What people search:
 | Title : Heathen
Author : Bowie, David
Release Date : 20020611
Binding : Audio CD
Regular Price : $18.98
Amazon.com Price : $11.69
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Editorial Reviews :
Heathen is, in essence, the first 'traditional' Bowie album worthy of kudos in years, as it successfully reunites Bowie with producer Tony Visconti, the man at the controls during Bowie's Berlin period. Heathen finds rock's greatest chameleon once again remolding his past, advancing to new vistas by moving up that metaphorical hill backward. Even more gratifying is the universally high quality of the songwriting craftsmanship on offer, where even a ditty as frivolous as 'Everyone Says 'Hi'' ('Don't stay in a sad place where they don't care how you are') hits the mark. For heavyweights who like their Bowie with furrowed-brow, the monastic aura of opener 'Sunday' sounds like a post-rock Enigma covering Nico's interpretation of Tim Hardin's 'Eulogy to Lenny Bruce,' whilst the strident savagery evidenced on an apt cover of the Pixies' 'Cactus' disposes with Frank Black's hound-dog yelp and reasserts the melody without undermining the original's obsessional score. Tin Machine ought to have sounded like this. Watch out, too, for the Robert Fripp-impersonating flamethrowing of Pete Townshend on 'Slow Burn' and the guitar of the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl lending a slacker swagger to a cover of Neil Young's 'I've Been Waiting for You' (again, much better than Tin Machine's live version). Heathen proves that Bowie's still got it. All of it. And in abundance. Awaken all ye nonbelievers.
Buyer Reviews :
Ever since David Bowie reached rock bottom in 1987 with NEVER LET ME DOWN, reviews of his subsequent works have generally led off with 'This is his best album since SCARY MONSTERS.' I've seen this or similar lines used in a few reviews to describe HEATHEN, as I have many times before for reviews of 'HOURS...,' 'EARTHLING,' 'OUTSIDE,' 'BLACK TIE, WHITE NOISE,' and even 'TIN MACHINE.' The trouble is that the implied progression suggests that Bowie should be at the pinnacle of his talent. Sadly, he is not.
HEATHEN, basically a continuation of 2000'S 'HOURS...' is pleasant and will satisfy fans. But I suspect that the perennial review line is not 'His best album since the one he released two years ago' because much of Bowie's post-LET'S DANCE catalogue is only memorable to fans. This is too bad because two albums, 'OUTSIDE' and 'THE BUDDAH OF SUBURBIA' are better than that. HEATHEN has strong points, but is not a high impact album and will probably just contribute to the general impression that David Bowie was rather than is.
Since his heyday, Bowie has usually released albums that fall into one of two categories: works that will satisfy fans, and works designed to attract new fans. The latest example of the latter was probably the techno-style EARTHLING. I don't know how well that worked, but HEATHEN is not likely to attract any new fans. The most memorable song, 'Cactus,' is a cover. The rest sort of blends together as a nice lullaby or comfortable background music. This is not especially innovative, as Brian Eno created ambient music back in the 70's (and past Bowie works built on Eno's innovation already).
There is not a single bad song on HEATHEN. Again, most fans who purchase this will be glad they did. But two years later, when the next Bowie album hopefully comes out, they will be back listening to ZIGGY STARDUST or STATION TO STATION, not HEATHEN.
As a fan myself, I'll be happy to take 20 more years of HEATEHNS and 'HOURS...' but I like to think that David Bowie has at least one great album left in him. This one isn't it.
(by John B. Maggiore)
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