It's certainly a tribute. Actual political cartoons can be so terrible I'm not surprised many didn't get the satire.
David Bowie Passed Away
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It's certainly a tribute. Actual political cartoons can be so terrible I'm not surprised many didn't get the satire.
John Dunbar
correct about everything
chris martin told that story at least once before bowie diead, on some radio show. in that version bowie replied "not one of your best."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvMbkg1ZoFc
Sapiens
Member
Yabut, Omikron exists.
That cover is like late 90's distilled into its purest form. I think we can all agree Reality was his worst cover ever. Thank god it wasn't his last album.
Oh man, I had such a hard time coming to terms with Reality's cover, especially following Heathen. It would be such a bizarre way to bookend his discography.
As for the ultimate in '90sness, I don't think anything could beat the Hearts Filthy Lessons single. "Art-Crime" indeed*!
* - but at least it's not Reality.
SturokBGD
Member
You should give Sparks a try. As prolific and maybe even as varied as Bowie. They followed a pretty similar trajectory over the years genre-wise.
minor effort
Banned
No dispute here. I should give Reality a second chance, but I honestly think the horrible cover art prevented me from taking the album seriously. It presented Bowie as a cartoonish icon, seemingly designed more for fans of Labyrinth or his cameo in Zoolander than anything else he's done.
I think you're stretching a bit there.
minor effort
Banned
That's my trademark.
But I still find the cartoonishness of it pretty off-putting.
Enough about the bad, as far as favorite Bowie album covers go, in addition to Low I've always liked Station to Station's cover. Particularly the black-and-white variant of it.
I actually quite like the Hours cover, not counting the text.
http://www.nme.com/photos/david-bow...bum-artwork/379190/1/1#25#KP2AjGFtvPT5ECrY.99
smh
http://www.nme.com/photos/david-bow...bum-artwork/379190/1/1#25#KP2AjGFtvPT5ECrY.99
smh
Gurgelhals
Member
I know the Reality cover is objectively bad, but I still have a soft spot for it. Must be the colors or something...
I think the Let's Dance cover is one of his worst, though: that oh-so-eighties typeset; that dumb idea of spelling the album title as dance steps; the fact that every single element on that cover seems to clash with all the others and not in a good way; and why the hell is Bowie dressed as a boxer? Oh well, it was the beginning of an extended creative rut, so he might as well have marked the occasion with an appropriately crappy album cover.
I think the Let's Dance cover is one of his worst, though: that oh-so-eighties typeset; that dumb idea of spelling the album title as dance steps; the fact that every single element on that cover seems to clash with all the others and not in a good way; and why the hell is Bowie dressed as a boxer? Oh well, it was the beginning of an extended creative rut, so he might as well have marked the occasion with an appropriately crappy album cover.
minor effort
Banned
While I'm not a fan of the Let's Dance cover, nothing matches the 1987ness of Never Let Me Down.
Baron von Loathsome
Member
Yeah, sometimes you can tell those are satire, like the one where it complains about people taking their flags down after the Fourth of July, but other times it can be hard to tell.
This story makes me laugh, thank you for posting it.
minor effort
Banned
At least the Onion editorial cartoonist did the service of placing Bowie in heaven. He usually puts dead celebrities he dislikes in hell.
Gurgelhals
Member
I've just checked out the covers of his singles out of curiosity and interestingly enough there's almost nothing of note there. They're either completely nondescript (most of his 1970s stuff) or very much of their time and have dated badly. Quite a contrast to his album covers, which are mostly excellent, memorable, and, above all, have a certain timelessness.
I mean, nothing screams "early 1990s" like these:
And the singles from the Hours... era got the same horrendous late 1990s treatment as the album cover:
And this one is basically "Dad Rock: The Album Cover":
I mean, nothing screams "early 1990s" like these:
And the singles from the Hours... era got the same horrendous late 1990s treatment as the album cover:
And this one is basically "Dad Rock: The Album Cover":
Funny thing is, that's not meant to be an anthem. He wrote it in a similar way to Five Years. It's about impending doom, not a rallying cry for rebellious youth
The news he asks them to carry is the same news being reported in Five Years.
Thanks! Love this performance. Such a good song.
This thread has been great
I should watch some Bowie films this weekend. I've never even seen Fire Walk With Me, but I guess I've no excuse now that the director's cut is out.Adorably dated 1337isms aside, the other two were nice and simple
Earthling probably had the best run as far as single art is concerned, though they're all just pieces of the album's booklet.
Thanks! Love this performance. Such a good song.
This thread has been great
Christopher Nolan wrote about David Bowie and his role in The Prestige.
http://www.ew.com/article/2016/01/19/david-bowie-christopher-nolan-the-prestige
If you've never seen The Prestige, you should watch it. Bowie is great as Nikola Tesla.
DataStream
Member
Funny thing is, that's not meant to be an anthem. He wrote it in a similar way to Five Years. It's about impending doom, not a rallying cry for rebellious youth
The news he asks them to carry is the same news being reported in Five Years.
Indeed. Doesn't mean it wasn't adopted as such
It's really amazing seeing so many fans come out of the woodwork here and the incredible coverage in the media. The stories so many artists are sharing are wonderful and it consistently comes across just how generous he was as a person.
This 2002 Jonathan Ross interview really cheered me up today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFrRG5PzjiQ
I couldn't watch that Ross interview because of how out of sync it was, but this Conan interview from 2002 was delightful and very sweet. The story about his daughter is adorable <3
DataStream
Member
Hmm, it's fine for me. Definitely worth trying an alt browser to watch (i think there is also another version on YT somewhere)
mattiewheels
And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
I have a feeling there was some serious disappointment with Lodger throughout the industry. I've read many articles and liner notes about various albums that are name-dropped as "the album that Lodger had the potential to be", so the incredible expectations after Low and Heroes were not met by an album that was unique but definitely not revolutionary.
Thinking about that reaction makes me wonder how all those 80s musicians, who were raised on Bowie's pioneering, felt about his turning his back on avant garde stuff with the Let's Dance album. Must've felt weird for all these guys who were essentially Bowie's children, carrying on his spirit while he himself walked away from it.
RadioHeadAche
Member
I'm really digging Lazarus. Haven't listened to the rest of Blackstar yet. I did listen to The Next Day, which I enjoyed. I need to give it another listen.
I haven't heard much of his post-80's work, honestly. So, that was kind of a first.
I haven't heard much of his post-80's work, honestly. So, that was kind of a first.
Boy is that a tough movie to watch, but if you like Twin Peaks/David Lynch it's worth at least one viewing. Bowie's only in the beginning, briefly, thoughThanks! Love this performance. Such a good song.
This thread has been great
Palculator
Unconfirmed Member
After listening to the full Blackstar album for the first time I just went "This is pretty good!" but each time I listened to it again I liked it more and more. This was before his death, even, but this being the last Bowie record made me appreciate its quality even more.
Although I do like the original version of 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore a bit more than the one on Blackstar because it's fucking insane.
i kind of love his 90s stuff just because he was back to just doing whatever. some personal highlights:
black tie white noise (1993):
black tie white noise
the buddha of suburbia (1993):
untitled no. 1
outside (1995):
strangers when we meet
earthling (1997):
i'm afraid of americans
can't really recommend anything from "hours..." (1999), but i haven't listened to it in a couple years.
RadioHeadAche
Member
I'll check it out after listening to the album. I'd like to go in as fresh as possible. That's why I haven't watched the Blackstar video.
I actually saw the video for "I'm afraid of Americans" yesterday, and liked that song.
i like the video, but i prefer the bowie-only version over the collab with trent reznor.
DieNgamers
Member
Thursday's Child is a lovely song!
Gurgelhals
Member
As far as I know, the wave of forward-looking, uncompromising, and exciting British post-punk and new wave acts, for which Berlin-era Bowie was a role model, had pretty much abated by 1983. Most of those acts had either split up, fallen by the wayside, retreated back into obscurity, or were, in fact, already embracing a more commercial sound themselves.
My go-to example for this development is Simple Minds, because their early stuff is legitimately brilliant and very much in the spirit of that forward-looking Berlin-era sound. Just listen to I Travel or Theme for Great Cities or Premonition, for example. Truly amazing. Then they suddenly turned into a pompous stadium rock band (crappy music videos and all) and they've never really recovered from that.
Something really seemed to have happened towards the mid 1980s that opened the floodgates for the return of safe, glossy and very "big corporate" sounding pop music. I can only think of a handful of acts that managed to retain their creative and uncompromising spirit through this mid 1980s "purge" while still managing to remain fairly successful on a commercial level. The Cure, The Banshees, New Order, Depeche Mode (who were actually only starting to get legitimately great in the mid 1980s), (...). There must be quite a few more than those, but they probably weren't as successful (commercially speaking) than these bands.
I also like Thursday's Child...it's kind of a cheesy 90s song, but it works for me.
I've also been re-listening to The Next Day lately. Wasn't as big on it as most others were when it first came out, but I like it more and more now. The Stars (Are Out Tonight) is especially awesome.
I've also been re-listening to The Next Day lately. Wasn't as big on it as most others were when it first came out, but I like it more and more now. The Stars (Are Out Tonight) is especially awesome.
Just saw the video for this yesterday for the first time. Pretty crazy, Tilda Swinton is totally his female doppelganger.
Thanks! These little nuggets where people talk about their Bowie experiences are very nice. I already saw The Prestige a couple of times, but it's been a while so I might as well. Great film.
That's what I thought. Love Twin Peaks, but the bad buzz surrounding the movie put me off watching it. Hopefully the director's cut is worth it.
She totally gotta play him in a biopic or a Ziggy Stardust and/or Major Tom movie.
The Omega Man
Member
A proper biopic with top talent needs to happen, Bale could pull it off as he can transform and shed pounds as needed.
Pretty sure he dropped out of a role because he's getting too old to throw his weight up and down like he used to.
The Omega Man
Member
yeah but we are not talking The Machinist levels here, he's still at the right age and he pretty much will be wearing make up for the younger Bowie years. He doesn't need to like 1:1 Bowie to portrait him as Fassbender has already proven with Jobs.
I have to admit I quite like the idea of Bale being cast. Would they use a double for the singing voice though?
The Omega Man
Member
I think he sings a little bit himself as seen when he portrayed Bob Dylan, but I don't think that's enough to come closer to Bowie's iconic voice, Bowie's voice will have to be sampled on top and adjust the levels accordingly I guess.
I am going to check other famous singers biopics to see how they did it.
mattiewheels
And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
Bale was already in a Ziggy Stardust movie, ha.
The Omega Man
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