David Bowie - The TDWS 'Loving The Alien' Box Set Review

Bowie and the 80’s. It all started off so well (Scary Monsters {and Super Creeps} and a few spin off single productions) yet even the most ardent Bowie fan would be hard pressed to argue that the decade was a continuation of the man’s glory years. Yet commercially he was never healthier, scoring huge sales and massive live engagements. So for me this latest in a series of four (so far) box sets offers me time and a chance to re-evaluate a period that I’ve always viewed with some disregard.

First off, the box is another fine package, great ‘mini LP’ artwork reproductions, though some of the details is so small I’m struggling to read it even with a magnifying glass (aka the perils of getting old). The book contained within is great but I’m not so keen of the cover illustration of the package. And as for the music? Well, let’s be clear, ‘Let’s Dance’ (1983) is a fine, fully realised in the artistic sense, complete Bowie album. It’s an era defining blueprint for pop, it has weird, political and personal relationship numbers. The production is amazing and the performances top rate. OK, so it showed that David was struggling to write new songs, but I even like the so called light weights on this album (‘Shake It’ and ‘Without You’) and the choice of covers and reworks is considered and sublime (‘China Girl’ could not be more different from Iggy Pops Bowie assisted original, but as a pop song it’s even more commercial than the album’s title track). And the remaster here breathes life and detail into the minutiae of the recording. In short, it’s never sounded better.

‘Tonight’ (1984) was a rushed and incomplete follow up, so unlike Bowie to miss an opportunity of this scale. ‘Blue Jean’ was a decent pop hit, ‘Loving the Alien’ the albums only inspired moment, but David brought no more new solo compositions to this set. His cover of the Beach Boys ‘God Only Knows’ is one of his most lamented recordings, creating more disdain than even ‘The Laughing Gnome’, but I like it, it’s heartfelt and genuine. However, the album wallows in a lack of direction and ultimately in lack of interest from the artist. ‘Never Let Me Down’ (1987) certainly regained direction, it brought eight new solo compositions to the table, a couple of co-writes and another Iggy cover. A huge world tour was built around this album. But for me, it stinks. Bowie’s only less listenable album for me is ‘Tin Machine 2’. The songs aren’t great, but the production is overwrought and typifies the era x10. ‘Day In, Day Out’ was an OK single, and the title track was sweet and gentle. There’s a track on the original that Bowie has erased from his official history to such a level that it’s nowhere to be seen anywhere in this 11-disc (CD) collection (‘Too Dizzy’). So, is it not so strange then a newly constructed 2018 reworking is the centrepiece of this box set?

Well yes, obviously, but also no. Bowie himself was involved in a 2008 reworking of ‘Time Will Crawl’ for a compilation album and expressed a desire to revisit the album, to realise and release what he felt was a collection of really good songs from its trappings. This new version has virtually all new instrumentation and uses some alternate vocal takes. To me it is an improvement on the original album, probably preferable to ‘Tonight’ as an album now, but still suffers from some of the original version’s weaknesses. The songs are not classics, the latter half particularly nosedives in quality. Perhaps the main beneficiary from the 2018 rework is ‘Glass Spider’ which is no longer cringeworthy. It is still however a failed attempt at ‘Diamond Dogs’ era scene painting and storytelling. But overall, I am pleased that this project has been undertaken, though I hope dearly that no more Bowie albums get this treatment (Nile Rodgers has already worked on an orchestral version of the track ‘Let’s Dance’ for an upcoming various artist 80’s project). For the record, both ‘Tonight’ and ‘NLMD1987’ both benefit from sensitive remasters and like their more illustrious sibling ‘Let’s Dance’ have never sounded better.

Also included in this set, ‘Serious Moonlight (live 1983)’ a decent live offering though only singles from the album David was promoting made it into the set. The sound is OK, a bit lacking in focus, maybe down to the fact performances were largely open air/enormodrome affairs. ‘Glass Spider (live Montreal ’87)’ perhaps sounds better, has an interesting setlist but too much of the attendant ‘Never Let Me Down’ album and brings back some horrible memories. Snippets of dialogue are still present from the Broadway like in-between song exchanges and add nothing to the experience, just as in ’87. This was the only time I saw Bowie live, I just couldn’t do it again for fear of being similarly disappointed. It left me standing on my seat shouting the question/statement ‘why is this so bad?’. Or words to that effect. Neither of these live albums add to the Bowie legend in the way other post Jan 10^th 2016 live releases have. But they do document the era.

There also ‘Dance’, a collection of dance and dub remixes from the time. A similar project was nearly released in the mid 80’s and would maybe have had some validity at the time, though now it leaves me cold. Bowie made his artistic statement mostly complete in his finished songs, and extended rehashes from outside collaborators just add nothing. There’s also ‘Re-Call 4’, a two disc round up of single edits, B-sides and soundtrack contributions. This actually collects some of Bowies best works of the decade (‘This is Not America’, Absolute Beginners’, ‘Underground’, ‘When the Wind Blows’) but also has some superfluous content. Original vinyl only edits of ‘NLMD87’ numbers anyone?

After all of this, Bowie drew a line under solo activities for a while, attempted to regain his mojo with the ultimately ill-informed Tin Machine, and finally re-emerged with a second career as a still relevant ageing rocker in a fine series of albums right until his passing. But the 80’s happened. Those of us that lived through the decade with testify that it wasn’t all bad. A fair bit of it was though.

6/10 the music, 9/10 the package.

Suede - 'The Blue Hour', A Fans Review

Suedes 8th studio album arrives 25 years into their recording career. This includes the 7 year break the band took from 2003 which in itself was enveloped by an 11-year gap between albums 5 and 6. The band have built this one up as being their most ambitious and the expectations from their feverish fans (I am one of Facebooks ‘Insatiable Ones’ myself) matches the band expectations in scale. With a big time producer (Alan Moulder; The Killers, U2, Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins amongst many others) and the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra present on 8 of the albums 14 tracks there really is a feeling of reaching for new heights here. The band have always had a big sound so how do they manage with this aiming big strategy?

Well, reception from very enthusiastic fans has been very enthusiastic! Myself? I’m loving it, I feel it as a possible career highlight which has led me to go see the band live for the first since they toured in support of album #3 ‘Coming Up’. The band and in particular lyricist/vocalist Brett Anderson has spoken of a theme to this album but won’t elaborate, saying he prefers the listener to read into it and settle on the concept themselves, something I’m more than happy to do. Musically this is a massive album, the guitar anthems are huge and the interwoven orchestral movements, whether complimenting or leading are wonderful. Opener ‘As One’ illustrates this, it’s cinematic, and though early on there’s an atypical Suede riff this has an Omen overture feel to it and it leaves you eager to hear the rest of the album. It also serves warning that orchestra and rock meet here in one of their most perfect unions ever. ‘Wastelands’ is a huge Seudeanthem and as the chorus screams ‘When it all is much too much, We’ll run to the wastelands’ it’s hard not to melt. The snow gets an early mention too, and make no mistake, this a winter album, wind in your face and cold rain pricking like needles. ‘Mistress’ shows us a different part of the twilight town, as the other woman skulks behind her locked door, cold and alone, but loved and needed. A brief spoken word piece (don’t cringe, it works) leads into ‘Beyond the Outskirts’ which sounds autobiographical to anyone that’s read Brett Andersons classy life story (vol.1) ‘Coal Black Mornings’. ‘Beyond the outskirts, Come with us, We’ll jump out of the page’ indeed. It’s one of the few orchestra free tracks yet it’s still massive, small town dreaming and blank feelings all over my face. And ‘Coming Up’ riffage makes it’s first touchstone appearance around it’s 2:20 mark which put simply makes you smile even through the desolate picture being painted. ‘Chalk Circles’ is simply outstanding, a synth washed nursery rhyme, feelings of abandonment, friendship bracelets and a ring-road with a massed demonic choral hook. Scott Walker.

‘Cold Hands’ is fabulous glitter stomp Suede, more ‘Coming Up’ era guitar feeling, it’s an anti-anthem blast, ‘I followed you and now I want to curl up and die’ is possibly the albums bleakest moment and it’s most helpless track. And it runs into ‘Life Is Golden’, an absolute killer anthem, a song to Brett’s children (‘The same blood runs through your veins’) that rises above being mawkish by simply being amazing. ‘You’re not alone, Look into the light/You’re never alone, Your life is Golden’. Think ‘All the Young Dudes’ 2018, really. ‘Roadkill’ is a brave experiment, a poem about a dead bird recited as spoken word. Sound’s a bit sixth form? But it’s lifted by its surroundings and outright bravado. ‘Today I found a dead bird…’, haunting, inhabiting somewhere between ‘Future Legend’ and ‘Glass Spider’. A bit more Omen in the mix, it shouldn’t work… ‘Tides’ is a slab of gothic finery, pretty desperate but powerful and still strangely hopeful and uplifting. ‘Don’t be afraid if Nobody Loves You’ was the albums first official single, the fact that it’s for me the weakest song here is a statement of how good this album is because it’s still wonderful, (Suede)anthemic and huge, promising love and beauty in a wilderness. ‘Dead Bird’ is a coda to the earlier spoken word piece, it’s basically a field recording of Brett and one of his kids burying a dead bird they’ve found all underpinned by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. It’s 26 seconds long.

And here the albums steps up and just gets better for the final climatic concerto of it’s closing three tracks. ‘All the Wild Places’ is a none too subtle rewrite of Scott Walkers ‘Plastic Palace People’. ‘Oh, off all the wild places I love, You are the most desolate’ is its chorus. ‘The Invisibles’ was the first song made available from the album and is a huge orchestral number with heavy Scott Walker overtones too. I’d love to hear him singing these songs. This is like a (national)anthem for Suede fans, ‘We are the invisibles, Strange and lonely’ with real life just out of reach. And as you sit thinking ‘We’ll how can they better that?’ ‘Flytipping’ turns up and full stops the whole album. Not quite rock opera, but close enough, orchestra drenched sections crash into piledriving rock introduced by drum rolls so Beatlely that you swear the band have sampled some old Oasis B-side. ‘And I’ll take you to the verges, as the paper drifts like falling snow’ is a pretty killer line, as is the it’s closing ‘And I’ll pick you wild roses in the tunnels by the underpass’. Lyrically, musically it’s a peak, both the track and the album it comes from. For a band that already have their acknowledged masterpiece (‘Dog Man Star’) this album is a masterpiece, soon to be, I’m sure, acknowledged too.

My understanding of the loose concept, ‘The Blue Hour’ refers too a particular time in life, adulthood just before middle age, when you can appreciate childhood through your offspring more than you ever did when you were a child yourself. It’s the pre-dusk time of day and life, it’s the area between suburbia and the countryside. The fly tipping and trash that covers the wastelands are the marks we as individuals leave on the planet and on our descendants.  That’s my take, my interpretation.

For the financially flush (or foolish?) there’s a beautiful box set version, with CD, LP and exclusive 7”, the brash, snotty and early Suede sounding ‘Manipulation’. Apparently, there was nowhere it fitted into the album? It should have been wedged in crudely, bang in the middle, like the rude awakening it is. Also in the box is a wonderful instrumental version of the album, here, especially the more orchestral tracks have a life, a cinematic, life of their own. It has more gothic feel than any previous Suede album, the guitar especially bleeds Siouxsie and the Banshees. I really haven’t bought in to an album like this since ‘Blackstar’. Like that, this is a career highlight, in this case very possibly the artists best.

10/10