David Bowie - Lodger

Pop Goes The Concept

The "Berlin" trilogy - and David Bowie's collaboration with Brian Eno - was a penniless and weary traveler by the time of this May 1979 release.

Gone was the experimental edginess and creative power of Low and Heroes, which was replaced by a bland pop framework. Only the excellent Red Money dares to venture into a unique soundscape.

The first single - Boys Keep Swinging - is as bland as DJ - the follow-up 45 rpm - is energetic. The solid Look Back In Anger remains a Bowie gem that gets lost in the shuffle of his vast discography.

This was grand potential probably lost by a lack of new studio ideas and boredom. Too bad the rent came due much too soon for Bowieno.

September 8, 2008

Superb

A first rate Bowie album. Bowie had transitioned away from the harder rocking androgynous mode such as the Man Who Sold the World, Stardust, and Diamond Dogs albums (pre '75). He also left behind the over the top keyboard, experimental ambient projects with Eno heard in the albums Heros and Low (1977). Therefore you'll hear a more straight ahead rock album complimented by unique fretwork by guitarist Carlos Alomar and muted down keyboard experimentalism.

Not unlike Stardust and in contrast to most of his previous ablums, the recording quality and integrity of the music is very tight. Though eclectic in composition, the various sounds seem to blend well. While guitar solos have grit, they don't seem to run away with amplification, distortion, or fretwork. The same can be said of keyboard sampling and rythyms. The tracks are each very distinct, so that the songs have great contrast, but not to the detriment of the overall album. Instead you'll feel curiosity and that you're on to something mature and progressive, both.
March 28, 2008

experimental masterpiece

This is the last of 3 albums Bowie did with Eno (his "Berlin" period, although this one was not recorded in Berlin. This is my favorite one of the three, and possibly my favorite Bowie album period. This one has no instrumental pieces, like on "Low" and "Heroes". The first half of the album has a vague "travel" theme to it. In several songs Bowie mixes in bits of African drumming or arabesque sounding string synthesizer sounds. These are all rock or pop songs, but they are all "deconstructed" pop songs, because everything from the instrument sounds to the songs' construction is turned on its head, at least that's how it seemed in 1979. This album features Adrian Belew on guitar making sounds that were basically unheard of at the time. "DJ" and "Boys.." are highlights - absolutely brilliant, and Belew truly uses his guitar like a weapon on his solos. The only really weak song is "Red Money", which is the music from Iggy Pop's "Sister Midnight" set to different (inferior) lyrics. Fortunately it's at the end, so it's easy to skip that tune, but the rest is highly recommended. February 16, 2007

Bowie's Most Underrated Album

It's hard to pinpoint which of Bowie's albums deserves the title "greatest"...there was a period from 1970 to 1980 where pretty much everything he released was an instant classic. From the timespan between "The Man Who Sold the World" and "Scary Monsters", the man could do no wrong.

"Lodger", the last piece in Bowie's Berlin Triology(following "Low" and "Heroes")is probably Bowie's most overlooked album, which is a shame as it's one of his best. Beautiful compositions such as "African Nightflight" and "Move On" easily stand alongside the more sonically groundbreaking tracks of "Low" and "Heroes", while more straightfoward numbers such as hits "D.J." and "Boys Keep Swinging" lend a pop aspect to "Lodger" that the previous Berlin trilogy albums lacked at times. Just as it is more accessible than the previous Berlin albums, it is also much darker in its subject matter(Just take a glance at the cover art, where Bowie appears to be lying dead/incapacitated on the sterile floor of a morgue).

Another plus: "Lodger" lacks the meandering instrumentals that, in my opinion, weighed down "Low" and "Heroes" at times. It's not that those instrumentals were bad...just that they sound REALLY dated nowadays, and distracted from the otherwise solid cohesiveness of those two albums. "Lodger" wisely skips out on the instrumentals in order to make room for another batch of great songs.

Bottom Line: Just as arty as "Low" and "Heroes", but with more pop appeal relevant to more casual fans. Probably a good starting point for those wanting to get into Bowie's music. October 18, 2006

The weakest of the Bowie/Eno collaboration, but still superb.

"Lodger" is the third and final collaboration between David Bowie and Brian Eno in the 1970s. Recorded two years after the landmark "Low" and "Heroes" albums, "Lodger" does not quite live up to the legacy the previous two albums allowed for it, as though taking time out of the studio to tour somehow derailed the Bowie/Eno partnership a bit. Having stated that, had this is a great album.

I think perhaps my reason for feeling this way is that while "Low" and "Heroes" were mapping out new territory, "Lodger" tends to mine on those successes and embraces the burgeoning New Wave sounds that Eno and Bowie previously anticipated. Mind you, when it's good, it's fantastic-- the proto-industrial "African Night Flight" is built around essentially the sound of crickets and electronic noises with Bowie frantically speaking out the lyrics as though there's too many words to get out, "Yaassassin", featuring a superb violin performance by Simon House mixes a Middle Eastern organ line with reggae (or perhaps Police-like?) guitars for an unusually natural sounding blend, "Look Back in Anger" finds Bowie at his most passionate and explosive over a new wave backdrop and a decidingly Enoesque arrangement of frantic rhythms and instruments waxing and waning in prominence and the pounding rhythms of "Boys Keep Swinging" nicely offset the total goofiness of the lyrics (and guitarist Adrian Belew is unbelievable in his solo channeling all sorts of noise). Along the way, Bowie provides a couple features for Belew on guitar, who eats up "Red Sails" and "D.J." with his fierce and highly original guitar lines.

Still, the record has its weak moments-- "African Night Flights" is a bizarrely bright and somewhat dull piece, "Move On" has a fine galloping beat but misses altogether and even Belew's pyrotechnics don't save "Red Sails".

I suppose it's all small complaints though, the good in the album far outweighs the less than good, and I realize my initial assessment was pretty harsh. This is a good album, and for many other artists, it would be the best thing in their catalog. March 10, 2006

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