David Bowie, Heathen Review

Overall Rating

David Bowie, Heathen - From the burbling opening seconds of Sunday, the unlikely lead-off song, to the industrial sobriety of the title track that closes this CD, here's a David Bowie very much in tune with his muse.

A cursory listening of the first 30 seconds of each track reveals fresh ideas and the sense of experimentation that has marked all Bowie's landmark moments. A nod to long-time producer Tony Visconti here, who once again makes the most of Bowie's considerable energy.

I flat out loved this CD, both the choice of cover songs and the original material.

Sunday is the most honest song he has put out since Through This Architect's Eyes from "outside" and I couldn't stop listening to it; In A Better Future, Bowie puts forth a committed and very jaunty swing as he lays down a demand for a safer world for his children; Gemini Spacecraft shimmers with electro-style and fuzz guitar as Bowie, in a joyless fanatasy, baritones: "I shot my spacegun, and I thought about you."

Much has been made in the press of the Pete Townsend guitar contribution on Slow Burn. But it's Bowie's vocal effort here that commands the attention. It's a hell of a performance and was rightly (or politically) rewarded with a Grammy nomination.

I keep wondering when this guy is going to run out of creative energy. But I resist the temptation to compare Heathen to his previous efforts. He is a man who just keeps plowing forward and no longer has contemporaries. Heathen is merely the latest installment in a rejuvenated career. Bravo.