MB Bowie Classics: "Never Let Me Down"

Trollheart · 06-06-2018, 06:13 AM

Could an album have a less appropriate or prophetic title? Oh well. After this we go Tin Machining...

Psy-Fi · 06-06-2018, 07:30 AM

Another of the few turds in Bowie's musical punchbowl. Ten songs composed entirely by Bowie and one which is yet another Iggy Pop cover, "Bang Bang."
Bowie hits bottom with this one. Another album of bland, forgettable, mainstream pop with occasional bits of rock thrown in. There isn't a single song here that I could ever be bothered to listen to again and I kept losing interest and fast-forwarding through songs, looking for any signs of interesting musical life.
Didn't find any.
The worst album in his discography.

1/5

~~MicShazam~~ · 06-06-2018, 08:05 AM

Poor Bowie remains stuck in a creative rut and this is yet another unimpressive pop-tinged album filled with alternatingly forgettable and awful songs. I do somewhat like the song "Time Will Crawl", at least when comparing to the rest of the album.

To me, there's also something frequently unpleasant about the sound of this album. It hits critical mass in the nearly unlistenable mess that is the song "Zeroes". This song is just so shrill and ugly with the way the backing vocals and various instruments are mixed - not to mention the flanger effect occasionally used on Bowie's voice that's just... ugh. There's a passable song here, trying to break through the garish sonic muck. Truly a low point in Bowie's unpredictable career.

I also really dislike the title song, but I wonder if anyone on Eearth really likes that song?

The album as a whole isn't pure garbage, but not very good either. Easily a 1/5, I'm afraid.

_Previous ratings:__________________

(Rated on a scale relative to only Bowie's own discography, where 1 means the worst he's done and 5 means the best he's done.)
David Bowie: 1/5
Space Oddity: 2/5
The Man Who Sold The World 4/5
Hunky Dory 3/5
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust 3/5
Aladdin Sane 3/5
PinUps 2/5
Diamond Dogs 2/5
Young Americans 1/5
Station to Station 4/5
Low 5/5
Heroes 4/5
Lodger 3.5/5
Scary Monsters 3/5
Let's Dance 3/5
Tonight 1/5
Never Let Me Down 1/5
Labyrinth OST
Black Tie White Noise
1. Outside
Earthling
Hours
Heathen
Reality
The Next Day
Blackstar

Trollheart · 06-06-2018, 10:31 AM

Yeah. Let's see Hawk give this one a 5/5 with a straight face!

OccultHawk · 06-06-2018, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Yeah. Let's see Hawk give this one a 5/5 with a straight face!

Not just bad for Bowie

A terrible record even by the lowest standards.

Not even fun to laugh at or listen to ironically

5/5

Trollheart · 06-06-2018, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

Not just bad for Bowie

A terrible record even by the lowest standards.

Not even fun to laugh at or listen to ironically

5/5

You're out of control.
Your ratings mean about as much as Trump's pre-election promise to drain the swamp.

Trollheart · 06-06-2018, 06:40 PM

Surprisingly, not as terrible as I remember. I quite enjoy it up to "Glass Spider" (I like the combination of the spoken word over the ambient-style music and then the song part itself is really good) but "Shinin' Star (Making My Love)" brings it all crashing down like a fist through a spiderweb. It's just an awful, sub-soul/sub-disco/sub-Marley/sub-Jackson/sub-everything song that has no place on this, or any Bowie album. Absolutely dire. After that, it kinda goes downhill - "Bang Bang" is embarrassingly bad, and "Too Dizzy" is, well, not on my Spotify copy, but I don't remember it being great. Poor album, but not as bad as my memory made it. Still, only gets a 3 from me. Generous? Maybe. Don't care. I expected to hate it and I kind of don't so that deserves something.

~~MicShazam~~ · 06-07-2018, 03:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Surprisingly, not as terrible as I remember. I quite enjoy it up to "Glass Spider" (I like the combination of the spoken word over the ambient-style music and then the song part itself is really good) but "Shinin' Star (Making My Love)" brings it all crashing down like a fist through a spiderweb. It's just an awful, sub-soul/sub-disco/sub-Marley/sub-Jackson/sub-everything song that has no place on this, or any Bowie album. Absolutely dire. After that, it kinda goes downhill - "Bang Bang" is embarrassingly bad, and "Too Dizzy" is, well, not on my Spotify copy, but I don't remember it being great. Poor album, but not as bad as my memory made it. Still, only gets a 3 from me. Generous? Maybe. Don't care. I expected to hate it and I kind of don't so that deserves something.

What do you think about "Time Will Crawl"? Maybe it only stood out to me.

Trollheart · 06-07-2018, 06:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MicShazam

What do you think about "Time Will Crawl"? Maybe it only stood out to me.

's alright I guess. Mostly I'd be more about the title track (yeah I said it), "Glass Spider" and "Zeroes". Most of the rest is pretty substandard but, as I say, not as bad as I remember it being.

Anteater · 06-07-2018, 08:51 PM

Shinin' Star might be Bowie's all time greatest song, right up there with 'Fame'. Rest of the album isn't as good.

4 out of 5.

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06-06-2018, 06:13 AM	#1 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	MB Bowie Classics: "Never Let Me Down" Could an album have a less appropriate or prophetic title? Oh well. After this we go Tin Machining... __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

06-06-2018, 08:05 AM	#3 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	Poor Bowie remains stuck in a creative rut and this is yet another unimpressive pop-tinged album filled with alternatingly forgettable and awful songs. I do somewhat like the song "Time Will Crawl", at least when comparing to the rest of the album. To me, there's also something frequently unpleasant about the sound of this album. It hits critical mass in the nearly unlistenable mess that is the song "Zeroes". This song is just so shrill and ugly with the way the backing vocals and various instruments are mixed - not to mention the flanger effect occasionally used on Bowie's voice that's just... ugh. There's a passable song here, trying to break through the garish sonic muck. Truly a low point in Bowie's unpredictable career. I also really dislike the title song, but I wonder if anyone on Eearth really likes that song? The album as a whole isn't pure garbage, but not very good either. Easily a 1/5, I'm afraid. _Previous ratings:__________________ (Rated on a scale relative to only Bowie's own discography, where 1 means the worst he's done and 5 means the best he's done.) David Bowie: 1/5 Space Oddity: 2/5 The Man Who Sold The World 4/5 Hunky Dory 3/5 The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust 3/5 Aladdin Sane 3/5 PinUps 2/5 Diamond Dogs 2/5 Young Americans 1/5 Station to Station 4/5 Low 5/5 Heroes 4/5 Lodger 3.5/5 Scary Monsters 3/5 Let's Dance 3/5 Tonight 1/5 Never Let Me Down 1/5 Labyrinth OST Black Tie White Noise 1. Outside Earthling Hours Heathen Reality The Next Day Blackstar Last edited by MicShazam; 06-06-2018 at 02:31 PM.

06-06-2018, 10:31 AM	#4 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Yeah. Let's see Hawk give this one a 5/5 with a straight face! __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

06-06-2018, 06:40 PM	#7 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Surprisingly, not as terrible as I remember. I quite enjoy it up to "Glass Spider" (I like the combination of the spoken word over the ambient-style music and then the song part itself is really good) but "Shinin' Star (Making My Love)" brings it all crashing down like a fist through a spiderweb. It's just an awful, sub-soul/sub-disco/sub-Marley/sub-Jackson/sub-everything song that has no place on this, or any Bowie album. Absolutely dire. After that, it kinda goes downhill - "Bang Bang" is embarrassingly bad, and "Too Dizzy" is, well, not on my Spotify copy, but I don't remember it being great. Poor album, but not as bad as my memory made it. Still, only gets a 3 from me. Generous? Maybe. Don't care. I expected to hate it and I kind of don't so that deserves something. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018