Amph David Bowie Appreciation Thread

We've actually already heard some of Blackstar on the radio! Maybe Canada is just really awesome.

Thank you!
The spoiler tags are a bit of a habit.

I actually felt less sad after Blackstar. It just seemed like a very fitting way to say goodbye.

What an informative article.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/17/fashion/david-bowie-invisible-new-yorker.html?_r=0

One of my new favorite New York articles...

 

R.I.P. to a rare one-of-a-kind performer Still in shock over his passing. He was amazing at everything he did.

 

Oddly enough, I watched The Prestige twice shortly before his passing. My girlfriend and I just watched Labyrinth in honor of him.

 

I bought the Blackstar album a couple days ago. I've never listened to David Bowie before, not because I dislike him or anything, but I just usually don't listen to songs.

I like it a lot. "Blackstar" is my favorite. It helps me to read the lyrics as I'm listening so I can understand them.

What would be the next Bowie album I should get?

 

Go back one, The Next Day. It's rare that an artist does their best work in their latter career. It's especially rare that this occurs over two albums on a consecutive basis. The Next Day is nothing like Blackstar and is a testament to Bowie's fear of artistic boredom. That's the album I started with.

 

I would say if you have an hour or so every couple of days, you can also do the complete collection from 1966 to 2016 pretty easily too, then decide what to buy and go from there. Casually, not in chronological order, however you'd like. I just can't recommend any one album without knowing someone really well.

But The Next Day and Low would probably be good places if I had to pick, IMO.

 

Each of Bowie's albums were so different from whichever preceded or proceeded that there is no point in trying to listen to them in order. There's no logical flow to his sound album to album or transition. Bowie is as Bowie does. I only have two albums and a compilation album. Basically, i'm just going to start with the parent albums of the tracks I happen to like. Whichever album Rebel Rebel appears on has my attention.

 

i dunno, i've listened to all of his albums tons of times and i think there is definitely a logical flow. in any case it's worth it to spend the time to get to know his whole catalog, and that's what makes him rare among artists.

 

I see. So, should I go all the way back and start at the beginning? Or is it fine just to go back one for now, as TWT recommended?

I think one of the reasons I'm really drawn to Bowie is that he just seems to defy categories, or at least more successfully than most other modern artists. It's like, I think if I listen to Bowie, I'm listening to Bowie, and not just "rock" or "jazz" or "pop" or whatever genre his music would be called. Forgive me, I'm really not too well informed about musical genres, anyway.

 

Admittedly the Berlin Trilogy might be a good start: Low, Heroes, and Lodger.

 

I've heard good things from people who've tried this flowchart, maybe give it a whirl? Trying Low and Ziggy Stardust is hardly a bad route regardless.

 

See, the problem with that is I don't even really know what "experimental" or "glam rock" are.

 

Glam rock is kind of overblown and campy, experimental means not commercial airplay friendly, ie more atmospheric instrumentals rather than a lot of catchy songs.

Both Ziggy Stardust and Low are really good, but Ziggy is a concept album that tells a story, whilst Low is Bowie getting wierd and arty.

 

Listen to both, pursue the branch you find more intriguing. No need to sweat the terminology.

 

Nothing Has Changed is a really good career overview. It starts with The Next Day and then goes backwards to his very first single as David Jones. Three discs. Hearing it backwards is an interesting experience. Lots of outtakes and alternate versions, etc.

 

I believe there are Nothing Has Changed configurations that go in chronological order, not reverse.

 

So my original plan was to rename this thread into an appreciation thread once some days had passed and everyone knew about Bowie's passing away. I think it's time.

 

Agreed.

 

Bowie gets his own constellation

http://www.psfk.com/2016/01/david-b...-studio-brussels-mira-public-observatory.html

 

SNL tribute to Bowie

 

There are, yes. There's a one-disc edition and also a two-disc edition that both go in chronological order. I recommend the three-disc edition, which is in reverse chronological order. I'm obviously not averse to a standard chronological order, but the three disc has . . . well, an extra seventy-odd minutes of music, which is enough to recommend it.

 

last podcast on the left did a summary of david bowie's career and life focusing on his occult obsession. in case you're looking for something a little bit different...

 

That's available on Amazon Prime here. One drawback: the shorter single version of Heroes.