Reviews (page 2 of 13)
I wonder how well this album would've been received had Bowie not died as it released. It feels like the music and the vocals were recorded without either party knowing what the other was doing. The only well recorded song is Lazarus
Is it genius, or is Uncle David just having a another series of breakdowns? "He's not feeling well! If it makes him happy you leave him alone!" "Yeah, but it's not even like music. It's like 5 chimps in a room of instruments, half the time." "He's on a lot of pain killers and the music represents how he is feeling." "Well I guess I don't understand Cancer or Music, then do I?" "No! You don't. Now back to your ignorance with you!"
Apologies to teary eyed Bowie devotees, especially the enforcers of the Bowie Orthodoxy on BBC 6Music and even R3. This is not very amazing. It's the same formula of 'get some already out of date eclectronic-lite rhythms and then do-a-Bow-eee-voice all over them' that haunts a lot of his later work. It's inoffensive and has it's moments. The eponymous opener does sound like the soundtrack to some as yet unmade space opera, Dollar Days is very nearly a nice song to go out on. I don't know, I was honestly expecting more given the extreme reverence this one gained, I hoped it would be a touching or disturbing goodbye from one of our greatest music icons. Really, it's just more of the same.
Last album by the great. It’s really hard to judge considering how it was written. But it is also hard to listen to
Was it the effort of pushing this constipated turd out that killed David Bowie in the end? Sorry. In poor taste. I hate this album.
This album is a tedious chore. No thank you
i hated this
You've gotta be kidding me. A week after one 2010s Bowie album, I get another one. Just as I said yesterday, this list is like 1001 bowie and Morrisey albums, with a few bonus other things. As I said with Bowie's 25th album, there is no reason someone's 26th album should be on this list. Even less. I get that he died right after this, but this isn't like Nirvina Nevermind or something when an artist dies right in their prime. Dimery really needs to douse his fanboy flames on this. Anyway, ranting aside, the albums starts off oddly, but not really off character for Bowie. Some of these tracks sound like Bowie doing a dark interpretation of church choir music. It's not terrible, but it certainly doesn't deserve a place on this list. 1/5 for relevancy/impact. 2/5 on actual listenability.
The best part was when it ended
NO
Can't lie. This shit was straight fucking ass!
Oh god no....
I am frustrated by the curve on which we as a society grade an aging artist's late-career projects that have no actual cultural or chart impact. It's like the bullshit "lifetime achievement award" to pay your respeks. "Oh wow, so brave, good for you still out there making music." Who honestly wants to this self-indulgent shit instead of a contemporary artists at the top of their game. Listen to his back catalog and then this and tell me they are being judged the same way. I DGAF if he died, this still sounds like shit. I'm sick of everyone pretending this kind of stuff is good just because of the artist's "legendary" status.
I understand that this might be the absolute worst Bowie album to listen to as my first one. However, it's still an incredible album and I don't think I can give it any less than a 5. I might revisit once I generate a few more, but I imagine my rating will stay the same
I distinctly remember a night in January 2016 where I was watching MTV or some other concert station, and I saw two of Bowie's videos (Blackstar - which was rife with death imagery - and then Lazarus - again, the death imagery...and the final shot of him shutting himself in the dark), and I immediately went to the internet to check if Bowie had died. The music itself being heavily jazz - periods of beauty interspersed with frantic anxiety-inducing dissonance, along with lyrics that seem like the nonsensical whispers of someone dreaming, it all makes for something strangely esoteric, but understood. Like death. We all know about it, and have experiences with it, but we don't fully understand it (it does not ask to be understood, it does not ask anything). Bowie was gone within a few days. This experience still sticks with me a decade later. The gravity of it, the beauty of defiantly (and joyfully? mischieviously?) creating while death settles around you.
How do I rate this? It's difficult. On the Bowie Scale, where, say, Station to Station is a 5, this is probably a 3.75 (if I try and filter out the sentimental factor around the timing of the release.) A 3.75 on the Bowie Scale is at least a 4.5 on any other measure so I think I have to give it a 5, even though it feels like I'm going to end up rating every DB album on this list the same.
David Bowie is such a talent he got his own approaching phantom to wail on the backing of most tracks. The band on this album are a bunch of fucking monsters. The drummer and bass guitarist should get married and 'adult adopt' me so I can become a rhythmic virtuoso. And, the moody masterpieces of the saxophonist and guitarist shall damn the halls of my mausoleum when I die.
1001 albums to hear before you're a blackstar... this is the most insane send off possible from a long established career Imagine knowing it'll be your last and putting musicians present giving their best to the final experimentation of a record for your life. Full of meaning and intent, extraordinary instrumentations, vocals.. it's like ascending to his death. Wow
wow. that was pretty moving…very innovative and very interesting and devastating. what a crazy feat he pulled off with this one, writing lyrics like that to be released two days before his death. listening to it now feels like he’s speaking to us from beyond the grave. what a gift! Fav tracks: Lazarus; I Can’t Give Everything Away
Bowie's final masterpiece peppered with little nuggets he left us as he died. Pure art!
What to say about this album? Loved it when it came out, saw it in a new light when he died, Bowie forever.
That will be five yellow stars from me. The title track is one of my favorite songs of all time, but it wasn't until today that I listened to the entire album. Every track of David Bowie's Swan Song is unique, and poignant. It's the ideal way for someone to close out their life(a similar vibe to "You Want It Darker" by Leonard Cohen, and "Ghosteen" by Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds). Favorite Track: "*"
I first heard this album on January 8th, 2016. It made me feel really uncomfortable and depressed, for some reason. 2 days later that reason was ofcourse David Bowie's death. I never listened to this album again untill this day, 10 years later. And I think now was the perfect time for me to listen to it. This album is amazing, and I can't wait to add this album on vinyl to my collection (after I collect all of Bowie's other albums, I'm halfway).
LOVED am a big Bowie fan anyway ofc. It this album to me is so interesting, love a short album of long songs - also really enjoyed the intro to the last song really amped me up
Déjà écouté avant. La lettre d'adieu musicale de l'un des plus grands artistes de l'ère rock - si ce n'est le plus grand. Et quelle lettre d'adieu, sortie deux jours avant son décès, à la fois testament hanté par l'imminence et l'inévitabilité de la mort et ultime réincarnation d'une rockstar polymorphe, s'inscrivant dans sa veine la plus expérimentale, celle explorée sur Low ou Outside notamment. Situé quelque part entre improvisations jazz bruitistes, sonorités électroniques minimalistes et cabaret funèbre, Blackstar ne se laisse pas facilement apprivoiser, mais le jeu en vaut la chandelle. Car il n'est pas seulement le 26e (!) et dernier album de David Bowie, mais aussi l'un de ses meilleurs. Le bouquet final d'un demi-siècle de carrière, et un geste définitif vers l'immortalité. Merci pour tout, Mister Bowie. Top : Sue (Or in a Season of Crime) Flop : Girl Loves Me
Unparalleled album. To be this late in your career, dealing with cancer, and release this record just before your death is an act of ridiculous artistic brilliance. While I still prefer ZIGGY and 70s Bowie, there so much about this album to love. The range, the mediations on death and love, the instrumentals. So rarely is an artist able to write the coda to their own life and write it so perfectly.
Devastating and beautiful album
Великолепный предсмертный альбом. Боуи писал его уже будучи тяжело больным. Вышел в его ДР, а спустя пару дней Боуи умер.
The news of Bowie's death two days after this release brought a tragic poignancy to the listener experience at the time. Ten years later this remains one of the best albums of his later years.
Superb album. One of his best. Of course massive props to the band on here - essentially Donny McCaslin’s band - and Mark Guiliana in particular. Chops aside, this is such a multi-layered, interesting album. I could write for ages about why this is so good, but I’m sure it’s all been said already. 5.
Talk about raging against the dying of the light. This is a helluva farewell from an incredible artist. Lazarus is the standout track on the album for my money. It's a beautiful and haunting - and yet somehow not depressing - final bow.
An incredible compilation created and recorded in the throws of death by a master artist. He is missed by all those who appreciate an artist who tries to grow and not just generate drivel to pay the bills. RIP Mr. Bowie. Stay strange and may the afterlife be filled with music you love.
Haunting Fave track: Lazarus
Bowie’s final album, released just two days before his passing, is a bold, experimental final send-off from one of the greatest musicians to ever live. Taking inspiration from Boards of Canada, Kendrick Lamar and Death Grips (what), Blackstar is not just a beautiful swansong that caps off Bowie’s prolific career – it holds its own as a masterpiece in a catalogue that has had so many. 4.5/5
Yeah- Bowie has 9 albums on the list. Not sure anyone else has that much representation. The Beatles have 7. Radiohead has 6. Bruce Springsteen has 5. Bob Dylan has 7. Bowie has 9. That alone is… impressive. Just the fact that someone thinks they can justify it. Now the thing is, Bowie will forever be a mixed bag for me. I hate him. I appreciate him. I hate him. I am dreading 9 albums. I’ve listened to… 3? 4? Of those, I had to admit a couple were good. Couldn’t be denied. I gave them 4s. I know I gave a 2 to one. Anyway… Aspects of this are so, so good. And it’s the end of his career. Bowie is an OLD MAN. With Cancer. And this album is, well, it’s actually amazing. I just hate his vocals. Really. Really. I would give this a 5. But it’s hard to listen to. But then I remember he’s Bowie, at the end of his career, with cancer. 5 Boolean: True, sometimes it’s true that you should listen to things you don’t want to.
Even on his death bed, David was always trying new things musically. What a great end to an incredible career.
It's fucking perfect, dude. Jazz, Rock, Electronic music, it's all their and it's combined MASTERFULLY.
En mer verdig avslutning enn The Next Day, heldigvis. Jeg føler alle jeg kjenner snakket om Blackstar da det kom og det var naturlig å genierklære Bowie. I ettertid føler jeg det nesten har vært obligatorisk å si "også Blackstar, da" når man snakker om diskografien til Bowie. Med døden hans på avstand føler jeg også at jeg har fått korrigert noe av hypen. Det er en god plate, sterkere på vibe enn enkeltlåter. En plate som vokser på en. Selv om dette var slutten for Bowie, så høres musikken mer ut som starten på noe. Jeg blir mer sulten og lurer på hva mer han kunne fått til med denne koden han åpenbart har knekt. Men det er bare en grådig drøm, og marerittet er å våkne til at han ikke finnes lenger.
Incredible. The way Bowie made this record by using NY jazz musicians makes it so incredibly unique. Whilst I think that a lot of the praise for this record comes because of the circumstances around its release (Bowie’s death), that doesn’t take away from it being a masterpiece in songwriting.
Imagine this being your last album. Insane.
What a piece of art.
# David Bowie — *Blackstar* (2016): An In-Depth Review *Blackstar* (stylised as ★) is David Bowie's twenty-sixth and final studio album, released on his 69th birthday, January 8, 2016. Recorded in secret in New York City while Bowie battled terminal liver cancer, it stands as one of the most remarkable farewell statements in popular music history. Two days after its release, Bowie passed away, transforming what was already a challenging, experimental record into a devastating final testament — a "parting gift" from an artist who turned his own death into a work of art. --- ## Music & Production ### The Sound: Jazz Meets Art Rock *Blackstar* represents Bowie's most radical sonic departure in decades. Working with longtime co-producer Tony Visconti and a core band of New York jazz musicians — Donny McCaslin (saxophone), Jason Lindner (piano), Tim Lefebvre (bass), and Mark Guiliana (drums) — Bowie deliberately sought to "avoid rock'n'roll". The result is a fusion of atmospheric art rock, experimental jazz, free jazz, progressive rock, and industrial elements, with critics noting influences ranging from Kendrick Lamar's *To Pimp a Butterfly* to Death Grips and Boards of Canada. The production is dense, textured, and deliberately unsettling. Visconti and Bowie crafted a soundscape that feels both organic and alien — live jazz instrumentation processed through an art-rock lens. The rhythm section provides a fluid, improvisational foundation, while McCaslin's saxophone work adds anxiety and intensity throughout. Ben Monder's guitar contributions and James Murphy's percussion add further layers of complexity. ### Key Tracks - **"Blackstar"** (10:00): The epic title track shifts through multiple movements — opening with a funereal, almost Gregorian chant-like atmosphere over a drum-and-bass rhythm, before breaking into a bluesy, almost Beatles-esque middle section, then returning to its dark, hypnotic groove. It began as two separate melodies that Bowie merged into one sprawling piece. - **"Lazarus"**: A brooding, sax-led threnody built around a groove reminiscent of later Massive Attack. Sung from the perspective of Thomas Jerome Newton (the alien Bowie played in *The Man Who Fell to Earth*), it functions as a purgatorial reflection on a life of excess and isolation. - **"'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore"**: A re-recording of a 2014 single, transformed with a hip-hop beat, free-form sax, and a more aggressive, sociable vocal performance. The title references a 17th-century John Ford play. - **"Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)"**: Originally recorded with the Maria Schneider Orchestra, this remake features a heavier, denser groove with funk-rock guitar and drum-and-bass stylings reminiscent of Bowie's 1997 *Earthling* album. - **"Girl Loves Me"**: Perhaps the album's most experimental track, featuring Nadsat (the slang from *A Clockwork Orange*) and Polari (British gay slang), set against acrobatic drumming and bouncing bass. The refrain "Where the fuck did Monday go?" captures a desperate sense of time running out. - **"Dollar Days"**: A lush ballad with delicate acoustic guitar, strings, and free-form sax, reminiscent of *Young Americans* but suffused with melancholy. The line "Don't believe for just one second I'm forgetting you / I'm trying to / I'm dying to" is devastating in retrospect. - **"I Can't Give Everything Away"**: The final track, built on pulsing synthesizers and tightly-wound percussion, features a harmonica solo echoing *Low*'s "A New Career in a New Town" — a deliberate callback signifying transition and acceptance. --- ## Lyrics & Themes ### Mortality as Art The dominant theme of *Blackstar* is death — not just Bowie's own impending passing, but death as a universal, mythological, and spiritual concept. Many songs are narrated from the perspective of the dead or dying, creating a multifaceted exploration of mortality. The lyrics operate on multiple levels: - **Direct confession**: "Lazarus" opens with "Look up here, I'm in heaven / I've got scars that can't be seen" — lines widely interpreted as Bowie admitting his failing health. - **Coded references**: The title "Blackstar" itself carries multiple meanings — from occult and alchemical symbolism to the medical term "black star lesion" used to describe certain cancer tumors. The opening line "In the villa of Ormen" may reference Ørmen, a Norwegian town connected to Bowie's early girlfriend Hermione Farthingale. - **Literary allusions**: "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" references Jacobean tragedy; "Girl Loves Me" incorporates Burgess's Nadsat; "Sue" contains noir-ish narratives of violence and farewell. - **Self-mythology**: The album constantly references Bowie's own past — the harmonica on "I Can't Give Everything Away" echoes *Low*, the alien narrator of "Lazarus" returns to his *Man Who Fell to Earth* character, and the entire project functions as a culmination of his lifelong obsession with death, dating back to his 1967 debut. ### The Art of Dying Scholars have noted that Bowie engaged in *Ars moriendi* — the medieval "art of dying" — by carefully staging his own death through the album and its accompanying videos. By remaining silent about his illness, he allowed fans to create their own interpretations, making his passing a communal event of mourning and celebration. The album became a "means of assisting and joining his listeners in their work of mourning". --- ## Influence & Legacy ### Critical Reception Upon release, *Blackstar* was immediately hailed as a masterpiece. It topped charts worldwide (including Bowie's first and only #1 on the Billboard 200 in the U.S.) and became the fifth-best-selling album of 2016 globally. Critics praised its ambition, with *PopMatters* calling it a lesson for artists to continue challenging themselves, and *Mojo* arguing that the jazz backing band freed Bowie from "the weight of his own influence". Posthumously, its significance only grew. The album has been included in *1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die* and consistently ranks among Bowie's greatest works — typically placed in the top 10 of his discography. ### Cultural Impact *Blackstar* redefined what a "swan song" could be in popular music. It demonstrated that an artist facing mortality could create not a sentimental farewell, but a challenging, forward-looking work of art that engaged with death on its own uncompromising terms. The album influenced subsequent discussions about mortality in music and set a new standard for artistic final statements. --- ## Pros & Cons ### Strengths - **Uncompromising artistic vision**: Bowie refused to make a safe, nostalgic record, instead pushing into experimental jazz and electronic territory at age 69. - **Lyrical depth**: The multilayered lyrics reward endless analysis, operating as puzzle, poetry, and confession simultaneously. - **Production excellence**: Visconti and the jazz ensemble created a unique sonic world — anxious, intense, and deeply atmospheric. - **Emotional resonance**: The album's posthumous context transforms it from merely excellent to profoundly moving — a genuine parting gift. - **Cohesive yet varied**: Despite its experimental nature, the album flows as a complete narrative, with each track contributing to the whole. - **Vocal performance**: Despite his illness, Bowie delivers a performance of remarkable fragility and soul, particularly on the final two tracks. ### Weaknesses - **Uneven vocal delivery**: Bowie's physical condition is sometimes audible — cracks and breaks appear, particularly on "Girl Loves Me" and sections of the title track. While contextually powerful, these can be distracting on purely aesthetic terms. - **Deliberate inaccessibility**: The album's experimental nature and refusal to offer easy melodies or comforting structures alienates some listeners. As one critic noted, it can feel "fractured" with a style lacking unity. - **Uneven track quality**: Some critics have argued that tracks like "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" and "Girl Loves Me" feel like "irrelevant filler" compared to the monolithic power of "Blackstar" and "Lazarus" — entertaining but lacking the same compositional gravitas. - **"Lazarus" overshadows the rest**: The post-mortem analysis of "Lazarus" is so powerful that it can dominate perception of the album, potentially underappreciating the other tracks. - **Requires context**: The album's full impact depends heavily on knowledge of Bowie's death and illness — without it, some of the lyrical references and emotional weight may be lost. --- ## Final Assessment *Blackstar* is not merely a great album — it is a unique artifact in popular culture: a meticulously planned final statement from an artist who spent his entire career reinventing himself, and who chose to make his death his final reinvention. It is challenging, sometimes difficult, occasionally frustrating, but ultimately transcendent. As one critic wrote, it is "the single greatest piece of art he ever created" — a breathtaking swansong that turned the most personal of tragedies into universal art. Few artists have had the courage — or the circumstance — to choreograph their own farewell with such precision. *Blackstar* ensures that David Bowie's final act was, like everything that preceded it, entirely on his own terms.
This album is so freaking good. Even without the context is a 5-star. With the context, it's out of this world
Amazing, RIP, my dear Bowie
This is a musically complex and challenging listen, but it’s brilliant, it walks a tightrope of being really musically all over the place but really enjoyable and I think it does it really well, a great mix of genres but still really cohesive, the perfect album with a man coming to terms with their death. The length is perfect and if it were longer I wouldn’t enjoy it as much but this is great. A great parting gift from the late great David Bowie
Great
🛸 🌎 Uber for David?
Man, what a way to go. How many times did Bowie come back as a different character? Not this time. Look back at all the covers and the striking poses. The black star is his last reality and a nod to the end of all the past incarnations and a reference to the magical first cut that belies his dying. I can hardly believe this tragic bookending of Black Star and I Can't Give Everything Away. Thank you, David, for all you gave us over the years and will always give us.
It’s very difficult to extricate my emotions from my judgement on this. David Bowie is so into woven with my whole life and my parents and my friends. I can’t listen to this without ending up in tears. It’s incredibly poignant and the themes are far too close to home. But incredible and poignant.
Profound
A fitting end to a magnificent career. Probably his best album since Outside. To make an album as bold and diverse as this at 68 and knowing this will be your last is truly remarkable. Genius
Not Bowie’s most iconic, but definitely important. Maybe there’s a bit of bias considering the circumstances of this album, but it was excellent with Lazarus being a standout. Essential listening for any Bowie fans
sooo fun this is exactly the kind of weird shit I wanted from this website - I loved how sinister it is!
beautiful sad record. remember well listening to it when it came out - I mostly focused on a couple of tracks. now the impression is the record is way more coherent than I thought [LISTENED BEFORE]
Look Up Here, I'm In Heaven 1001 Albums Generator 293 (5/18/2026) What a way to go out. To have a career as long and noteworthy as David Bowie is one thing, but to end that career with one of your finest and most experimental albums is another. From the strange, atmospheric jazz rock of the title track to the punky, gothic Lazarus to the aggressive industrial sounds of Sue, Blackstar is an album that can't stay still. Bowie knew that his death was imminent, and he left nothing on the table here. Also, the drums on this album are consistently excellent. An amazing swan song to a one-of-a-kind artist that grows on me with every listen. 5/5. Favs: Blackstar 'Tis A Pity She Was A Whore Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) Least Fav: Dollar Days
I like Bowie, I'm not a super-fan but I've gained an appreciation for him as time has passed. That said, this album made me well up a bit at the end. Possibly my favourite album of his.
A really difficult listen, personally speaking. But a giant if an album. Some swansong.
Poignant. Moving. I basically have no words. It's not just the album's circumstances, it's the album itself.
Such a unique and interesting album I definitely want to explore it more
Moody, jazzy album that shares a lot of DNA with Scott Walkers later, more Avant Garde albums. Excellent.
Последний и один из важнейших альбомов в дискографии Дэвида Боуи. Этот альбом пропитан страданиями Дэвида, но также спокойствием и неким подведением итогов его жизни. Удивительно, что Боуи умер меньше чем через две недели после выпуска альбома.
Tis A Pity She Was A Whore is amazing; up there with the best of Bowie. Ten years on, I think this album easily stands the test of time.
The perfect final album.
Perfect
Det mesta är redan sagt om allt det artistiska, om det kontextuella och om idémässiga med Blackstar. Allt det är förstås femstjärnigt och vi tar med oss det. Istället väljer jag en take på den rena musiken, vad är det vi hör egentligen? Blackstar är i mina öron inte helt olik Kid A. Det finns en rytmisk grund som tveklöst kommer från den elektroniska musiken, med uppbrutna drivande beats som jag upplever som skivans själ. Sen kan det bli fritt spelrum inom detta för det andra, lite så fungerar Kid A också, även om jag tycker den är mer utmanande rytmisk. Någon slags stram frihet i brist på bättre beskrivning. Blåset får stor plats, men även hårt processade gitarrer och syntfigurer. Bäst blir det när det likt Kid A blir snårigt, febrigt och lite obekvämt som i min absoluta favorit "Girl loves me", "Sue" och titelspåret. Där är Blackstar även musikaliskt femstjärnig. Men när Bowie ska försöka göra det lite snällare och stryka mer medhårs genom att trycka in nummer som "Dollar days" och avslutningsspåret med sina stråkar och ett popigt anslag blir det genast sämre, särskilt sista spåret tycker jag är direkt tråkigt. Ibland händer det också lite väl mycket i ljudbilden, jag hade gärna sett en liten återhållsamhet stundtals och låtit musiken få vila i det och lita på det uttrycket, som i "Lazarus" och titelspåret. Bowies röst låter åldrad, tärd, ibland nästan svag, med all rätt förstås men det är iögonfallande och ovant att höra Bowie så. Musiken på Blackstar blir en stark trea, men ett album är förstås mycket mer än det vi hör som vi var inne i inledningen. Lägger vi till den artistiska idéen, kontexten och Bowie själv som nån slags nästan egen konstyttring. Ja då landar vi på den svaga femman. Blackstar som album är ett konstverk i en större bemärkelse
Lazarus är uppe där bland Young americans, Let’s dance och Heroes som en av Bowies bästa låtar. Albumet som helhet är minst topp 5 av Bowies album. Det bästa sedan 1970-talet. Starkt att samla ihop sig på det här sättet i livets slutskede och att våga göra det med något till stora delar nytt sound som han inte testat tidigare. Jag gillade det här när den släpptes.men jag tycker ändå mer om det i dag. Det växer fortfarande.
Minns första lyssningen av Blackstar. Albumet släpptes en fredag tror jag och så dog han på måndagen. Hade inte hunnit lyssna under helgen men nu fanns ju inget alternativ. Låg i sängen med hörlurar och blev totalt golvad. Hur ärvar det möjligt att en döende man kunde vara så här levande, vital och angelägen för sin tid? Bowie stannade aldrig i det trygga, invanda som han visste skulle funka. Hela tiden tänka om, skapa nytt. Så ända in i döden. Det är förstås en relevant invändning att omständigheterna påverkade omdömet där och då, under första lyssningen. Men fortfarande 10 år senare gör Blackstar lika stort intryck på mig. Om något uppfattar jag det som ännu bättre idag. Femman är förstås given. Redan inledande Blackstar är ju som ett eget lite album värt högsta betyg redan där. Referenserna till Bowies döende tillstånd är subtila men ändå självklara. Och så sången. Vi har haft en del åldrande artister där rösterna inte är lika spänstiga som när det en gång begav sig. Bowie däremot sjunger med en nerv som inte lämnar utrymme för klagomål. Trots stenhård konkurrens håller jag Blackstar som ett av Bowies allra bästa album.
No esperaba que me gustara tanto. Muy distinto al pop rock de Bowie, mucho espacio y reflexión auditiva.
David bowie turned out to be very different than what I expected. I listened to this album more than 5 times. I think I need to listen to it many more times to understand his approach. but his craft comes across.
A massive surprise. I wasn't expecting to enjoy this much, but it started brilliantly and then just got better. This is a corker
The latest David Bowie album I have is Earthling. After that I focused all my attention on getting all the great early works and now I guess I'm going to have to go for all the stuff after Earthling as well.
It’s Bowie. Different but cool sound.
Also beautiful. Released the year of his death I believe
GOOD LORD IN HEAVEN. 10/10 NO NOTES. if you have to die make a haunting swan song of an album while you're at it oh my god. genuinely to this day the only song i can listen to on this album without getting a feeling of existential agony / despair / sadness is 'tis a pity she was a whore. everything else on the album evokes some weird niche feeling of horror from 9 year old sophie's psyche in 2016 in which she realised there would in fact be a world without david bowie and that death was permanent and a real thing. also fuck you abc news by the way for putting blackstar over the news announcement of his death at 9pm bc i could not sleep and still cannot hear that song without crying
I love David Bowie and this was no exception. I hadn't heard any of this music (apparently his last) before, but I loved everything about it. I listened to this album three times before running out of time, and will definitely listen to it again. Five stars, easily.
Blackstar is an album that genuinely changed my perspective on music when it came out (yeah, I'm young). "Lazarus" in particular is a masterpiece. ★★★★★
A man who's been running his whole life reaches the finish line and doesn't know where he is. A doctor claps him on the shoulder and says, "Any last words?" Perfect album 10/10 couldn't have been made by anyone but Bowie better with every listen etc.
i don't think i've listened to this since it came out but i think i was probably crying thru most of it. i didn't realise bowie was explicitly inspired by kendrick and death grips on this one?? i hear it tho. it's so interesting that for his last album bowie decided to steer away from his usual rock sound and what he came up with is fuckin great. i love the variety, and as a known earthling liker i'm especially glad he gave drum n bass one last shot with "sue (or in a season of crime)". "'tis a pity she was a whore" and "girl loves me" both go crazy god damn hard too, and the title track and "i can't give everything away" form a perfect frame for the album, beautiful and haunting. honestly fuck it, every single track is a banger. it's one hell of a final performance. i can't do this album justice with words. it's an easy 5 even if it does bring me close to tears on every listen. rip bowie ;_;7
Talk about a swan song.
RIP Bowie, went out on a high note.
When you are at the end of your life, what do you create? Faced with your own mortality, how do you cope? Blackstar comes fresh after the death of David Bowie a last hurrah in the spectacle and life of a legend. The title track is a 10-minute ballad of pure emotion and an amazing intro to the depression that comes with being close to death. The narrative is clear here, there is no nuance, and I think it works. I think it works really well. You can hear it in not only in Bowie’s singing but in the instrumentals and mix just oozy terror. Girl loves me is a Patti smith banger sounds just like her. I mean there is no better representation to the theme I can’t give everything away like what more do you need from me this is phenomenal. David Bowie literally pleading that he has more to give away and yet he can’t and has to perish without truly sharing it all. This album is an emotional masterpiece and amazing follow to the next day. Also amazing cover and black star literally being like the death of a star it’s well thought out and one of bowies best
masterpiece. rip
Genre defining!
What do I say. Let's start with context David Bowie is the goat.he is an amazing story teller and has an amazing ear for musicians. Making this project full vary dense. Whenever I'm listening to one of these songs I'll notice something new every couple seconds. On this album you can feel pressure threw the tones and production. This compliment with the lyrics with David Bowie grappling with the end. The complexity of the instrumentation also adds to it.Truly beautiful stuff. Strong 10.
Damn, he really did that. I love him. He's a genius and to give us such a war rattle of an album, how can I not be grateful?
I was nervous I might not like it
I listened to this album just a few days after Leonard Cohen's You Want It Darker; I spent the day feeling tired and drained, struggling to keep my eyelids open. With David Bowie being one of my most anticipated artists to finally explore the work of via this list, and knowing that he appears on this list more than any other artist, it feels a little odd to be starting with his final project, but it makes a strong enough impression that I think it's rather fitting (and with it being the only Bowie album I've heard in full prior, it feels like a good reintroduction point). Many older artists lose their relevancy as they continue making music into the modern era, but this album is impressively current. Strange drum rhythms and futuristic synths dance with filthy horn sections, weaving from heavy jazz elements to straight-up electronic drum & bass. There is a near-constant building of upwards momentum, with Bowie demonstrating a staggering amount of energy for his age. And as was also the case with You Want It Darker, Bowie's reflections on life and mortality hit so much harder for the proximity of his tragic passing to this album's release. I can not wait to travel back further through Bowie's catalog to explore the depths of art he was able to create, because even this late in his career, his work is untouchably profound and beautiful. Highlights: ★, 'Tis A Pity She Was A Whore, Lazarus, Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime), Girl Loves Me, Dollar Days, I Can't Give Everything Away
I used to absolutely despise this album when people proclaimed it the best of 2016. 10 years later, and a much deeper appreciation of Bowie and I can firmly say this is a 5-star masterpiece Best Song: Blackstar Rating: 9.0/10 Stars: 5
The first song made me think of Final Fantasy or Zelda. This is the second pre-death album I've listened to on 1001 albums (the first being You Want it Darker by Leonard Cohen). I gave that one five stars and this one might be getting five stars too. Okay, now Sue sounds like Final Fantasy fight music. The last song was repetitive and not in a good way, too much saxophone and electric guitar. Still going to give it a five, but that might change...
I have listened to black star before it appears I love music and sounds god it’s great
I had a rough week and wasn’t emotionally prepared for this one. The last time I heard it was when it was released, and it hits me just as hard now as it did then.
Magnificent swan song from a musical genius.
I LOVE IT
top 3 - Sue (Or in a Season of Crime), I Can’t Give Everything Away, Girl Loves Me. woah !! this is amazing .. very haunting album as well. also i can’t believe it’s already 10 years old already. would easily come back to this.
Not the easiest listen, very artistic and creative, lots of texture mixing experimental jazz and rock it was never going to be an album for the casual listener but for fans of Bowie's work its sublime, a wonderfully, uneasy, parting gift for his fans.
Beautiful David Bowie, excellent album whilst taking a walk yesterday, tears as I walked knowing David was leaving us and this was his parting gift to the world🙏🏼🫶🏽
This really does feel like Bowie saying goodbye and parts of the album are beautiful. I just struggle with slower albums as my brain struggles to take in the lyrics.
What a way to bow out! A remarkable final artistic statement.
I still remember what I did, where I was and who I was with when I heard about David’s death. This album was his final song is own requiem. David Bowie is my favourite artist. Can you give 6 stars?
The kind of album that gets into your bones.
The classiest farewell, suitable for a true artist
On the one hand, I'm sad I hadn't heard this until now. On the other, I'm glad because I would not have remotely appreciated this album in 2016, without having truly widened my palette. This is an utter masterpiece, weaving every era of Bowie's music into a rich tapestry of reflection and mortality that isn't morose or cloying. Bowie takes on the end of his life with the same creative curiosity he brought to all his other work, and that makes this an incredibly powerful record.
I can’t believe I’ve slept on this for so long. I remember when it came out, I was in my full Bowie phase, but I guess I just wasn’t ready. This album has immediately become a favorite. I love how experimental it is, the narrative prose of the lyrics, the mix of instrumental and digital sounds. Love Bowie’s haunting, idiosyncratic voice. It’s perfect beginning to end.
How’d he still have this in him at the end of his life?
Hard to listen to masterpiece
20/03/2026 1. blackstar - liking the strings in the intro... verrry scott walker. love the saxaphone. at about five mins in and liking the second half alot more so far! lyrics are great! *2. 'tis a pity she was a whore - love the drums immediately. wowoow! love the backing vocals <3 saxaphone!!! love the bass!! fantastic!!!! *3. lazarus - love the guitar! three minutes in and this is incredible! lovelovelove the instrumental near the end! *4. sue (or in a season of crime) - ooo liking the intro... reaaallly loving this! the distorted guitars are phenomenal. instrumental about three mins in is crazy! fantastic! 5. girl loves me - a clockwork orange! love the bass. looove the strings! not sure how often i'd listen to this again, but i do reaallly like it :) *6. dollar days - paper rustling... love the piano and the slide(?) guitar. reminds me of the dark side of the moon... love the saxaphone throughout these tracks. looove the chorus! *7. i can't give everything away - fantastic! beautiful!!! the strings are gorgeous! wasn't sure about this after starting the first track, but started liking it about halfway through and, thankfully, reallllly loved all the other songs the whole way through. will need to relisten again soon!!!
muito top visse parabens david infelizmente nos deixou
masterP
Powerful, haunting work of art from an artistic genius in his last 18 months of life. Just astounding that this is how he spent his time while dying from cancer. It’s not a perfect record, but he is still pushing the boundaries, still experimenting, still living, while grappling with life and death and keeping his terminal diagnosis private. It’s remarkable. Farewell, Bowie.
In an attempt to write an honest/somewhat unbiased (who are we kidding) Bowie album review, I’ll start by saying this is not my favorite album of his. It’s not one I’d typically choose to throw on, but it does take me back to 2016, the news of his passing, and it stays true to everything I love about this artist. The singles Blackstar and Lazarus (and their videos) are the standouts. Girl Loves Me also stands out musically to me. The Lazarus musical written by Bowie is one whose soundtrack was on repeat for months in my household and a show I’d love to experience live one day, but will have to settle with a streaming version made available for viewing during the pandemic. At the end of the day, I love everything David Bowie does. Knowing that Blackstar was Bowie’s last release before he died/recorded in secret while he was battling illness holds weight here, and the lyrics surrounding death and dying leave us contemplative throughout. At the end of the day, Bowie stayed true to himself as an artist, releasing work not with the aim of pleasing others but instead to please himself - we just all get to benefit from his genius and vision.
Lindo, as últimas duas faixas são ótimos David rei do rock 9,5/10
Bowie knew he was going to die and this would be his last album. Gloomy.
Innovative, emotional and worth the entry for the title track alone.
Reading some of these reviews makes me sad, this is one of the most soulful, meaningful, most artistic albums ever made. Nobody has ever or will ever leave such a huge final statement before thier own death. I love this album so much, I really wish Bowie would have been able to continue making music furthering this sound. This is just an incredible album. Also shoutout to the Wikipedia review for mentioning Death Grips. High high high 5!!!!!!!!
Enjoyed the 2nd half more than the first
- Released two days before his death - an intentional, meticulously crafted farewell - Blends jazz, art rock, and electronic music into something genuinely unique - Highlights: the sprawling title track and the devastating “Lazarus” - Lyrically cryptic and unsettling - no sentimentality, no nostalgia - One of the most remarkable final statements any artist has ever made
Easy 5. A final masterpiece from Bowie and never fails to make me cry. Rest easy, king.
A memorable release, forever related to Bowie's death, and certainly evidence of an artist NOT going through the motions. The moments of avant jazz sound incredibly fresh and the title track's video was memorably premiered in late 2015 to rave reviews and it is a track like no other, yet relating to Major Tom. The Lazarus track gave birth to a stage musical and Tis a Pity and Sue were familiar as a single in late 2014 so this album was seen as a really strong effort. Not sure we expected the Monday morning news after the Friday release...........
This is the best "final statement" album an artist put out before their death. And, true to form, Bowie continued to experiment and play with genre right up to the end. This is an uncompromising album that is not an easy listen. The first song, the title track, is a mash-up of prog, straightforward pop in the middle, and a weird spacey ending with jazz flute. I love the songs that most have to do with his impending demise, "Lazarus" and "I Can't Give Everything Away." And what the hell is going on with "Girl Loves Me?" Bizarre and profane in the best way. This is the capstone of an incredible canon of music from an artist who constantly threw curveballs at his audience right until the end.
2016, what a year for music. Terminally ill legend David Bowie takes inspiration from artists outside any genre he'd ever tried before, like Kendrick Lamar and Death Grips, to create whatever this is. It's an enigmatic, vaguely sinister listening experience that amounts to a record which stands up with his best work. The title track and final track are my favorites, perfect starting and ending to an album. A brilliant parting gift from one of the GOATs
If I never see the english evergreens im running to It’s nothing to meet It’s nothing to see Im dying too Io ricordo quando è morto David bowie ed é uscito questo album, 10 anni fa, era una cosa che ha sconvolto tutti, ora non é quasi mai così quando muore qualcuno ma io me lo ricordo come un evento che ha scossato tutti. avevo 12 anni e guardavo il music video di black star su repeat dopo scuola. Qualcosa mi incantava. La candela a forma di corpo, lo spazio, i cori alieni. Quando alla fine dopo tutti queste melodie spaventose religiose entra con l’ultima parte pop rock riconoscibile per tranquillizzare quello che ascolta, che in qualche modo é ancora lì, un icona, lui! mi viene da piangere!!!non lo ascolto nella sua interezza da 10 anni!!! e mi piace tantissimo, anzi ancora di più di prima anche i pezzi che non mi ricordavo!! e mentre andavo in bici stasera nel buio mi ha fatto stare molto bene. Oggi era una giornata esistenziale brutta domenica ciclo e ascoltare quest opera assurda sulla morte mi ha curata
Phew. I'll admit, this album didn't stick with me when it first came out (maybe it was too much alongside the news of Bowie's death?), but something about time and aging and the past ten horrible years has really changed it/me. It's expressive and somber but also somehow celebratory of the creative process. The songs can feel trancelike, and then they're gone. May we all create something this incredible before we die.
This was a masterpiece. It was of course very emotional, as no other artists have made songs about death like David Bowie. Although that was a big part of the album, the jazz influences surprised me, and I enjoyed them. This wasn’t really a swan song, it was a swan album. And a beautiful one at that.
Increíble artista. Increíble album. Desgarrador sabiendo que lo hizo para ser escuchado al morir. El arte musical en su máxima expresión. Top. 9/10
A haunting parting gift to the universe (has it really been 10 years???).
Damn, what a way to go out. A lot has been written about this album and the circumstances leading up to it, and it is hard not to let even a small amount of background information influence your listening or interpretation of the album. Even if this wasn’t David Bowie’s final album, or if he didn’t die within a few days of its release, I think it would still hold up and be lauded as a great late career album, another swerve from an artist that constantly reinvented themselves.
The idea of making a concept album of your entire life just days before you die is something that I think all artists should take a look at. It's perfect, and I would've loved to hear more. We miss you David
What a tweaker
Super Dope
À l'article de la mort, Bowie se réinvente une énième fois et arrive encore avec une nouvelle proposition. Aucune critique objective possible. ★★★★★
No private session used for Spotify. Big Bowie fan and I listened to this album a lot when it came out. I like a lot of the songs on this album, there is a fragility in his voice that isn't present in other records and once you learn what was going on with him you realize why. This is first Bowie album I really liked for a while, love the jazz influence.
Adoré. Bizarre mais à la fois super mélodieux, belle da
2 dagen later was hij de pijp uit. Normaal gesproken zou ik dit niet meenemen, maar dit album is een prachtige zwanenzang. Bowie klinkt gebruikelijk ken en daardoor nog beter. De muziek staat als een huis. Divers, gedurfd, Bowie.
wow wow wow wow wow im so happy i got to listen to it so textured so intricate so unapologetic 10/10
Purity in music form. Jazz players rocking out. Such punchy drumming. Drama and mystery. Emotionally dense. Forever in awe of this gift. Eternally grateful. Faves: ★, ‘Tis A Pity She Was A Whore, Dollar Days, Lazarus
This was beautiful and sad but flynn did give context which has maybe shaped that. Some of the songs were truly heart wrenching also just good sounds in general.
Holy shit. Stripping away the context of Bowie’s death in the immediate aftermath of Blackstar’s release (things have never been the same), this is still an incredibly heart-wrenching album filled with one man’s reckoning with his mortality and a life lived in the clutches of fame. I was really taken by how much this album is distinctly Bowie, whilst also being perhaps his most experimental work. To be able to strike that balance so late into your career is a feat, and one perhaps only Bowie could achieve.
Yeah wow. Maybe we’d evaluate this differently if he hadn’t died two days after releasing it but for mine it’s still fantastic regardless of context.
an absolute masterpiece that feels so uniquely haunting. rest in peace, bowie.
very devastating
Impossible to dissociate from the events around this release but this a moving and powerful record. Still making amazing innovative music to the end.
Heel erg bijzonder, prachtig, diep, verrassend, soms een beetje gek, maar oh zo mooi. Fantastische muzikanten, mooie teksten, (een van) de beste albums van Bowie, en misschien wel überhaupt ooit. Highlights: Blackstar, Lazarus, en de combinatie Girl Loves Me + I Can't Give Everything Away. "Something happened on the day he died..."
I love this album. It has got better and better the more I listen to it. The jazz influence, the experimentation, the quality of the songs… It is a remarkable album at the end of a remarkable career.
What an incredible album for an artist to leave as a farewell. Dark, melancholic and yet still showing a willingness to continue experimenting. Many artists of Bowie's stature would be willing to sit back and simply "play the hits" but it's clear that there's still more for him to share with us on Blackstar, an album that looks forward as much as it looks back.
I listened to this once around when it came out. I loved it then but couldnt bring myself to listen to it another time given how closely its tied to Bowie's death. Listening to now, and yeah its a fantastic album. Very atmospheric, theatrical and foreboding.
Bowie never loses.
Listened previously. Expectations: High - Verdict: Masterpiece - The title track is one of the best things I have ever heard. Music from another galaxy but still somehow perfectly intelligible and relatable. Utterly unique. The rest is also extremely good, especially Lazarus and I Can't Give Everything Away. My second Bowie album and yeah it's just amazing. What a send off from the great man.
Good to be removed if this and give it a proper listen. An amazing piece of work.
I love Bowie and this is top tier just like a bunch of his other albums. Great moody, jazzy record and a perfect swansong.
Rage against the dying of the light.
Five stars. This one is so good, I’m trying to see if they have a copy on vinyl now. I want to revisit the album and experience it again, reading the lyrics, watching the music videos, it’s gorgeous. An amazing send off.
Bowie recorded this album knowing his time was short, and created a masterpiece to say goodbye to the world.
RIP. I Love and Miss you, David. I can listen to this rarely but it's beautiful and heart breaking. I also adore Girl Loves Me. NADSAT <3
One of the easier 5s to give amongst the albums I've heard through this entire journey. I'm not sure how you could give it anything but. The music here is exceptionally unique (what record by anyone else sounds like this) but it still feels so central to Bowie's catalogue and his prior works. The music is experimental and bordering on avant-garde, but melodically the album is still super strong. This time while listening I noticed how excellent the performances from the session guys are here- Donny McCaslin on sax, Ben Monder on guitar, and especially Jason Lindner's incredible contributions on the keys: touching piano arrangements, fun retro synth lines, and haunting organ alike. The idea of this being an artistic swan song, his last statement before passing, is captured perfectly here. I think the mood really reflects his real-life feelings on his impending death extremely well. There's an anxious, doom-laden mood captured throughout, along with intense sadness and distance, combined with moments of happiness, beauty, and acceptance. It puts you into his headspace and really involves you (to the point where I can understand how this record could be too much for some). But wow- every song here still sounds so fantastic, the record never has a dull or immemorable moment. It really affected me this time, nearly to the point of tears on "I Can't Give Everything Away." I still remember the day he died. My dad was distraught. He introduced me to his favorite musician of all time when I was very young and we have shared many memories together bonding over David's artistry and contributions to not only music, but film, performance art, and aesthetics. He means a lot to me and always will. As someone online once said, it's a wonderful thing to have experienced life concurrent to such a wonderful artist making his footprint on the world, even if the overlap was brief. RIP David Bowie.
The nearly 10 minute Blackstar that opens this album is jarring but captivating. I wish I knew more about music theory, as I'm quite certain this is using some fancy modal whatchamacallit for that first 5 minutes of rhythm and melody and harmonic vocals. It sets a mood that sucks you in. The whole album was just brilliant. Shocking to the senses and yet everything was so locked in and captivating. Reading into the album, that Bowie died 2 days after this release just adds to the package. I would like to own this on vinyl.
Love the jazz influence on this album. I didn’t know the backstory of it before this besides it just being his last album and listening to the full thing now gave me chills
I think it’s one of his most noetic and abstract works. My two favourites from the album are : the “star” and “I cant give everything away” The songs on the album contain several styles and experiments with sounds. In my opinion, it is a perfect finish and closure of his life.
Det er så trist
Urgh how can you not love this. Incredible guitar and songwriting, and I listened to the album again once it was over. The albums works amazingly together, but each individual song is incredible on its own. 5 stars!!
Dude I absolutely loved this one
4.5/5
Masterpiece! Bowie forever!
A beautiful piece of art. David Bowie's goodbye letter to you.
Listened Before: Yes When David Bowie died my 9th grade English teacher cried in front of the class and made us all listen to this album. That being said, this is hard to judge because while it is a difficult and demanding listen, it comes with the weight of someone understanding that his time is about to come. Saw a review on here I wanted to share: I hope he's had a safe journey back to the far away galaxy he came from. Playlist add: I Can't Give Everything Away
Album 86. Blackstar — David Bowie (2016) Omg, I just mentioned this album a couple days ago in Leonard Cohen's review and here we go — Bowie's Blackstar ★ It was released on January 8th 2016. Bowie died on January 10th 2016. So, all this just hit its 10-year anniversary. It's a phenomenon. Bowie transformed his death into art. He created another experimental album just before his death. It's art rock with different styles of jazz. Even Kendrick Lamar and Death grips influenced this. That's mind-blowing for me. Bowie was cutting-edge to the end. He created it looking into death's eyes. Each track can be interpreted at least as autobiographical, as fiction or as philosophical message. And the album has all sorts of feelings and emotions: acceptance and rage; despair and hope; fear and irony. Everything. It makes the album much more multilayered. It's one of the reasons why it's so hard to listen to for me. Another reason, when playing this, you feel like you're in a cemetery. I have these associations. It's a cemetery record. Blackstar is a death trip. Blackstar is the death of his last persona — David Bowie. 5/5 —————————————— Liked: — Blackstar — Lazarus — Sue (Or In a Season of Crime) — Girl Loves Me — Dollar Days — I Can't Give Everything Away
I remember listening to Lazarus and Black Star when this album first came out. I thought they were good, but not as good as the 1970s progressive rock I had been obsessed with in college. Now that I've had the chance to listen to this album all the way through, well...I don't want to just jump on the 5/5 bandwagon, but this has been thr most consistently good Bowie album I've ever heard. I don't think its as good as Ziggy Stardust, but its better than Lodger, better than Let's Dance, better than Young Americans, it might be better than Scary Monsters and Super Creeps. I need to give that album another listen....Man, this was such a good listen though. Its good ambient music, its good focus music, its interesting, for its time it still feels groundbreaking. Dang it, it is a 5.
I love getting this album now, of all times. It’s actively one of my very favorites. When I went on a month and a half long dive into Bowie’s music in 2025 I had already long since heard Blackstar, having dug into it when the man himself died mere days after its release, after his birthday. That didn’t by any means stop me from returning to it again and again as I tore through his material I hadn’t previously touched. Blackstar insists on staying with me now, as if it is now one of my increasing grey hairs. I listened to it once more on its ten year anniversary, making it all the funnier to get it from the 1001 albums randomizer just over a week later. The title track basks in circling the sound and distance of finalities, of Death, of time. I have seen it often noted that one of Bowie’s inspirations for this final album was Death Grips but nowhere is this more apparent than in the fraught, dark cacophony and violent power of ‘Tis a Pity She Was a Whore. I follow Girl Loves Me around like a stranger I’ve known all my life but cannot speak to, the opportunity long gone to clarify the why’s and how’s. Dollar Days is melancholic, brittle yet contains a bold finality so frank in retrospect it sometimes pains me to tears. We are ten years on now from David Bowie’s death yet I Can’t Give Everything Away still feels like a final farewell I will never really be ready for, still feels like a fresh wound. Yet it’s laced with so much enigmatic kindness, an injury given with a gentle touch and goodbye. I am generally at war with myself over getting too attached to musicians and artists because generally they aren’t your friends or family, they are people who are capable of mistakes and lives lived at a distance from you, that possess talents that can touch us in indescribable ways. But it can’t be helped some days. Blackstar has always made that apparent. I do in fact miss him greatly still. I wasn’t ready for his goodbye. But I am glad he was able to make one. I’m glad it was this.
Listened to this a week or so ago for the 10 year anniversary. What a way to go out. This album was very special to me that year it came out. I burned it on a cd and drove around in my mom’s car listening to it over and over. Some killer tracks and a brilliant end to a brilliant career. First Bowie album from the list so far. Excited for the next one.
- As mentioned on another album of his, unfortunately, Bowie was another pedo (and possible S/Aer), and apparently wanted a fascist leader in England. - I liked this album more than I thought I would. I tried to listen to it once when it first came out, but I didn't like how it started on Blackstar and abandoned and didn't get back to it. I still don't love the beginning/main motif of that song, but it evolves and becomes more interesting to me. - I ended up liking the experimental nature of the album/tonality. I also think it was really well produced, and his voice was great, as always. The bass and drums were nice throughout, too. - I even liked the more jazzy parts of it, which is unusual for me. I think this felt different for a couple reasons. 1. the jazzy elements were always still over the heart of the song, so they didn't just veer off into all harmony without melody/continuation of elements of the pulse of the song, and 2. I think that I liked the horns because they were more in the back of the mix, so they weren't as up front as they usually are in jazz (except for in the solo on Dollar Days where they were up front - and, I liked them least when they were soloing). - I disliked "Sue".
Ik hou van Bowie… gave muziek. Wel moet ik in de stemming zijn.
Possibly the saddest goodbye in music history. David's swan song is one of a billion reasons why this earth is a worse place without him.
Infinity stars for The Starman & all of his work! Blackstar is a wonderful album.
Weird, but in a good way. A great departing album from David Bowie. RIP
Tracks I've heard before: Lazarus Top 3: Blackstar(★) Lazarus I Can't Give Everything Away Bottom 3: 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore (no others lol)
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
este album es obviamente suuuuper diferente a los otros pq es su ultimo album que salio 2 dias antes de q se muriese osa yo tambien haria eos si fuese david bowie asi me recuerdan como la mas guay y todo ese rollo bueno que cinco estrellas
Repeat listen
It's simply magnificent what Bowie did while fighting against cancer in this album. Truly appreciate it.
Wow. I had not listened to this start to finish until now. So good, such depth, and something that I'm sure will grow on me with more listens.
Genuinely great, David Bowie is the master of taking you on a Journey. I don't think I'll add the songs individually to my rotation because they work so well together that I would need to judt listen to the album itself.
LOVELY ! FIH!
Blackstar is a rare opportunity. Very few artists get a chance to write an album knowing it's going to be their final one before their death, and nobody used that chance better than Bowie. He used his last chance to do whatever the hell this is, inspired by Kendrick Lamar and Death Grips, according to Bowie himself. For how much I said "I can't hear the Death Grips in this" for a while, I feel like I can on re-listen, mostly in the lyricism. The lyricism of this entire album reminds me of the kind of lyrics in the latter half of Jenny Death. Anyways, I feel like the one word that comes to mind when I listen to this album for a second time now is "ominous." The way Bowie talks about his own upcoming death makes it feel like he's just waiting for it to happen. Lazarus sounds like it's written from the perspective of an already dead Bowie. What's really cool about the album is the amount it pulls from his older works, like the two songs that were redone for the album or the harmonica solo sample in the closer. I have way more that I could rave about with this album, like the Nadsat passages in Girl Loves Me or the insane music theory in the title track (seriously, that's the best use of parallel fifths I've heard in a song, and also the only use of parallel fifths I've heard in a song), but I'm gonna cut myself off before I spend all night writing this. It goes without saying that I think this is Bowie's best album, as much as I love Heroes. What a wonderful goodbye to the world, almost as wonderful as the sax player on this album. So many saxophone bonus points.
Not my jam
What can you say other than Bravo to one of an artist’s last statements?
Nice.
A while ago I came to notice that if I can tie an album directly to an artist's death, I tend to like it more than I would've otherwise. Sure, the material itself can be very good, and often it is; those ties often aren't the only reason. But I won't lie and tell you that they're not a big reason. It's happened over and over again. I would've loved Dennis Wilson's 'Pacific Ocean Blue' either way, but because I was able to make so many ties to his passing 16 years later, I fell even more for it. It's a similar story for Amy Winehouse's 'Back To Black', who died 5 years after the album came out. Heck, the only Leonard Cohen album on this list that I've liked is 'You Want It Darker', and he died only a little over two weeks later. And I've had to wonder, time after time, "Is this a bad thing?" Am I doing these artists a disservice by only viewing their last work through the lens of their death? As if Amy Winehouse only means anything because she died at 27, and because she was hounded by the media in the meantime. Dennis Wilson had a decade and a half plus a year left following his one solo album, and he still made a lot of good shit with The Beach Boys in the meantime. Their deaths are tragic, yeah, absolutely, and they're not **not** relevant. But it often feels like it's the only thing I focus on — and that's the problem here. Surely there's more I can pull from these albums than that, right? Well ... this isn't exactly the best album to answer that question with. '★' was originally released on David Bowie's 69th birthday, January 8th, 2016. As I'm writing this review, and listening to this album, it's the album's 10th anniversary. In two days, it'll be ten years since David Bowie died. That's crazy, right? Just, absolutely insane? All of the other artists I mentioned, they at least got between a decade and a half and two weeks after their final albums. Bowie only got **two days**. It only could've been worse if he'd died on the 8th — and, frankly, he may as well have. Seriously, only two days; that's **nothing**. At the time of his passing, I wasn't a fan of his. Sure, I liked a lot of the hits I'd heard, and I absolutely recognized his importance, but I know I wasn't as broken up about it as I can figure others were. Heck, as I should have been. Bowie ended up being another case, like Robin Williams before him and Prince shortly after, where I didn't grow to appreciate his work until some time after their passing. And when I did — dang. I still haven't taken in his whole catalog (heck, this was my first time ever listening to '★'), but even from what I have, I can recognize even better than I did back then just what a truly phenomenal talent we lost. And it's not just about how quickly he died after this album came out, I should say. The whole album sounds like ... y'know, he knew. Somehow, during the recording of this album, he came to realize he was going to pass, and so he specifically designed this album as his last word. It's nothing I'd be able to confirm or deny, obviously; I wasn't there. But given how much of this album is sung from the point of view of the dead or dying, and given that last track especially ... jus', wow. If that was the intention, I don't know if he could have given a better final word or not. I mean, you put aside all of the connections you can make to his death, and it is still a very wonderful album. I remember my problem with his previous release, 'The Next Day', was that it sounded like he'd decided not to try anything new. He was jus' gonna recreate a lot of his old glam rock sounds, and dang it, we were gonna be happy about it. But I wasn't. Besides dueting with Butterfly Boucher for the 'Shrek 2' soundtrack, it turned out I didn't want David Bowie to try and repeat things he'd done years before. Thankfully, on this album, he didn't. He instead pulled out a lot of arty, jazzy influence, with particular nicks from both Death Grips and Kendrick Lamar's 'To Pimp A Butterfly'. Admittedly, it's a little bit all over the place; there are some songs that feel a little disconnected from the rest. But on the whole, goodness, this is just a plain interesting album, and I liked that about it a lot. But in the end, no, I'm not able to separate this album from Bowie's death. They're just too closely tied, by time and themes, for me to. Though, in this instance, I don't think I feel too bad about it. In fact, I don't think I'm supposed to be able to. On the day this album dropped, no one except for very few people could've known that this would be his last message to the world, and it was truly a tragedy to discover that it was. Like I said, however, as far as final messages go, and as far as securing his legacy, I don't think he could have done any better. And not many people are allowed the opportunity to secure something like that; the most recent thing I can think of is Ozzy Osbourne and the charity event that was his final concert. So ... yeah. My group isn't done with your albums quite yet, but there'll be no better time than now to say ... well, I miss yah, starman.
A man at the end of his life, reflecting on what was and what could have been. What a way to go out. 4.5 bumped up to 5.
I’m at a 5. It’s not the most “structured” David Bowie album. There’s definitely some spots around the middle where the album feels disconnected from its most intimate moments, especially with two of the tracks here being re-recordings from 2014 & with “Girl Loves Me” being confoundingly cryptic with the Clockwork Orange references, but… none of that matters. David Bowie died roughly 10 years ago. I remember hearing about it, but I never had a deeper sense of his music or a connection to it. I do, however, vividly remember the image of Bowie, blindfolded, with two little dots where his eyes should be. I never watched the full music video for the title track, and even now after listening, I just think it would muddle my own perception of what I think it means. It is, however, a testament to David Bowie’s flair for the dramatic that even I, a decade ago, who had never heard anything outside of his monster hits, could still be so struck by something so visually simple. In a way, that’s David Bowie’s legacy. He was always there, making art. You just had to find him first. Those who found him at his earliest got the honor of experiencing it in real time, and those who found him at his latest would have struck the gold that everyone else had known about. This album is that last vein of gold. In its most rocking moments, it’s a triumphant example of the ongoing shattering of boundaries that everyone was experiencing in the 2010s. Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp A Butterfly” was apparently a big influence here, in terms of expanding the soundscapes of any given genre to mold it into whatever an artist intends it to be. I can certainly hear it. At its most honest, it’s a snapshot of facing mortality with the gravitas it deserves. You can’t write tracks like “★” or “Lazarus” or “Dollar Days” or “I Can’t Give Everything Away” without that fear of limited time creeping into your mind. Despite that fear, it all just feels like quintessential David Bowie, with that gravitas allowing for insights that other people might never think of. When terminal illness can be boiled down to just a candle going out & when Heaven becomes nothing more than a place for you to lose your cell phone, one has to ask if David Bowie truly feared death, or if he simply feared that death would represent the inability for people to continually find him. I know this: I’m glad I found him. If anything, David Bowie’s legacy is secured by this album, at least for a long while. One day, that Blackstar will inevitably fade out. There will be no artists influenced by his work, no musicians to carry on the torch with the instructions that he left behind on the title track. The world may just be gangstars, filmstars, popstars, marvel stars, porn stars & wandering stars. However, it’s been 10 years, and I don’t see that Blackstar fading anytime soon. David Bowie’s influence may last as long as the sun itself, and I pray that’s the world we end up in. This is a very easy 5 for me; even when the tracks don’t make any sense, or even if they feel disconnected from the others, the musicianship that’s here is just too mesmerizingly fun to ignore. As a coda to a career, “I Can’t Give Everything Away” is an unbelievably strong closing track, and I can’t think of any other musician that could stare death in its eyes with something so poppy. Had David Bowie lived on, maybe we’d all just see this as an artsy concept album about the life & death of some star in space; a metaphor for a retirement that wouldn’t have come for a while longer. His death, however, is inextricably linked to this album, and I think it’s all the more potent because of it. It’s one hell of a way to go out. Rest in peace, David.
Such a beautiful album!
A perfect final album.
This was pretty exceptional. I was never a big fan of Bowie, the early stuff is awful but to do this as his final album shows he was a true artist
I think this truly one the most unique albums ever, not only musically, but also given the context of this being made during his declining health, which probably totally changed his work ethic for this, as he knew that if he wanted to include any ideas he HAD to do it in this album, which could be why its so varied (in a good way). I feel like he was just so tapped in to all types of music (all throughout his career as well) that it turns out soo interesting. I definitely love the elements of jazz like the sax solo on dollar days, but all throughout as well. Vocally he's clearly not as he once was, but I think he adapted to his changing voice so well, I love how its layered and harmonised with overdubs, but also layered with other singers. The production is incredible as well, considering there's often so many instruments. I think he may have also been trying to revisit all of his 'eras' for lack of a better word, as I can hear elements of his early glam days, namely in the piano based songwriting, but there's also parts of the Berlin stuff, with the synths and strings. I can't say anything bad about it at all really. I really think this stacks up with his earlier albums, maybe the goat and above all RIP. Favourite songs: all. Overall around 9/10
Have never given Bowie a chance and not sure if I want to visit any of his other work after this as I'm not sure it could clear the bar A fantastic album. Layers on layers of sound, beautifully produced, was really blown away by this.
RIP Bowie, you were a legend
No. 60 Zero bad tracks - Lazarus and I Can't Give Everything Away are my favorites.
Death Star
I was scared to listen to this for years thinking it would be depressing but it is just so.. wow! The instrumentation is brilliant.
The meancholyness to this drew me in but also haunted me from the start. I then read it was written while he was dying and released literal days before his death. It was really haunting and a man reflecting on his life. The only thing I wish he was able to reflect on more positives of his life and the beauty he brought into it for so many people. But then again maybe that wasn't the real him, so many colorful bright stars also have a darkness to them (not bad dark, sad dark) and maybe he really embraced that here in those last moments, he really showed the world that while he was colorful he had that darkness that was hard to shake. Overall beautiful and an honor to listen to a man's final thoughts.
This is brilliant because Bowie knew he was dying and decided to make his death his final art piece. He released this album on his birthday and died two days later. All of this was written in his stars. A true artist to the end and partly why he is legendary. The album is moody and dark, a reflection on what was and what was to come. It’s an exclamation point to his long career. While I personally don’t hold him in my Valhalla of favorite artists, I have the HIGHEST respect for him and for what he gave to the world. Ending his life on this note was unbelievably perfect. It’s a 5 for being bigger than just the music.
I don't know what I'd think about this if I didn't know it was Bowie's last album, because I'm not sure I'd feel as drawn to it. But it IS his last, so that fact alone makes it all the more fascinating. There's a real chilling, haunting feeling in the death themes throughout, and the backing band elevates those vibes to another level. I listened several times and kept finding myself being almost swallowed up by what I was hearing. And a couple specific shout-outs: I really love the sax in Dollar Days, and I Can't Give Everything Away is just a beautiful ending track. I don't know that this album would ever be in regular rotation, but I was so magnetized to it while I was listening, that nothing but a 5 makes sense to me.
I love a bit of Bowie - I get his importance and influence and feel he deserved the fawning adoration he received but I don't consider myself a fan as such. He's way down the list when I think about my favourite artists - I also think he was responsible for some absolute rubbish. But this album, when it came out, blew me away - obviously, there was the tragedy of his death, and the way he seemed to combine the record's release with his passing to create one final, extraordinary artistic statement was very beautiful and moving but it made it hard to listen to the record in isolation from all that. But when you do, you're left with an amazingly progressive piece of work by someone who really should have stopped being essential many years before. Very probably my favourite Bowie album. No one can reasonably expect such a sumptuous, cohesive, adventurous record from anyone after so many years in the business. What a way to go.
★★★★★
This is my favourite David Bowie album and one of the best albums of the century. After returning with The Next Day, which was a pretty good albeit quite straightforward art rock album, this veers completely off course again. Because of that, this album just felt really different and unique, even before his death Thid is obviously a sad album, but it's quite eerie too. Bowie's voice is weary and sounds aged that adds so much to that atmosphere. I also love the little harmonica from A New Career In A New Town in I Can't Give Everything Away, another song about accepting change and whilst not going full circle (since Low was several albums into his career) but a touching reflection on his past at the end Highlights: The entire album, but I'm putting Blackstar on my playlist
David Bowie Nothing more needs to be said!!!!
10/10 Favourite: Blackstar Least Favourite: None
RIP Bowie
A masterpiece
a días de que se cumplan diez años, así que andamos más propensas a romantizar, que según yo no lo hago tanto con este disco, pero vemo. siempre sentí que las circunstancias que rodean al disco generaron un hype inevitablemente desproporcionado. pero oyéndolo ora con oidos frescos, más allá del mito, al chile es temón tras temón. mi opinión más cancelable es que blackstar la rola es la peor rola del disco. y es buenaza pero las otras seis pfffff. mark guiliana mi patrón
As much as I love some of the Bowie albums of the early 70s, I hadn't listened to this one before today. I'll admit I came in fully prepared to give it a nice four stars, rounded up from three out of sentimental generosity—I mean, I'll always be grateful to the man for what he gave us during the glory days, but the glory days were quite a while ago. He recorded this album while sixty-eight years old and terminally ill. Etc. Well. That goes to show you how little I know. This album works amazingly well as a swan song, it really does—oh me of little faith, worrying it would be schmaltzy or doddering or both, where instead it's genuinely powerful and introspective—but, also, crucially, it just WORKS, as an album. The music is all still there. And the performance... Christ alive. Imagine being sixty-eight years old and terminally ill and still having it in you to pull off Girl Loves Me... Nobody was doing it like him, and very possibly nobody ever will again. Thanks again for all of it, David <3
magnificent, deeply resonant, and a very powerful farewell
Absolutely fantastic album that I really considered giving 5 on. It gets a little out there at times but me but then Bowie brings everything around and it’s fantastic. 4.9999…no, let’s just give a 5. Damn it.
An album by an all-time-favourite, with the energy of his forthcoming death.
Great late album
What an artist
RIP Bowie. Lifetime achievement stars.
First time I've listened to this since Bowie's death. It's a heavy, heavy listen, perfect sign off album from him, pulls no punches but is also totally listenable and compelling. The videos released with it also stopped me in my tracks. This can't be anything but 5 stars I reckon.
it’s the most david bowie thing to do. what a gift!!!
Bowie's final gift to us. So jazzy. Where the fuck did Monday go? 5 Stars.
Fitting end, eerily foreboding
Masterpiece
Top 3 Bowie!!
see ya later space cowboy
A strange, dark, important record. I wouldn't call it easy - there are jarring, dissonant patches and odd harmonic choices - but it truly sounds like nobody else. The kind of album that doesn't make sense when you're young, but grows increasingly relevant on the march to death. Some acts seem to have had 'whatever is the most recent album' added to these lists. I see no interest in late period work by most musicians, but this is incredible and stark. Definite 5
Blimey, that was good!
I remember when this came out, it just didn't click for me then. But now, it's exactly what I want. It's fabulous and I'm a dufus for not liking it before now.
There are too many Bowie records on this list. I'd pare it down to 3, but keep this one. Even putting aside the timing of his death... I just feel like I'm listening to music from another planet, like what an alien thinks rock music sounds like. A true treat.
Bowie being utterly brilliant right to his bitter end.
I love this album so much. I vividly remember listening to this for the first time a couple days before Bowie died. Little did I know what was about to happen. Although in hindsight this album is the perfect farewell. And, apropos of Bowie, very different from anything he’d done. Leave it to David Bowie to put out a jazz art rock album then die two days later. I was so excited about the new direction he was taking and I don’t hesitate to call Bowie the preeminent musical genius of our time. This album sums up what he was as an artist and what he wanted his legacy to be. This is one of my favorite albums of all time. It’s heartbreaking and wonderful. 5/5
Blackstar is the most unique Bowie album. It's certainly the most unique sound in his work it's a much more jazz-style album and fits very much within avant-garde styles of music, with lush harmonics and dark, unsettling tones. The album shows that Bowie hadn't lost any of his creativity or his curious approach to music and art. The lyrics are haunting and soul wrenching, with lines like the repeated "Where the fuck did Monday go?" and "I'm dying to". The album is someone coming to terms with their own mortality, and there is something quite Terry Pratchett like in Bowie's view of death. The album reaches its emotional peak in Lazarus. Which when I watched the video for the first time a few days after his death. It had me in tears but at the same time gave me a huge smile, and it still makes me well up whenever I listen to it now. To me, each song seems to be tackling a different stage of grief feeling disorientated in Blackstar, feelings of anger in Sue and Tis a Pity..., depression and self-reflection in Lazarus and Girl Loves Me, And finally, acceptance in Dollar Days and I Can't Give Eveything Away. It's a very special album to any Bowie fan. He was one of the most unique individuals in music, driven by a need to create art. Not everything he made was good, some of his work is terrible (his weird 80s–90s period). It is simply a perfect goodbye.
Best ever
A beautiful swansong. Minimalist but brilliant music spread throughout the relatively short final set of songs from the master. I Can't Give Everything Away would probably go on my Desert Island Discs, what an amazing song.
In his final days David Bowie created one of his finest works of art. The lyrics ooze humor and charm. The jazzy instrumentation creates a haunting atmosphere. Just a perfect final chapter. The GOAT.
Imagine turning your impending death into an artistic project? Bowie did, and it is incredible. Mine would probably just be a video of me curled into the fetal position screaming "I want to live!"
Absolutely fabulous
Yes
wdym when this happened right in the middle of my long term existential crisis. Maybe I’ll leave it until it’s 10th anniversary next year. Really insane to think that Bowie have already left us for 10 years. Everything seems to get worse after he died. -content below written on 2026/1/8- so finally listening to it on the 10th anniversary and it blown me away. i am not a person to commonly shred a tear but its so emotional. rip david, we miss you. 5/5
Rest in peace, Bowie, you are a legend. This album is phenomenal, his aged voice is so rich and adds great texture to the whole album. You can hear how much effort it was taking to sing compared to when he was young - he sounds pretty tired throughout and his (with love) old person vibrato is really pronounced, but he makes it work really well with the sound of the album. The instrumentals are so good. Epic fun fact from wikipedia: "Bowie took inspiration from artists including Kendrick Lamar and Death Grips." Makes a lot of sense. And makes sense the band he used is all local jazz musicians, they are very skilled and do so many interesting lines and textures. Crazy this is his *twenty-sixth* album! Goddamn, I Can't Give Everything Away is so incredible. Anyway this is one of my favorite albums. Maybe someday I'll pay attention to the lyrics a little bit :D
Leave me alone It's a 5
A statement like this is the kind of thing that gets a person piled-upon on social media, but this is my favourite David Bowie album. Every song is fantastic, and Donny McCaslin's playing is the perfect addition. RIP to one of the greatest.
November 8, 2025 Album #798: Blackstar (stylized as ★) by David Bowie Genre: Art Rock, Jazz Rock, Experimental Jazz, Experimental Rock So I’ve finally gotten to it. David Bowie’s final album before his death, Blackstar, was a little bit of a tough listen for me. Bowie passed two days after this album was released from liver cancer, and it’ll forever be engrained with this album. I greatly respect Bowie, and I wish I did more when he was alive, so this album stirred up some emotion for me. Bowie looks back and comes face to face with death on full display with this album, with allusions to and themes of mortality being present throughout the record. The title track and opener is a ten minute epic that doesn’t overstay its welcome. Bowie feels like an enigma here with his sorrowful vocals and its memorable chorus. However, after the more energetic *’Tis A Pity She Was A Whore*, Bowie really shines on the stunning and emotionally resonant *Lazarus*. The themes of mortality are obvious here, and that it can make the song very emotional. The macabre lyricism here reflects those themes so well. It’s a foreboding song that’s just stellar. After the erratic *Sue (Or In A Season of Crime)* and the disjointed *Girl Loves Me*, we get the sentimental *Dollar Days* and its fantastic morbid lyricism. The final track here, *I Can’t Give Everything Away*, feels like a swan song from Bowie, and that term really sums this album up as a whole. Bowie was a genius right up until his death. This album is one of the best of the 2010s, I cannot reccomend it enough. Rest in peace David Bowie. Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, Strong 9 to a 10 Favorite Tracks: ★, ‘‘Tis A Pity She Was A Whore, Lazarus, Sue (Or In A Season of Crime), Girl Loves Me, Dollar Days, I Can’t Give Everything Away
What an amazing story behind this album ❤️ Bowie was the best, the most talented the cleverest and funniest. Faced death with strength and determination and gave us this beautiful gift.
It's impossible to review this album without considering its context. I can understand why people who aren't well versed in his music would be underwhelmed by it. Musically, it's far from my favorite Bowie record, but it is quite good. It's interesting to hear him draw from contemporary sounds. Love the callbacks to Station To Station in the title track, and Low in the closer. It's also intriguing that he came back to the occult themes that were present in his late 70s output. When you view it as a bookend to an incredible career, and a piece that is actively in conversation with his earlier work, it's hard to call it anything other than a masterpiece.
I've seen this album around for years, but always shrugged it off and assumed it was overrated because of the circumstances surrounding its release. I was very wrong. Bowie takes real artistic risks here, diving headfirst into an art rock record infused with modern jazz and electronic undertones. The sonic landscape is intense and lush, driven by outstanding, razor-sharp drums and bass with incredible rhythmic interplay. The saxophone work is phenomenal, cutting through the mix at exactly the right moments. It all comes together as a powerful farewell and artistic statement, with Bowie exploring mortality and legacy in a way that feels deeply rewarding rather than sentimental. --- My favorite “reviews” on this site are always the edgelords who mistake cynicism for insight. They can’t even explain what they actually dislike about the album, they just spew vague pseudo-skepticism. I'm not surprised this didn't land for them when the music actually demands something from the listener. God forbid. Mind you, these are the same people who hate Pink Floyd because they get angry when a song “isn’t structured like a song.” Hilarious. Best song: Lazarus / I Can't Give Everything Away Worst song: Girl Loves Me Cover check: ★
Absolute gold
A wonderful gift from someone that is facing the inevitable. Thank you.
Another record that I cant be objective with. Its a record that means too much to me. I liked Bowie before this but I wouldn't have said I was a massive fan but when he died and put this out I really got it. Its a goodbye to everyone. And that hits like a semi truck. At the time I was going through a change in life and it felt like that part of my life had also passed away. It came at the perfect time and was exactly what I needed. Its been almost a decade since he passed, cant belive it, but it fell out of my everyday listening and this is the first time ive heard it since. I never forgot but it also wasn't in thr forefront of my mind anymore. This was nice to come back to. Its still very sad but also it give me some hope. And thats what music can do sometimes. Sometimes its just music and sometimes its much more than that.
Bowie looked death in the eyes and said "Let's make art together!"
David Bowie always sends me for a trip I didn't ask for 🙂
Hell of a way to go out
might be his best!
Looking forward to Frank's take on this. Can't recall if you're a fan of recent Bowie or not. It's kind of impossible to rate this album outside of the context of its release. I heard this album when it came out and didn't really get it - it's clicking more for me this time through. The re-listen value is still pretty low, but headphones in at a high volume, the layers and production are perfect. Every song and note is in its place - even if the end result is super dark - this feels like only album he could and should have released in this moment. I love that the final track "I Can't Give Everything Away" feels kind of celebratory, like after contemplating for 6 tracks, he's just totally letting go. Such a complete album. Coolest fact I found about this album is that the title track was likely inspired by an Elvis track by the same name - and that Bowie and Elvis share a birthday. Sidenote that Girl Loves Me sounds so much like a TV on the Radio song.
Man what an artist he was
Hard to say whether this is among Bowie’s best, because he made so many great albums. But this is excellent.
Oddly this is the album that really got me into David Bowie and his full catalog. I knew all the hits, but Blackstar really got my attention right before he passed away. This one is always in my top three Bowie albums.
I treasure this album and what it represents. Beautiful, tragic, stark.
Beautiful, love the jazz elements. Last song moved me to tears, sounds like somebody actively dying and coming to terms with their death, which I guess it was.
One of the greatest albums
Дэвид Дэвид....мы скучаем( сейчас альбом поняла кажется лучше, чем когда слушала его в первый раз. хорош, да
Not classic Bowie for me - but incredibly powerful given what David was going through at the time.
Greatest final album a musician has ever put our?
El contexto de este album lo dota de una sentimentalidad aún mayor a lo que habrá querido expresar Bowie en sus últimos días, en canciones de 10 minutos con mucha instrumentalidad experimental que solo se hacen características a Bowie por sus vocales inconfundibles. Me gusta curtirme en este ámbito porque no se si me hubiera puesto voluntariamente a escuchar algo de 2016 de este hombre. No es algo que escucharía en mi día a día ya que es una escucha bastante densa y recargada, pero todos mis respetos. Este si que es un esencial, una pieza de historia musical. Favs: Blackstar, Lazarus, I Can't Give Everything Away.
Unbelievably, I had never listened to Bowie's last studio album, being in denial about his death much in the same way it took me nearly twenty years to read the final unfinished Aubrey/Maturin novel by Patrick O'Brian. Early Bowie was my gateway drug to rock music after years of classical-only (or to be precise, the Goblin King in Labyrinth was) but I never got on with Glass Spider era and never really listened to his later work. This is lush and dense and complex and will take many listenings to establish if it's really a 5 for me or a very high 4, but it has a 5-star quality to it regardless of my personal taste. RIP.
Crazy that he knew he was gonna die
Good to get this just 2-3 days after The Next Day. That was great, but this, even divorced from its context, feels like a more complete and fully realised record. And obviously with the context it's an amazing achievement.
If there's one thing that's always been true of the greats, it's that they refuse to stop innovating. Blackstar is the ultimate testament to that true artist's spirit. Sonically like nothing that has ever been seen before, or ever will be seen again. Lyrically heartbreaking, yet with a twinge of hope. It's an album that is fiercely unique, completely unapproachable in terms of music, and yet totally approachable in terms of being a work of pure humanity. Though I haven't always been the biggest Bowie fan, his artistry, passion, and dedication to his craft is something that deserves to be studied, envied, and imitated with futility, because there can never, and will never be another Starman. Best: Blackstar Worst: Girl loves me Liked songs: 7/7, 100% Moderate 5
Beautiful. I remember where I was when I found out Bowie died and I just didn't want to listen to the record because the way it was talked about like it was his swan song felt really grim to me. I'm a pretty big Bowie fan, of basically all his eras, I especially like Hunky Dory, Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Heathen and Reality (now that I have more appreciation for Krautrock etc I need to revisit the Berlin era too). Anyway, this is really, really good.
Favorite bowie album I've heard thus far
This is superb as per. ‘Look up here, I’m in heaven’ Releasing this and then dying two days later. Badass. Simpsons: Yes
What a bloody Swan Song
Fuck it, jag var nära på att ge en fyra, men att släppa det här som sitt sista verk är verkligen helt otroligt. Jazzigt, proggigt, konstigt, experimentellt. Fuck it. Bra album är bra.
One of my favorites from the legend. I went down a rabbit hole when this came out checking out all the projects these handpicked musicians have played on. Highly recommend going down it after listening to this masterpiece.
Wow, what a perfect ending to a legendary career and life! I love the almost 10 minute opener. Probably my favorite behind Lazarus, which brought a tear to my eye watching the video after Bowie passed. This album has a Peter Gabriel vibe to it, and I'm here for it. Girl Loves Me is another favorite. There's a darkness to Blackstar. Bowie ends with a 5 from me.
Really good!
Perfection
Great album! And the packaging is amazing! Have had this album for a few years and was not surprised to see if pop up on this list. Well worth a listen!
Excellent
David Bowie's death was one of the only celebrity deaths I felt genuinely sad about. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he was still making new and interesting music, rather than milking his back catalogue. Because of the circumstances, Blackstar is a difficult listen. It is however, very good. One of the few late stage Bowie albums that come close to matching those from his peak. I'd have to be in the right frame of mind to listen to this album, but in those circumstances, it's a 5 from me.
I really liked this. Poignant and sad in places but really good.
An incredible artistic look into the void. Also, a fairly progressive statement from an ever-evolving artist.
Blackstar ist ein wahres Meisterwerk; tiefgründig, mutig und voller Emotionen. Bowie schaut nicht zurück, sondern setzt noch einmal alles aufs Spiel und hinterlässt ein letztes, kraftvolles Statement. Für mich zeigt es auf eindrucksvolle Weise, warum David Robert Jones einfach der grösste Künstler des 20. Jahrhunderts war.
How is this twice as good as any of the rest of his work? Musically daring, evocative and wildly catchy
hell yes
I love Bowie. This record looms large in my mind, and is a standout in a long career that produced over 25 albums, many of which are classics in their own right. He crafted Blackstar in the wake of receiving his fateful diagnosis, and it was released a week before he died. Created with longtime collaborator Tony Visconti and a handful of jazz musicians in tow, this dark and meditative album is his most far-out, and my favorite by far. Bowie mentioned that he listened to Kendrick Lamar's groundbreaking To Pimp A Butterfly a lot while recording this and it shows both stylistically and thematically. His willingness to confront his eminent death head-on with such courage and intensity is palpable. I can't listen to this record passingly or piecemeal, and this morning was the first time I listened to it in a long while. Such an emotional experience for me — tears of sadness, joy, and awe every time I listen.
Albumille on saatu vangittua täydellinen kuva Bowien elämän viimeisistä vaiheista. Ei ole tekotaiteellista paskaa tämä.
Blackstar is Bowie's late career opus and swansong. The material here really exemplifies one of the things that made Bowie the fantastic and unique artist he was: even at the age of 69, Bowie was still exploring new grounds and expanding his horizons on Blackstar. Blackstar sounds fresh and modern within Bowie's discography, and it is a magnificent sendoff for him. The atmosphere is deeply sad, the lyrics are incredibly self aware across Blackstar, and on a lot of these songs, Bowie is trying to comprehend his status as an icon and celebrity, while seemingly reflecting on the inevitability of death: it's all very tasteful and introspective. At the same time, he is still flirting with experimentation, and modern developments in sound. I suppose I'd categorize this as art pop, but I can also spot influences from hip hop, jazz, and experimental electronic here. Blackstar's finest moment may be Lazarus, with it's meticulous pacing and mournful sax. Lazarus may be one of Bowie's best ever songs. Even though this is a favorite, this album is just about perfect. The "Title Track" is sprawling and detailed. 'Tis A Pity She Was A Whore rocks, but in a weird, subdued kind of way. Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) is anxious, jittery and visceral. Girl Loves Me is irreplaceable, with it's Polari and Nadsat. It may be Blackstar's strangest moment, and is another favorite of mine. Then Dollar Days and I Can't Give Everything Away are both beautiful. They close the album off with a chilling, deeply final sentiment that somehow doesn't leave the listener alone. There is something weirdly comforting about these two songs. As I said, this album is just about perfect, even without being contextualized by Bowie's death mere days after it's release, Blackstar is personal, daring, and truly fascinating. I couldn't have asked for a better bookend to such a storied and legendary career.
Star!
Was just listening to this one again recently. Bowie's final recordings, and this album ranks among his best. Breaks my heart that he is gone.
5 stars, I really like the last track "I can't give everything away" and "Lazarus". Really sad to learn he passed away only 2 days after this album was released :'(
bizarre in all the right ways
to be added to the list of things worth living for in manhattan (woody allen)
One of the things I most admire about Blackstar is how unexpected it was — not just in the sense that no one knew it was coming (or that Bowie was in fact dying), but that it sounds like nothing else from his vast catalog. It’s not a rock record whatsoever. Instead, backed by a New York City jazz quartet, it incorporates elements of drum and bass, jazz, ambient, electronica, funk, new wave and other styles, becoming something weird, dense, and amorphous. As I suspect is the case with many others, I’m still trying to figure it out nearly a decade after its release, and along with some very good songs, that’s what I love about it. Epilogue: The posthumous British documentary about Bowie from this period, "The Last Five Years," is highly worth your time if you're a fan.
Bowie was always there in the zeitgeist floating around. I never bought a Bowie album the first 40 years of my life, but he was always there. It was always nice to know he was there. As I got into my record hoarding/mid-life crisis/hobby I started to develop a new level of appreciation for his output. And even today I'm just kind of blown away as to how he shape shifted constantly and someone always remained Bowie. I don't have a favorite Bowie album because I think that's just a dumb idea in general. You either like Bowie or you don't. That said this album obviously holds a special spot. Not unlike Ozzie's recent farewell concert, this is an artist still wanting to be an artist to the very end and contributing what they can before their time is up. It's a heavy album thematically. But just gorgeous. I think this list is cluttered with way too many entries from the same artists. A lot of the artists on here could be better summed up with one record. But it's hard to sum up Bowie with one album. This being yet another example of that. It's nothing like any other Bowie album, yet it's definitely a Bowie album.
Love this album!
What a way to go. Dropping one of your best albums then dying a few days later. Bowie was a showman to the very end. Blackstar, Lazarus, Dollar Days. Every song is perfect.
oh david <3
Cool newer Bowie. Unique vocal and sax harmonies. 5/5
This album is perfect. A bittersweet masterpiece and a very fitting end for David Bowie
Bowie recorded this album leading up to his death instead of spending time relaxing with his loved ones. It's fucked up but even those close to him probably agree it was the right move because Bowie was a consummate artist whose medium was popular music, thus he was positioned to gift the public with one last masterpiece. He absolutely accomplished perfection (a word I will be, and have been, using a lot in my reviews because hey! I like to like things). Since I've already spent hundreds of hours listening to the 9 Bowie albums included on this list I will take this chance to explore the Bowie I have never heard of the 90s and 00s. When I was a kid in the naughties, buying up every classic Bowie record I could get my hands on, the record store owner said he preferred that period of Bowie and I laughed because I thought he was joking. Now as a major fan of 80s-20s Bob Dylan I am fully aware that young rockstars can keep their light alive. This was my busiest day since starting so I didn't get to write much about individual tracks, but considering Low is my favorite album (and has been forever) I will just say it's absolutely genius for the closing track "I Can't Give Everything Away" to allude to the harmonica part on "A New Career In Town". I still think that album could be mined by young artists to create fresh sounds.
this really was bowie's last album didn't think I'd listen so soon but I really loved it. the jazz rock inspiration just made it so MMMM to listen to
Very good. Reminded me of Twin Peaks, ironically