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Title: David Bowie – Scary Monsters (1980) [SACD 2003]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

David Bowie returned to relatively conventional rock & roll with Scary Monsters, an album that effectively acts as an encapsulation of all his ’70s experiments. Reworking glam rock themes with avant-garde synth flourishes, and reversing the process as well, Bowie creates dense but accessible music throughout Scary Monsters. Though it doesn’t have the vision of his other classic records, it wasn’t designed to break new ground — it was created as the culmination of Bowie’s experimental genre-shifting of the ’70s. As a result, Scary Monsters is Bowie’s last great album. While the music isn’t far removed from the post-punk of the early ’80s, it does sound fresh, hip, and contemporary, which is something Bowie lost over the course of the ’80s.

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Title: David Bowie – Reality (2003)
Genre: Rock
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Instead of being a one-off comeback, 2002′s Heathen turned out to be where David Bowie settled into a nice groove for his latter-day career, if 2003′s Reality is any indication. Working once again with producer Tony Visconti, Bowie again returns to a sound from the past, yet tweaks it enough to make it seem modern, not retro. Last time around, he concentrated on his early-’70s sound, creating an amalgam of Hunky Dory through Heroes. With Reality, he picks up where he left off, choosing to revise the sound of Heroes through Scary Monsters, with the latter functioning as a sonic blueprint for the album. Basically, Reality is a well-adjusted Scary Monsters, minus the paranoia and despair — and if those two ingredients were key to the feeling and effect of that album, it’s a credit to Bowie that he’s found a way to retain the sound and approach of that record, but turn it bright and cheerful and keep it interesting. Since part of the appeal of Monsters is the creeping sense of unease and its icy detachment, it would seem that a warmer, mature variation on that would not be successful, but Bowie and Visconti are sharp record-makers, retaining what works — layers of voices and guitars, sleek keyboards, coolly propulsive rhythms — and tying them to another strong set of songs. Like Heathen, the songs deliberately recall classic Bowie by being both tuneful and adventurous, both hallmarks of his ’70s work. If this isn’t as indelible as anything he cut during that decade, that’s merely the fate of mature work by veteran rockers. So, Reality doesn’t have the shock of the new, but it does offer some surprises, chief among them the inventive, assured production and memorable songs. It’s a little artier than Heathen, but similar in its feel and just as satisfying. Both records are testaments to the fact that veteran rockers can make satisfyingly classicist records without resulting in nostalgia or getting too comfortable. With any luck, Bowie will retain this level of quality for a long time to come.

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Title: David Bowie – Let’s Dance (1983) [SACD 2003]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

After summing up his maverick tendencies on Scary Monsters, David Bowie aimed for the mainstream with Let’s Dance. Hiring Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers as a co-producer, Bowie created a stylish, synthesized post-disco dance music that was equally informed by classic soul and the emerging new romantic subgenre of new wave, which was ironically heavily inspired by Bowie himself. Let’s Dance comes tearing out of the gate, propulsed by the skittering “Modern Love,” the seductively menacing “China Girl,” and the brittle funk of the title track. All three songs became international hits, and for good reason — they’re catchy, accessible pop songs that have just enough of an alien edge to make them distinctive. However, that careful balance is quickly thrown off by a succession of pleasant but unremarkable plastic soul workouts. “Cat People” and a cover of Metro’s “Criminal World” are relatively strong songs, but the remainder of the album indicates that Bowie was entering a songwriting slump. However, the three hits were enough to make the album a massive hit, and their power hasn’t diminished over the years, even if the rest of the record sounds like an artifact.

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Title: David Bowie – Heathen (2002)
Genre: Rock
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Heathen marks a new beginning for David Bowie in some ways — it’s his first record since leaving Virgin, his first for Columbia Records, his first for his new label, ISO — yet it’s hardly a new musical direction. Like Hours, this finds Bowie sifting through the sounds of his past, completely at ease with his legacy, crafting a colorful, satisfying album that feels like a classic Bowie album. That’s not to say that Heathen recalls any particular album or any era in specific, yet there’s a deliberate attempt to recapture the atmosphere, the tone of his ’70s work — there’s a reason that Bowie decided to reteam with Tony Visconti, the co-producer of some of his best records, for this album — even if direct comparisons are hard to come by. Which is exactly what’s so impressive about this album. Bowie and Visconti never shy away from electronic instrumentations or modern production — if anything, they embrace it — but it’s woven into Bowie’s sound subtly, never drawing attention to the drum loops, guitar synths, and washes of electronica. For that matter, guest spots by Dave Grohl and Pete Townshend (both on guitar) don’t stand out either; they’re merely added texture to this an album that’s intricately layered, but always plays smoothly and alluringly. And, make no mistake, this is an alluring, welcoming, friendly album — there are some moody moments, but Bowie takes Neil Young’s eerie “I’ve Been Waiting for You” and Pixies’ elusively brutal, creepy “Cactus” and turns them sweet, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, either. In the end, that’s the key to Heathen — the undercurrent of happiness, not in the lyrics, but in the making of music, a realization by Bowie and Visconti alike that they are perfect collaborators. Unlike their previous albums together, this doesn’t boldly break new ground, but that’s because, 22 years after their last collaboration, Scary Monsters, both Bowie and Visconti don’t need to try as hard, so they just focus on the craft. The result is an understated, utterly satisfying record, his best since Scary Monsters, simply because he’d never sounded as assured and consistent since.

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