New/Trending/Popular: David Bowie's "Blackstar"

This one comes with a heavy heart. I had started writing this review prior to Bowie's passing. Prior even to the album's release. I was so confident in Bowie's talent that I knew I could put together some initial thoughts about him even before his entire album hit the market. Unfortunately, his album has come, but he is gone. Here's the small blurb I had written a week before the album came out:

"Can you say you've released 25 studio albums? Don't worry, I can't either. But, David Bowie can. With his release of Blackstar, Bowie proves he's still a relevant player in the industry."

That last sentence feels like punch straight to the gut. But it's true, right? Even now, in death, Bowie is a relevant, legendary musician who lived and breathed his art. He always seemed like some unearthly, immortal figure to me.

This is becoming less of an album review, and more of a string of my thoughts. Bowie "quit" touring. This was reaffirmed in October 2015, and now as we all know, with good reason.

I will never claim to have known his entire body of work, but what I knew, I loved. "Space Oddity" reminds me of sitting in the car with my parents, unknowingly letting it shape my music taste and influences. It is by far my favorite of his songs. David Live is the first LP I can remember ransacking from my mom's collection and playing repeatedly, while staring at the album art. To think that I also have been to the Tower Theater, where Bowie once graced that stage to perform, is extremely humbling.

Blackstar focuses mainly on death and gloom. Its title track lasts for 10 minutes, and has numerous lyrical references that now make sense. And "Lazarus." My favorite track on Blackstar. I'm astonished that Bowie essentially wrote his own requiem. It's both incredible and beautiful (while slightly frightening). 

Looking at the lyrics of "Space Oddity" and "Lazarus" simultaneously, I can't help but observe the full circle of the images painted. I don't think it's entirely fair of me to conjecture that Bowie consciously finished the story of "Space Oddity" with "Lazarus," but if you blend the lyrics it is slightly possible.

You'll get no rating out of me for Blackstar. Listen to Blackstar, and all of Bowie's discography for that matter. Fall in love with his music. Bowie, like other legends, may leave us, but the music never dies. It's always here.