David Bowie "The Next Day"

[the winter tree]

I'm a big Bowie fan. I've been following him since "Station To Station" came out when I was 14. I've found that the majority of his releases since "Heroes" have been a mixed bag at best. Since "Heroes", he released a stone cold classic "Ashes To Ashes", a chart topping blockbuster in the "Let's Dance" LP, a few minor masterpieces like "Loving the Alien", and the dense, difficult but rewarding album "Outside". I've personally found much of his music since "Earthlings" to lack his usual melodic sensibility and catchiness.

I bought his latest a few weeks ago and have listened to it all the way through at least 5 times and it's still not connecting with me.

How about you?

[polmico]

I started a thread about Bowie's The New Day.

We also discussed The Next Day . . .

http://www.progressiveears.org/forum...ht=david+bowie

I like the two that preceded, particularly Heathen which I think stands up to his finest.

[JJ88]

When I first heard it, I thought 'weird Bowie is back', after a run of fairly conventional albums this one was back to the strange lyrics and strange sonics that really characterised his best work. It's still not a sonically innovative album per se, but it really feels like it couldn't have been anybody else...it wouldn't be bad if this was to be his last because it almost ties together everything he's done before. Not anything like a masterpiece, no, but among his most credible latter-day albums...this, 'Outside' and 'Heathen' are the best later Bowie albums IMHO.

There were indeed a few songs I have not connected with. I was surprised that 'The Stars Come Out Tonight' was chosen as a single, for me it's a fairly flat, uninteresting track and reminds me of one of the duller tracks on his last one 'Reality'. It really saps the momentum of that part of the album IMHO. Also, 'You Can Set The World On Fire' is too Tin Machine for me. Almost every other track, though, I either liked or loved. I still think the lead single 'Where Are We Now' is beautiful. The best of the rest for me were the title track, 'Valentine's Day', 'I'd Rather Be High', 'If You Can See Me' (sort of like 'Earthling' meets 'Diamond Dogs', this one), that weird one with the playground chant the name of which escapes me, 'You Feel So Lonely You Could Die' and the Scott Walker-esque 'Heat'.