Nice.

Quote
Glam Descendant
OH they were the darkest of days for Bowie fans no doubt. I just meant that there is some redeeming stuff if you're willing to investigate.

Bowie claims the demo of "Loving The Alien" is amazing -- let's hope he releases it someday!

While we are on this subject, can anyone explain why "Too Dizzy' mysteriously vanished after the first pressings of NEVER LET ME DOWN?

It was removed at Bowie's insistence as he hated the song.

Quote
LittleRockFitToTop

Quote
mgguy
My guess is tha a "show" would be entirely all new material? Can't see him revisiting the old stuff for a one-off performance, but....he is Bowie.

He performed Low and his then-new album Heathen in their entireties at a concert in 2002 at the Roseland Ballroom. That's the kind of show I could picture him doing. Given the cover of the album I could see him doing the same with Heroes but with Bowie you never know.

He did the Low/Heathen set at the Royal Festival Hall in London too. (In 2002.) It was fine but to be honest the show didn't really come alive until the encore of five songs. (Don't remember them all but certainly including White Light/White Heat, I'm Afraid Of American's and Ziggy Stardust.)

Quote
rebelrebel

Quote
Glam Descendant
OH they were the darkest of days for Bowie fans no doubt. I just meant that there is some redeeming stuff if you're willing to investigate.

Bowie claims the demo of "Loving The Alien" is amazing -- let's hope he releases it someday!

While we are on this subject, can anyone explain why "Too Dizzy' mysteriously vanished after the first pressings of NEVER LET ME DOWN?

It was removed at Bowie's insistence as he hated the song.

Thanks -- has he expounded upon this? It's very rare and odd -- no doubt Jagger/Dylan/whoever later claimed they hated songs on their albums but never went to the extent of actually having them removed from the release!

The production of course is the elephant-in-the-room drawback of NEVER LET ME DOWN which is a particular shame since he seemed to have been coming out of a writer's block. After padding his prior releases with covers, this time out he had more songs than he knew what to do with (though he still threw Iggy a royalty bone w/"Bang Bang" ).

I'm referring to:

How long did it take Bowie to realize he hated "Too Dizzy"?

It's funny, at a party recently someone was observing my cd collection and specifically asked me why I had 2 copies of NEVER LET ME DOWN (granted, it was eye level). I pulled them out and showed him they had different track listings -- if the reissue had just added tracks that would have been fine but *no* they had to DELETE a track from the original. He understood but looked at me as if he had a new insight into my character that he wasn't sure about.

If they have not already, those original copies with "Too Dizzy" *will* become sought after by latter-day collector Bowie freaks. This may be a moot point as I have a hard time finding older issues (e.g., Ryko) of Bowie cds.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-01-15 13:26 by Glam Descendant.

Agreed - it's unprecedented. I can't think of anyone else doing that. Couple of links here:

[forums.stevehoffman.tv]

[en.wikipedia.org]

Quote
rebelrebel
Agreed - it's unprecedented. I can't think of anyone else doing that. Couple of links here:

[forums.stevehoffman.tv]

[en.wikipedia.org]

Thanks you for supplying those links.

I'm disturbed by this tidbit -- did they have a falling out? To go so far as to remove the song from the album seems to me ... a personal matter.

A commentator: "It is strange that the song deleted was the only one cowritten by erdal kizilkay"

Bowie: "I was unsettled with that song, but it's on the album anyway. It's one of the first songs that Erdal Kizilcay and I wrote together, a sort of try-out to see how we sparred together as writers."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-01-15 13:42 by Glam Descendant.

>Agreed - it's unprecedented. I can't think of anyone else doing that.

I thought about it and remembered another example: when MY LIFE IN THE BUSH OF GHOSTS by Brian Eno and David Byrne was reissued on cd, the somewhat controversial track "Qu'ran" was omitted w/absolutely no explanation. I thought they should have at the very least addressed the omission in the liner notes but it was as if the track never existed. And all that was controversial about it was that someone was singing the Koran.

It's a fantastic track:

At least Frampton lent some of his guitarplaying to 'Never let me down'...

Quote
Glam Descendant

Quote
rebelrebel
Agreed - it's unprecedented. I can't think of anyone else doing that. Couple of links here:

[forums.stevehoffman.tv]

[en.wikipedia.org]

Thanks you for supplying those links.

I'm disturbed by this tidbit -- did they have a falling out? To go so far as to remove the song from the album seems to me ... a personal matter.

A commentator: "It is strange that the song deleted was the only one cowritten by erdal kizilkay"

Bowie: "I was unsettled with that song, but it's on the album anyway. It's one of the first songs that Erdal Kizilcay and I wrote together, a sort of try-out to see how we sparred together as writers."

No they didn't have a falling out, and Kizilkay worked with Bowie on Buddha of Suburbia and 1.Outside. I think it is exactly as Rebelrebel stated, Bowie just loathed the track, and when the CD was reissued he took the opportunity to remove it. I have the original Never Let Me Down with it on it...and yeah, it pretty much sucks.

May your soul rest in peace, Nagisa Oshima.


Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

From Rolling Stone:


David Bowie's 'The Next' Day' Album: A Track-by-Track Preview
Longtime producer Tony Visconti says Bowie may do a single concert to celebrate new LP


Tony Visconti,David Bowie, and Brian Thorn at The Magic Shop Recording Studio.
Kabir Hermon

By Andy Greene
January 15, 2013 7:00 AM ET

Tony Visconti has been producing David Bowie's albums since Space Oddity in 1969. They've worked together on many of Bowie's greatest triumphs, including Heroes, Young Americans and Scary Monsters. After a long break, they joined forces again in the early 2000s for Heathen and Reality. Two years ago, he started working with Bowie on his long-awaited new album, The Next Day.

Rolling Stone spoke to Visconti about the pair's secret sessions, how medieval English history inspired some of the songs and why it's unlikely that Bowie will tour – though a single show remains possible. As the producer noted, his other longtime collaborator, Morrissey, has the opposite plan. . . but he'll get to that.

Was there ever a point over the past few years where you thought that Bowie would never record again?
I was a little scared after he had his heart condition. He had a little scare himself. I didn't speak to him for a year after that. He was just recovering and just not talking to anybody. But I was one of the first people he emailed afterwards and we were steadily in contact since then. But he never really brought up music until two years ago. So he never said to me he retired, and every time I saw him in person, he looked in really good health.

On Daily Beast: David Bowie's Eclectic Style Evolution

All these rumors started going around about his health. Every time I had lunch with him, or coffee with him, I'm looking at him and my dear old friend was looking really good. But music didn't interest him until two years ago; that's when he made the call. He said, "How would you like to make some demos?" And I was a little shocked, quite honestly; it was just so casual. It was just the next topic in the discussion.

How did the process begin?
I was working on another project in London, and he didn't know that. He said, "Well, when are you going to get back?" I said, "In a few days." The next morning after I returned, I was in the studio with him playing bass. We had Sterling Campbell on drums, Gerry Leonard on guitar and David on keyboards. We were in this little studio down in the East Village doing demos for a week. I was pinching myself. I couldn't believe it was really happening. From nothing, right into this demo situation.

Did he have fleshed-out songs at this point?
Yes, he wrote them at home. He had an eight- or 16-track digital recorder. They were quite fleshed out. He had nice bass line ideas and drum patterns. We quickly took down the names of the chords and we scribbled it out on paper. Gerry Leonard and I read from the chord sheet. The room was about eight-by-eight, which included a drum kit. We were on top of each other, gasping for air after an hour or two.

What sparked all this? He had been gone for so many years at this point
He just said, "I feel like writing again." I don't know long prior to that he began writing. He just came up with about eight songs.

How many days did you spend demoing in that East Village studio?
We spent five days, and we didn't record anything until the last day. We just kept writing down notes. On the fifth day, it was hard to try to remember what we did on the first day. But we got them down and this guy at the studio had a basic Pro Tools rig, and we got them down. This is November 2010. Then he disappeared for four months and said, "I'm gonna start writing now." So he wrote more songs and then he fleshed those out even more. He came up with lyrics and melodies, which he didn't have at first. But that's typical of every record I started to work with him. Scary Monsters, every album started out with maybe one finished song and 10 ideas, so this is typical.

What happened next?
In April of 2011 we went into a downtown New York studio. We only worked for two-week periods. We would take as long as two months off after each period, and he would go and write some more stuff. I would listen to it and get some ideas, sketch out some overdub things, and we'd be in constant communication during those periods. So this is about 18 months ago. If you added up all the weeks in the studio, we probably actually spent three-and-a-half months.

You've said that the first single, "Where Are We Now," isn't like any other song on the album. Do the other songs look back on his life like that one?
Not really; that's the only one. It's really the only one of its kind. Everything else on the album is kind of observations. He's writing in the third person. Some of them belong to his life, but some of them are things like social commentary. He was reading a lot of medieval English history books, and he came up with one medieval English history song. That's the title track, "The Next Day." It's about somebody who was a tyrant, very insignificant; I didn't even know who he was talking about. But if you read the lyrics, it's quite a horrific story.

You've said there are five rockers on the album.
Yeah. "The Next Day" rocks out. Same with "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" – that rocks out, too.

Are the non-rockers more mellow? What's their vibe?
They're more funky, mid-tempo songs. Very evocative. "Dirty Boys," the second song on the album, is very sleazy.

Sleazy in what sense?
It's dark and it's sexy. There's a fantastic sax solo. You know, David plays baritone sax, but he invited his friend Steve Elson to do the baritone on this album. I think Steve was in the Saturday Night Live band. He's a little guy, and he's got a huge baritone sax, and he plays this dirty solo in it that sounds like stripper music from the 1950s. Old bump-and-grind stripper music . . . It wouldn't be out of place on Young Americans.

Tell me about "Dancing Out in Space."
That's a very uptempo one. It's got a Motown beat to it, but the rest of it is completely psychedelic. It's got very floaty vibe. There's a guy called David Torn who plays guitar, who we use; he comes with huge amounts of equipment that he creates these aural landscapes. He uses them in a rock context with all that ambient sound, and he's bending his tremolo arm and all that. It's just crazy, completely crazy sound on that track.

How about "Boss of Me?"
That is one of the slower, funky ones. It's really solid. There's a little Young Americans in there. But that's really not proper . . . It's a new kind of direction for him, melodically. Doesn't sound like typical Bowie, that track. But it's a very good track.

OK. Tell me about "Heat."
Well that's the closer of the album and it's very dramatic. And I'm not quite sure what he's singing about on it, but it's a classic Bowie ballad. He's singing in his handsomest voice, a very deep, very sonorous voice. And I can't give too much away about it because honestly, I don't know exactly what it's about, if it's about being in a real prison or being imprisoned in your mind. Again, it's certainly not about him; he's singing as the voice of somebody.

Tell me about "I'd Rather Be High."
There's a few songs about world wars, about soldiers. One is "How Does the Grass Grow" and it's about the way that soldiers are trained to kill other soldiers, how they have to do it so heartlessly. "How Does the Grass Grow" is part of a chant that they're taught as they plunge their bayonets into a dummy. "I'd Rather Be High" is about a soldier who's come out of the war and he's just burnt out, and rather than becoming a human being again, I think he laments, "I'd rather be high/I don't want to know/I'm trying to erase these thoughts from my mind."

Who exactly is the band on the album?
We had two drummers. The main drummer was Zachary Alford, and Sterling Campbell played on several tracks, too. It's unfortunate. Sterling was at the demo sessions in the beginning but then he didn't know when the album was gonna start, and he already committed to a tour with the B-52s. We called Zach in to substitute for him, and Zack played amazing drums on the album. But Sterling is in there as well on songs like "Valentine's Day" and "(You Will) Set the World on Fire," which is another steamer, another big rock song on the album.

Bass was predominantly Gail Ann Dorsey, and she played phenomenally well on the album, and she also did some backup vocals with David. The other bass player who played on about four or five tracks was Tony Levin. The guitars are Gerry Leonard who played on Heathen and Reality, and he's David's music director. David Torn on the other ambient guitar. And then we got Earl Slick to play some fantastic guitar solos and heavy guitar on some tracks. I played bass on the album for two songs, and that's about it. David played his own keyboards; he played also some acoustic guitar, some electric guitar as well.

How hard was it to keep this a secret?
It was very easy to keep it a secret because we're very loyal to him. I've known him 45 years, and everybody knew him for more than 10 years in the band. We just love the guy. He said, "Keep it a secret, and don't tell anybody. Not even your best friend." I said, "Can I tell my girlfriend?" He says, "Yes, you can tell your girlfriend, but she can't tell anybody." So everybody had to explain why they were leaving for work in the morning, you know where they were going and who they were recording with.

The real trick was just not telling even your best friend. Bowie fans are just unpredictable – if they hear news like this, the cover would have been blown years ago. Now one person did leak it, but nobody believed him . . .

Who?
Robert Fripp! He was asked to play on it, he didn't want to do it and then he wrote on his blog that he was asked. And nobody kinda believed him. It was a little flurry for a few days, but everyone said, "How could that be true? We haven't heard it from anyone else?"

The big question: Do you think Bowie will tour?
He says that he will only play if he feels like it, but no tour. Like, if wanted to do the odd show in New York or, I don't know, London, he would if he felt like it. And he made that very clear to the label that he wasn't going to tour or do any kind of ridiculously long album promotion. It was his idea to just drop it at midnight on his birthday and just let things avalanche.

Do you really think it's possible he'd do just one show?
It's possible, if he feels like it. I don't know. I spoke to him two days ago and he said, "I'm really adamant I'm not gonna do a tour." And he said, "If I might, I might do one show." But who knows when.

The album cover is sort of intriguing . . .
I only just got that. I wasn't sure that was the cover.

It's real.
I thought some fan made a joke cover.

I though that too, but it's real.
[Laughs]

Thoughts on that?
I think it's great! It gives him a nice space to sign his autograph in the middle of it.

Do you think that you and Morrissey will ever work together again?
Hopefully we will. I'm going to see him Friday night in Brooklyn. We email a lot. We talk a lot. He's very reluctant to have a deal with anybody. 'Cause nowadays, the problem is, when a label signs you – right now, he has no label – so if I sign a new label deal, he has to sign a 360 deal. They want a piece of everything. If you write a book, if you write a song, if you're in a movie, they want part of your fee for all these things. So that's the deal that the big labels are offering now and that's because sales are so low and they have to make up their money some way. He's totally against that. He's old-school. Actually I don't blame him.

He could pull a Radiohead and post it online for a fee.
I know. He's also old school about paying for it himself. Traditionally, the label's gotta pay for him. I understand that, and there's an old saying in show business that you never invest your own money in a show. It kinda follows onto recording to some extent, but that attitude has changed.

He could also sign to an indie label that wouldn't make him sign a 360. . . But beyond that, he has enough fans that he'd make a killing charging $10 for an album online?
Yeah, he'll make his money back, yeah. He's playing his new songs onstage, they're being recorded on cell phones every night of the week and they're wonderful songs.

Read more: [www.rollingstone.com]
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

Quote
Toru A
May your soul rest in peace, Nagisa Oshima.


Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

Possibly the best acting of David Bowie.

Nagisha Oshima has many very good movies under his name. Particularly those he did in the 60's...

I must contact an old friend who was at the school where they filmed the flashback's or whatever. Kings College in Auckland, New Zealand. He has a series of Bowie looking fantastic moving along a well canopied lane with the 80's classic haircut..

Mint.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-01-16 02:28 by SKILLS.

[www.iorr.org]

Just figure this article could use a bump. Was great to reread, even though it took forever to find.

>< Thanks Rollingfreak!

Rarely happens with me - I either like a song or dont - nothing ever "grows on me" after repeated listenings .... but I did not like this AT ALL on first hearing and now really REALLY like it. Interesting....welcome back David and here's, hopefully, to a strong new album!

Rgds
Rod
Perth

Quote
bitusa2012
Rarely happens with me - I either like a song or dont - nothing ever "grows on me" after repeated listenings .... but I did not like this AT ALL on first hearing and now really REALLY like it. Interesting....welcome back David and here's, hopefully, to a strong new album!

Honestly, thats exactly how I felt as well. Not that I don't think songs can grow on you, but that I heard it the first time and thought "OK, fine. I'm more happy that Bowie is back than that the song sucks." I described it to everyone I knew as a song that sounds like David Bowie is slitting his wrists to. I just sounded boring and really really sad the first time I heard it. But then again, thats having not been a huge fan of much of Bowie's newest stuff that is alittle softer.

So to my surprise, I loved it maybe by the third listen. I don't know why, but something absolutely changed and I now really enjoy it just like you said. Its not that I was hoping or wanted to like it. I just slagged it off but because it was Bowie and I was playing it for everyone, I heard it more than once. Eventually it just sank in and I realized what a beautiful song it was and how idiotic my first judgement was. Very jarring for me, but I guess thats what Bowie does to you.

I will say, it probably started to sink in most when I wasn't watching the video. The song on its own is alot better than the weirdness of the video. I enjoy both now, but at first I definitely think it was the video that didn't help me get into it. Once I got around to it, I actually got really excited for the new album (initially when I heard of Bowie's return I was just excited for live stuff). And now with the addition that there should be about 5 rockers on there and that this song is very different than the rest? Boom, done. You've got me hooked. As of now it is my most anticipated album of the year. I hope its incredible.

Quote
RollingFreak
Honestly, thats exactly how I felt as well. Not that I don't think songs can grow on you, but that I heard it the first time and thought "OK, fine. I'm more happy that Bowie is back than that the song sucks." I described it to everyone I knew as a song that sounds like David Bowie is slitting his wrists to. I just sounded boring and really really sad the first time I heard it. But then again, thats having not been a huge fan of much of Bowie's newest stuff that is alittle softer.

So to my surprise, I loved it maybe by the third listen. I don't know why, but something absolutely changed and I now really enjoy it just like you said. Its not that I was hoping or wanted to like it. I just slagged it off but because it was Bowie and I was playing it for everyone, I heard it more than once. Eventually it just sank in and I realized what a beautiful song it was and how idiotic my first judgement was. Very jarring for me, but I guess thats what Bowie does to you.

I will say, it probably started to sink in most when I wasn't watching the video. The song on its own is alot better than the weirdness of the video. I enjoy both now, but at first I definitely think it was the video that didn't help me get into it. Once I got around to it, I actually got really excited for the new album (initially when I heard of Bowie's return I was just excited for live stuff). And now with the addition that there should be about 5 rockers on there and that this song is very different than the rest? Boom, done. You've got me hooked. As of now it is my most anticipated album of the year. I hope its incredible.

Havent seen the video so THAT isnt the reason for my liking it now!!!

Rgds

Quote
RollingFreak

Quote
bitusa2012
Rarely happens with me - I either like a song or dont - nothing ever "grows on me" after repeated listenings .... but I did not like this AT ALL on first hearing and now really REALLY like it. Interesting....welcome back David and here's, hopefully, to a strong new album!

Honestly, thats exactly how I felt as well. Not that I don't think songs can grow on you, but that I heard it the first time and thought "OK, fine. I'm more happy that Bowie is back than that the song sucks." I described it to everyone I knew as a song that sounds like David Bowie is slitting his wrists to. I just sounded boring and really really sad the first time I heard it. But then again, thats having not been a huge fan of much of Bowie's newest stuff that is alittle softer.

So to my surprise, I loved it maybe by the third listen. I don't know why, but something absolutely changed and I now really enjoy it just like you said. Its not that I was hoping or wanted to like it. I just slagged it off but because it was Bowie and I was playing it for everyone, I heard it more than once. Eventually it just sank in and I realized what a beautiful song it was and how idiotic my first judgement was. Very jarring for me, but I guess thats what Bowie does to you.

I will say, it probably started to sink in most when I wasn't watching the video. The song on its own is alot better than the weirdness of the video. I enjoy both now, but at first I definitely think it was the video that didn't help me get into it. Once I got around to it, I actually got really excited for the new album (initially when I heard of Bowie's return I was just excited for live stuff). And now with the addition that there should be about 5 rockers on there and that this song is very different than the rest? Boom, done. You've got me hooked. As of now it is my most anticipated album of the year. I hope its incredible.

Good post Rollinfreak. I have been a huge Bowie fan since being a teenager, and I have found that inevitably the albums that I am not really into at first by him are the albums that grow and grow to become my aboslute favorites. And the albums that I instantly liked receeded in their appeal, mostly Never Let Me Down, Tonight, and Lets Dance. The formula being that those albums are the more commercial ones that hook you first, but don't offer a deep connection on repeated listening. I remember being so excited about Heathen and hearing Slow Burn just pumped me up! THen listening to the album, I didn't dislike it, but it took me a few months of repeated listening to finally get it, and really it is a later day album that is up there with his classics. 1.Outside was the same, I was so excited that he was back with Eno and Alamor, and I was ready for a more challenging ride, and boy is it! But it just pays off with repeated listening and is another classic later day work from him. Heroes, Low, and Station to Station were the same way when first discovered them. Probably Ziggy was the only one of his I liked from the get go, passionately, and still love, but it is one of the albums of his that I love, but rarely go back to listen to. One of my favorites, and always will be is The Man Who Sold the World. That is such a stunning record that came out of no where from Bowie. Previously, Bowie was more a hippie folk singer into miming. BOOM! Suddenly he forms this crack band and lays heavy metal slabs of brilliance with lyrics more sophisticated than any of the heavy rockes of the time (Purple, Zep, Sabbath). It is a true work of genious.

All the Madmen, sorry but for some reason some youtube links lately do not show as a screener, but just as a link. If you don't know this song, or ablum, and like heavy music, check it out:-)
[www.youtube.com]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013-01-16 08:01 by whitem8.

Quote
whitem8

Quote
RollingFreak

Quote
bitusa2012
Rarely happens with me - I either like a song or dont - nothing ever "grows on me" after repeated listenings .... but I did not like this AT ALL on first hearing and now really REALLY like it. Interesting....welcome back David and here's, hopefully, to a strong new album!

Honestly, thats exactly how I felt as well. Not that I don't think songs can grow on you, but that I heard it the first time and thought "OK, fine. I'm more happy that Bowie is back than that the song sucks." I described it to everyone I knew as a song that sounds like David Bowie is slitting his wrists to. I just sounded boring and really really sad the first time I heard it. But then again, thats having not been a huge fan of much of Bowie's newest stuff that is alittle softer.

So to my surprise, I loved it maybe by the third listen. I don't know why, but something absolutely changed and I now really enjoy it just like you said. Its not that I was hoping or wanted to like it. I just slagged it off but because it was Bowie and I was playing it for everyone, I heard it more than once. Eventually it just sank in and I realized what a beautiful song it was and how idiotic my first judgement was. Very jarring for me, but I guess thats what Bowie does to you.

I will say, it probably started to sink in most when I wasn't watching the video. The song on its own is alot better than the weirdness of the video. I enjoy both now, but at first I definitely think it was the video that didn't help me get into it. Once I got around to it, I actually got really excited for the new album (initially when I heard of Bowie's return I was just excited for live stuff). And now with the addition that there should be about 5 rockers on there and that this song is very different than the rest? Boom, done. You've got me hooked. As of now it is my most anticipated album of the year. I hope its incredible.

Good post Rollinfreak. I have been a huge Bowie fan since being a teenager, and I have found that inevitably the albums that I am not really into at first by him are the albums that grow and grow to become my aboslute favorites. And the albums that I instantly liked receeded in their appeal, mostly Never Let Me Down, Tonight, and Lets Dance. The formula being that those albums are the more commercial ones that hook you first, but don't offer a deep connection on repeated listening. I remember being so excited about Heathen and hearing Slow Burn just pumped me up! THen listening to the album, I didn't dislike it, but it took me a few months of repeated listening to finally get it, and really it is a later day album that is up there with his classics. 1.Outside was the same, I was so excited that he was back with Eno and Alamor, and I was ready for a more challenging ride, and boy is it! But it just pays off with repeated listening and is another classic later day work from him. Heroes, Low, and Station to Station were the same way when first discovered them. Probably Ziggy was the only one of his I liked from the get go, passionately, and still love, but it is one of the albums of his that I love, but rarely go back to listen to. One of my favorites, and always will be is The Man Who Sold the World. That is such a stunning record that came out of no where from Bowie. Previously, Bowie was more a hippie folk singer into miming. BOOM! Suddenly he forms this crack band and lays heavy metal slabs of brilliance with lyrics more sophisticated than any of the heavy rockes of the time (Purple, Zep, Sabbath). It is a true work of genious.

All the Madmen, sorry but for some reason some youtube links lately do not show as a screener, but just as a link. If you don't know this song, or ablum, and like heavy music, check it out:-)
[www.youtube.com]

You go, whitem8! I just heard All The Madmen today! Man Who Sold The World is so criminally underrated. Width Of A Circle, Black Country Rock (the ode to another personal favorite of mine, T Rex), All The Madmen ("I will break my arms"), The Superman. That album was and is such a shift and thats a reason to love Bowie. You have albums that are all different but equally great in most cases. You described Man Who Sold The World perfectly. Fits right in with early heavy metal and looking back on it now, its astounding that was released in 1970.

I'm a weird, but probably not that weird Bowie fan. I love him and consider him a treasure. He's not like anyone else and he was such a part of my childhood through my parents. My mom loves Bowie and its pretty much him and Bruce Springsteen that are her favorites, so with a mother like that those two both got played quite a bit when I was younger. But through them, I only know early Bowie. Pretty astonishing when you factor that into his whole career, but for my family thats basically up until Diamond Dogs. My parents know those front to back, and then mostly the hits after that. And after 1982, they honestly might not know a thing. Not to say they started hating Bowie. They just have their period they enjoy, and they are older so they don't seek out the rest (which is strange but on a level I see what they mean). Just as weird, the only album they know post 1980 is Hours, which my family loves and most Bowie fans hate for some reason. But for no reason at all, they never listened to Heathen or Reality when they came out. Go figure.

So for that reason, I'm pretty much a 70s Bowie fan. I know and love every song up to Diamond Dogs and the rest take a WHILE for me to get into. The re-release of Station To Station got me to seek that one out and I'm still trying to get into it. The only song I knew and loved from it was TVC15, and the rest was so jarring at first listen. I used to hate Golden Years, now I have this weird enjoyment of it. Bowie's not the only one, but like you said alot of his albums are like that. I'm still diving into that one, let alone the rest of his catalogue. And then its funny you mention Heathen, because that and Station To Station were my first branching out into new Bowie albums that I wanted to like. I heard so much praise for Heathen, but I'm still trying to get into it. I don't hate it, but its not hitting me like everyone says it should. I'm still working with it. So I'm honestly so far away from getting through his whole catalogue that what I've done so far look like baby steps, even though I'm really trying and want to love it.

Anyway, rambling post which I apologize for. The basic summary is early Bowie is amazing and great stuff of you to point out Man Who Sold The World. An excellent album. And I'm on the same basis of you with growing Bowie albums.

I seriously thinks that there are no better 'Tree in a row' than
Low-Heroes-Lodger existing...I'm standing on Paul McCartneys coffee-table in my cowboy-boots telling that...

2 1 2 0

Quote
Come On
I seriously thinks that there are no better 'Tree in a row' than
Low-Heroes-Lodger existing...I'm standing on Paul McCartneys coffee-table in my cowboy-boots telling that...

See, and I would say Hunky Dory-Ziggy Stardust-Aladdin Sane is as good of a row as you get with anyone ever. Maybe not the best, but easily in the top 3 probably, and definitely the best of his career IMO.

Quote
RollingFreak

Quote
Come On
I seriously thinks that there are no better 'Tree in a row' than
Low-Heroes-Lodger existing...I'm standing on Paul McCartneys coffee-table in my cowboy-boots telling that...

See, and I would say Hunky Dory-Ziggy Stardust-Aladdin Sane is as good of a row as you get with anyone ever. Maybe not the best, but easily in the top 3 probably, and definitely the best of his career IMO.

So would I.

With a long running act like the Stones or Bowie, there are different fans in the different periods often depending on what they grew up with.

I grew up in England when Bowie, T-Rex, Slade, Sweet etc was raging so maybe that's why I don't really go overboard for Bowie's later stuff and the new song but I will listen to the new album and see what's on it.

Others might have grown up in the 80s and Bowie's stuff then.

Actually I would say Man Who Sold the World, Hunky Dory, Ziggy, Aladdin and Diamond Dogs are five stellar in a row (I love Pin Ups, but it is all covers so I don't count it).
Then Station to Station, Low, Heroes, Lodger, another four in a row hard to beat.

Quote
howled
I grew up in England when Bowie, T-Rex, Slade, Sweet etc was raging so maybe that's why I don't really go overboard for Bowie's later stuff and the new song but I will listen to the new album and see what's on it.

Well I cut my Bowie teeth on that period, it was great and Mick Ronson was great.

I stuck with him afterwards and had a long period of being uncomfortable because I was like.. ok.. this is alright.. but I wish he would get back to doing Ziggy....

Then one day the clouds lifted and I understood.

That said.. I never play the Young Americans album (but the title track is great).

Also struggled with "David Live" (The original "David Live" was terrible, the recent reordered/remixed Tony Visconto version is fantastic).

What a run...
Station to Station
Low
Heroes
Lodger
Scary Monsters

It was worth hanging in there and I think he excelled the Ziggy era with this music.

Then the 80s happened (half of Let's Dance is good though).

But he got back to being an artist eventually.

In my world Low-Heroes-Lodger has only 5/5 songs which Station to Station and Scary Monsters is not able to present...

2 1 2 0

Yes Gravityboy! I forgot to include Scary Monsters! AMAZING album. I love Young Americans. ALways have, I didn't include it though because while it is an amazing album, and a big shift for him, it isn't on the same level of Station to Station up to Scary Monsters. Station to Station was one of Bowie's most important and influential albums. Every track, 6 for 6. Stunning!

I would add that Bowie's Berlin period has to include Iggy's "The Idiot" and "Lust for Life".

That are mostly David Bowie albums with Iggy as lead singer.

Oh. and they are great.

Quote
whitem8
Station to Station was one of Bowie's most important and influential albums. Every track, 6 for 6. Stunning!

True.. the title track is EPIC.

Wild is the Wind is possibly his greatest vocal.