David Bowie’s The Next Day

A few days (ahem) have passed since I (legally!) downloaded the latest David Bowie album, The Next Day, and, after a few listens, a few thoughts:

I remain impressed with the album.  It’s a solid piece of work with some truly exceptional songs often punctuated by nebulous (but delicious) lyrics.  What is most interesting, to me, is to see how a bunch of critics have raised this album to the near mythical status of “Best David Bowie album since Scary Monsters“.  With many critics and fans, that 1980 David Bowie album marks the last time Mr. Bowie released a “good” album, a point that I most certainly dispute.  The critics also are aware of musical flourishes from previous albums, echoes, if you will, of Mr. Bowie’s past works.

Addressing that point first, let me agree with the critics here.  David Bowie fans will indeed hear echoes of previous songs here and there in The Next Day and the accompanying lyrics at times point out that, indeed, Mr. Bowie is engaging in some looking back while also looking at the here and now and/or forward.  However, let me be very quick to say that this isn’t necessarily something new.  David Bowie’s aborted 2001 album, Toy, was meant to be a very strong “look back” into his musical past.  The album was to feature remakes of very early David Bowie songs and only three “new” compositions.  When the album was cancelled, some of the material eventually appeared in 2002’s Heathen, including, as a bonus song, the incredible remake of “Conversation Piece”.

By the way (and my apologies for the digression) here is the original 1969 version of “Conversation Piece” as a comparison:

However, way before this David Bowie on the already mentioned Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) took a sly look back at Major Tom from his first hit single, “Space Oddity”, with the song “Ashes To Ashes”:

To further beat the dead horse, here we have “The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell” from the 1999 Bowie album hours…, a clear shout out/reference to “Oh You Pretty Things” from 1971’s Hunky Dory.

The point I’m making is that the critics who are so enchanted with how David Bowie is “looking back” with The Next Day seem to either be ignorant of or are ignoring the many other examples of when he did just that in a multitude of instances on previous albums.

Which brings us to the whole issue of whether The Next Day is indeed David Bowie’s best album since Scary Monsters.  It is my feeling, after having listened to it several times, that while The Next Day is a damn good album, of the David Bowie albums that followed Scary Monsters, it doesn’t fall as the “best of them”.

At least in my opinion.

Again, though, that’s not to say it isn’t a pretty damn great album on its own.

Music and the arts can be cruel.  You can hit the big time with critics and audiences and, a year later, release something you feel is just as good as your last work and no one gives a crap about it.  Over time, “his/her old stuff was better” becomes an all too common refrain.  Unfortunately, sometimes fans and critics come into new works hoping an artist recaptures his/her old “magic” and are bitterly disappointed when they don’t.

Scary Monsters was a great album and something of a demarcation for David Bowie’s career.  The years before -indeed the entire decade of the 1970’s- David Bowie released one classic album after the other, arguably starting with the excellent The Man Who Sold The World and continuing through Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders of Mars, Aladdin Sane, Diamond Dogs, and so on and so on through the Berlin Trilogy.

Mr. Bowie would follow Scary Monsters with Let’s Dance, an upbeat danceable -yet undeniably sugary- confection.  One that I happen to love but that many fans and critics dismissed as David Bowie “selling out”.  While the album did great business (I believe it was his best selling album of his career), Let’s Dance appeared to drive a wedge into longtime Bowie fans.  Things didn’t improve much with Tonight, the follow up to Let’s Dance which also followed the same general tone of the previous album, only it was less successful (IMHO) overall, despite a few absolutely terrific tunes.

From there, David Bowie stumbled badly.  He released what many, including Mr. Bowie himself, called his worst album, the very ironically titled Never Let Me Down.  By then, the obituaries on David Bowie’s career were in full force.

Yet I never gave up on him, purchasing every new thing he released as it came out.  David Bowie followed up Never Let Me Down with the two album Tin Machine experiment, a group and a set of albums that many critics and fans derided yet I felt were never quite as bad as many felt.  Having said that, neither would I put this period of time, and his return to solo work with Black Tie White Noise, as among his best period.

Then came the 1993 soundtrack to The Buddha of Suburbia.  For the first time since the mid-1980’s, it felt like Mr. Bowie had regained his musical footing.  While the album was a soundtrack and there was plenty of “incidental” music, the songs were very solid.  Despite this, the album was barely released in the United States.  Having gotten a hold of a copy (there were no downloads possible back then), I became genuinely excited to hear more from this David Bowie.

With the next album, 1995’s 1. Outside, he didn’t disappoint.  If there’s an album I would put up there as being among his all time bests of the “modern” era, 1. Outside would easily be it.  Yes, the album was perhaps a little more bloated than it should have been (the in-between-the-songs dialogue bits could at times be too much), 1. Outside was nonetheless a terrific, genre bending concept album that featured a multitude of musical styles and ambition to spare.  Mr. Bowie was suddenly white hot to me, and he followed that terrific album with the equally terrific electronica-heavy Earthling.

As far as I was concerned, the David Bowie I loved was back.  To the rest of the world, these works seemed to elicit little more than a shrug.  Subsequent albums came and went.  Though they weren’t quite as good, IMHO, as the one-two punch of 1. Outside and Earthling, they were all strong works

His last album before this new one, 2003’s Reality, appeared and, like the others, received scant attention.  What did receive attention was that in 2004 Mr. Bowie suffered a heart attack while on tour for Reality.  Afterwards Mr. Bowie abruptly turned away from the spotlight and a host of questions came from fans and critics.  Was David Bowie done?  Was he retiring from music?  Would Reality be his final album?

Years passed.  Before his heart attack, Mr. Bowie would regularly release a new album every year or two.  After nine years and no new album, no new concert, and precious few public appearances, many, including me, gave up hopes he was coming back.

Thus, when the release of The Next Day was suddenly announced, all that concern was all at once dissolved.  David Bowie was back!  We had a new album!  Hooray!

I suspect this abrupt, delightfully surprising return made many critics who didn’t bother with many of Mr. Bowie’s recent works to give The Next Day a closer look than they might have if it had been simply “another” release.  What many of them heard in this new album delighted them and the reviews have been very strong.

Which makes me shake my head.

Where were you guys when Mr. Bowie started his renaissance back in 1993?

Again, it is my feeling The Next Day is a damn good album.  But it also represents a part of continuum, again in my opinion, to albums dating back to 1993’s The Buddha of Suburbia.  To all those ex-David Bowie fans who feel he didn’t do anything “good” since Scary Monsters, do yourselves a favor…check out the six albums he released from The Buddha of Suburbia to Reality.

You might be surprised.

What Happened to Orson Scott Card?

Fascinating article by Steven Lloyd Wilson and appearing on Salon.com concerning his views of author Orson Scott Card, until recently best known for the novel (and soon to be released movie adaptation of same) Ender’s Game:

http://www.salon.com/2013/03/07/end_game_for_orson_scott_card_partner/

For those who choose to skip the article (it is interesting, however, and I highly recommend giving it a read!), Orson Scott Card has gotten himself in more than a little hot water of late because of his apparent very vocal dislike of homosexuality and the concept of gay marriage (Some would call it outright homophobia).  For years now I’ve heard vague rumors about the various comments he made at different science fiction conventions…and what was once only vague rumors grew and grew until it was pretty clear what Mr. Card’s opinions regarding homosexuality were.

The issue regarding the author’s opinions reached something of a peak when it was announced DC Comics had hired Mr. Card to write a Superman story.  To be blunt, comic book fans were aghast at the notion that he could be hired to write a character whose essence is protecting the oppressed.  How could Superman, such a shining symbol of all that’s good, be written by someone whose opinions were so terribly ugly?  Soon enough the controversy reached a boiling point and several comic book shops refused to stock Mr. Card’s upcoming Superman book.  The heat only grew from there and eventually the artist assigned to the project dropped out.  Now it appears DC Comics has nixed the story’s publication entirely.

Unfortunately, just before this controversy became so public, an Ender’s Game film was greenlit and subsequently made.  It is scheduled for release later this year and, if I were one of the investors or on the staff of the studios behind it, I’d be more than a little worried. If potential audiences had such a negative reaction to Mr. Card’s involvement in Superman, how will they react when the Ender’s Game movie is released in November?

Years ago I realized that sometimes you separate the artist from their art.  The book/movie/film/painting/tv show you may absolutely love might be the work of someone who, should you encounter them at any sort of social function, might find repugnant.  I’ve been able to separate the artist from the art but only because usually these “repugnant” attributes were within the sphere of the individual themselves.  Perhaps they were alcoholics or heavy drug users.  Perhaps they were arrogant loudmouths.  Maybe they were just plain nasty.

But in the case of Mr. Card, I find his attitudes are such that they do effectively blurring my ability to separate the artist and his art.  Granted, I was never a big fan of Mr. Card’s fiction.  I read Ender’s Game a while back and thought it was a good read but not the great read so many felt it was.  But if I were a fan of his works, I might well have second thoughts about buying his material.

Of course, this is just my opinion.  To those like Mr. Wilson who wrote the above article, its clear they love Orson Scott Card’s work but find the man behind it troublesome, to say the least.  To them, I can only offer my sympathies.  It’s tough to enjoy the works of someone you can’t stomach.

Taken 2 (2012) a (mildly) belated review

When it was originally released in 2008, Taken proved a surprise hit.  The plot was simplicity itself:  The daughter of a shady ex-CIA operative is kidnapped in Europe.  Using the skills he acquired while “on the job”, our hero mercilessly pursues the kidnappers, stopping at nothing to get his daughter back.

I suspect what made the film work so well was that Liam Neeson, the film’s star, projected such a no-nonsense attitude and was willing to not only rough up the bad guys, but also go after alleged friends (and their wives!) to get what he needed.  Neeson’s Bryan Mills became, effectively, a force of nature and would not be stopped in the pursuit of his goal.

So, four years later, we get Taken 2.  The film actually follows a logical story arc: The family of the people Mills took out in the first movie want revenge.  And, wouldn’t you know it, but Mills and his ex-wife and daughter just happen to be traveling within spitting distance in Istanbul…

When it was released, Taken 2 didn’t get quite the same level of love the original film received from both critics and audiences.  I suppose this was to be expected.  After all, there are some big leaps in logic one has to accept.  After all the crap Mills pulled in the first Taken, one would think there are NO countries that would welcome him or his family into their borders…yet the trio wind up, as stated, within spitting distance of the relatives bent on getting revenge. I suspect the film might have played out a little better if it were set on Mills’ home ground, with the villains coming after him.

But ignoring that little point, I expected the film to be something of a let down, at least based on all that was written/talked about.  I was surprised to find, however, that Taken 2, while certainly no masterpiece, was a decent little pulp action thriller.  The bad guys were bad enough and the situations were tense enough to pass the time.  Yeah, there were other problems to be found other than the setting.  Liam Neeson fights a few times in the film and, frankly, no amount of quick film editing can make him look like a fearsome fighter.  Also, the film spends perhaps a little too much time in the United States before heading out to Istanbul (was it really necessary to get into his daughter’s boyfriend and the fact that she was in the process of getting a driver’s license?  Don’t get me wrong, I feel Maggie Grace, who returns as Mills’ daughter, is a good actress.  So good that for the most part she pulled off her role in this movie, acting as if she was 17 or 18 years old despite being 29 years old while filming.  Still, there was little reason to get into the whole boyfriend stuff, which had almost no payoff in the end).

OK, OK, I know I’m starting to nit-pick and should just stop.  No, Taken 2 is no masterpiece, but as mentioned before, it is an enjoyable time killer action/adventure film that only asks its audience to sit back and enjoy the ride.  While perhaps not as sharp as the original, Taken 2 nonetheless for the most part gives you what you’re asking for…provided you aren’t too demanding.

Time Warner Looking to Sell All Magazine Titles…

Further evidence of the digitalization of media:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/time-warner-selling-magazines_n_2820894.html

I’ve felt it for a while now.  It started during the heights of the economic downturn, when my local newspaper went from being thick with advertisements to becoming an emaciated ghost of its former self.  At about that time the tablets were just becoming hot and I, like many others I suppose, gave it a try.  Since then, I’ve read most of the information I’m curious about online…though one should realize in this age of near instant information sharing there are sites prone to spreading misinformation or downright untruths.

The Sunday edition of the my local paper has grown since the worst of times a couple of years ago, but I firmly believe we’re transitioning into a time when most “paper” works, be they magazines, newspapers, and, yes, books, will be picked up by the general population in electronic versus paper format.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

I suppose there are elements of both to be found.  There is something undeniably comforting about carrying an actual a paper product and the risk of “breaking” it is far lower (especially if your reading takes you to the beach).  Further, many readers/tablets are difficult to use in broad daylight.  On the other hand, there is an  incredible ease to purchasing any book/magazine/paper you want near instantly by downloading it to your computer.  Plus, having electronic files versus physical products certainly frees up space in your home otherwise taken up by these products.

In time, I predict tablets and readers will become more weather/water resistant and easier to read in broad sunlight.  Thus, it seems to me a matter of time before paper products become a very small part of people’s lives and, therefore, it does not surprise me that Time is intent on unloading those products.

Karma

Fascinating read from Huffington Post, concerning a waitress who, while serving a customer, made a rather incredible discovery:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/brianna-priddy-waitress-stolen-drivers-license_n_2821419.html

So…what are the odds of serving a person who happens to have your stolen driver’s license on them?  Pretty long odds, obviously.  Which is why it certainly makes one smile to see the end result.

Spielberg to oversee Kubrick’s Napoleon?

Fascinating article posted on both Ain’t It Cool News and /Film concerning one of my all time favorite director Stanley Kubrick’s aborted Napoleon project perhaps being made after all, with Steven Spielberg working behind the scenes on the project:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/61262

http://www.slashfilm.com/steven-spielberg-developing-stanley-kubricks-passion-project-napoleon-as-mini-series/

While normally I’d rejoice at the news, I’m only cautiously optimistic.

As far as I know, there were two major projects left unfinished by Stanley Kubrick when he passed away.  Of the two, the one that intrigued me the most was eventually made by director Steven Spielberg in 2001, A.I. Artificial Intelligence.

As a fan of the works of both Mr. Kubrick and Mr. Spielberg, I figured A.I. would be a “can’t miss.”  I was excited by the early word of what the film was about and, as the movie’s release date approached, I was breathless with anticipation.

Then the movie came out.

The reviews were -incredibly to my mind- generally negative.  The movie was too long.  The movie was too obvious.  The movie was tedious.

It wasn’t until A.I. was finally released to home video (even back then I found it hard to carve out time to go to a theater!) that I finally got to see it and all that anticipation, all that hope…it simply dissolved.

A.I. is an ambitious film, there is no denying that.  But it was also everything the critics said it was.  It was way too long and the subject matter was simply not interesting enough (to me) to sustain itself.  A.I. was essentially an “adult”/sci-fi version of Pinocchio.  Not all that much more, truthfully.

So here I am, cautiously optimistic that, should Mr. Spielberg make Napoleon, it will prove to be a good film/mini-series.

Hopefully, it won’t be as big a disappointment as A.I.

First Book Written on a Word Processor…?

Interesting article by Matthew Kirschenbaum and presented on Slate regarding what was the first ever book written on a word processor:

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2013/03/len_deighton_s_bomber_the_first_book_ever_written_on_a_word_processor.html

Timing is a funny thing.  Ever since I was very young I’ve wanted to write but as I grew older and began doing just that, as much as I loved to sit behind the typewriter and work on my stories I quickly found this to be a very frustrating thing to do.  I would write something as small as a sentence and then realize it should come later or earlier or wasn’t written quite right…and I would be tempted to rip the paper out of the machine and start over again.  The fact is I’m not one of those people who can write something and be “happy” with it in its first draft form, as opposed to…

In his book on writing, author Stephen King notes that he writes a book, lets it sit and “cool down” for a while before going back to it for a rewrite.  After the rewrite, the book is ready to go.  Erle Stanley Gardner, the creator and author of Perry Mason, was known to knock out a book sometimes in as little time as a day, often dictating his book onto old recording instruments and having his secretary subsequently type it up.

To me writing a first draft of a book involves considerable concentration and thought.  From a plot standpoint, my stories involve many moving parts, all of which must ultimately fit together for the whole to “work”.  Thus I’m usually writing passages then having to go back and add things to the passages or put in more material before or after said passage.  I might even jump back a chapter or two and add a whole new section.  By the time I have that first draft, I’m keenly aware that this is only the first step in what will ultimately be a very long process.

As I mentioned before, I’m usually not approaching satisfaction with my work until at least getting to a fifth draft.  Most of the major plot issues are resolved in the first full rewrite and my focus gradually shifts from plot issues in subsequent drafts to grammatical issues.  Regardless, this part of the process can take the better part of a year before being fully done.  if I were limited to using a typewriter, I’m certain the process would take two or three times as long…and I can’t help but wonder if I would have the patience to make a single book, much less the eight I currently have available via Amazon.

In fact, in the first few years of writing I was using typewriters and was skirting very close to realizing the process of making a book might be simply too difficult for my style of writing.  As it turned out, I was lucky.  In approximately 1983, I purchased an Atari 800, my first personal computer.  Compared to what’s available today, the device was from the stone age.  But it had a printer (a very slow one, granted) and, more importantly, a word processing program.

I was smitten with the word processor and realized immediately this was the device I needed if I was to ever get a chance to write the works I wanted to.  I gave up on typewriters and, in the intervening years and through the various computers, laptops, and tablets I’ve owned have made sure to always have a good word processor available.

Yet I wonder…Had I been born even five years earlier than I was, what would have happened to my younger self if I had been using typewriters exclusively to try to write my novels?  Would I have persevered and nonetheless written my novels or would the frustration of the re-write proven too much?

I wonder.

So…about that new David Bowie album…

The Next Day is scheduled to be released on March 12 but is now streaming absolutely free (minus the bonus songs present on the “premium version”) via iTunes.

I’ve listened to the album all the way through once and, now roughly half-way through a second listen, all I can say is:  Mr. Bowie, I’m glad you’re back.

Two early favorite songs (thus far) are The Stars (Are Out Tonight) and Valentine’s Day.

Good stuff.