Bowie's new album keeps listeners up for 'hours'
By JAMES SCHUYLER
Scene Music Critic
Think of the most influential artist of modern rock 'n' roll still actively producing music.
Most people would be stretched to think of David Bowie. Although probably one of the most complete artists of record, David Bowie's accomplishments seem sometimes to slip by the wayside when it comes to rock 'n' roll legends like Eric Clapton.
Bowie recently released his 23rd album. It is actually a two-fold project, according to Bowie, meant to be both an album for his generation (although not necessarily for him) and a soundtrack for an upcoming video game that he stars in, "Omikron: The Nomad Soul."
"Hours ..." represents a return to some of the sounds of his earlier work. The album on a whole has a very melodic and somber tone, similar to much of his earlier work, such as Hunky Dory. Assuredly, it is meant for the generation that listened to his earlier music or, at least, those who love the music from that era.
Bowie is much more successful in this point of his career than many artists, such as Eric Clapton, mainly because he knows what he is best at: music that sometimes causes a severe depression. But this is a good thing.
This album is more of a return to songwriting-oriented music, rather than the beat-based work of his releases in the '90s, even it will probably not live up to his more legendary records such as Ziggy Stardust.
It does show, however, that those who built the current foundations of music are still capable of being influential to younger artists. Probably the best thing that can be said about Hours is that its songwriting shines and the music does not take a back seat, complementing the lyrics almost perfectly at times.
This album represents the passage of time. It not only works track by track, but also as a whole, as an album should. Too often, albums are based on one or two good songs, padded by filler. Bowie has always been musically influential, but hopefully other artists will begin to understand that an album should be viewed as whole complete work, like Hours.
All Scene Stories for Tuesday, November 16, 1999
