Is THE LODGER David Bowie's best record?

taking sides: george murray vs gail ann dorsey

(*this is not a joke.)

Ned, it's good to know Petey Gabriel is always lurking just below the level of your conscious mind.

I love it to death, although I hear the rot of 'Tonight' and 'Never Let Me Down' setting in with the Iggy re-annexation strategy of 'Red Money', which is far inferior to 'Sister Midnight'.

'Scary Monsters' was a disappointment for me at the time (I now love Side 1) because it seemed calculatedly populist and somewhat anti-modernist. Then we got Chic and 'David Bowie Straight', and everything after that was a disappointment, so you got used to it. I've just read the lyrics to his new single, and it seems like more of the same thing, but I don't really expect much any more, sigh.

He is still the most beautiful, wise and charming man on the planet, muse or no muse.

lodger breaks the morbid depression of side-2-low and the depressed fucked-up mess that is heroes

lodger creeps up on the listener -- no concessions to kiddy rock'n'roll -- instead elimination of lyrical abiguity (finally) and instrumental arrangement to match these real songs -- an adult record

maybe even honest ? what with bowie squeezed behind a shop window on the cover -- i can do without the "i'm an international phenomena" thing, though i guess that is central

scary monsters seemss a stab in the same direction but more attempt to rock and more of the old "hey i'm weird" theatrics -- at least he tries a whole lot of different approaches with different musos, so i approach monsters on a song by song basis whereas lodger stands up as an album

the only decent "concept album" from a guy who supposedly is the concept album guy -- it's as if bowie grew up here -- pity the creative run was so brief -- both monsters and lodger he'd kind of learnt to work with eno and then with others without letting them dominate

yeah, pity about all the rest -- let's face it -- either bowie is a bygone '70s culture thing since the cracks were showing by the '80s, or these few late '70s records were the best a guy with resouces and advice to burn could come up with in his 35 years as rock star

Heh. "BABY BABY BABY I'll never let you go..."

I think "Outside" and "Earthling" are as good as "Lodger." His best album is "Station to Station."

I think I'm w/ mark s. The guitar lover in me will always love Man Who Sold the World, but in my heart of hearts I know Lodger is his best. Many good points made above, mark re DB's singing, dave re "Boys Keep Swinging" (Belew's studio debut! already sounding like Fripp), Momus re the travelogue quality. The imaginative syncretisms really make this one stand out. I like the way he slides in more classicist elements as well - like the way the piano softly, briefly switches to double time on the chorus to "Fantastic Voyage" (probably my favorite Bowie song), or the New Orleans bass line under the chorus of "Boys Keep Swinging".

Awesome record.

No really, I adore Lodger. I'd have to say that my favorite Bowie album would be Low because it has such classics as "Always Crashing in the Same Car", "Speed of Life", and "Warszawa", but Lodger has five of my favorite Bowie songs on it (namely "D.J.", "Look Back in Anger", "Boys Keep Swinging", "Yassassin", and "Repetition), plus that awesome cover with Bowie lying sprawled (with his bellybutton exposed!) in front of a background of white bathroom tiles. Mega swoonalicious. Anyway, I too am a huge fanatic of Bowie's Berlin period and think that was really his best period musically, appearance-wise, etc.

I love love love love Bowie. Even "Blue Jean" and "Absolute Beginners". My bias toward him is almost as strong as my bias toward Duran Duran.

Isn't the title really "Heroes", though?

You seem like a good guy and all but I strongly suggest you never say this again unless this is actually true for anything and everything in your life.

Indeed, I do. Sorry Tom (and David).

The David Bowie Albums

everyone's laughing at my "mistake" 23 years later but it's the reason we all keep (a) returning to the question, and (b) answering it more and more correctly (correct ans = yes)

My idea of removing the definite article from the album title - as in The Iggy Pop's "Idiot" - never took off though.

Mark, I also see you gave The Earthling some love. I’ve always felt that and The Black Tie/The White Noise are way underrated.

Earthling irritates me, probably because of Reeves who was a terrible fit and a bad artistic influence on Bowie.

Black Tie/White Noise is way underrated. It, Buddha of Suburbia and Outside are a very good set of albums surrounded by dreck.

I'm the opposite, I like The Earthling quite a bit, but not so sure about The Black Tie, other than Jump They Say.

I've never heard the Tin Machine albums. At some point they'll put out a box set of it all and I'll make myself suffer through it. I've heard some of the singles and it's very much not my thing.

Excuse me, its THE Tin Machine, The Oy Vey Baby

The TIM Machine: are "tim machine" the best thing david bowie ?

i think The Earthling is a bloody brilliant,
but not as good as The Lodger, which was my first proper Bowie album i bought and subsequently fell hard for,
even with the resident scratch during the opening track that was on the multiple vinyl copies i tried out.
thus kickstarting my hatred of the format.
of course i now have various cd editions of The Lodger, but i still hear the scratch.

i still hear the scratch

Is there a thread for this? There are songs where I still anticipate hearing a scratch or pop from the taped version I had and last listened to decades ago.

Alternate entry point for The Earthling--this acoustic performance of "Dead Man Walking"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26WEz91PP2U

My favourite post-70s Bowie album is the 'athen

Re: The Earthling, I think "Little Wonder" was my first exposure to drum and bass, and as a kid growing up in the American Midwest, away from the city, I had zero inkling of that world. Bowie's album wasn't even a hit here, I just checked it out because it was the new Bowie album and I had just started listening to his music.

Actually, no "the," it's just Earthling

The Earthling was the first Bowie album in years that The College Kids listened to, in my experience.

The Dead Man Walking from The Earthling The is a great tune!

There is always a the, bird

The Earthling had a lot of promo muscle behind it, including the 50th Birthday Pay-Per-View event, and I know for a fact a lot of fans first Bowie purchase was "I'm Afraid of Americans" single because of the Reznor remix.

Actually, The...hours also got a pretty big push too. Virgin really must have dropped some coin on his contract.

They all have their moments, but the first new Bowie album I enjoyed end-to-end in my lifetime was The The Next Day.

the the rise and fall of ziggy stardust and the the spiders from mars

Always need to reveal myself whenever someone says the black tie white noise is underrated. it's my most listened to bowie album.

There isn't a post-tin machine bowie album I think is anything less than at least pretty great except ...hours, which i still like fine

i've been reivisiting this several times over the last few days. i think its brevity is a virtue -- a tight 34 minutes. i'm pretty obsessed with "D.J." and "Red Money." however, the album is a land of contrasts. i think "Yassassin" is probably one of the most annoying things he's ever done

sorry, that should be "The Yassassin"

Post Tin Machine album rankings? Sure, why not.

Blackstar
1. Outside
Heathen
Black Tie White Noise
Earthing
The Next Day
Buddha of Suburbia
Reality
Hours

Always need to reveal myself whenever someone says the black tie white noise is underrated. it's my most listened to bowie album.

"I really love the imposing titanium drum (sound)s on Heroes/Scary Monsters, but also how they flank the (especially startling in comparison) dry drum sound on Lodger where it was like he's rebelling against his "depressed gorilla" creation before it was even widespread."

The evolution of the drum sound on those records is fascinating. Low has a prototype of the 1980s big drum sound, made with a pitch-shifting delay and some natural reverb. And Heroes has a similar but more polished thing that appears to be just delay and reverb.

And then suddenly Lodger has the kind of flat, mixed-as-if-it-was-in-a-packed-dance-club drum sound I associate with the very early 1980s, e.g. Adam Ant, Queen, Talking Heads and so forth. I mentally associate with The Kenny Everett Video Show. And then Scary Monsters goes back to the big booming drum sound again.

If I didn't know it was part of the Berlin trilogy, or recorded in Paris, or wherever, I would geographically place Lodger as a New York No-Wave record. He tried that capture that kind of give-no-fucks sound with Tin Machine but it didn't work because it was too polished.

1. Outside

I hate the number at the beginning of this album title. It reminds me of bands that put out "Greatest Hits, Vol. 1" compilations, then immediately break up (or lose their record contract), ensuring that there will never be a Vol. 2. I recently Photoshopped "Volume One" off the cover of an album I was uploading to Bandcamp because there was no Volume Two, and I already know I'm gonna do it to another release in a couple of months.

Never cottoned to Outside, though I have tried. Its appeal always eludes me.

Sorry, The 1. Outside

We all will occasionally feel like The 1. Outside

There’s really good stuff on Outside, when it came out I was too hung up on the dopey story but if I put that out of my head It’s not bad.

1. Outside

I hate the number at the beginning of this album title.

You'll eat your words when Bowie releases The 2. Contamination