So we’ve now reached the 90s portion of my look into David Bowie. I honestly wasn’t really sure what to expect with this one and I would say this one is probably the era that I’m most curious about. Let’s take a look……….
Black Tie White Noise- I must admit the one thing that I really am enjoying about David Bowie is the fact that he reinvents himself pretty much on every record. With this one he’s going for more of an alternative sound which you know in 1993 that was big. And much like Bowie’s previous albums this does contain a variety of different styles. We have jazz, art rock, soul, to even a little bit of hip-hop. This album is mostly about his marriage to supermodel Iman ending as well as what he saw during the LA Riots in 1992. Overall, it’s a very interesting record and I quite enjoyed it so I’m gonna go ahead and give it 9/10.
Standouts: I Feel Free, I’ve Been Around, Looking For Lester
Buddha Of Suburbia- originally this started as an agreement for Bowie to compose music for an upcoming tv adaptation of the aforementioned title. Later he decided to make the project into an entire album once the basic tracks were finished. There are many references that go back to his work from the 70s as well as pop, jazz, ambient, and experimental. This all makes for a very unique and interesting album, and I really enjoyed it so I’m gonna go ahead and give it 8/10
Standouts: Sex And The Church, Dead Against It, The Mysteries
Outside- this one is a concept record, which was influenced by the television show Twin Peaks. It’s about a detective trying to solve the murder of a 14-year-old girl in a fictional town in Oxford. To make it even more of a concept record there are spoken segues after a few songs. Musically, we have art rock, industrial, and jazz which again makes for a really cool record. I think that if you’re going to do a concept record, this is the best way to go about it because the spoken segues just add more to the storyline. Definitely a very different album and I’m going to give it 8/10.
Standouts: Hallo Spaceboy, Outside, No Control
Earthling- this one just goes for straight up industrial and electronica and you can absolutely tell that he was influenced by bands like Nine Inch Nails. Fun fact, Trent Reznor appears in the music video for the song “I’m Afraid Of Americans” and in fact he even remixes that song as a single. I mean if you really wanted to know what David Bowie would do with industrial and electronica than this album is definitely your ticket and I really quite enjoyed this one so I’m going to go ahead and give it 9.5/10.
Standouts: I’m Afraid Of Americans, Looking For Satellites, The Last Thing You Should Do
Hours- originally this started out as a soundtrack to the 1999 video game Omikron: The Nomad Soul. Musically, it has pop and art rock which goes back to how the Hunky Dory album. Lyrically it’s about the end of relationships and angst as well as having overly Christian themes. Personally, I thought this record tended to drag a little bit and I just couldn’t quite get into it as I have his other records from this era. I’ll give this one 7/10
Standouts: Survive, Seven, New Angels Of Promise
Well, that’s it for the 90s era of David Bowie and this was probably the decade I was most curious about. The reason I was most curious about this era is because I feel like when it comes to the 90s for certain artists those albums tend to get overlooked or not talked about very much. It’s certainly a lot different than the 80s and this decade is actually pretty damn good. But what I really am enjoying about David Bowie is that he’s able to (again) reinvent himself on pretty much every album and that is pretty rare.
Final Grade: A
Album Rankings:
- Earthling
- Black Tie White Noise
- Outside
- Buddha Of Suburbia
- Hours
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