@AlicejustMay I think everything prior to Let's Dance was memorable. Let's Dance, while it was popular (I bought it as soon as it came out) at the time, just hasn't had the replayability of so many of his earlier Glam Rock style albums.
Maybe I'm showing my age...?
@Marlboroman_Mat You know, I think you're right. I found the rest of the album a staggering disappointment ( China Girl? Really? Come on) but this was his swansong. Scary Monsters was by far the most commercial album that could be taken seriously, and as a single, Let's Dance took it one step further. But it was unsustainable. He's basically a textbook case study of what happens when an artist may still feel hungry but doesn't have the wolf knocking at the door to fuel the creative appetite...
@Marlboroman_Mat ...I'm writing this in a rush, so I may be mixing metaphors inappropriately. Anyhow, that's what it seems like. And though I haven't heard his new album in its entirety, it's extremely interesting that 'Where Are We Now' and 'The Stars Are out Tonight' are at opposite ends of the Bowie spectrum. The former being a touching elegy to his troubled Berlin persona and the latter a puerile embarrassment of bad lyrics, banal composition, and a video to match.
7 Comments (since 31 Mar 2013)
AlicejustMay
His last good album... my choice? Art Decade, Breaking Glass, Fame... hard to choose. Art Decade, for being such a perfect instrumental, I think.
spaceball
Queen Bitch, Diamond Dogs (with the spoken album intro) V2 Schneider, Win, Velvet Goldmine, Please Mr Gravedigger, I could go on at length......
ncplewis
"I'm Deranged" from '1. Outside' - a hidden gem from the 90's, with Bowie in full on Thin White Duke croon mode.
Marlboroman_Mat
@AlicejustMay I think everything prior to Let's Dance was memorable. Let's Dance, while it was popular (I bought it as soon as it came out) at the time, just hasn't had the replayability of so many of his earlier Glam Rock style albums. Maybe I'm showing my age...?
AlicejustMay
@Marlboroman_Mat You know, I think you're right. I found the rest of the album a staggering disappointment ( China Girl? Really? Come on) but this was his swansong. Scary Monsters was by far the most commercial album that could be taken seriously, and as a single, Let's Dance took it one step further. But it was unsustainable. He's basically a textbook case study of what happens when an artist may still feel hungry but doesn't have the wolf knocking at the door to fuel the creative appetite...
AlicejustMay
@Marlboroman_Mat ...I'm writing this in a rush, so I may be mixing metaphors inappropriately. Anyhow, that's what it seems like. And though I haven't heard his new album in its entirety, it's extremely interesting that 'Where Are We Now' and 'The Stars Are out Tonight' are at opposite ends of the Bowie spectrum. The former being a touching elegy to his troubled Berlin persona and the latter a puerile embarrassment of bad lyrics, banal composition, and a video to match.
corcorankelly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etXnl95XFEQ