Black Tie White Noise (1993)

TRACKS

1. The Wedding: The albums opens with stately wedding bells, this track was written for his wife and their recent wedding. A nice instrumental, it’s essentially Bowie’s treated sax over housey piano and drums with some nice Eastern qualities. Bowie bookends this album with another version of the same track, but luckily that’s where the wedding concept starts and ends. 5.0

2. You’ve Been Around: Bowie often professes to have been deeply influenced by the icon of obscurity Scott Walker (The Walker Brothers), and likewise Walker influenced by Bowie and Eno’s work of the late 70s. This track was one left over from Tin Machine II and Bowie generates quite the Scott Walker self-harmonizing vocal effect almost predating Walker’s Tilt. Co-writer Reeves Gabrels’ guests on this track only and his guitar is mixed way down creating a nice warm sound. Jazz legend Lester Bowie (dotted all over this album) plays some nice trumpet too. Decent track. 7.0

3. I Feel Free: Cream cover with the late great Mick Ronson returning after many years, offering a nice guitar solo. This is a dance version of a song goes as far back as the Ziggy Stardust concerts and finally gets the (albeit OTT) studio treatment. Somewhat reminiscent of something off Let’s Dance, it’s fun in a sterile kind of way, and essentially forgettable. Bowie’s ultra-deep baritone plunges down to the earth’s core at one stage. 4.0

4. Black Tie White Noise: Post-LA Riots ebony and ivory duet with Al B Sure! or nonsensical ramblings of a middle aged man, either way it took them weeks to get this one right (longer than it took to record the entire Let’s Dance album), and not sure if it was entirely worth it. I still don’t know who Al B Sure! is! 4.5

5. Jump They Say: A looped horn section competes with Bowie’s strange sax sound (heard all over this album) on this energetic and edgy track. Possibly addressing the painful subject of suicide, it’s a strong track and his most successful single and innovative video for some time. 6.5

6. Nite Flights: Faithful cover of a brilliant Scott Walker song from the dark 1978 album of the same name. Bowie does it justice with a beautifully restrained performance and adds spacey drones and electronic treatments to excellent effect. The best song on the album by a long shot. 8.0

7. Pallas Athena: Anonymous dance floor muzak. People who were dancing to it had no idea it was Bowie. Listening to this track I wonder if I care. 3.0

8. Miracle Goodnight: Cute and cheery love song with some nice emotional lyrics from new husband and clearly besotted Mr Bowie. You can’t blame him for that. A wedding present for his wife? Lovely. Unfortunately the cornball ascending synth riff wears out it’s welcome as does the drum machine as usual. 4.5

9. Don’t Let Me Down and Down: Another more obscure cover this time, his voice is strong on this one and his performance strangely enjoyable, but the track grates with it’s cod-grandiose tempo and is way too maudlin. A setback for side two. 4.0

10. Looking for Lester: Lester Bowie plays a nice trumpet on this instrumental and goes head to head with Bowie’s own dissonant sax and Mike Garson’s piano tinkling. Bops along ok if you like that kind of thing. 5.0

11. I Know It’s Gonna Happen Someday: Bowie covering Morrissey covering Bowie. A perplexing choice doing this one, particularly with a gospel feel. A bit out of place on the album and painfully over-schmaltzy. 3.0

12. The Wedding Song: Bowie reprises the opener, this time with a vocal and somewhat trite lyrics “I believe in magic..”. 4.0

ALBUM RATING: 5.0

VERDICT: Black Tie White Noise marks the beginning of Bowie’s modern era and presents us with his latest persona that of a relevant solo working artist. A transitional album between the disappointing Tin Machine albums and the semi-firm creative footing of The Buddha of Suburbia, it’s also a dance album sitting insignificantly in the Bowie cannon, once again relying on Let’s Dance mastermind Nile Rogers as producer although Bowie maintained his artistic vision and turned down a lot of his suggestions to make this a more chart-friendly album ie: Let’s Dance II (maybe he shouldn’t have been involved at all?). Unfortunately they only succeeded in making an album dominated by upright ultra-funk bass, mediocre dance-club pop crossed with large amounts of smooth jazz stylings, and limiting his creative potential by working within strict mechanical drum patterns, jarring hiphop samples and programmed loops on nearly every track to reach the completely arbitrary four minute length. The album does herald the welcome return of Mike Garson and Mick Ronson to the fold, and while it was welcomed with open arms upon it’s release (what wouldn’t after Tin Machine?), it flopped in the States, bankrupted it’s record label (Savage), was then unavailable for many years, and has not aged well in sound or packaging (the album cover is Bowie’s career worst). It’s ultra-slick and humourless, and forever cemented as a piece of indistinct 90s dance pop. I can’t rate this one higher than Tonight but it’s definitely better than Tin Machine II. It’s Bowie’s least interesting album (even Tonight had it’s quirky charms), it’s stylistically narrow and there was no tour, only an hour long extremely dull video package of interviews, (mimed) performances and studio footage that’s best left alone.

NEXT: “Sometimes I fear that the whole world is queer”

Tin Machine

Tin Machine (1989)



Studs: Baby Can Dance, Amazing
Duds: Video Crime, Crack City

ALBUM RATING: 4.0


Tin Machine II (1991)



Studs: You Belong in Rock N’ Roll, If There is Something
Duds: Schtateside, Sorry

ALBUM RATING: 4.5

VERDICT: I’m not a Tin Machine fan. Let’s be loud and clear about that right now, and apologies in advance to those who do enjoy it on the level it was intended. Within my layers of cynicism and bitterness I don’t even consider this outfit to be components of the real Bowie catalogue. They are not David Bowie albums (much to the dismay of Reeves Gabrels) and considering we were smashed about the head at the time: this is a band effort/a collaborative affair/I’m with the boys, or as Bowie’s accompanying surly personality declared “Fuck you I’m in Tin Machine”, it is enough of a Bowie album(s) to at least mention in this albeit abridged Discography roundup. So, for all it’s faults Tin Machine was a much needed artistic enema in 1989 as Bowie’s rock-star career had come to a shuddering halt after Never Let Me Down and the ridiculous Spinal Tap-sized laughing stock that was the Glass Spider fiasco. To call it mostly awful is a trifle harsh (there are some decent rocking moments), although it has not aged well. Just listen to the first track off their first album and you’ll see what I mean. This track encapsulates just about everything Tin Machine were about in it’s 6 gruelling minutes. What starts out as quite an interesting track disintegrates into a loud, pointless “rock out” with some of the most embarrassingly awful lead guitar you’re ever likely to hear. The drums, like Hunt Sales’ personality, are horribly loud and obnoxious and when listening to this (the first album particularly) I can’t help but think here are four suited-up gents getting all rather rowdy in the basement before going back upstairs to their sandstone mansions, sipping their kool-aid and watering pot plants. Bowie had wrested back control by the somewhat more polished second (and final) album, but they were trying so hard to prove the point the band was democratic they even included a couple of unlistenable Hunt Sales tunes on the second side. For a career that was built on violently changing direction, Tin Machine was no different. Bowie needed to get this out of his system and to clear his mind (and his record company) before another stab at a commercial albeit artier sound.

NEXT: “Putting on the Black Tie (Again)…”

Never Let Me Down (1987)

TRACKS

1. Day-In Day-Out: A great opening line “She was born in a handbag…”, and a few others along the way, can’t save this tuneless plodder as it's all downhill from there. One of the few occasions where the opening track on a Bowie album isn’t a jaw-dropper. Also included a wholly unpleasant video. 3.5

2. Time Will Crawl: The lyrics reflect on the aftermath of nuclear war and life in a postnuclear society and environment, specifically Chernobyl. Well chosen track to remix for 2009’s iSelect. This is a good Bowie track and the best track here. 6.5

3. Beat of Your Drum: This is pretty lousy stuff, and at just over 5 minutes Bowie sounds as bored as I do. Plays like a half-finished left-over from the Labyrinth soundtrack. The first in some rather lyrically unpleasant irony-free borderline misogyny tracks. 2.0

4. Never Let Me Down: This slight title track is always talked up as being a terrific John Lennon-esque number (although it’s more an ode to his long-term faithful assistant Coco Schwab), in actual fact he sounds nothing like Lennon ever did. The song is far from a classic but holds up and a standout track on the album. 6.0

5. Zeroes: Opens with a really annoying fake crowd noise and even more annoying and incomprehensible announcer (Diamond Dogs it ain’t), Bowie’s winding vocal searches far and wide for a melody and almost finds one. Ambitious and not horrible. Some nice sitar, if you get that far. 5.0

6. Glass Spider: The pivotal track on the album Bowie begins by uneasily narrating a preposterous tale of (you guessed it) a, or indeed, the 'Glass Spider' which is embarrassingly bad and best not pondered over it’s near 2 minute intro. Once the song actually gets underway it becomes quite a spirited if melodramatic affair, but weighed down but a cluttered mix of backing vocals, clattering synths, over-affected guitar soloing and obnoxious drums. 3.5

7. Shining Star (Makin’ My Love): An innocuous one-dimensional shuffle with a pointless and incoherent rap by Mickey Rourke. "When I performed I was thinking, you all look like you should be seeing Phil Collins. Then I thought... hang on... I sound like Phil Collins." On this one that is true. Similar to the title track, I dislike Bowie’s fey voice in this. A complete flop. 2.0

8. New York’s in Love: This one isn’t much better. I think this is the track where Bowie plays lead guitar. The couple of dirty guitar solos after the choruses may well be the best sounding instrument on the whole album. Otherwise this song is completely pointless and melody-free and goes nowhere astonishingly quickly. 4.0

9. ’87 and Cry: Surprisingly this one does have a tune, and the rather nice refrain “And only you..” has it’s charms. Let down badly by those monotonous drums and a horrible middle eight. 4.0

10. Too Dizzy: This track has the unenviable honour of being a song Bowie thought so bad he had it deleted from some reissue of the album. Unfortunately my copy has it. 1.0

11. Bang Bang: At last an Iggy Pop cover. This is a relatively pleasing finish to an extremely disappointing side two. It’s always been a pretty good song (track down Iggy’s ‘non-hit single’ version off Party produced by Monkees songwriter Tommy Boyce), but Bowie’s unimaginative version doesn’t do it a lot of justice here. Some very dubious and altogether nasty American accents on display towards the end. 4.0

ALBUM RATING: 4.0

VERDICT: The 80s proved such a barren ground for so many major artists who had powered through the 60s and 70s, and Bowie was no exception with Never Let Me Down proving to be his creative nadir. After the commercial success but relative disappointment of his previous two dance-oriented albums, Bowie (in an unhappy and contractually obliged relationship with his then record company EMI) crafted a more arena-friendly guitar rock album to complement his forthcoming theatrical 'Glass Spider' world tour. Unfortunately the tour would go down in history as one of rock’s greatest follies. The hair was bemulleted, the drums loud and monotonous, the suits bright and the band (and dancers anyone?) dynamically impotent. The 'Glass Spider' theme and narrative was muddled, hammy and delivered with a horrible MTV gloss, free of any artistic credibility or conviction. The accompanying album, co-produced by David Richards (Iggy Pop’s Blah Blah Blah, Queen’s A Kind of Magic) and accompanied by one-man-backing-b(l)and Erdal Kizilcay, confirmed Bowie’s artistic insolvency, where any track with a hint of charm or appealing technique was buried in an avalanche of breathtaking overproduction and bombast. And that’s a shame because there is some merit and fine singing beneath the semi-melodic generic 80s pop sound. The busy album cover name-checks a number of items within the lyrics if you could be bothered, and also features the worst David Bowie ‘logo’ ever.

NEXT: The Artistic Enema of Tin Machine.

Tonight (1984)

TRACKS

1. Loving the Alien: A lyrically striking cinematic album highlight, the overlong quasi-spiritual slog of Loving the Alien, like much of the album suffers from fussy, over-saturated 80s production values. There is good song in there somewhere confirmed by the emotive stripped back “demo” version rolled out on the 2004 Reality tour. 7.5

2. Don’t Look Down: Bowie started covering/collaborating with Iggy Pop in the late 70s and this trend would continue well into the 80s, none more so than on this album where Bowie and Iggy had re-established their friendship. This is the first of five co-writes on this album - some cover versions, like this one (the splendid original appearing on Iggy’s essential New Values album), and other new collaborations. While not a patch on the original, this works quite well even with the loping reggae treatment. Particularly good as incidental music in the guiltily pleasure-able ‘Jazzin for Blue Jean’ mini-film. 6.5

3. God Only Knows: A left over from the original Pin Ups album. To say covering this Beach Boys hit was ill-advised is a huge understatement (it's a song I have never been a huge fan of...sorry) . There’s a lot wrong with this train wreck: the strings are kitschy and Bowie’s undistinguished vocal performance is one of his all time worst, for starters. 1.0

4. Tonight: Covering this awesome track off Iggy’s seminal Lust for Life album as a duet with Tina Turner may have looked good on paper, unfortunately winds up a directionless adult-contemporary lite-reggae borefest. 3.0

5. Neighbourhood Threat: Side two crashes in extra-loud and compared to the title track, Neighbourhood Threat is an urgent, energetic and tense adaptation of the Lust for Life original with some vigorous singing from Bowie, if a little scattershot and texturally barren in it’s arrangement. 6.5

6. Blue Jean: This listless faux-‘50s faux-rocker is drenched in crunchy sax and ridiculous lyrics, and while enjoyably catchy, ultimately grates. 5.0

7. Tumble and Twirl: This fresh collaboration with Iggy includes some appealing imagery in the lyrics (“hot juice in coke bottles”) referring to their recent experiences holidaying in Borneo. The lengthy uptempo lounge funk of Tumble and Twirl is strangely enjoyable despite an arrangement clearly cooked up by the anonymous production team while Bowie was outside smoking a cigarette. 5.5

8. I Keep Forgettin’: This inconsequential Vegas throwaway (written by Leiber and Stoller of Jailhouse Rock fame) is thoroughly forgettable inoffensive filler. 3.0

9. Dancing with the Big Boys: This somewhat melody-free closer is still one of the more interesting tracks on the album and Bowie virtually takes a back seat to Iggy’s lead vocal and string of non-sequiturs (eg: “Your family is a football team”). Tonight also saw the welcome return of Carlos Alomar who provides co-write credits here. Bowie would go on to produce Iggy’s forthcoming Blah Blah Blah and would rework another collaboration called Shades (7.5), a fine song unfortunately left off this album. 5.5

ALBUM RATING: 5.5

VERDICT: This is where Bowie started trying to second-guess the musical tastes of his global following and rushed out Tonight to capitalise on the massive success of Let’s Dance and the subsequent Serious Moonlight tour. Unfortunately the sub-par material was left to faceless 80s producers Hugh Padgham and Derek Bramble (better known for their work with Phil Collins and Sting) to messily piece together an album full of generic horns, strings and marimbas while Bowie sat on the couch waiting to do his vocal take, with nothing more to prove. Far from Let’s Dance II (most of the same musicians were used), the stylized pop of Tonight is actually more varied and far more interesting as a whole, and never dull, even if the songwriting is virtually non-existent. Clearly a less-inspired album in the Bowie cannon (it was essentially disowned by Bowie upon it’s release), but apart from God Only Knows there isn’t anything truly awful on it, and can be a relatively enjoyable experience when listened to in the right context (ie: unconscious). The highly attractive album cover is a homage to eccentric British artists Gilbert & George.

NEXT: “…I really shouldn't have even bothered going into the studio to record it. In fact, when I play it, I wonder if I did sometimes…”.

Let’s Dance (1983)

TRACKS

1. Modern Love: A loud, slamming album opener with a big fat chorus given the Nile Rogers treatment, like everything on this album. It’s also an intoxicatingly upbeat and irresistible catchy piece of 80s superficial pop fluff. 7.0

2. China Girl: Slick remake of a co-written Iggy track complete with updated stupid ‘Asian’ guitar lick from Rogers. Actually a very very good song (the grittier The Idiot version still towers above this) and the production, while a little crass, turns this disturbingly dark obsessive piece into a philosophical pop grind with substance. 7.0

3. Let’s Dance: The colossal title track while commercially humongous (topping every chart known to man) is also artistically successful. The whole "serious moonlight" imagery is superb and Bowie is in magnificent voice throughout this song. It’s sumptuous instrumentation adds to it’s inviting grandeur but hard to imagine anyone dancing to it. 8.5

4. Without You: A minimalist groove and bluesy licks from Vaughan cannot save this insipidly hookless track which, to its detriment, follows the opening three pop monsters. I’ve always thought Cat People would’ve rounded out side one nicely. This certainly doesn’t. 3.0

5. Ricochet: The most experimental number on the album and reasonably interesting but lazily written (check some of those lyrics). They were searching for a rhythm and settled on something overly-bombastic and awkward that simply doesn’t work. 4.5

6. Criminal World: A cover of a song by an obscure band called Metro dating back to 1977. This b-side fodder is relatively innocuous and enjoyable in the context of the album but squished beneath the track that follows. 5.0

7. Cat People (Putting Out Fire): Not quite as awesome as the original 1982 soundtrack version he did with Giorgio Moroder (which is one of Bowie’s finest 80s moments) however this is good stuff, with more blistering guitar work from Vaughan and a tremendous vocal performance, as is the whole production extravaganza. Fantastic stuff. 7.5

8. Shake It: An utterly throw away funk ditty and one of the most pointless songs in the Bowie cannon. Sounds like it belongs on Labyrinth. 2.0

ALBUM RATING: 6.0

VERDICT: Bowie fully committed himself to commercial popularity with the mega-selling Let’s Dance and it paid off in spades – commercially. Let’s Dance saw a complete overhaul of his working musicians (even no Carlos Alomar) and producer (goodbye Tony Visconti), as well as less artistic collaboration, rather passing over an idea or song to producer Nile Rogers and his team of musicians and allowing them total artistic freedom to mould, add, tweak and magnify, leaving the only thing left for Bowie to do was to turn up for vocal takes (which are very impressive) and the odd sax solo. However it was Bowie’s artistic vision that made this the screaming success it was and he seemed far less troubled and ready to have a good time. It’s certainly not a horrible album, and I do not dislike it, I just don’t play it as much as some others and it’s unfair to judge it against anything that came before it. There are some great things about it. The album saw the emergence of the late Texan blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan whose playing all over this album is undeniably wonderful. The accompanying tour proved that Bowie was the consummate professional performer and still theatrically vital and one hell of a singer. This album also turned a lot of people onto Bowie who would not have otherwise heard his 70s material - which I guess is a good thing. Unfortunately all rough edges have been smoothed out and the album now sounds dated and suffers from having that big quintessential 80s buff sound, as well as being horrifically slick and menace-free. Let’s Dance achieved exactly what it was intended to do, however this was also the beginning of a steep downward spiral in the quality of Bowie’s music as he quickly became indifferent to his own recorded output in every way.

NEXT: “Your family is a football team..”

Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980)

TRACKS

1. It’s No Game (Pt 1): The album opens with the sound of a tape reel being mounted before launching into one of Bowie’s angriest vocals ever, roaring out the words with abandon, matching the twisted squalls of Robert Fripp’s guitar and a macho Japanese spoken-word aural assault. This is actually a rewrite of a very old (early 60s) and very beautiful song called ‘Tired of My Life’. 9.0

2. Up the Hill Backwards: This is very un-Bowie and lyrics suggesting it’s his post-divorce song “with the arrival of freedom”. Somewhat of a singalong shuffle with a reasonably catchy refrain but generally a trifling affair. Was pointlessly butchered on the Glass Spider tour. 6.0

3. Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps): A showcase song for Robert Fripp’s wildly spluttering lead guitar, and sung in a mechanical ‘mockernee’ style, the semi-industrial title track about a girl’s descent into madness is jarringly discordant but rocks out forcefully. 8.0

4. Ashes to Ashes: Masterpiece #28. With Ashes to Ashes Bowie crafts one of his most popular and majestic songs, filled with innovative flourishes, sonic textures, plunking piano, spooky whisperings, and a George Murray’s golden moment slap bass. Haunting metaphorical lyrics, this is the sequel to Space Oddity and somewhat of a drug confessional. Featured an iconic David Mallet video that still looks amazing today. 10.0

5. Fashion: Irresistibly catchy with an infectiously funky bassline and killer beat, Fashion is classy neurotic dance song and a commentary on popular culture including another virtuoso performance from Fripp, the star musician of this album. 9.0

6. Teenage Wildlife: Masterpiece #29. Bowie’s bizarre vocal histrionics (Bowie’s imitation of Ronnie Spector) is a highlight of this monumental classic. Somewhat of a sister song to the great “Heroes” and featuring textural edgy guitar from Fripp and newcomer Chuck Hammer, Teenage Wildlife is defiant and wordy (Bowie famously takes aim at his post-punk artistic godchildren eg: Gary Numan), and one of his longest and best songs ever. 10.0

7. Scream Like a Baby: A brooding industrial experiment and an interesting rewrite of a song dating back to 1973 by Ava Cherry and the Astronetts called 'I Am A Lazer', which Bowie wrote and produced, with different lyrics. 6.5

8. Kingdom Come: This track is a cover version of a good song off ex-Television Tom Verlaine’s fine first solo self titled album released in 1979. An ironic lament about life imprisonment and a dissection of a relationship, Verlaine was actually pencilled in to be the guitarist on this album and along with Adrian Belew, was dropped for Fripp at the last minute. 7.0

9. Because You’re Young: Pete Townshend plays on this drab piece with cornball lyrics which sound out of place on this album unfortunately. Would’ve worked better on Let’s Dance. Track down the superior demo version. 5.0

10. It’s No Game (Pt 2): Surprisingly the first track to be written and recorded for the album (and the only one at New York Power Station before a Bowie-requested sojourn, then resuming in London) and makes for an effective album closer. Bowie now brings a calmer and certain world-weariness with him to this track and an air of resignation, and finally the sound of tape flapping as the album closes. 7.5

ALBUM RATING: 8.0

VERDICT: There’s a reason why every single Bowie album since 1987 has come with the tiresome caveat ‘the best album since Scary Monsters’. This nervy sweeping rock-opus is his last truly excellent album and an extremely well crafted and highly experimental one at that. The songs were written well before going into the studio, and possess one of the best first sides in the Bowie cannon. It’s his last with the Alomar/Murray/Davis lineup, and (for some time) producer Tony Visconti, but sees a triumphant return of Robert Fripp (“Heroes”) and Roy Bitton (Station to Station). This album was incredibly well received upon it’s release, and it’s easy to see why. Very much a song orientated album, it was a return to the more conventional song structure and pop sound, and it is absolutely amazing how impeccable the album sounds (for an album released 30 years ago) particularly when listened to alongside some of it’s contemporaries (eg: stinkers like Iggy Pop’s Soldier, Lou Reed’s Growing Up in Public or Roxy Music’s Flesh & Blood). This is the perfect album to close out the 70s and his brilliant career with RCA (then onto EMI) up to that point (even the superb backward-looking album sleeve suggests as such), also has some interesting outtakes from the sessions including a stripped bare Plastic Ono Band-esque Space Oddity (10.0), a remake of Panic In Detroit (6.5), the oblique synth experiment Crystal Japan (8.5), and a slightly irritating cover of Bertold Brecht’s baroque Alabama Song (5.0).

NEXT: “Put on your red shoes…”

Lodger (1979)

TRACKS

1. Fantastic Voyage: A political commentary song about nuclear war, finally resurrected to brilliant effect for the 2004 Reality tour, still sounds relevant lyrically and a showcase for Bowie’s vocal talents and his ever-increasing baritone. This marvellous bass/drums/piano song has no less than three mandolins playing along, but they’re buried so deep in the mix you don’t notice. 9.0

2. African Night Flight: Machine gun expressionist delivery, quite unlike anything he’d done before (or since), and an interesting track full of loops and Eno’s ‘cricket menace’ which appears in the driving coda just before (what sounds like) Swahili chanting weaves it’s way into the piece. And this was even before world music had a name. In retrospect somewhat reminiscent of the Eno/Byrne collaboration ‘My Life in the Bush of Ghosts’ masterpiece which was recorded around the same time. 7.0

3. Move On: Charming little first-person wanderlust themed song and a minor favourite. ‘All the Young Dudes’ backwards ends up sounding like a tribal chant, but the best thing about this song is the lyrics, voice and the delivery and the unerring drum shuffle underneath suggesting movement. 7.0

4. Yassassin (Turkish for Long Live): A somewhat awkward venture into eastern reggae saved by a mindblowing electric violin solo by ex-Hawkwind member Simon House and some nice guitar by the ever-inventive Adrian Belew. 6.0

5. Red Sails: Masterpiece #27. Belew’s guitar in all it’s unedited glory finally comes to the forefront here in this swashbuckling classic, the highest point of the album, and one of the great Bowie songs. Has the feel of a traditional Japanese influence in the verses, despite the buccaneer lyrics, Neu references and thunderous outro. The epitome of the late 70’s new wave synth sound, another genre that can be attributed to Bowie himself. 10.0

6. DJ: A mood shift from side one to a more focussed pop sound, although this lyrically complex track has a eclectic brew of electric violin, guitar solos and synth along with a classic Bowie lyric which makes for one of the great warped-rock Bowie singles (and videos) of all time. 8.5

7. Look Back in Anger: Impressive vocal performance Look Back in Anger possesses a terrific opening verse, fantasy-themed lyrics, with a blistering rhythm guitar ‘solo’ by Carlos Alomar, and that fine melodramatic chorus. 7.5

8. Boys Keep Swinging: Same chords as Fantastic Voyage, the musicians swapped instruments achieving a very post-punk primitive sound, which is somewhat jarring as well as Bowie’s deep-voiced oddball lyrics about boys. A very strange video shown on the Kenny Everitt Video Show in ’79, along with the Lennon-esque version of Space Oddity (9.5), did it’s hit-single potential no favours. 7.5

9. Repetition: A song of spousal abuse sung in a cold un-emotive fashion, without any showboating or histrionics, over an appropriately queasy and unrelenting George Murray bassline – this is another album highlight. 8.0

10. Red Money: An inferior reworking of Iggy’s classic Sister Midnight, this track has some interesting moments (eg: a nice little guitar lick, multi-tracked vocals) but generally an disappointing way to finish the album. 6.0

ALBUM RATING: 7.5

VERDICT: An experimental album of good materiel rather than a brilliant cohesive whole, Bowie was coming down off the artistic and commercial success of the 1978 world tour and lyrically was continuing on with the travel motif laid down by The Secret Life of Arabia. Lodger is the third and final instalment in the Berlin trilogy (although recorded in Switzerland), is equally experimental as the previous two albums (minus the wonderful instrumentals) but is easily the most underwhelming of the three and can almost come off as a transitional album between “Heroes” and Scary Monsters rather than part of the Berlin trilogy. Unfortunately there is not the same amount of creative grandeur or sheer brilliance as Low of “Heroes” and the mix is awfully muddy and hollow (and Belew had just excelled on tour, his guitar is surprisingly inconspicuous, and much of his work on the album was composited from multiple takes played against backing tracks of which he had no prior knowledge, not even the key), and some songs unfocussed and light-on. The input of Brian Eno had also noticeably decreased although featured in many co-write credits. That said, Lodger is a daring and original work without a single dud among it’s avant-pop, which rewards with repeated listens and is split into two clearly defined sides: side one a worldly travelogue, and side two dealing with existential decay which plays like an alt-world greatest hits album. Bowie produced several film clips (as they were called back then) for a number of singles to promote this album, however had the rug pulled from under him and was out-Bowied somewhat with the emergence of, at worst Bowie clones (Gary Numan), and at best intellectual cutting edge art-rockers (Talking Heads), and was far from a commercial and critical success. The cover is Bowie’s most unappealing, although the gatefold sleeve of deathbeds is strangely compelling.

NEXT: “Silhouettes and Shadows…”

"Heroes" (1977)

TRACKS

1. Beauty and the Beast: A lurching synth grind, with a menacing double-tracked lead vocal (with a late-arriving bridge that pre-dates the Ashes to Ashes self-examining lyric), Bowie’s new vocal style here is strikingly expressive (especially when compared to Low). Eno’s synthetic ‘flute’ solo a highlight as are the tongue-in-cheek lyrics. The intro to this song is a dead-ringer of Roxy Music’s ‘The Thrill of it All’. Listen to that. 8.0

2. Joe the Lion: Masterpiece #24. A bar-room epic, lyrically random and effortlessly brilliant. Robert Fripp legendarily recording his guitar overdub without even hearing the track beforehand, Bowie’s yelping vocals were recorded on-mike too as he wrote the lyrics (like much of “Heroes”). “It’s Monday” is an album highlight itself. This is as exhilarating as music gets. 10.0

3. “Heroes”: Masterpiece #25. Undoubtedly the finest song in the Bowie cannon, this is essentially an experimental piece of art-rock which sounds like no other song. “Heroes” possesses a hypnotic shudder (created by Eno’s synth playing) and producer Tony Visconti’s filter sweeps generating a superb oscillating effect that slowly builds and becomes more and more powerful towards the end as the vocals soar (there is also no kick-drum whatsoever). A pure lyric of individual connection in adverse times (he wrote the lyrics during a break in recording looking out the windows of Hansa Studios at a strolling Visconti and backing singer Antonia Maass indulging in some covert smooching), complemented by some majestic reverb-drenched “Bowie histrionics”, recorded using several gated microphones rigged-up down the corridor, capturing a great deal of natural reverb and in turn, a wall of sound. The chord changes are multi-layered and anthemic, the Fripp guitar loop spot-on, and the epic 6-minute album version definitive. Accept no imitations. 10.0

4. Sons of the Silent Age: This track was written well before going into the studio, unlike everything else on this record. An operatic vocal performance and some strangled sax from Bowie, he sings of Sam Therapy and King Dice, whoever on earth they are. Unspeakable things happened to this perfectly fine song on the Glass Spider tour. Best not mentioned really. 7.5

5. Blackout: Masterpiece #26. The piece de resistance of the first side, written about Bowie’s own personal meltdown at the time (or more probable the NY blackout of ’77), Blackout veers spectacularly between a full on crescendo and a threatening tendency for low-key detachment (‘I’ll kiss you in the rain’). A fitting chaotic rush of freak-out synths and triple-tracked Frippatronic guitar treatments boil over in a wonderful spoken word climax: “While the streets block off, getting some skin exppposure to the blackout”. 10.0

6. V-2 Schneider: Obviously a tribute to Kraftwerk, the horn section was accidentally turned around to the offbeat in the recording process and they stuck with it. I’m not so sure. It’s when this track ends is when it starts to get interesting. 7.0

7. Sense of Doubt: This song represents fear - and it is genuinely scary. Based around a doom-y descending set of four piano notes, with a dramatic organ accompaniment, there's something creaking around in the background, that lovely windswept beginning and end add to the mystery and atmosphere of the piece. This is when Eno and Bowie were experimenting with the Oblique Strategies cards, a random aid to the creative process, which they used entirely for this track. 8.0

8. Moss Garden: Bowie’s koto (a traditional Japanese stringed instrument) plays over Eno’s gorgeously tranquil atmospherics which ebb and flow as little dogs bark off in the distance. Earlier in the album Bowie had exclaimed he is under Japanese influence and the exquisite Moss Garden is evidence of that. 9.5

9. Neuköln: Named after a district in Berlin, Neuköln recalls the sombre reflection of Low on one hand, but on the other is Bowie enthusiastically throttling his saxophone over a dramatic Eastern-European soundscape, painting a vivid image of a bleak post-war Germany. By the last spiralling sax wail Neuköln is gloriously beyond accessible. 8.0

10. The Secret Life of Arabia: Unlike Low, “Heroes” finishes on a positive note with a hint of things to come in the Eastern sounds of Lodger, the melodic and jubilant The Secret Life of Arabia a somewhat inconsequential number, returning to the funk sounds of old, and just a little bit out of place after the torment of Neuköln which would’ve made for a gutsy closer. I do like this track though – the album’s footnote and Bowie coming out the other end still intact. 8.0

ALBUM RATING: 10.0

VERDICT: A perfect 10.0 seems like an understatement for “Heroes”. This album for me is the pinnacle of all Bowie recordings and while stylistically similar in structure to Low, “Heroes” has a fuller and more chaotic sound and is significantly more muscular and expressive, both musically and vocally. Recorded in an old Gestapo Ballroom which had been used to record symphonies during World War II, “Heroes” is Part 2 in the Berlin trilogy (and the only one written and recorded entirely in Berlin). Bowie was studying art and immersing himself in Euro-expressionist, synth-based music in 1977, which was a busy year for him. He released Low in January, produced Iggy Pop's The Idiot and Lust For Life, toured as Iggy's keyboard player, starred in a (albeit horrendous) film alongside Marlene Dietrich Just A Gigolo, and narrated Peter And The Wolf for his son in his spare time. He was in career-best form as a vocalist too (most of this was first take recording) and the subsequent tour confirms this theory, listen to 1978’s underrated live outing Stage (9.5). This is also when Bowie still had an air of menace about him - before he turned all smiley and tanned in the 80s. Like Iggy Pop’s The Idiot, the awesome album cover is based on the painting Roquairol by German artist Erich Heckel.

Low (1977)

TRACKS

1. Speed of Life: Opening with a jarring fade-in, this marvellously layered instrumental piece sounds like the theme music to a long lost 50s sci-fi series - as our heroes race through the space-time continuum encountering all sorts of sticky interplanetary situations. Synthesizers are at the forefront and this new ultra cutting edge electronic based music that still sounds fresh via collaborator Brian Eno. Guitarist Ricky Gardiner is excellent all over this album as well with his sharp melody lines, this textured track is the perfect opener to introduce the new music night and day. 9.0

2. Breaking Glass: An instrumental with vocals, this track was cooked up in the studio by the band (Alomar, Murray and Davis) with vocals composed and recorded quickly upon his arrival in the studio. Pure art-funk with some very surreal and paranoid lyrics it’s quite an opaque song, the genesis of which can be heard in the foundations laid by the previous album Station to Station. Worked very well live particularly the extended outro found on Stage. 7.5

3. What in the World: Musically disjointed and lyrically random, Eno’s pulsating “Pac-man” soundeffects very complimentary, this track is memorable not least for its cavernous treated drum sound created by producer Visconti using an Eventide Harmonizer (a sound heard all over Low), or Iggy Pop on backing vocals for his only appearance here (although he was around a lot at the time, they had already recorded ‘The Idiot’ together), and the frantic yet soulful live renditions it received every single night on the subsequent tour. 7.5

4. Sound and Vision: As catchy a synth-pop song as you’re ever likely to hear, the vocals don’t come in on this one until after the halfway mark. The sonic experimentation is evident here within this eclectic, musical vignette and art-rock symphony. The great steam hiss is a heavily gated snare in case you were wondering. 9.5

5. Always Crashing in the Same Car: Masterpiece #22. This is the heart of the first side and a slightly undervalued track, either way it’s a masterpiece. The feel of this recount of a hotel garage car accident is one of resignation and futility sung in a disarmingly un-emotive manner. The closing guitar solo is an album highlight. 10.0

6. Be My Wife: A plea for human connection with some barnstorming honky-tonk piano. Another instance of super catchy, angular art-pop. This had a really weird video clip too. 8.5

7. A New Career in a New Town: Closing side two with a tuneful pop instrumental reminiscent of Kraftwerk’s ‘Radio Activity’, it has a fragmented, processed feel and displays Eno’s fine synth, and Bowie’s limited harmonica, abilities. 7.0

8. Warszawa: Masterpiece #23. The only Eno/Bowie co-write on the album, this track is heavy on the melancholy and seemingly conveying some serious emotional wreckage. Consisting of funereal processional synth steps from Eno (composed while Bowie was attending a divorce court hearing) and a shrieking Eastern European boys choir-sounding vocal from Bowie, the slow and graceful Warszawa is the single finest instrumental in Bowie’s career. 10.0

9. Art Decade: Written, recorded, then discarded by Bowie, then resurrected by Eno some time later, Art Decade lopes along beautifully, sounding futuristic and emitting an ethereal feeling of warmth throughout. 8.5

10. Weeping Wall: Continuing to discard traditional structures of pop music, Bowie plays all this instruments on this one dealing thematically, and evoking a mood, of life in Germany scarred by the Berlin Wall. 8.5

11. Subterraneans: Written as part of the unrealised soundtrack for The Man Who Fell to Earth, this ghostly atmospheric instrumental is similar to Warszawa in tone and possesses some wonderful jazz inflected sax from Bowie towards the end. 8.5

ALBUM RATING: 10.0

VERDICT: After finding a comfortable niche with hit singles Young Americans, Fame and Golden Years, and displaying some unusually extrovert behaviour during this time, Bowie got off drugs and the treadmill of fame (at least for the foreseeable future) and started recording a wilful departure without any firm plans to make an album. The result was Low - part one of the ‘Berlin Trilogy’. Ironically it was mostly recorded in France (same studio where Pin Ups was recorded), this music at the time was unprecedented for a pop star of Bowie stature, not only the ahead-of-it’s-time art-pop of the first side but particularly the four dense instrumental sonicscapes on side two which baffled both critics and fans alike upon it’s release. This is when Bowie started making the weirdest and arguably the best music of his career. His songwriting on Low tended to deal with difficult issues, as many of the songs concern lethargy, depression, estrangement, or self-destructive behaviour, mostly delivered in an atypical monotone vocal. Low has been acclaimed for it’s originality and now with the benefit of hindsight, it’s is truly one of the most groundbreaking and influential albums of all time. The excellent low-profile pun album cover is another still taken from The Man Who Fell to Earth.

NEXT: “There’s old wave, there’s new wave, and there’s David Bowie.”

Station to Station (1976)

TRACKS

1. Station to Station: Masterpiece #20. This colossal and genuinely thrilling title track opens with a train chugging from speaker to speaker before moving into a sound rooted in the motorik rhythms of Neu! and Kraftwerk combined with a funk groove. Bowie introduces his icy new character the Thin White Duke with a deadening paranoia and a veiled plea to return to Europe via semi-mystical invocations. One of the few 4-part 10 minute songs I wish were longer. This track is simply a tour-de-force and one of Bowie’s greatest ever moments on record. 10.0

2. Golden Years: A logical follow up to the funk of Fame, the snappy Golden Years finds Bowie in career-best form as a vocalist and tunesmith. Some lovely falsetto with the band sounding tight riding a faultless groove and a soaring chorus, it’s the album’s only conventional rock song and an irresistible one at that. 9.0

3. Word on a Wing: Masterpiece #21. One of Bowie’s most underrated songs. An elegiac ballad with a hint of desperation in the delivery and the lyrics. Free of any cynicism or sarcasm it’s quite a complex song sung in such a genuine way giving it both dignity and beauty. Some outstanding work from E-Street pianist Roy Bitten who excels all over this album, none more so than here. 10.0

4. TVC15: A silly story about his TV eating Iggy Pop’s girlfriend, this song is mostly the repeated chorus outro refrain of “oh my TVC15, oh oh, TVC15”. It’s a fun, bizarre song and a little avant-garde that works musically, however it’s overlong and the weakest track here. 7.5

5. Stay: Built around a one of the best post-Ronson guitar riffs, this track finds the magnificent rhythm section that is Alomar, Murray and Davis in funk fusion art rock overdrive while Bowie croons quite a beautifully melodic chorus that sounds alarmingly like ‘John, I’m Only Dancing’. Towards the end this really cooks, particularly live with Adrian Belew on guitar circa '78. 9.0

6. Wild is the Wind: The now legendary Wild is the Wind opened his triumphant Glastonbury return in 2000, and what a song! Musically subtle, the acoustic and electric guitars on this song are superb, but the fearless, melodramatic vocal performance confirms it as one of the most stunning covers of all time. 9.5

ALBUM RATING: 10.0

VERDICT: A transitional album and lyrically, an impenetrable one. Station to Station was recorded in Hollywood in a blizzard of cocaine use and was a milestone for Bowie’s career to date, effectively dividing the '70's introducing us to the first taste of the new music that was to follow, while closing the glam and plastic soul era. This is the album where The Thin White Duke displays his ability to bring his profoundly European sense of pop drama to rhythms and grooves played by a multi-racial blend of musicians, and pushing his great art into a challenging new direction, even if he can’t remember making it. The original stately black and white album cover has finally been reinstated after various flirtations with the coloured impostor.

NEXT: “Isn't it great to be on your own, let's just pull down the blinds and fuck ‘em all.”