Joe, I understand where you're coming from, but I still beg to differ. Having not purchased a Bowie disc in some years, I impulsively bought 'Heretic' on the day my girlfriend (a Bowie neophyte) was invited to a semi-private club date where Bowie played 'Heretic' and 'Low' back-to-back. (She got to hang out with Mike Garson, too.) I picked up 'Heretic' in a fit of pique that afternoon, and listened to pretty much nothing else for three weeks, based not on pique but on how the disc hit me. Not only that, but it compelled me to buy the latest reissues of 'Low', '"Heroes"' and 'Lodger', which I'd been avoiding (and which sound great but suck for lack of extras). With all due respect (you KNOW that, dontcha, XXOO?), I don't think 'Heretic' could be further away from the middle-aged-paunch of 'Tonight' if it had been lipo-sucked prior to release. What you heard as overplush I'm hearing as being as textually/texturally involved as 'Lodger' if not 'Scary Monsters' (remember, I don't really know 'Outside' or 'Earthling' aside from a subsequent live performance). And while the textures on 'Heretic' perhaps weren't created or even supervised by Bowie, at least they were *mandated* by him -- which to me suggests that he knows the Top 40 is at last out of reach, and his is no disgrace that this should be so. Honestly, the cover tunes are what I remember least, although I do remember being amused that Bowie might think a Pixies cover would mean anything at all. It's that spooky intro that remains with me... "where the heat goes..." I liked the new Peter Gabriel more than I'd expected -- Nine Inch Nails affectations, posthumous Nusrat performances and all. His voice is just gorgeous, no two ways about it. But it simply didn't compel me to revisit it enough to make this admittedly subjective list. Steve Smith ssmith36@sprynet.com NP - nmperign, "iv," '44'38"/5' (Twisted Village) -----Original Message----- From: zorn-list-admin@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:zorn-list-admin@mailman.xmission.com]On Behalf Of Joseph Zitt Sent: Monday, December 23, 2002 1:38 AM To: zorn-list@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: 2002 in the rear view... On Mon, 23 Dec 2002 00:44:26 -0500 "Steve Smith" <ssmith36@sprynet.com> wrote:
25 New Releases
It points out to me how far out of the record-buying-and-listening loop I've been that I've only heard one of your top 25, David Bowie's "Heretic". And, FWIW, that one didn't do much for me -- the arrangements seemed lusher than the songs seemed to want, and the only songs I can remember from it, a few months later, are the cover tunes. It reminded me a lot of his "Tonight" album, where a lot of the same things went awry, though that was redeemed by some stellar moments like "Loving the Alien". Probably not something I would put on my top list if I had bought enough CDs for there to be a meaningful one. Though the new Peter Gabriel almost definitely would make it.