★ by David Bowie

Iconic to the Utter End

Blackstar was released on David Bowie's 69th birthday. With nearly four decades between Blackstar and Low we're skipping Bowie's deep dive into the mainstream with his new wave pop and dance albums; his involvement in theater as The Elephant Man; film roles including Jim Henson's cult classic, 'Labyrinth'; a two-album stint as the rock-quartet Tin Machine; and Bowie's continued production and experimentation as he became an elder statesman in the rock and music world.

Bowie succumbed to cancer a mere two days after the release of his final album. While his illness had been hidden from public knowledge until his passing, it has become clear that the album is a farewell, and the presence of his insurmountable condition weighs in sonically and lyrically. The jazzy, avante-garde rock that drives the album seems anxious in bringing about Bowie's final words and manages to be one of his most eerie, eccentric, and compelling sounds. And for Bowie, that's really saying something.

Sad Music Monday

Yesterday the beloved, inimitable man passed away from cancer. After a full day of streaming bittersweet Bowie into my earholes, from Ziggy Stardust to Thin White Duke to Berlin to Tin Machine, I'm achingly eager to share a few odd things: David Bowie.

In a career spanning six decades of constant musical, personal, artistic, and cultural invention and reinvention: David Bowie's impact has long been and continues to be among the most memorable and influential. His thirst and talent for expression engendered the infatuating personae, which became the faces of his exploration as a musician, songwriter, and artist in endless shades of rock, folk, pop, glam, soul, electronic, and dance. Bowie quickly became and remains an icon whose influence spread throughout music, media, fashion, and pop culture.

Bowie's catalog is far too extensive to acceptably explore in a single post. Here I've chosen to share three albums, but please know that three albums aren't nearly enough to begin to grasp all that this wonderful man created. Outside of these three quality albums, there's plenty more Bowie to discover.

Hunky Dory | Low | Blackstar (★)

David Bowie continually drove rock and culture forwards as he voiced and celebrated the new and the strange. His legacy will be lasting and this truly would be a different, far less interesting world without him. I hope you enjoyed my mini-tour and I hope you realize it hardly scratched the surface.