from the 80s that stand apart from their creators' otherwise awesome output. I'm not saying they're bad albums, but for me, Let's Dance is a few songs I've heard a billion times and some other songs that don't remotely stand up to his 70s records.

I think the run he had from Man Who Sold the World to Scary Monsters is absolutely unprecedented. No one has a streak that long of such quality.

I would agree with that..

I just think.. at the end of the day when I was a kid and I heard lets dance/modern love/chinagirl I loved them and all these years later I still do.. they are fabulous songs.. and hey chinagirl was written many years earlier with iggy pop so hey..

whereas born in the usa… I may have liked the songs when it came out but if I hear them today I have to get out my shotgun….I just can't stand them..cover me… indeed.

finally..its easy to understand why bowie had to make lets dance.. lets remember he was not on RCA for the first time.. I dont' know if he was dropped but he was not selling… now all these years later we sit and fawn over low but at the time… its the albums after lets dance I despise (tonight and never let me down or whatever. .id ont' even own them)

Before he died I thought Blackstar was a really interesting new area for him, musically, with that jazzy combo backing him. And the song "Blackstar" was haunting from the start, even in back in November. I had just interpreted the song "Lazurus" as being from the character from "Man who fell to Earth", as he is now in the new play up in NY.  I'd figured I would let the album grow on me and just enjoy it as new Bowie music, which I've always been glad to have over the years. I've pretty much bought everything he's put out, as soon as it came out, all along.

Now, of course, Blackstar is his final statement, which certainly makes it a sad listen now that he's gone.  In particular, that last song, "I Can't Give Everything Away" .. woah.

But the energy and weirdness of a track like "Tis a Pity She's a Whore", especially with the way it really starts to swing toward the end, and Bowie starts letting out these "whoop" shouts … that shows there was rock and life in the old sick guy yet, which is certainly the way to go out.

I listened to Blackstar before he died and just loved it.

lady gaga to do a bowie tribute at grammys

low to moderate gaga fan, but always thought she has been the closest to a modern equivalent

Madonna can actually suck my left ball

gurrrl

https://www.instagram.com/p/BBq2QBMRJF0DRYvruJDZK97RpvUEYVbODMs1es0/

Finished the painting I've been working on last night. I'm giving away the file for this for people to make prints if they want (when I can get someone to take a good picture of it). Let me know if you'd like one.

Been meaning to post this for a while

Not sure of any of you know who 2manyDJs or about Radio SoulWax.
but they are these Belgian DJ's that do these incredible mash ups / radio shows (since the genre started) IMO

A few weeks after the Alien left this mortal coil, they released this  film/mix in collaboration filmmaker Wim Reygaert

So worth 50 minutes of your time even if you are a casual Bowie fan
How they are able to string together 15 years of bowie songs to sound like one cohesive mix is a feat on it's own

https://vimeo.com/53207758


Our homage to the man whose ability to change whilst remaining himself has been a massive influence on us. There are many legends in the music industry but for us, there is no greater than the mighty Dave. We've included all things Bowie, whether that is original songs, covers, backing vocals, production work or reworks we made, to attempt to give you the full scope of the man's genius.

For the visual side to this mix our friend Wim Reygaert (who also made the amazing film for Into The Vortex) came up with the most ambitious film for RSWX, taking us on a fever dream time travel through the man's career starring the amazing Hannelore Knuts as Dave. We've got to extend a special thank you to the cast and crew and everyone involved for putting so much time and energy and heart and soul into this amazing film, it is a pure labour of love for the phenomenon that is Bowie.

DAVE
A film by WIM REYGAERT
A RADIO SOULWAX PROJECT A CAVIAR PRODUCTION



PS…K8t, your painting is tops!

[confession] I've never been able to get into Bowie [/confession]

I've immersed my self in several of his works but it's just never struck a chord with me.

It's not that I don't like him, I fully respect his contributions and the influence he has had on people who influence me.

I think it stems from my first exposure to Bowie… it was the video for "Dancing in the Streets" w/ Mick Jagger. You just don't get over things like that.

bob72 wrote:
I think it stems from my first exposure to Bowie… it was the video for "Dancing in the Streets" w/ Mick Jagger. You just don't get over things like that.

yep…by far one of the lowest points for both of them, I can see how it would be hard to recover from that first impression.
Ashes to Ashes was mine and I was just blown away and was not the same person after it

I wanna see K8t's picture so much but the link appears dead.

Sorry. Try it now. I have to admit I'm not the best at figuring out how to post pics here!

link works for me… it's real, and it's spectacular.

K8teebug wrote:
Sorry. Try it now. I have to admit I'm not the best at figuring out how to post pics here!

nice work!!!

Thanks, everyone.

Yes, that is spectacular. I would love to be able to create art like that.