David Bowie

[screwdriver]

that's not strange at all. in fact, it's quite intelligent. fadeouts will always be indicative of a writing copout or a gimmick; the very few examples of well-done fading (occasional Pink Floyd uses, for instance) tend to be in pieces that were avant garde to begin with. repeating a chorus into infinity and fading it out will never, ever be anything but a copout. if Bowie likes his songs to be more like real life, perhaps they should end suddenly, or get messy and explode.

you must have a very dramatic life. in my life, friends are really good friends and then suddenly you realize you haven't spoken to someone in months... nothing happened, you just sort of faded apart.

either way, different strokes for different strokes. my strokes are just apparently less intelligent.

[seasonsinthesky]

you must have a very dramatic life. in my life, friends are really good friends and then suddenly you realize you haven't spoken to someone in months... nothing happened, you just sort of faded apart.

either way, different strokes for different strokes. my strokes are just apparently less intelligent.

holding a chord on a guitar fades out too. not really sure why realizing you haven't spoken to someone in months has to be reflected in an endless chorus loop fading out for 30 seconds. in fact, it seems likely for many people that, in the midst of such a process, new friends would be made during the same time, which would actually be the case for a crossfade into the next song (a la Outside). the Bowie statement is still justifying a copout.

[Frozen Beach]

I honestly don't like endings where the song ends. They feel so... cold.

This might be my favorite fade out of all time:


I love the fade out, fade in, fade out. Sounds like he's walking away, returning, then finally leaving.

[liquidcalm]

I definitely don't mind the fade out to mix into something new, or as a very conscious decision.. just.. not all the time!

Everyday has a new favorite on The Next Day, today its I'll Take You There.. not sure why its a bonus track.. whereas I can see why Plan is a bonus... Also went back to Heathen for a bit today, its still good, feels like the precursor to TND, and connects better than Reality.

[JamesCmuse]

Was JUST listening to this soundtrack. Within You remains one of my all time favourites..

[ambergris]

Nowadays, the years 1984-1987 are regarded as Bowie's creatively worst years, but I imagine an alternative universe in which the 'Tonight' album includes 'This is not America' and maybe 'Dancing in the Streets' and in which 'Loving the Alien' is the immediate successor of 'Blue Jean' and suddenly 'Tonight' features 4 worldwide hits. Then Bowie releases 'Never Let Me Down' which includes 'Absolute Beginners' as lead single and the good songs of the Labyrinth soundtrack (especially 'As the World Falls Down') and Bowie gets another success. I think Bowie's creativity was spread too thin during those years (He also produced and co-wrote another Iggy Pop Album in 1986.)

In other news, will 'The Next day' become Bowie's first US-nr.1-album EVER?
http://www.billboard.com/biz/article...-billboard-200

[dlb]

I'll take you there is probably one of the best bonus tracks I've ever had the joy to listen to. It conquered my top Bowie song list for 2013 in no time! Love it!

[thevoid99]

I love the album as a whole in its deluxe edition. Bowie still has it. He did lose it for a while during the 1980s but he got some of his mojo back in the 90s. I really hope he gets a #1 album in the U.S. It would just be sweet even though album charts are irrelevant these days.

[Jinsai]

album is great, but it's taken me a bit to get over how haggard his voice sounds on it. Bowie always sounded so ageless on every album, so it's surprising to hear him sound old

[ambergris]

So, in the end Bowie's new album 'only' hits Nr.2 in the USA, but that's still a career high.

http://www.billboard.com/articles/ne...-bowie-at-no-2


I was really shocked that Bowie did so by selling only 85000 albums. Bon Jovi at Nr.1 sold only 96000 albums. As a comparison, in the UK Bowie hit Nr.1 with about 94000 sales, and only a fifth of the US population. The USA really isn't that big on albums it seems....

[orestes]

I think we both know the reason behind low-unit sells.

[onthewall2983]

Bon frickin' Jovi.

[thevoid99]

I'm just glad it wasn't to something like Justin Bieber or any of that folk-pop shit. Besides, at least Bowie put up a good fight in the charts.

[frankie teardrop]

and bowie's status was always that as incredibly influential cult figure in the US, even at his peak. bon jovi at no. 1 just solidifies that most americans have shit for taste.

[allegro]

and bowie's status was always that as incredibly influential cult figure in the US, even at his peak. bon jovi at no. 1 just solidifies that most americans have shit for taste.

maybe it means (as Orestes seems to have implied) that Bowie fans are tech savvy enough to have stolen the album, which would not show up on the charts.

[frankie teardrop]

i figured lots of people pre-ordered it on itunes on the night of his birthday. i meant moreso that i've never been shocked by bowie's low chart status in the states outside of a few songs in the mid-70s (i think fame was his first no. 1 billboard song) and let's dance era. i wonder if this album was released soon after reality if it would have gotten this high in the charts at all? UK maybe, but definitely not in the US.

anyway, we all know that latter statement is true, right? this is the land of the ubiquetous disposable pop star and the all-american dinosaur, after all.

[allegro]

yeah, sadly, the last time I saw Bowie for the Reality tour was at the Rosemont Theater (now the aCHOO Theater) which was pretty small compared to the ARENAS he played back in the day, plus G and I were, I swear, some of the YOUNGEST people in the audience which was friggin' weird because we're not very young haha.

[ambergris]

I think we both know the reason behind low-unit sells.

And Americans do it far more often than Brits.

[Sutekh]

Meanwhile, deep beneath the Bank of England...

[botley]

EMI just put a new remaster of Aladdin Sane (for its 40th anniversary) out on CD/iTunes. I do think it's a significant improvement over all of the previous digital versions, but there are no bonus tracks. Definitely worth picking up, if you don't already have a legit copy. It's my favourite glam-era Bowie record (closely followed by Diamond Dogs). Just wish there was a high-res flavour too.

ps. I always buy music I like, especially when the artist owns their own masters, as Bowie does, and the record company are doing a good job (as EMI did by getting the original mastering engineer Ray Staff to re-do the digital version properly at last). It's important to reward good business practices in this fucked-up industry. It's the same reason I bought The Beatles in Mono box set when I owned all of those albums already — the label got it RIGHT, for once.

[onthewall2983]

Exclusive still from The Next Day video shoot

[imail724]

Gary Oldman and David Bowie. *head explodes*

[botley]

I got chills. *watches again*

[imail724]

So good. And Marion Cotillard looks super hot

[thevoid99]

Bowie... Oldman... Cotillard.... *sploog*

[GoodSoldier333]

Have a Bowie question that's been killing me. Was hoping a fanatic bigger than myself would be able to help!

Do any of you know the song that starts playing at the 28:13 mark (you hear the piano come in) just as "Heroes" starts coming to an end ? It's all instruments so i can't really search anything.

[Alpha 60]

I think it is part of Absolute Beginners

[GoodSoldier333]

You're awesome! It is, thanks so much.

[frankie teardrop]

definitely. LOVE that song. in a pretty rotten decade, it's one of the few true standouts.

[thevoid99]

"Absolute Beginners" is I think one of Bowie's best songs ever, especially in that terrible decade that was the 80s. I was happy to see in 2000 that he still played that song.