NEW David Bowie album: Blackstar (January 8, 2016)

Honestly, Blackstar is my single favorite David Bowie album, #1, hands down. It's his magnum opus, far as I'm concerned.

Even knowing the genesis of the album, and all the things in it lyrically that suggest the context in which it was being made, none of that drags down the experience of listening to it for me.

Bowie sounds as 'alive' and vital as ever, far as I'm concerned. A man at the very top of his game, who went out with his boots on.

Yes, there's a little frailty in his voice in spots (especially in his upper register), but he doesn't shy away from it. There's a depth and truth in his sound, not unlike Miles Davis' tone cracking in his later years, or Billie Holiday's voice in her later year. It really comes out too on the Maria Schneider Orchestra version of "Sue" too, most definitely.

There's a little of that in Bowie's voice on The Next Day too, in spots. Nowhere near as much, but his voice isn't the same as it was in 2004.

And I love it. Bowie circa 2011-2015 feels like some of his very best work of his entire career. The Next Day (+Extra) is probably my 2nd favorite Bowie album (after Blackstar at #1), and I'd give anything for more Bowie material from after 2010.

 

Great songs, but if Bowie’s title track is a rip-off, every song in every vault on the planet is a rip-off. A true artist is deeply-inspired by others’ work and creates a song like “Blackstar.” Most self-proclaimed artists simply cut-and-paste work together and call it their own. Work that has no life without the hooks of the songs they steal from.

 

Well, I love Blackstar but the melody line in the bridge is lifted from that Stevie Wonder song, that is clear as a bell. I’m not into Stevie Wonder so I did not know of this until oldturkey posted it. However it does in no way change how I feel about Blackstar. It’s still a masterpiece in my view.

 

It can't exhibit light in total darkness. There's no light source.

 

I should have been clear. It is not about the light source, I am not talking about light in the same sense as the brilliance and sparkle. It is a chemical reaction when diamond is broken under heavy force.

 

Physics and chemistry are not the strong suits of the Hoffman forum

 

I was totally prepared to blast this post out of the sky. Sigh. Damn, that's spot on. Oh well, gonna pull out the Blackstar LP anyways!

 

Not for the first time he found things he liked and transformed them. Mash-up doesn't begin to cover it. Bowie always transcended his influences.

 

Yeah, it's interesting that one song is a Christmas song and the other is about the death of the artist.

 

And it even mentions Peace On Earth, long before that was borrowed for ...

 

He often said (in the 70's anyway) that he was a "magpie" and collected from here and there. Nothing to see here folks-move along.

 

Thanks for the timely reminder of how great Blackstar is. I'm going to pull it out today.

 

But these guys know the chemical make up of wax

 

Bowie ripped everyone off and it's okay, but he's as bad as Zeppelin.

 

Blackstar... best Bowie record? I don’t know. Top five for me. But, as a concept, with that die-cut star black sleeve, the hard clear plastic inner sleeve, the magnificent dark booklet and the incredible music... well, in my opinion the whole thing is the best work of art in music history.

 

Ooooo, MATRON!!

 

Interesting interview with engineer Erin Tonkon about making Blackstar and the industry.

David Bowie's Last Secret Weapon

 

Why is Blackstar so highly rated? It starts and finishes well but the middle stretch almost sends me to sleep. Is it (like Low) kinda cool to say that it's his best? Don't get me wrong, I love Bowie and have all his albums (*except Bhudda Of Suburbia) but I still find Blackstar a bit 'meh'. Low just about works on vinyl late at night with weed but really, these two are overrated for me. There is so much better Bowie material out there to enthuse about...

 

Buy a subwoofer

 

The story about Andy Warhol is a great.

Duncan Jones was on Marc Maron's podcast the other day. Maron pushes the boundaries a bit and asks several questions about David, but builds a great report with Duncan and provides an honest and warming look into his life. It's one of Maron's best podcasts imo.

 

isn't even the Blackstar album cover a rip off of the Stone Temple Pilots?


I don't know....I still can't listen to Blackstar....too painful...

 

First of all, don’t hide under a chair. It’s your opinion and if you can’t express it here then where?. But could you be more specific, which songs don’t you like? It’s a fairly short album and to say it starts and ends well should make it rather easy to point out which numbers don’t make the cut for you.

 

Oddly enough it's the end which for me runs out of steam - 'I can't Give It All Away' to be precise (I mean, how many times do you need to repeat a refrain?). The rest is top-drawer Bowie IMO, and the only post-1980 album which can hold its own against his 1970s work.