Review by David Beech
Listen Up Manchester album rating 8/10
David Robert Jones, better known
as David Bowie has been gracing the
British public with various blends of his music since 1962. After a
multiplicity of failed releases with several ill-fated blues bands, Bowie
struck out on his own in 1967 and never looked back. His albums have spanned
both genres and generations, garnering him legions of fans across the world.
From his flamboyant androgyny through the 1970s and his involvement with the
new romantics in the 1980s right down to his production of soundtracks and even
starring in films himself there's not much that Bowie hasn't done over the
course of his 50 year career. Now, 45 years after his self titled début, he
releases his 20th studio album, The
Next Day.
Fans awaited this album with
baited breath, given that it's been a decade since he had last released album
and even longer since he last released one worthy of his own legacy. After
quietly leaking 'Where Are We Know?' on his 66th birthday, many
thought The Next Day would be a
continuation of the single. The truth is, the majority of tracks featured
across the album are nothing at all like the single. Whereas 'Where Are We
Know?' is perhaps meant to be Bowie's very own 'Perfect Day' minus the heroin,
the rest of the album is an eclectic mish-mash of varying genres; much like his
career.
Fourth track 'Love is Lost' is
synth heavy and emphatic, a crunchy guitar perpetuates the intro while the
verses are unmistakeably Bowie. The whole song is a dark and broody affair
which encapsulates the alienation ultimately felt by Bowie himself throughout
the course of his career. The song reaches a crashing climax featuring
multi-layered vocals and impressive harmonising that adds to the overall
aesthetic. Track 8, on the other hand, 'I'd Rather Be High' is brilliantly
upbeat and is one of the best vocal performances on the album. A dreamy chorus
springs to mind some of Bowie's earlier work and would be perfectly suited to a
Summer's evening in a beer garden. The guitar leaves behind the chunky riffs
that populate a lot of the tracks on The
Next Day and is melodic and harmonious, taking a cue from some of the more
contemporary indie-pop bands.
'Dancing Out In Space' features
some fantastic brass work, even if the drumming falls a little flat as it
rarely changes. Uplifting and melodic, the silky smooth jazz-fused veneer is
given an edge in the form of Bowie's vocals which are somewhat abrasive,
keeping in fitting with a song that's disconcerting and different, but one
which is sure to grow on you.
'(You Will) Set the World on Fire'
is just all out classic rock. A chunky guitar riff drives the song forward
throughout the first half and hears the vocals sounding particularly sleazy.
The second half of the album however, takes a change as he's joined on vocals
by Gail Ann Dorsey and Janice Pendarvis, and though the driving guitars are
still there, particularly in the solo, the male/female dichotomy gives further
edge to a song that would have come off as formulaic and filler without it.
'You Feel So Lonely You Could Die'
is perhaps the song on the album most similar to first single 'Where Are We
Now?'with a higher degree of optimism and much more uplifting. The song closes
spectacularly with further appearances from Dorsey and Pendarvis.
Long time fans of Bowie, who felt
somewhat slighted by the single take from The
Next Day will be pleased to know that this album is a veritable orgy of
different influences and moods, rarely starying in to the slow and mournful
realms exhibited by 'Where Are We Know?' In fact, unlike many of Bowie's
contemporaries, whom try and capture the sounds of their heyday and rehash the
same old formula, here Bowie has branched out and incorporated a multitude of
styles across the 14 tracks. While not quite reaching the same levels of
avant-garde of some of his 1990s outings, The
Next Day is still quite an experimental album, particularly with last track
'Heat' which needs to be heard to understood; words won't do it justice. This
album earned Bowie his first number one since 1993's Black Tie White Noise and it's easy to see why. This whole album is
something that needs to be listened to in it's entirety several times to allow
the almost bipolar nature of it to fully sink in. This isn't Bowie at his best,
but it's bloody close and a damn fine comeback album.
