David Bowie's new album is UNBELIEVABLY fucking good. It doesn't matter if you like/have liked Bowie in the past. It's deliciously strange, layered, textured, dark and twisted. I love it. What do you folks think of it?
Too bad the best album poll was for 2015. This will be on my list for 2016, no doubt.
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 8:02 pm
by UndKeineZwEier
I just finished it, and I'm trying my best to not freak out and send insane messages to everyone I know about how much I love it.
I'm kinda freaking out right now, no joke.
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 8:10 pm
by DinosaurAct86
Haha, glad I'm not alone. I mean, I just bought a double Swans CD I've been wanting for years, and I can't even listen to it because this is too amazing.
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 10:54 pm
by hellboy
Haven't had a chance to listen yet but will over the coming weeks
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 11:58 pm
by Kittaan
It is a really good album. 2 passes through and it's growing on me strongly.
I've been a Bowie fan since the '70's. He's been through so many dramatically different stylistic periods it's impressive. There are quite a few albums in his catalog that did nothing for me (with a song or two as an exception) and others are some of my favorite music.
I think it's doubtful that he'll tour again, but if he does I'll definitely go. I was lucky enough to see him live 3-4 times maybe? and he puts on an amazing live show.
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 12:39 am
by petemasterpete
It's a great album ... Listened through 3 times and have literally no inclination to listen to anything else today (although I've gotta take a rest to go to the Truckfighters matinee in a few moments). I've always felt his nineties-early 2000's stuff is quite good and mostly underrated, but this is easily his best release since Outside. Great production, instrumentation in layers, and for a 69 year old, his voice is a still top notch. So much like for this record already.
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 7:00 am
by Bill Hilly
Wow. I just landed from a flight and found out the horrible news. RIP Mr. Bowie. You gifted us with one last great album before you passed.
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 7:08 am
by petemasterpete
Horrible news ... No one can say they lived the fuck out of life quite like him. Sincerely one of my all-time favorite musicians and I'll miss him having never known him. There are very few artists of any kind I admired so much. Big thank you to the Thin White Duke for all of the great, honest and worthwhile art you shared with us.
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 7:47 am
by ziggy23
RIP Mr. David Bowie...
I'm shocked...
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 2:37 pm
by UndKeineZwEier
Holy shit. That's some really sad news.
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 9:11 pm
by Calfium Jay
Will buy this sometime this week. Will also buy The Next Day, which I've yet to hear.
Absolutely gutted by this shock announcement.
Low is and will always be one of my top 5 of all time.
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2016 12:24 am
by petemasterpete
since we were half debating what constitutes a 'genius' in another thread recently, there's this:
Now I know the ultimate purpose of Blackstar's release. It was his goodbye to us.
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2016 1:37 am
by badkittygothgirl
My heart hurts today. He orchestrated his death like none other. I wonder how long he had held on to this album before releasing. We went to purchase the vinyl tonight after work, but sadly our record store sold out an hour after opening.
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2016 2:06 am
by Kittaan
badkittygothgirl wrote:My heart hurts today.
Right there with you. And it's getting worse.
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2016 3:13 am
by petemasterpete
badkittygothgirl wrote:My heart hurts today. He orchestrated his death like none other. I wonder how long he had held on to this album before releasing. We went to purchase the vinyl tonight after work, but sadly our record store sold out an hour after opening.
according to what I've read thus far, the album was completed in the first few months of 2015 ... not sure on the videos, but it couldn't have been long after and judging from the style, character and production, they are a larger part of a whole (whether blackstar and lazarus are it, we won't know until another is or isn't released).
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2016 3:17 am
by petemasterpete
Kittaan wrote:
badkittygothgirl wrote:My heart hurts today.
Right there with you. And it's getting worse.
I was kind of OK with it last night, sad, but occupied with other things and was able to take some solace in listening to the new one again late last night following the playoff games. ... today, for whatever reason, I feel an emptiness I don't think I've ever felt when an artist (or just about anybody I didn't know has died). I even took a few minutes away from work to call the mrs. just to chat about, tell her I felt like a hug. She then kindly laid into me about being a pussy, etc., etc. It helped for a bit, but I am sincerely choked up for brief moments here or there as the day passes. Basically, anytime I think about it, like typing right now, I feel really sad again.
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2016 7:58 pm
by DinosaurAct86
I agree with petemasterpete wholeheartedly. I don't think I've felt this kind of sadness with an artist's death, even when Lou Reed died (and that was sad for me). I guess we didn't see it coming, and he had just put out this excellent album, so it seemed like more was on the way. But nope.
David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 1:34 am
by blacksabbath
When I finally listened to the album, on the night of his death, I was thinking,"How much longer is he going to live?". The next morning I heard the news and kept listening to the album. It has made me cry a few times, and in a way that I don't understand. It's a very intense experience, the album combined with his death. I've never experienced anything like this with an artist and their art. I don't really know what to make of it all. It's very sad that he is dead, the album is exceptional, and the two are certainly inseparable.
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 8:59 am
by petemasterpete
Just read that he was just speaking to Tony (the producer) a week before his death about making another album. Had some demos prepped and everything.
Oddly enough, my wife said to me on Friday while watching the Lazarus video for the first time that 'he must be dying, or something ... This is dark ... He's really showing his age now, huh!', half joking, mind you.
Fuck, how I wish she were wrong ... I don't usually hold strangers in praise worthy regard on a personal level, but Bowie was quite literally the only idol-type I can honestly admit to having. He was like a god on earth for me so far as his creativity, productivity, originality, and by all accounts, his authenticity as a human being ... A true artist of our time , seemingly always ahead of the times, worthy of praise on every conceivable level I can think of considering I'd never met the man ... But that's just me
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 9:26 am
by Pimple
petemasterpete wrote:Oddly enough, my wife said to me on Friday while watching the Lazarus video for the first time that 'he must be dying, or something ... This is dark ... He's really showing his age now, huh!', half joking, mind you.
The song (and video) are telling given what we know now... "Just like that bluebird"...
petemasterpete wrote:I don't usually hold strangers in praise worthy regard on a personal level, but Bowie was quite literally the only idol-type I can honestly admit to having. He was like a god on earth for me so far as his creativity, productivity, originality, and by all accounts, his authenticity as a human being ... A true artist of our time , seemingly always ahead of the times, worthy of praise on every conceivable level I can think of considering I'd never met the man ...
I agree with this so much... For me he has been a part of my whole life, he was making music before I was born (1977)... Very few artists have genuine longevity, for all of the right reasons... It is very sad....
Watch the full David Bowie tribute from The BRITs 2016.
Annie Lennox and Gary Oldman pay moving tribute to the late, great David Bowie as he is honoured with a BRITs Icon award.
Bowie's band are joined by Lorde for a performance of 'Life on Mars'.
[youtube][/youtube]
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2016 3:33 pm
by Kittaan
Thanks for posting that Ziggy. I'm looking forward to watching it, but hadn't had a chance to find it yet.
As far as Blackstar, I have been drawn to listen to it so many times over the last couple of months, and to turn as many people on to it as possible. Since it's not necessarily something that's easily digested like some of his more popular releases, some people have given it a listen and moved on. They are really missing out. This album has many many layers. It's only February and I'm confident it will be on my top 10 2016 list.
I am anxiously waiting to see what comes of the rumors that he stockpiled more material to be released after his death. I'll believe it when it happens...
Re: David Bowie's Blackstar Album
Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 10:58 am
by ziggy23
David Bowie's "unreleased" album The Gouster is coming
The follow up to Parlophone’s award-winning box set, David Bowie - Five Years (1969 – 1973), will be David Bowie - Who Can I Be Now? (1974 – 1976). (More of which, later)
Exclusive to the set is The Gouster, which is previously unreleased as a complete album. Featured on the sleeve for this box set version, is a previously unpublished picture from the original photo session for the album.
Here’s how The Gouster’s tracklisting looked before it morphed into Young Americans.
Side 1
1. John, I’m Only Dancing (Again)
2. Somebody Up There Likes Me
3. It’s Gonna Be Me
Side 2
1. Who Can I Be Now?
2. Can You Hear Me
3. Young Americans
4. Right
As we say, watch out for full details and the release date of David Bowie - Who Can I Be Now? (1974 – 1976) very soon.
We’ll leave you with an excerpt from Tony Visconti's excellent notes on the album, taken from the box set book.
“Gouster was a word unfamiliar to me but David knew it as a type of dress code worn by African American teens in the ‘60’s, in Chicago. But in the context of the album its meaning was attitude, an attitude of pride and hipness. Of all the songs we cut we were enamored of the ones we chose for the album that portrayed this attitude.
David had a long infatuation with soul as did I. We were fans of the TV show Soul Train. We weren’t ‘young, gifted and black’ but we sure as hell wanted to make a killer soul album, which was quite insane, but pioneers like the Righteous Brothers were there before us.
So ‘The Gouster’ began with the outrageous brand new, funkafied version of David’s classic ‘John, I’m Only Dancing’, a single he wrote and recorded in 1972, only this time our version sounded like it was played live in a loft party in Harlem and he added (Again) to the title. It wasn’t the two and a half minute length of the original either.
We maxed out at virtually seven minutes! With the time limitations of vinyl (big volume drop with more than 18 minutes a side) we could only fit two other long songs on side one, ‘Somebody Up There Likes Me’ and ‘It’s Gonna Be Me’ both about six and a half minute songs. We had hit the twenty-minute mark. Technically that worked because ‘It’s Gonna Be Me’ had lots of quiet sections where the record groove could be safely made narrower and that would preserve the apparent loudness of side one.
Side two also hit the twenty-minute mark with ‘Can You Hear Me’ saving the day with its quiet passages. Forty minutes of glorious funk, that’s what it was and that’s how I thought it would be.”
