Monday, December 21, 2015

CD Odyssey Disc 813: David Bowie

I’m just back from watching “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” If you loved the magic of the first three movies, but that magic was destroyed by the awful prequels, then “The Force Awakens” will restore your faith in the Star Wars universe. It was good fun.

Disc 813 is….Young Americans
Artist: David Bowie

Year of Release: 1975

What’s up with the Cover? David relaxes with a cigarette and tries his best to strike a casual pose. David doesn’t really do casual, but the effect of him trying is strangely beautiful. He’s like an alien that fell in love with humanity and so decided to become one.

How I Came To Know It: I recently saw a documentary about David Bowie called “David Bowie: Five Years” that highlighted five critical years in his career. “Young Americans” was one of the albums featured, and what I saw intrigued me so I bought it.

How It Stacks Up:  We have four David Bowie albums, most of which were bought by Sheila. “Young Americans” was the only one I purchased, but it is not my favourite. I’ll put it third.

Ratings: 3 stars

Like Alice Cooper, David Bowie is one of those artists who loves to try on new musical styles to see how they fit, and “Young Americans” represents his obsession with soul music.

Also like Alice Cooper, Bowie brings his own unique weirdness to whatever project he decides to tackle, but for the most part the fascination with “Young Americans” is how straight Bowie plays it. Say what you will about the prospects for a psychedelic seventies rocker attempting soul music, Bowie not only tries it on for size, he wears it well.

In fact, most of my criticisms of “Young Americans” relates to what I would say about a lot of soul music; that it just grooves along without going anywhere. That’s because soul music isn’t about telling a story as much as it is about relaxing into the pocket of a tune and riding it for a while.

The album has some classic baby-makin’ songs like “Win” and “Right” (as in “doing it right”) although a closer examination of the lyrics for “Right” showed it to be a song as much about loss as ecstasy.

These songs work well enough, but I like “Young Americans” best when Bowie freaks up his soul as he does on the title track and “Fame.” For all its groovy backup singers going “woo-ooo-ooo” and “alllll…right!” and its horn flourishes, the song “Young Americans” has the beginnings of the eighties sound Bowie would try on “Let’s Dance” eight years later. The song even features a synthesizer voice and a brief homage to the Beatles with a line and riff (“I heard the news today…”) lifted straight out of “A Day in the Life.

It almost goes too far, but Bowie usually knows how to catch his balance even after taking a half step too far over the line. Later, Bowie completes his Beatles love affair, with a strong cover of “Across the Universe.”

Fame” is the other standout song on the album, where Bowie again takes a classic soul construction and then freaks it up with crazy distorted vocals. The combination of the groove being so perfectly in the pocket and the vocals falling off the edge of that pocket captures the sexy allure of fame, but also the disconnect and alienation it creates. It is a subject that Bowie not only fully understands, but an abyss he consistently stared into for his inspiration.

For all this musical brilliance, I was a little disappointed that the two songs I liked most on “Young Americans” were the two I could get on any Bowie compilation. The other songs on the album are good, but they didn’t inspire me to dig any deeper in his catalogue. If anything, Bowie has captured the ‘soul’ of soul too well. I only want to hear him when he’s deliberately separating himself from it.

For a guy who took on the persona of alien Ziggy Stardust for a few years, Bowie plays it fairly safe on “Young Americans.” His musical genius shines through, and there is plenty to recommend this album, but despite that I can’t grade it higher than three stars.

Best tracks:  Young Americans, Fame

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