Where bought? Without meaning to sound like a stuck record I am fairly sure this was Rise in Worcester. I'd seen it in there for a while and meant to get it, and then discounted it after going way too hard in the post-death rush.
After David Bowie died, a forum I used decided to listen to all of his studio albums one-by-one and post thoughts about them. I'd been relatively Bowie agnostic for most of my life: his singles were good and there were lots of them, so who needed deep cuts? Especially when there's so many of them, in different styles, and of wildly varying quality?
The exercise proved fruitful, I think. Not simply because I came out with a new-found respect for the work (even though I could spot several instances of appropriating someone else's style in a glossier way) but because it was a rare example of a great communitarian exercise being worthwhile. There was mostly dissensus on the greater amount of records and humorous clashes (one person could not bring himself to give any Bowie LP less than 7 out of 10, even though Never Let Me Down is one of the most wretched albums by a major artiste ever) that brought us all closer.
My favourite three were Ziggy Stardust..., Blackstar, and this one. I had a good 'in' with 'Golden Years', the 7" of which I'd been given by my mum (it came out at her funeral that she spent a lot of time playing these singles back in the '70s) and 'TVC15', which reminded me of my first proper girlfriend and having quiet sex on her futon so we didn't i. wake anyone up and ii. break the futon. Two great songs on the board before we've started.
The title track is outstanding - over ten minutes and basically a suite of several pieces lashed together. The record's backstory is often talked about as the whole LA cocaine and red peppers for dinner era, but this is clearly European-looking with its cool distant synthesizing melded with lopsided funk. 'Stay' does the same kind of thing on Side B, and sort of inventing Remain in Light era Talking Heads into the bargain.
My favourite piece of writing on this record came on the aforementioned forum thread on Bowie by the user Stumpedmolar. It's not professional music writing, but I love where he's going with these thoughts:
I could really get into the Thin White Duke persona; join the fan club, buy the pyjamas, the lot. Might be wanting to read too much into it but I think it works so, so well… this kind of narcissistic empty vessel… I’m struggling to explain it but I just find it really engaging … genuinely adds something to it, for me… which feels weird to say … in a sane world, music shouldn’t be made better or worse by the ephemera that surrounds it should it!!! But here the idea that this character could be some kind of emotional cripple who actually comes alive a bit through the performance of the songs or, inversely, that the sincerity is just totally contrived… On a song like Wild is the Wind or even Golden Year it just adds another layer of richness! Like it.
These are things that never occur to me (I always think of his personas as little jokes, nothing more) so I read a song like 'Wild is the Wind' as pure sincerity - it is too big-hearted and wounded and beautiful - even if he thought there was ironic distancing when he recorded it. Also the 2000 Glastonbury performance where he opens with it, even though it is probably the hardest song to sing in the Bowie canon, is flabbergasting.
A keeper. I really love this. Not a weak one on it and several total bangers.
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