Heathen

One of only four studio albums that Bowie released this century, Heathen turns 19 today. Seen by many as a return to form after 1999's meandering Hours..., this record boasts some of Bowie's strongest late-era material. It was Bowie's highest charting album in the US since Tonight in 1984. The cover artwork is quite striking as well, but good covers don't necessarily equate to good records. I'm looking at you, Aladdin Sane! He he he...

The album is bookended by two excellent Bowie numbers, Sunday and the title track, Heathen (The Rays). Both rely on creating unsettling sonic landscapes, and are fairly simple and unassuming...but effective. They were also regularly performed during Bowie's A Reality Tour in 2003/04. The record opener seems to be constantly leading up to some sort of crescendo, and when it finally arrives the track fades out. Interestingly, the song contains the lyric "nothing has changed" which was the title given to Bowie's 2014 compilation sets. 

There are three cover versions on this album, and I only really like one of them. I'm not much of a Pixies fan, and his go at Cactus does little to change that. The Legendary Stardust Cowboy song I Took a Trip on a Gemini Spaceship also gets  an airing; an obvious tip of the hat to a hugely influential performer for Bowie (who inspired the name Ziggy Stardust). However, the track itself is underwhelming and comes across as album filler. The cover of Neil Young's I've Been Waiting For You is fantastic, and I love what Bowie and co. did with it. The original track appeared on Young's 1968 self-titled debut album, and while it had a quiet menace about it, this version puts that emotion front-and-centre. Understandably, the song was released as a single in Young's native Canada. Also, it has Dave Grohl playing guitar on it!

Heathen was produced in an era of CD dominated releases, so there was no real need to worry about its sides. Having procured the vinyl edition earlier this year, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the flipping of the record serves the album. Ending the first side with that Young cover is excellent. It's quite a good closer, but gives a great sense of 'we'll be right back'. The second side starts with I Would Be Your Slave, an almost deliberate juxtaposition in tone from the track proceeding it. In an interview with Michael Parkinson, Bowie revealed ...Slave to be his favourite cut on the album. While not my favourite, it's still a good one, benefiting from some excellent bass work from co-producer Tony Visconti.

Speaking of bass work, the wonderful Tony Levin guest basses on album highlight Slip Away. A great track that reminisces about The Uncle Floyd Show, an American variety/comedy TV program that ran from 1974 to 1998. Not something I'd ever heard of until this song came along, to be honest. That doesn't take away from the melancholic longing felt throughout the song though. 

Getting back to sides of the record, I feel that the second half is stronger. Aside from the aforementioned LSC cover, it's all killer. Two of my big favourites follow, 5:15 Angels Have Gone and Everyone Says 'Hi', and I rate them both as some of Bowie's best work of the 21st century. The former is a great showcase for Bowie's vocals and in the hands of other artists, the latter could have been written off as poppy schmaltz. The first time I heard it, I felt a big grin on my face. The song just makes me feel happy. Other highlights on this album for me are the first single Slow Burn (featuring Pete Townshend on lead guitar) and the penultimate 
A Better Future.

The bulk of the music is performed by Bowie, Visconti, guitarist David Torn and drummer Matt Chamberlain. Contributions also came from musicians who would go on to be in his band for the A Reality Tour, namely guitarist Gerry Leonard and drummer Stirling Campbell. The wonderful string arrangements are performed by The Scorchio Quartet, and the brass comes courtesy of The Borneo Horns. Old mate Carlos Alomar turns up on a couple of tracks, and session muso Lisa Germano adds some violin.

All in all, the good definitely outweighs the bad, and this album is one of the strongest offerings in Bowie's catalog. I give this 4/5, and I just listened to it again!

NEXT UP: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars - June 16th (ish)