David Bowie’s new album is his best in a very long time, at least since the mainstream “Let’s Dance” in 1983, or even since the experimental “Low” in 1977. This latest one is called ★, or “Blackstar” as more commonly written, and it is firmly rooted towards the experimental end of the scale.Every serious rock listener has their Bowie biography. This critic’s memories run from being amazed as a kid in 1972 after hearing “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust” – still one of the finest of maybe 1,000 new albums heard every year; reviewing shows in the 1980s; meeting Bowie in the 1990s; and then despairing over his absence in the 2000s. It looked like it was all over for the star amid reports of his ill-health. One publication even asked this writer for an “appreciation” – code for a draft obituary. Just to keep in case, you understand.More encouragingly, around 2012, music industry sources mentioned “a major star planning a comeback” and recording in in New York studio. There was feverish activity at this end, but it was impossible to confirm who this was. It turned out to be Bowie doing “The Next Day.” Now, a couple of years on, and after more widely reported tips, we have his 25th studio album.This writer has seen Bowie perform on dozens of occasions, heard everything he has done – and, like many others, found the musician one of the most compelling to grace a recording studio or stage. Not least because he never stays still. It is a cliché, but Bowie is a chameleon. He is constantly surprising and reinventing himself.“Blackstar” is out on January 8, Bowie’s 69th birthday. While it has echoes of his last album, the man is still moving on. The title song runs to nearly ten minutes – tracks that exceed that duration run foul of iTunes for its definition of a single. With its distorted saxophone – Bowie’s first musical instrument - it’s flirts with both jazz rock and acid house. There are echoes of “Station to Station,” “Width of a Circle” and other Bowie 10-minute numbers.This is not the best Bowie album ever. It’s pretty hard to beat his peaks. This is also not a radio-friendly listen, in fact as far as he’s moved from pop: Bowie’s equivalent of Radiohead’s quirky “Kid A” and just 41 minutes long. The seven tracks are apparently made for Bowie’s ears and without much concern of trying to please everybody. There is a well-known rule in rock: make a seriously weird album, divide the listener and please the critics. Consider the cases of Scott Walker, Dylan’s “Street-Legal” or Bowie’s own “Lodger” or “Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps).” This time, the sad single “Lazarus,” from Bowie’s off-Broadway stage production, is likeable enough. Elsewhere “Tis a Pity She Was a Whore” is even more aggressive and free-form than on the 2014 demo version. This track alone shows that Bowie is not about to go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage, against the dying of the light. Rating: ****.
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