Unocal - A Full Tank of Rape And Slavery

Newton Revisited Heathen   My internet friend Sheree posted her take on Heathen on another band's board: "A couple of weeks ago I decided to take a chance on David Bowie's new Heathen, since the reviews have been good (as in "retro Bowie"). And I must say--I'm totally digging it. Definitely the best thing he's released in FOREVER!...Bowie's Heathen has this atmospheric vibe to it, like the Ziggy Stardust era Bowie. It's almost like a mood album, but not at all a downer, although it's kind of ethereal/spacey." The word that came to my mind was that Heathen has an "orchestrated" feel to it, but Sheree's description of it being "atmospheric" is appropriate. After a while it does start to seem like one song blends into another, bleary and indistinct. Maybe that's why little details seem to stand out. My summary: much better than Bowie's 80's albums but not as good as Earthling, Black Tie White Noise, 1.Outside or Buddha of Suburbia. When I burn this to a CD that doesn't skip in the car, I'll eliminate three or four tracks, rearrange the rest in a more flattering order and round it out with a few numbers from the CD singles. Hip quotient aside, I just don't care for the covers of Cactus or Gemini Spacecraft. The sound is the best sound he's had since the last time he worked with Visconti, just gorgeous. The first thing that struck me upon hearing this album is that it's downright tangible how much Tony Visconti has been missed. The talent onboard couldn't be better either. Glad to see Mike Garson in the band as usual. It's also refreshing that Bowie is working with a guitarist other than Reeves Gabrels; talent or no, it just got old after a while. And is that cover artwork the coolest Bowie's come up with since the original stark black and white Station to Station cover or what? Favorite tracks: Slow Burn, Sunday (both versions have something unique and appealing about them), Afraid, I've Been Waiting For You, Everyone Says Hi and Heathen (The Rays). I'd like to add I Would Be Your Slave but that track skips on my car CD player so I haven't heard it a lot. The title track in particular stands out. As for the 2CD version, I like it for the alternate version of "Sunday" with the violin or whatever that thingy is. The version of Panic In Detroit is the same remake that used to be a bonus track on the Ryko edition of Scary Monsters. I got my 2CD version for USD $16.59 and if you can get it for an extra two and a half bucks, sure, go for it. Once you get inside the jacket though, the profaned middle ages artwork of the Virgin Mary just seems like Bowie took the playful cover of last year's excellent comeback God Bless The Go-Go's and drained it of its humor. (In the last ten years Bowie has shown a propensity for linking art and violence, hasn't he?) Which, by coincidence (or not) is my CD of the millennium so far. Heathen - CD1 Sunday Cactus Slip Away Slow Burn Afraid I've Been Waiting For You I Would Be Your Slave I Took A Trip On A Gemini Spaceship 5.15 The Angels Have Gone Everyone Says 'Hi' A Better Future Heathen (The Rays) Heathen - CD2 Sunday - Moby Remix A Better Future - Remix By Air Conversation Piece (Written 1969 -   Recorded 1970 - Re-recorded 2002) Panic In Detroit   (Outtake From A 1979 Recording) Slow Burn With five tracks this CD single is the best deal than we've seen from Bowie since the heady days of the Earthling CD singles. You've Got A Habit Of Leaving and Shadow Man are a pair of promising tracks from the still-unreleased Toy sessions of a year or two ago. Toy was a whole album of early Bowie songs (pre-Ziggy) revamped. As if anyone could vamp them more than Bowie. C'mon DB, we know ya got Toy in the can, give it up or turn it a-loose! If you've heard the mid-sixties original of "You've Got a Habit...", this one tops the original by a mile. If you've heard the bootleg of the unreleased original recording of Shadow Man from the fall of 1971 you could always forward a dub to me so I could say something pithy about its comparison to this new version. We can only imagine what we're missing with a temptation like this. The other tracks are from the Heathen sessions. Frankly they underwhelm me. I wouldn't go shelling out the extra moola for the Japanese edition of Heathen just to get Wood Jackson. According to Bonnie's Bowie newsletter there are going to be a bazillion different variations of this CD single, with promo copies, CD singles with videos and another Toy bonus, Baby Loves That Way. Slow Burn Slow Burn Wood Jackson Shadow Man When The Boys Come Marching Home You've Got A Habit Of Leaving CD 1 Everyone Says 'Hi' CD Singles CD 2 No promo copies, no nothin', I actually shell out for these things and in this case it's an empty shell. Ten bucks a pop for these, US dollars. Yeah, I know these are UK imports but in that same trip to my favorite indie store I picked up a four CD set of Dizzy Gillespie, also a UK import, for less than the cost of these two CD singles. 100 tracks by Dizzy or two new tracks by Bowie. Which do you think was the better deal? That's right, we need a Dizzy Gillespie song called "Too Bowie". Here's who these CD singles will most appeal to: someone who wants just this one song, or someone who only wants the charged remake of You've Got A Habit Of Leaving. Both that track and Wood Jackson carry the designation here of being "Album Version". Ummm...these have never been released on an album. And just in case you already have both of these songs on the last CD single, Slow Burn, these are the identical recordings. As for the edit of Everyone Says 'Hi', it shaves 28 seconds off the album version to clock in at 3:29. I would contend that Wood Jackson is Bowie's most boring song since I Am With Name. The remake of the ancient Bowie tune Baby Loves That Way doesn't trip my trigger. Safe, an outtake from the Heathen sessions, was cowritten with Reeves Gabrels. I should have left that ten bucks in the safe. For the price of both of these CD singles I could have taken myself out for the most succulent pollo asada tacos and a tall, cool handmade long island iced tea and maybe even a flirtatious waitress if it was the right night. I mean, not the waitress for twenty bucks but the service. I eat more pollo any man ever seen. Really, I shell out for these things so you don't have to. And in the case of these CD singles, you don't have to. I'm not even going to list the entirely redundant CD single #3. The two other tracks it includes were also on the Slow Burn CD single. If you don't already have the album Heathen though, Everyone Says 'Hi' is one of its brightest moments and is well worth adding to your Bowie collection. For cryin' out loud, just buy Heathen. Oh screw it, now I'm hungry. I'm going for pollo asada tacos. Everyone Says 'Hi' - CD 1 Everyone Says Hi (Edit) (3:29) Safe (4:42) Wood Jackson (Album Version) (4:47)   Everyone Says 'Hi' - CD 2 Everyone Says Hi (Edit) (3:29) Baby Loves That Way (Album Version) (4:43) You've Got A Habit Of Leaving (Album Version) (4:53)                     Links             Bowie Music Question?                             Home     Designed for viewing with Netscape Navigator 3.0 Copyright © 1996-2004, Philip Drenth. All rights reserved.