The David Bowie Albums

Yep - that top 5 is pretty much my top 5

The Reality 0
^^deservedly so

the Heathen deserved a vote

certainly deserved more than The The Hours

Of the ones that got 0 votes, I'll rep for The Heathen, The Earthling and The David Bowie

haha that would be a great title for a book

due to the chaos of the recent boxset i have decided to re-add the Ryko editions to my digital archive.
i got a complete set of the EMI remasters (japanese mini editions) a few years back and so cleared out the digital rips of my Ryko collection as i thought the Ryko set sounded weak and ineffectual.
however, according to the SF crew the Ryko editions are far better sonically.
i have most of them (just Ziggy missing), so, time to dive in.

The ‘Mercury’ Demos is a compilation by David Bowie, released in May 2019. It features ten songs in mono, demo form performed by Bowie with his friend John Hutchinson in early 1969. In November 2019, all songs were released on CD on the Conversation Piece box set. Wikipedia

Just heard these folky Mercury demos from 68 & 69 for first time, on Spotify. Space Oddity version is nice as is a song called “An Occasional Dream”

Yeah I like all those. They released almost all of it in spurts last year in stupid variations (7" box, blah blah).

Aapparently there's supposed to be 6 unreleased tracks released weekly starting today on streaming which will wind up on an RSD release later this year called ChangesNowBowie, but I can't locate the song they released on apple music (a 1997 version of Man Who Sold the World).

Will look out for those

4 years ago today

“Four years”

my brain does hurt a lot

Is it because it is like a warehouse, or is it the concrete all around?

It just occurred to me that while Bowie could be personal, funny or profound as a lyricist, sometimes accidentally so, he never really tries to be clever, does he?

Which is a good thing, I hope

Now the workers have struck for fame
Because Lennon's on sale again

Yeah, I think that whole weird verse is trying to be clever.

https://i.imgur.com/AtKx7nM.jpg
Keep boxing clever.

I totally think it's a good thing he never really tries to be clever. Jut surprising, given he's smart, pretentious, ambitious, etc. that he never really seemed tempted to show off lyrically. If anything he went the opposite direction. Automatic writing, cut-ups, stream of consciousness, etc.

I don't know how you're defining 'trying to be clever' tbh.

For instance...

"I'm closer to the Golden Dawn
Immersed in Crowley's uniform
Of imagery
I'm living in a silent film
Portraying Himmler's sacred realm
Of dream reality"

... is that trying to be clever?

There's quite a lot of that sort of stuff pre-Ziggy!

Yeah, I don't think of that as clever, just evocative. I'm thinking more of the, yeah, Elvis Costello vein, of couplets and quips and tricky wordplay.

Right, get you, no he did not, thank God!

he definitely did it sometimes, but i agree that it's good he largely avoided it and in any case the examples that come to mind (including the one i posted) rarely come off as smug or obnoxious

He doesn't go much for rhymes, which precludes a lot of opportunities cleverness.

Last two posts otm.