My Amazon Reviews: David Bowie "Heathen"

Down in space it's always 1982  
4 Out of 5 Stars

Continuing the creative resurgence David Bowie began with 1995's "Outside," "Heathen" found David Bowie creating interesting and soulful music after the more chilling "Hours." Teaming up with producer Tony Visconti, "Heathen" seemed as if Bowie decided he no longer had to keep trying to outdo anything from his past. While the album is moody and haunting, Bowie and Visconti seemed to be settled on making an album that played to Bowie's greatest elements.

If listened to in that respect, "Heathen" delivers plenty of payoffs. Bowie seems more of an alien than ever on "Heathen," staring with the electronic squiggles and snaps of "Sunday," which ultimately builds to Bowie chanting "Seek only peace" under the main lyric. The melancholy, if warmer "Everyone Says Hi" calls out to a lost love to come home to the boring little town she long ran away from. "Slow Burn" recalls a slowed down "Starman," and is the most haunting of the songs here (as well as my favorite from the CD).

Close behind is "Slip Away," which - to me - indictaed the purpose of "Heathen" as Bowie and Visconti created it.

"Some of us will always stay behind
Down in space it's always 1982,
The joke we always knew..."

Seems to be directed at everyone still expecting another "Space Oddity" or awaiting another chapter in the chronicles Major Tom. It's more than a sly humor. Even more humorous and intriguing are the three choices of outside songs. Bowie takes a run at Neil Young's "I've Been Waiting For You" (featuring Dave Grohl on guitar). This is probably the most conventional of the three choices, and without knowing the source, it would be easy to think it came off of Bowie's pen. Then there's The Pixies' "Cactus," which is sort of fun. If you listen carefully, you'll hear Bowie spelling out D-A-V-I-D the same what The Pixies spelled out their own name on the original.

But the absolute topper comes in the form of "I Took a Trip On a Gemini Spacecraft," originally by the Legendary Stardust Cowboy. Stardust issues aside, the Texas psycho-billy artist 9and one time T-Bone Burnette collaborator) is a hardcore cult artist that Bowie has always admired. But picking this song is almost like an inside joke, because it fits into the album so seamlessly while kind of pricking the Bowie legend. It's the most fun to be head on "Heathen."

It also kind of vindicates the album's title. The slip-sleeve's images include pictures of damaged art, and including a song like "Gemini Spacecraft" is a sort of blaspheme. It's hard not to imagine Bowie having a good laugh at all the critics who'd be poring over the album when it was first issued and trying to figure the relevance. "Heathen," dark and moody as it often is, is still David Bowie at his strongest, as well as a hearty call of "I'm still here" from the artist.