David Bowie – Heathen (2002)

My Bowie education continues with this, his first studio album of the 21st century, picked up cheap in Stamford a couple of weeks ago.

My expectations weren't high - I wasn't aware of this album being singled out for praise at the time, so expected a bit of 'Bowie going through the motions'.

And how wrong I was. I've listened three or four times now, and enjoyed it more with each listen. Nothing stunningly groundbreaking, nor any attempt to set or follow trends - just a collection of well written, well presented songs, without a duff one among them.

The album opens with the soulful Sunday, an absolute belter with more than a nod to Scott Walker about it, followed by a powerful, yet relaxed version of Pixies' Cactus. Slip Away is an atmospheric ballad, then the lovely Slow Burn, featuring the guitar talents of Pete Townshend. Afraid is upbeat and strong although the strings irritate a bit, and Bowie's cover of Neil Young's I've Been Waiting For You is fine, without over-exciting.

But there isn't time to wonder if the album's peaked, as the fantastic I Would Be Your Slave powers through, with a memorable Tony Levin bassline, and there's a superbly dancy cover of Legendary Stardust Cowboy's frankly bonkers I Took A Trip On A Gemini Spacecraft, Bowie turning a psych-billy (I think I just named a new genre) drone into a workable song. 5:15 The Angels Have Gone, is a slower, brooding number, followed by the hit single, the listenably average Everyone Says Hi, but it's back to an upbeat dance feel with the cheerful, if guarded A Better Future - a magical song. Heathen closes the album, a song which sounds grand and important without necessarily making the impact you'd want from a final song.

But this feels like a return to form (particularly after the disappointing Earthling, 5 years earlier), and it's a really enjoyable album, with a few songs (for me, Sunday, I Would Be Your Slave, A Better Future) which wouldn't be out of place on any 'best of' compilation. This album reminds me, that 25 years after Heroes, Bowie could still do this pop music better than most.

Link to album tracks

4* - one of Bowie's later greats