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Posted by Chopper on 2007-06-04 08:41:51 +0000

Tin Machine is over. Bowie is solo again. This return album comes with a lot of help - Mick Ronson and Mike Garson from the original Spiders from Mars band and producer Nile Rogers. Mick Ronson died from liver cancer later in the year "Black Tie, White Noise" is a blend of dance music, some hip hop, various computer generated sounds and lots of jazz - Bowie on sax; jazz great, Lester Bowie on trumpet. Overall, an ambitious project that does not always come across as a cohesive work, but it contains some great tunes. As a whole, "Black Tie, White Noise" reminds me of "Young Americans." The album in general works for me. It's fun even though Bowie fails at Cream's "I Feel Free" and Morissey's "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday." Lester Bowie throws in some fine trumpet solos ("Looking For Lester"), and David gets in some amazingly good sax parts of his own. The Bowie voice is very strong, and some of his original material like "The Wedding" is quite interesting. This is an enjoyable and sometimes daring attempt to keep up with the ever changing music scene, but I can see why it was a disaster in the U.S. - too avant guard for the time. Another old hand is present, Reeves Gabriels who Bowie to this day admires. Chopper's favorite song - "Jump They Say."

Posted by MF DU on 2007-06-04 10:26:09 +0000

Lester Bowie! Art Ensemble Of Chicago Represent!

Posted by tommy on 2007-06-04 11:06:59 +0000

I sorta "gave up" on Bowie after Tin Machine II. This is the first of his later albums that I never really gave a chance the first time around. This one turned out to be a snoozer from my perspective, though.