The Next Day

I remember this being hailed as a comeback when it came out but never listened. Actually very good!

#280 PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY CAN THERE BE A TWO-ALBUMS-PER-ARTIST LIMIT? Heard Before? Once when it came out. Notes: - now that I'm well into the list I find the principal question for post 1990 releases to be "does this album justify the firestorm of NME hype at the time?" - in this case, it doesn't. - unlike his uneven but adventurous 90s albums, this one is absolutely consistent, with zero innovation. - nothing wrong with it, just nothing interesting, another old man coasting on former glories. Verdict: Bowie makes a tribute album to himself. Listen Again? I can't think of a reason to.

A fine rock album, nowhere near a bunch of other Bowie's I'd put on this list.

Weird one to rate! When it was released I remember having a bit of a funny journey with it. Disliking the lead single Where Are We Now? a fair bit and preemptively writing the album off as another late-career Bowie dud. Then having my mind absolutely blown by the title track and getting really into a lot of the other album tracks, the two closers being particular standouts. At that point it felt like a total return to form, his best in 30 years by some margin. A Bowie album released in my lifetime that I genuinely loved was something I never thought I’d experience, so I was absolutely stoked! At that point this would have been a super strong 4 if not a 5. Then he released Black Star, promptly died and overshadowed near enough everything else he’d ever done with the most poignantly executed departure from this life that the world has ever seen (honourable mention to Leonard Cohen). I’m not sure I’ve listened to The Next Day since Black Star came out? And certainly 10 years on it feels like a pretty distant memory. And you know what? Listening again now, it’s pretty good! To me now, it feels like a slightly middle of the road victory lap giving comfortable nods to the iconic highlights of his career and as a result sounding a lot like the people he influenced along the way. The opener and final two tracks are still head and shoulders standouts, and the flawless Scott Walker homage of Heat still makes me smile, especially in the context of how the Berlin/Eno/Trevor Jones (yeah you heard) sound might have influenced Scott… Soooo, all things considered, 4 stars but that’s a bit of a generous upgrade from a 3.5

I like Bowie on occasion, but never listened to any songs on this album. I understand now why they never appeared on my radar - they are generic as far as Bowie is concerned. It honestly feels like he had more ideas on what Modern Love could sound like and made an album based on it (which is not an admonishment, I like Modern Love).

I genuinely can't wrap my head around why this album made it into the book while something as influential and great as Let It Be did not. There are NINE (9) Bowie albums in here! That being said, I actually quite like the album. It doesn't measure up to the albums I'd put in the 7/10 category, so I'm giving it a 6/10, three stars on this rating scale. I particularly enjoyed "Valentine's Day."

Album 356. The Next Day (https://open.spotify.com/album/16F7X7WOFZhMwQNsMil7lq?si=OURe6K4DTkKQzSgVNCDzyQ) — David Bowie (2013) Oh wow, it's quite timely. The Next Day is a comeback, like yesterday's Hackney Diamonds (https://t.me/falton1001/741) and the comparison is important. It was released 10 years after the previous Reality (https://open.spotify.com/album/04bKxe1Y7WFw4yrDPlmswG?si=keSgyfTpTAWnDE0lPfLibw). The album is solid, but it lacks something. It's a lack of youngster energy, I guess. It's a different kind of energy now. Bowie is still Bowie and he's still experimenting, now with art rock and sharpening his last musical form, which will evolve into Blackstar (https://t.me/falton1001/322). The Next Day has the Heroes (https://open.spotify.com/album/4I5zzKYd2SKDgZ9DRf5LVk?si=Jgn3cI26SWeuD1pURvjmFA) album cover (from the Berling trilogy) and The Next Day inherits Berlin's vibes too. The closer death is, the darker the albums are 4/5 Liked: — The Stars (Are Out Tonight) — Love Is Lost — Where Are We Now? — Valentine's Day — If You Can See Me — I'd Rather Be High — How Does The Grass Grow? — You Feel So Lonely You Could Die — Heat

Not my favourite Bowie album but can't really fault his talent. He's an icon.

Some nice sounds but I can't really figure out what the songs are about.

(4/7) no opinion

it’s the lower end of fine. the forgettable side of okay. doesn’t need to be on here.

fun

Super solid late career album from Bowie. Not quite as good as the “Blackstar” album which came after, but an enjoyable listen nonetheless with a lot of standout moments.

This is the album a man makes when he knows the end is coming, but its not quite here yet.

Better than his last one

"Valentine's Day" is great! As for the rest of the album... I know a lot of Bowie's hits, but I'm not familiar with his albums and deep cuts. This album seems ok for an album that is long past an artist's heyday, but it's not that impressive overall.

Okayy

Worst album I’ve gotten so far

Listens: 3 Standout Tracks: The Stars (Are Out Tonight), I'd Rather Be High, How Does The Grass Grow?, You Feel So Lonely You Could Die I've been pretty wishy-washy on Bowie. Ziggy Stardust is awesome. Aladdin Sane was just okay. Heroes was good, but not great. I think this is my second favorite album of the 7 albums I've heard so far. I believe there are 9 on the List and therefore I have only two in a little over 400 albums left. So much for being spread out. The album is an interesting smattering of rock, pop, funk and all of nuances and peculiarities among the listed genres. There's something for everyone. It's also pretty cool that the album was produced entirely in secret; That must be so challenging, especially in 2013. Not that long ago. Cell phones very prevalent and good quality camera/recording capabilities too. An impressive feat.

not his best at all

Why am I always so disappointed by David Bowie? Do I just already know all of the songs that I like?

I’m sure there are better bowies Nothing bad about it really but also not the best is it

Amazing late career record that hits some of the same vitality as his early work.

Boring and bland in both sound and composition.

If you could extract pretentious bullshit and create an album out of it Bowie would call it The Next Day.

This may be the first time I've listened to this album. I've heard a lot of his earlier stuff. Bowie never disappoints though

No está mal

Low 4. Enjoyable and a return to form, but not as SPICY

ABGB - All Bowie is Good Bowie

Something about Bowie never resonates with me. I can recognise that's its skillful songwriting, but I always just find it a bit dreary and dull.

Pretty cool to hear a Bowie album that’s new to me in 2026. I liked it. Obviously not up there with his very best but surprisingly fresh sounding. Can see how it led to the magnificent finale Black Star three years later, but in some ways this was more human and closer to classic Bowie . Would like to revisit at some point

Bowie's not one of those legends who can do no wrong - his catalogue has some clunkers - but a genius is a genius, & that genius is on full display on this record. Tho it doesn't have the epic finality of Blackstar - it isn't, in the end, quite as moving - it has that fecundity that Bowie at his best maneuvers into a space of emotionality & virtuosity. 'You've cut out your soul & the face of thought.' The lyrics border on Scott Walker's real-time abstractions while the songs themselves track back to Bowie's late 70s Berlin-run. 'Valentine told me how he'd feel / If all the world were under his heels.' Obscure yet immediate, significant yet pop-disposable, The Next Day has that magical Bowie quiddity, a gorgeous essence that gave popular music a permanent uplift in strange loveliness.

As excited as I am to get a Bowie album (this one being my 4th of his in this experience). I was less excited to get one from 2013. There is some cool stuff on here but for an artist that has so much music and has so many classics this one fails to do anything to stand out for me. 3 (but on the lower end)/5

Needed more of that stank from Dirty Boys, but not bad anyway.

Ah what the hell, I guess I'm a bowie fan

This is a very solid David Bowie album. It's certainly not as fun and enjoyable as his early stuff, but I still think it's a 4-star album. With that said, I understand the questions about whether we really needed another Bowie album on this list. It does seem like there is a real opportunity cost to including as many albums from the same artist on this list and I'm curious what we could have had in this album's place.

A mixed bag: some callbacks to classic Bowie that don't measure up (possibly due to a lower level of cocaine) and some newer, introspective things that are quite good, if relatively off-brand. I suspect the latter is a direct function of coming closer to death, but, while good, not sure they quite measure up to Blackstar. OK Bowie is a cut above most other stuff, though, so while nothing stands out here (save the final track, which I found affecting) it's still a solid album.

I consider myself a big Bowie fan but this album seems to take away from his legacy and honestly kinda suck.

A solid Bowie album

Album cover comedy; I hate to say i didn’t love it, but Bowie can never be, like, bad ya know?

This is Bowie's worst album on this list and it's still fantastic. 4.5/5

Unc still had it 🕊️

When talking about Bowie, much like talking about Taylor Swift, the mastery of his catalog is it stands as recorded progression of his life and art from 1968 to his death (minus two days…that’s friggen rock star!). All the weird, all the genres, all the stages are there. As such, this is a solid addition to his story. As a stand-alone album, however, I don’t know if it is as strong. I think the legend of Bowie having a heart attack on stage and writing this album in recovery helps bring this album to a higher light, but I don’t know if it stands on the musical alone. I appreciated the maturity of the album, the great production, and the fact he brought in heavy horns as a throwback to his saxophone-wielding days. There are good songs on here like Boss Like Me and the opener Next Day, again autobiographical genius. But if I wasn’t a Bowie fan (luckily, that’s not the case) I don’t know if this is a go-to.

Random thoughts: * I listened to this one several times over the weekend. I wanted to really let it sink in. * I did not fall in love with this one but I enjoyed it quite a bit. * I'd Rather Be High was my favorite track. * This was Bowie doing some late career Bowie revival that everyone thought was just gone. I think that's why he used the Heroes album cover for this one. It's probably also why it is included on this list. * Did you relate to Boss Of Me? I related to it. lol * 9 Bowie albums on this list?!?! I think this might be the one to drop but it is still good quality.

Sigh... It's David Bowie, I guess #2

didn’t love this one honestly.. bowie can be a bit of a hit or miss for me

This shouldn't be on here just because it's Bowie. It's a unattractive record, he was far from his best, surely anyone can see this. There are many more worthy contenders.

Will we ever get a Bowie album that is genius from start to finish? Is there one?? I'm despairing 😩

Not many bangers, but enjoyable to listen to

Why the MS Paint cover? Anyway, a fairly accesible Bowie album.

Ok you again (why did DB have 9 albums on this list? I’m really exhausted)

Not one of his best

Harsh I know but very average.

Another solid Bowie album. Nothing crazy but pretty enjoyable

I dislike Bowie so when this popped up I was already narked. His personal stuff aside I find his voice/tone unpleasant and his music to be dated. And this album changed none of that.

Is it the best Bowie album? No, is there some really fun songs… yes 100%

Bowie was incredibly cool. Also a bit of a bastard, personally, but there's a lot of that going around in musicians of his vintage. This record absolutely announces itself with 'The Next Day' launching the proceedings. And that was the last note I took while I listened to this. I grooved along through The Next Day, with interruptions, through part of my workday and generally enjoyed it. Great band, Bowie still sounds good. It's no Ziggy Stardust but neither are most albums. 4/5

Fuck off. 8:e skivan med Bowie. Från 2013... Famously hans storhetstid. Det är en väldigt tråkig skiva. Snoozefest. 2 av 5 är kanske taskigt. Men 3 av 5 känns också för högt.... Det är inte Bowies fel att listan är whack

After a 10 year recording obscene he had some good songs written. This album is edgy and well produced. He has excellent musicians to work with. The last song Heat reminds me of songs that were on Black Star. Shine on Starman!! ✨️ 🌟 🌟 ✨️

8.5/10

This is the Bowie album on here that I have never listened to any of the songs nor have really thought about in my life. If Blackstar is a homage to Bowie's life, this album is a homage to his music (and history?). As an art rock/somewhat pop'y album, it brings a lot of his old sound with modern production and a tenor saxophone that would rival Morphine. I specifically liked the penultimate track that had the Five Years drum part at the end.

I'm glad I got *Blackstar* before this, as I think it's helped me make sense of what Bowie is doing here. If that album is about the acceptance of death then this one is about stubbornly trying to deny it. Singing about picking up girls out dancing, as Bowie does on "Dancing Out in Space," just underscores how badly he doesn't want to be old. And "Valentine's Day" feels like a stretched-out Robert Pollard tune - more eternal adolescence. And yet Bowie can't deny the inevitable, as evidenced by his desire to settle scores before the end ("You Feel So Lonely You Could Die," "Heat"). At this point in his career it's hard to avoid the feeling he's repeating himself a bit - perhaps an inevitability given how much sonic and thematic ground he's covered. But this is still a strong and dense work.

Oh, great, that one Bowie album everybody forgot existed. It is just that; forgettable. If ever an album could be described as "Bowie by the numbers", this is it. It has some good songs, but he isn't doing anything particularly interesting here compared to his earlier stuff. I genuinely don't get why this particular album is on the list, especially when Bowie has many other, better albums here already. This album is the top ranked of 5 albums globally for 2013. This is the first 2013 album to be rated by me.

Soudns like Geordie Greep. kind of annoying. im sure its real deep and a "meditation" on aging in the industry or something but i dont have time to care.

He's still got it! Cool stuff, perhaps not the most essential of Bowie records for this list, but thoroughly enjoyable with loads of great ones x

Very strange, but/and distinctly Bowie.

6.8/10

Really good, love Bowie

Very interestink me likey

Listen - it's Bowie - is it his finest? No. Does it have "where are we now?" Yes.

Chaque toune a son petit boutte bizarre original typique à Bowie qui était rendu à genre 350 tounes. Écoute essentielle pour les fans mais pas tout à fait pertinent dans cette liste. 3.5 étoiles

Perhaps not nearly as essential after the release of Blackstar, but this was the bridge to that album that proved Bowie could still visualize a simultaneously polished and artsy record. The Next Day definitely calls back to the Heroes-era much like the cover, but the horns on Dirty Boys (and throughout the album really) allude to the more powerful, energetic David we got on Let's Dance. Valentine's Day is chilling, he's got darker sounding songs, like Ashes to Ashes, but lyrically this is probably the realest he got in terms of conveying the evil of humanity. I'd Rather Be High further cements this album might be a nostalgia trip for him, but he also knows the present is now and that his youth is in the past. And jeez, the bass in Boss of Me is mesmerizing, amazing playing on what sounds like a chapman stick. The last few songs have a lovely simmer, even if it sort of feels long at this point. All in all, Bowie's clearly reminiscing here, but uses it to make something new. And it's amazing to see him throw it all away for even newer ideas in his next album. Probably not as essential now in the grand scheme of things, but I love this album.

Love Bowie, but this didn't measure up to his previous efforts.

I’m not an expert on David Bowie’s work by any means, but I can tell it’s a spotlight return for him. I enjoyed the title track, especially as an opener. He’s like “Yeah, I’m actually still here!” And then he revisits the past in “Dirty Boys.” I was a bit bored listening past there… until “If You Can See Me.” Lovely song. Sounds like classic Bowie but also very 2013-ish at the same time. “I’d Rather Be High” is funny and relatable. The rest of the album… I kind of drifted out of. Overall, it’s not my favorite. I feel like a lot of older artists who made music at this time had relatively weak albums… which is ironic since the point of the record is him returning from retirement and having trouble reconciling with the thought that his new work won’t live up to the brilliance of his older work. I am excited to hear his older work to compare.

I don't think it's Bowie's best, but even Bowie's mediocre is actually amazing.

ok - not nearly the best Bowie

Theres a couple good songs but even the middling ones feel a bit cheesy and I think the first 2 are absolutely god awful

By his ridiculously high standards, not a Bowie great. Still the playing throughout is beautiful and a few of the songs really stick with you.

god imagine if this had been the last one

Not sure this one belongs on here, sorry bowie.

Late era Bowie just hits so good

Surprised to see this Bowie album on this list.

It's a 56-year-old David Bowie, in 2013, trying to make music that appeals to young people, by sounding like 2003-era The Vines/The Strokes. It's impressive in that a 56-year-old man can pull it off, even if he's a decade late with the sound. I'll be honest, though, it's pretty fucking good. Bowie is just is just so special, he drags something that might otherwise be fairly mediocre and he makes it very good. I don't know how to rate this. it's 3.5 if we had half stars. I'll give it 4 stars because I gave Fiona Apple's Fetch The Bolt Cutters 3 stars and this album is light years better than that one.

I love himmmm

vierter bowie, mäh nicht meins. c

I wasn't familiar with this one. Just because it's David Bowie I'm giving it a three, but it was a bit bland.

Huh, a Bowie album I'd never even heard of. It was not bad.

Predictable music. Just what you would expect from David Bowie. That is not a dig, that is a good thing for me. I listen to David Bowie for specific reasons and he delivers all those reasons on this record.

I see what people mean about this being a weird pick for the book. It's still good, it just doesn't have any standout songs and the album art if you can even call it that is maybe the laziest photoshop thing I've ever seen. It's still Bowie!

I never listened to this album of his before, good stuff.

Released in 2013, this album was released 10 years after his previous studio album. It's classified as Rock and Art Rock. All the songs on this album were new to me. How can this be? My initial reaction was that the album is ok but shouldn't be on this list since Bowie already has a lot of albums on here and this is bumping another album/artist off. However, after listening to it several times, I think it's a really good album in it's own right. A few reviewers compare the album to Scary Monsters which is a favorite. I liked/added most of the songs to my Spotify list but the top two songs for me are The Next Day and The Stars (Are Out Tonight). The musicians supporting him are great - Gerry Leonard (Guitar), Gail Ann Dorsey (Bass), Earl Slick (Guitar), Tony Levin (Bass) and others.

Great album, great guitar!

Gives a really weird old rockstar vibe

Ne mogu da vjerujem da slušam 4. Bowie album i da to još nije ni pola sadržaja ove liste. Hajde da su stavili 2-3 ona neka starija i možda onaj zadnji, i nekako. A ovo je čisto, čisto pretjerivanje. Bar mu je cover odlično simboličan. Podgrijane stare stvari, uvijek sve isto. Sad sam čitala šta ljudi inače vole kod Bowiea. To što "mijenja stilove" i tako neke gluposti. A meni sve zvuči identično.

great album a lot of good songs like a lot of them are good 8.3/10

2013, qué viaje, RIP. Pero el álbum un nivel por abajo de los otros dos de Bowie que tocaron, quedan varios más jaja. Igualmente me está convenciendo Bowie como artista en general (wow qué sorpresa)

David Bowie, my starman. My soul is weeping because I really miss this man and this album is such a masterpiece. The Next Day is the sound of that star still burning bright, but we know the light was already starting to fade.

David Bowie's bona fides are unimpeachable. Can't say I'm the biggest fan, but I'm definitely a fan of the earlier stuff than the rather jagged sounding output of his later years.

Enjoyed this quite a bit, maybe even more so than his earlier work. Still not something I'll come back to, but nothing but respect for his talent and endurance.

My second time through this album for this project confirms my initial reaction: This is great. As I said before, I don't remember when this came out, but it landed on The A.V. Club's year-end list, and with good reason. Standouts for me are "The Next Day," "Love is Lost," and the trio of "How Does the Grass Grow?" "(You Will) Set the World on Fire," and "You Feel So Lonely You Could Die." Question: Did Bowie and Elvis ever meet or hang out? I would've paid money to be there.