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Ashes to Ashes
From the ultimate David Bowie expert comes this exploration of the final four decades of the popstar’s musical career, covering every song he wrote, performed or produced from 1976 to 2016.
Starting with Low, the first of Bowie’s Berlin albums, and finishing with Blackstar, his final masterpiece released just days before his death in 2016, each song is annotated in depth and explored in essays that touch upon the song's creation, production, influences and impact.
Starting with Low, the first of Bowie’s Berlin albums, and finishing with Blackstar, his final masterpiece released just days before his death in 2016, each song is annotated in depth and explored in essays that touch upon the song's creation, production, influences and impact.
800 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 19, 2019
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July 17, 2024
I'd have a lot to say about the opinionated criticism of Bowie's "fallow" period of mid eighties to early nineties. This is my main gripe with the book and its critical apparatus, following the consensus of the day. Conceded by Bowie himself, he may have been out of focus during the mid 80's, but Tin Machine... that's another story. And a song like "Loving the Alien", or a "minor" hit like "Blue Jean" justify whole discographies of lesser artists in my opinion. Here, whole albums are summarily dismissed as crap.
OK, so there is much good to be said about the book, which brought me lots of re-listening enjoyment and tons of unknown information about the sessions, the references, the possible sources etc. Four stars for that.
But perhaps my major qualm is with the affirmation, toward the end, that this book is a chronicle of the decline of a major rock star, most probably unrepeatable under the present circumstances. I find that Bowie's "Berlin" work up to "Scary Monsters" and that ranging from "1. Outside" on (with the possible exclusion of "hours...") is the strongest and most interesting he ever produced, including the sacred cows of the early 70's.
A fair self-criticism about the book (and its previous companion) is that they are both like rummaging in a master magician's cabinet, therefore spoiling some of the magic in the process. But the spoils for the dedicated fan to be gained in the process are extremely rich.
OK, so there is much good to be said about the book, which brought me lots of re-listening enjoyment and tons of unknown information about the sessions, the references, the possible sources etc. Four stars for that.
But perhaps my major qualm is with the affirmation, toward the end, that this book is a chronicle of the decline of a major rock star, most probably unrepeatable under the present circumstances. I find that Bowie's "Berlin" work up to "Scary Monsters" and that ranging from "1. Outside" on (with the possible exclusion of "hours...") is the strongest and most interesting he ever produced, including the sacred cows of the early 70's.
A fair self-criticism about the book (and its previous companion) is that they are both like rummaging in a master magician's cabinet, therefore spoiling some of the magic in the process. But the spoils for the dedicated fan to be gained in the process are extremely rich.
Displaying 1 of 1 review