Gack. It's like Davie escaped with the bastard offspring of Lawrence Welch and Burt Bachrach.
Posted by virtue on 2007-01-03 00:04:30 +0000
Except with disaffected youth lyrics. Psychadelic Tyrannosaurus Rex is a work of goddamned genius compared to this.
Posted by MF DU on 2007-01-03 04:08:15 +0000
Welk is nowhere near the league of Bacharach.
But after listening to 'Uncle Arthur' I see where you're coming from.
All I can do is feel embarassed for Bowie on this one. This would be the music the little people dancing around to the miniture Stonehenge in Spinal Tap would listen to.
Ahhh - Lets Go On to The Next Track, shall We?
Posted by tommy on 2007-01-03 13:10:58 +0000
If I could go back in time to the 60's, and make a stage musical out of Blur lyrics, it would sound like this.
Still, some signals of things to come: the song where he pretends to have a cold maybe presages his later weirdness. That "Mr. Grownup, go away, sir" might have grown up into "and these children that you spit on..."
Before it was posted, I had no idea this album even existed. I miss those days.
Posted by virtue on 2007-01-03 16:06:44 +0000
That's one of these reasons this album is so crazy--most, maybe even all of the qualities that make Bowie Bowie and fabulous are present, and it's still gawdawful.
Posted by Epoisses on 2007-01-04 20:12:04 +0000
I need to listen to it again. First impressions weren't that good -- uncontrollable cringing and squirming.
Posted by MF DU on 2007-01-04 21:01:10 +0000
yes.
Posted by virtue on 2007-01-05 23:41:27 +0000
I gave the album a couple more listens today, and it does improve. It won't ever be my favorite album, but I no longer feel embarrased *for* Bowie. Uncle Arthur is probably the weakest song.
For the most part, the songs are too archly campy to be taken seriously, though a lot of them have a fair bit of substance (Little Bombadier and Mr. Gravedigger, in particular, and When I Live My Dream, even if it is a stalker song). I think most of that might just be the excessive use of strings (the Bachrach/ Welk impression from my first listen).
Posted by jbcardinale on 2007-01-08 22:13:28 +0000
I hope it was a happy one! The Thin White Duke could use a facelift on his website - Its been Reality themed for well over 2 years...
Posted by Epoisses on 2007-01-09 06:39:43 +0000
Heard a good interview with Bowie on 'Fresh Air' today, circa: 2002. He said that he preferred recording to performing, which I thought was surprising.