Gramsci wrote: Fri Jan 09, 2026 9:31 am All this said I can see why someone wouldn’t enjoy Bowie. There is an element of “surface over depth” that comes with the ever evolving sound, trend chasing rather than setting etc.

More often than not, I find myself saying this about his music. And, like Andy Warhol was to art, Bowie's influence has been somewhat negative (elevating style and starfucking over substance and sweat), even though I like a fair amount of work directly done by both of them. But like Warhol, Bowie opened the door for a lot of crass and fluffy charlatans in his wake.

Furthermore, so many of Bowie's best moments have more to do w/Ronson, Eno, and/or Fripp than they do w/Bowie. (I hope I can be fair and also blame Rodgers and Reznor for some lousier ones?)

On the other hand, Bowie had a knack for bringing interesting collaborators together and well, something of a vision (even if that vision was often driven by trends or pioneered by other musicians). He was also cool enough to give a shit about Glenn Branca in the '80s. (Even though that supposedly influenced um, Tin Machine. Eek.)

Hero, yes, agreed. But a waffly one.

I respect him more than I like him.

But yeah he had many fine songs. And I REALLY like that first Tin Machine record.

NC

NC for being a household name-level artist though he was never as great as the stuff he was emulating (VU, Scott Walker, Kraftwerk, etc.)

zircona1 wrote: Fri Jan 09, 2026 10:42 am I suppose I should listen to Blackstar one of these days, though I think I'm more into Bowie's songs rather than his albums. I remember on a road trip I was listening to Changes (the hits comp) just about every day..

This is how I feel about the majority of his catalog. He had that typical 70s album artist thing where there seems to be these massive, memorable songs on a record and the other stuff is a couple tiers lower. At least until you get to his Berlin stuff where it seems like it's all one sonic experience. An album like Lodger is kind of keeping you in one mood throughout and there's not the stand out singalongs of the Ziggy era.

Blackstar also feels like one whole piece. Fantastic art pop. There's probably a dozen albums I haven't even explored through the 90s and 00s. It seems like a lot to wade through in search of gems.

He was the rare pop star who could play Wembley Stadium, your garage, the Apollo Theater, and the Kit Kat Club and still seem right at home. I also don’t think he was a dilettante, at least musically; it’s just that his enthusiasm for avant garde music was as great as his enthusiasm for Chic. If he never went 100% full-on Glen Branca, that’s fine, because Branca also never wrote “Ashes to Ashes.”

Not crap.

Also, the first single from Lodger was “Boys Keep Swinging.” Come on. That rules.

llllllllllllllllllll wrote: Fri Jan 09, 2026 6:05 pm I am prepared for this to sound insane, but I really don’t think he gets enough credit for his incredible vocal technique. So fucking good.

And it changed throughout his career, too.

Also, very few 60s-70s artists saw the rising tide of fascism and its relationship to media, or else were unable to incorporate it into their art and worldview the way Bowie did - cocaine paranoia or no. We also can’t forget Scott Walker here - and maybe John Cale, if to a lesser extent.

And yeah, Blackstar is such a tremendous cap to his discography. I don’t consider myself a completist or even a superfan, but there’s no denying he’s in my pantheon somewhere. There’s always been at least a couple albums in rotation since his 90s flirtation with MTV, which is where I first heard him as a little kid. In fact, I think Outside* is the first record of his I heard all the way through. I found my way to Ziggy after that, which still sounds fresh and surprising to me today - I never get tired of that one.

I mean, Neil Young, Lou Reed, Bowie - they sort of established something that is never coming back and never going away.

*:
https://youtu.be/mc4bBHLJpz4?si=ERds2K2thpI9Cl3K

OrthodoxEaster wrote: Fri Jan 09, 2026 8:34 pm (Even though that supposedly influenced um, Tin Machine. Eek.)

I remembered liking "Baby Universal" off of Tin Machine II back in the day, so I took a moment to listen to it again today.

I still kind of like it. Then again, I couldn't even name another song of theirs, so I wouldn't claim it's typical of that Bowie project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7q3FDDmqmA

Vibracobra wrote: Sat Jan 10, 2026 7:45 am I respect him more than I like him.

But yeah he had many fine songs. And I REALLY like that first Tin Machine record.

NC

Me too. One of his best works.

… oh boy this is a controversial opinion

This weird medley version of the album promo is oddly prescient of 90s alt rock considering it was 89.

https://youtu.be/3H0hS1lxq4I?si=DWbQdkuWLOPFXqVA

I had on the Redd Kross version, and had forgotten how brilliant "Savior Machine" is.

Of course I was aware of Let's Dance when it came out, as I was about 10, but my gateway to Bowie was Ziggy Stardust. From there the rest of the early rock and glam, Space Oddity, MWSTW, Aladdin Sane, and Diamond Dogs. This was all while I was in college and right after. At some point we rented The Man Who Fell To Earth and I found a dynaflex copy of Low around the same time at Nuggets in Kenmore Sq in Boston. I fucking love Low. I was obsessed with it. I spun it over and over again for weeks when I first got it. It's a regular go to even now in my listening sessions. I listened to it on a plane just a few weeks ago. It was a very long time before I heard much else but at some point they started reissuing everything on LP and I bought every studio album except Toy, which I will get eventually but it doesn't interest me that much.

Anyway, the Glam period, the Thin White Duke, and the Berlin era are all stellar. Even Let's Dance's first few songs are great. Then the quality drops about halfway through that record and doesn't come back until Black Tie. Blackstar is a masterpiece that stands on it's own. If we had gotten more of that band it would have been great but as we know we did not. His most personal and poignant and vulnerable album. The most he ever showed us his real self.

Bowie, although less so than Eno, is your favorite musician's musician. I don't think one can be a huge 20th century pop and rock music fan without having some Bowie in your stack. Like Prince there is something for everyone somewhere within his 26+ album catalog.

My latest trend is collecting all his live albums. I had Ziggy Stardust in college and loved it so I have it again and still love it. Mick Ronson must also be mentioned when talking about Bowie, as well as Tony Visconti and Brian Eno. All three of them were essential to his sound.

DAVID BOWIE NOT CRAP some wf's