"Kingdom Come" is an excellent choice but a rather unispired cover. Apparently Verlaine was scheduled to play on it but was so out of it that Bowie and Visconti didn't use any of his "contributions"
I like "Kingdom Come" while Scary Monsters is playing, but I've never felt compelled to spin it on its own. I think it's much better than pretty much anything on NLMD though. I used to consider Scary Monsters one of his "great" records, along with Diamond Dogs, Low and the like, but I've soured on it a bit over the past decade, even though I find the lyrics more impressive than I did when I was younger. I actually think Let's Dance might be its equal now - not as smart, but it's hard to compete with the first three tracks on Let's Dance, which are all just utterly brilliant pop songs.
Two things. There was a compilation a couple of years ago called Zeit! 77-79. It's just Low - "Heroes" - Stage - Lodger in a slipcase, so it's pretty perfunctory but I only have those records on LP, so this is a chance to import them into my iTunes library. Stage surprised me, especially the version of "Stay", although I'm glad Adrian Belew was only on a couple of Bowie records. The cover of Low looks like a bad photocopy and there are no bonus tracks. Stage is the 2005 version, sequenced in the correct order. It's only £14 or so. I know there has been a concerted attempt to rehabilitate Lodger, but I just can't. The frustrating thing is that my opinion aligns with conventional wisdom (Low is a masterpiece, "Heroes" is solid, Lodger is rotten), so when people ask me about the Berlin records I have to chance the topic otherwise they will think that I don't have opinions of my own. I do have opinions of my own, it's just that other people have them too. Also The Idiot, which is technically an Iggy Pop record. £4.99 on Amazon, I've been playing it on repeat. The bit in "Dum-Dum Boys" where he sings that "no-one else was impressed, not at all" gets me for some reason. Iggy Pop strikes me as a good pal who wanted the public to love him, but they didn't, and that hurt.
Trying to get into Heaven on cd Ryko Hunky Dory at work but I skip Changes I just love Bombers I got Outside on lp four months ago when they released it on vinyl. Even though I'm a huge Eno fan, I guess Bowie's other work in that era kept me away Outside and The Next Day lp will go into rotation this weekend Still not ready to rehear Blackstar The last time I heard it outside of the videos was on his birthday
Diamond Dogs, Scary Monsters and some Lodger in some down time between bits at a work function. And still, various snippets of vocals in my head from all over the back catalogue; seemingly triggered if I hear someone say a word or phrase that is also in one of his lyrics.
Lodger is a few things, but surely rotten it ain't?! I genuinely like it, in a non-post-ironic-contrarian way. I just like it, even love large bits of it.
"The hinterland, the hinterland,we're gonna sail to the hinterland..." Great song in all its weirdness,indeed.
Yes, I agree...if I can get it for a very low price, it's still a tempting purchase for the extra tracks. I passed on it before the holidays when it was a lot lower, but now the price is ridiculous. Do you consider the discs to be brickwalled though (ear bleeder) or just very loud, but still listenable (ears don't hurt)?
If you enjoy "high profile" tributes once in a while, and do not detest Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott, I can recommend checking out the Cybernauts. They were formed in tribute of Mick Ronson, and consisted of Elliott, and fellow Leppard Phil Collen (guitar), together with original Spiders Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey. Cybernauts released a limited edition live album. Nothing compares with the real stuff, but this is not bad at all.
Yes - brickwalled. But most of Bowie's stuff is released like that - as if he preferred it that way to make more of an impact on radio. Listenable, but not audiophile. Just like the Blackstar cd. For me, before the price hike it was an easy way to get a whole lot of Toy tracks and mixes without searching out all the singles. But I wouldn't pay more than £30 - it's been around that price for so long it's hard to believe it won't come back down again.
It's a shame it's not complete either, with everything previously released in one place... Pictures of Lily, the Dead Man Walking 12" promo mix, Your Turn to Drive and more are missing. Still a good thing to get, we just have to live with the latter Bowie sound he liked I guess, the music more than makes up for it
Hey do any of you know if "Queen Bitch" was inspired by Lou Reed? Sound like a Reed tune, save the chorus which sound more like Bowie.
I just listened to Tin Machine the other day. Crack City and Baby Can Dance are probably the highlights for me.
This is hot! Bowie doing Lou with Lou on stage. From wikipedia: "Bowie was a great Velvet Underground fan and wrote the song in tribute to the band and Lou Reed."
Wow, it just occurred to me they're both gone now. Ugh. Anyway, today I finished Hunky Dory, and now I'm into The Man Who Sold The Word.
It's been a lot of Scary Monsters with some Lodger sprinkled in over the last week. SM might break into my top five Bowie albums, but it's got some powerhouses that it'll have to jump. My Bowie Top 5: Low, Hunky Dory, "Heroes", Ziggy and Diamond Dogs. Station to Station and Scary Monsters would be the next two fighting to break into my top five. Lodger is an enjoyable album. I like the experiments in the studio; playing different instruments, All the Young Dudes in reverse, using Sister Midnight for Red Money to symbolize the end of the era, and D.J. and Boys Keep Swinging are just knockout songs, so catchy.
Yeah, I know. I wanted to go from less guitars to more guitars. I'm going to listen to all my Bowie non-chronologically.
