My long overdue Bowie education continues with the first of his 1977 albums (and the first of his Berlin trilogy). My favourite trivia fact about this album is that Nick Lowe was so flattered about Bowie naming an album after him, he reciprocated, calling his first EP Bowi.
I bought this recently in an Ebay raid, and I've been surprised at what I've heard.
There's far more instrumental pieces than I'd expected, and what's evident in both these and the songs is how Bowie manages to get so much out of relatively simple themes and arrangements. Speed Of Light is a bright opener, followed by Breaking Glass and What In The World - both interesting and a good listen, without being Bowie classics. But Sound And Vision is, and clearly illustrates how Bowie gets so much out of keeping things so simple. Always Crashing In The Same Car doesn't make too much impact, but it's followed by the lovely Be My Wife, again, a simple theme, which delivers so much, as does A New Career In A New Town, the fantastic instrumental which ends the first half so brightly.
Warszawa opens the second half, darkly looming and feeling both threatening and soothing at once, a minimalist masterpiece which was to inspire Philip Glass, and the ambient Art Decade has a gloriously similar feel, while Weeping Wall and Subterraneans take the gentle (mostly) instrumental side of this album to its conclusion.
I've found myself enjoying the instrumentals here as much, if not more than most of the songs, but this is a great album, and it's no surprise that it's regarded amongst the finest in the Bowie catalogue.
4* - a great Bowie album, rightly regarded as one of his most important.
Comentarios