Blackstar

It’s Bowie in his final form.

Haunting and beautiful and just as interesting as you’d expect from Bowie. I somehow hadn’t heard this before but really really loved it. The end of life as performance art. Everything about this was incredible.

It's brilliant. I don't have anything else to say. I like this album a lot. Favorite track - Lazarus.

Delightful the whole way through

Makes me sad. Totally my cup of tea.

The crown on the top of a masterful career. So glad we got a swan song from him.

This album was one that I had heard a lot about but never dove into. Listening to it in its entirety I think is a must. The album definitely has that weird Bowie feel to it. In all, I'd say from my perspective as just a casual listener to David Bowies more pop centric hits, this is an excellent listening album. It keeps you interested why at the same time being very casual and laid back. I'll be listening again.

El sonido del álbum es una consagración sumamente grandiosa

This album is incredible. I can't believe that I haven't spent more time with it. I love the arrangeents and sonic textures. I need to spend more time with Bowie.

Holy shit

Great album, all over the map, and interesting all the way thru

RIP DAVIE BOWIE FROM THE DAVE BOWIE BAND

-ohh my god i just listened to this album for the first time and got super into it. any excuse to listen to it again -i was partial to Low but i think this may be my new fave Bowie work. it’s absolutely phenomenal and makes me Profoundly Sad. gotta be the best “final” album a rock star has ever created. thank you David Bowie -Favorites are Blackstar, Lazarus, Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) and Girl Loves Me

This is an incredible album and a classy goodbye to the world. Brilliant songwriting, amazing moody jazz band.

Excellent. Never boring, beautiful music, and a fitting last word from Bowie.

Damn, it's blackstar. It came out right before his death and he's singing on his literal death bed. While I disagree with folks in that Bowie is more of an acquired taste than most, I consider this an incredible swan song of his work. Exceptionally approuchable as an album in a way more of his work is now

I remember when this album came out I didn't care for it. Not sure what's changed, but now I lean into the electronic and jazz fusion. Especially the way the saxophones start to veer of course and then resolve. Appreciate the creativity - using the Nasdat language from A Clockwork Orange. It's hard to listen to knowing how closely this album is tied to his death. Maybe 4 on the enjoyment scale, but 5 stars conceptually.

If an album ever underscored the singularity of a musician, this is it. How can an artist release one of his best albums 2 days before his death nearly 50 years after his initial legendary run of albums started?

Masterpiece

Geweldig en ook pijnlijk album. Wat vergelijkbaar met You Want it Darker van Leonard Cohen. Geen hit-album, maar een prachtig geheel. 5.0

David Bowie left us with another masterpiece, barely finished in his last days. Musically, it is amazing, but it isn't easy. It is dark and haunted by a moaning spirit. It might take a few listens to appreciate. But it is completely worth it. 5/5

That he was able to pull off something this powerful so late in his life is astonishing — but it shouldn’t be. 'Blackstar', David Bowie’s final studio album, released just two days before his death in 2016, is a haunting, experimental, and deeply poignant farewell from one of music’s most visionary artists. A meditation on mortality, legacy, and transformation, it stands as a bold artistic swan song. The decision to use a jazz band to perform what are essentially art-rock songs is inspired, resulting in a strange, beautiful fusion — challenging, otherworldly, and utterly compelling. It doesn’t just confront death, it transcends it, turning the act of dying into one last, breathtaking act of creation and reinvention, a parting gift for fans. His musical legacy was already assured but 'Blackstar' is a final reminder and statement that Bowie still had it, and wasn’t interested in living in the past even while he was dying, but rather, for the first time in a while, he was waiting for everyone else to catch up.

Beautifully sad and mysterious.

If you told me the 26th album of an artist would be a 5/5 no miss banger album I would tell you you're crazy. David Bowie puts an amazing performance for his final album, and the fact that he passed so shortly after the release makes me feel like this was his soul, given to the people. MUST listen

Released Jan 8, 2016 followed only two days later by his unexpected death, I am never sure when I listen to this album whether it is melancholy in sound or if my own melancholy influences how I hear it. This album is ever connected to the shock I felt when reading on Twitter that he had passed and trying to find any corroboration that it was truthful before his son Duncan Jones confirmed it as accurate. In any case, this is a tremendous album and some of the lyrics take on a different meaning in light of his illness that was present during its recording. Like anything he recorded, it's not conventional and it's sometimes challenging, but it's a rewarding listening experience and I consider it one of his finest releases.

In my all-time Top 10 albums.

Awesome

I love those saxes.

If you were a brilliant artist, who helped define music for generations, who knew death was coming, what would your final album sound like? This album was released within days of Bowie's death and the content makes it clear that he saw it coming. Also, perhaps sadly, his only album to reach the top 10 in the US. Great music is about emotion and I can't imagine that there are deeper emotions than looking death in the eye. I can't think of any albums where the artist looks at death, and life, so directly and unflinchingly. Black Star is essentially an experimental jazz album punctuated with distinctive Bowie melodies that have made his music distinctive throughout his many reinventions. As one can imagine, the album can be dark, even eerie, at times but there is also joy and humor. Like life, complexity is born through such contrasts and it all comes together brilliantly here. Listen closely to the contrasting lyrics in "Lazarus", “Dollar Days”, and "I Can't Give Everything Away" for different takes on life and death. Maybe it is just because I’m old, but I find it hard to believe that most people would not be someone introspective after a deeper listen. Contrast this with lyrics on other songs like "'Tis a Pity She was a Whore" that are just damn funny. I usually listen to albums on this list once before reading about the history. I made an exception in this case and I'm glad I did. I think this is a good album without the context of when it was written, but with that context it is a great album. Bowie, a man who made art that will continue to live for many years following his death, composed a wonderful epitaph for himself. At 69 years old, Bowies demonstrates again that he is not afraid to try new things and that he has the chops to pull it off.

Dark, dramatic, loaded with emotion and original. Favorite: Lazarus A perfect goodbye: 5/5

I feel that I have a very conflicted relationship with mr bowie. I more or less only like his output with mr eno and mostly just think hes a bit of a fraud... at the same time he has a lot of music i deeply love despite not particularly loving the musician... anyways, the blackstar album makes me deeply emotional and i honestly consider it one of the most remarkable and special albums released in my lifetime. i remember distinctly not exactly giving a shit it came out, being surprised that it got a good review from pitchfork, then the bastard kicked the bucket and i was floored and listened to it right away and it blew my socks off. listening tonight with fresh ears was such a pleasure - i forgot how expansive and touched this music is... its really something!

One of the most important attempts ever to write an auto-elegy prior to one's own death. What a wild human.

10/10

I missed the boat on Bowie by virtue of being born in 1995, hence only ever listened to Space Oddity, Life on Mars and Lets Dance growing up. That's one disadvantage for me; the other disadvantage being that this album is inextricably tied with Bowie's unfortunate passing almost exactly in tandem with this album, hence the challenge of reviewing this album independently from its essential context, which only adds emotional weight to this already rich and dense album. Objectively, this album is beautiful. The lyrics are very Bowie, as far as I can tell, and that can rub people the right or the wrong way. For example, my favourite track 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore is astonishingly gorgeous and lush and tense and energised, but I can't really defend the lyrics on it. The melody and arrangement eclipse the lyrics, and I find a similar result on the other tracks. I can arrogantly imagine an alternative version of this album where Bowie wrote more "normal" yet interesting lyrics that would make the album impress me even more. Overall, this is an astonishing piece of work that should have felt rushed given Bowie's impending death, or sloppy given his deteriorating health, and yet feels like neither. Ultimately, I find I can happily listen to this on repeat, which places it among the albums I hold closest to my heart. Highlight: instrumental intro to 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore

Masterpiece. I love this album. It's so dark. Bowie writing it about the end of his life that he knows is coming. Such a great listen. Chilling.

Loved it - what talent, thx!

9/10 Wonderful. I’d actually been pretty disappointed by the previous Bowie albums I’d listened too, and was starting to think he might be a “greatest hits” type artist. But despite this having no major classic songs, this is easily the best album work that I have heard by him. Beautiful, moody, inventive. Yes, jazz and rock, but also breakbeats, hip hop, electronic. Making the last album have him a sense of purpose and a coherent vision, clearly. Best: Blackstar

So powerful. Amazing album one of my favorites

A Blackstar. A different man. Such a perfect goodbye.

What’s not to love. RIP to the legend himself

I almost knocked it down a star just because I’ve been handing out a lot of five star reviews. That’s not a good reason. I absolutely love this album. It’s a lean, weird swan for an artist with a varied career and never went on cruise control. What an absolute king.

A masterpiece and a bittersweet goodbye. Weird in Bowie fashion, yet very human

Yet another masterpiece from one of the best to ever do it. That his final album is among his boldest and bravest in his catalogue is so fitting.

Few albums are harder to judge than this modern classic, due to its relation to Bowie's death. But, amazingly, it's a great album, actually! The tracks all fit together well and are technically fabulous in a way only Bowie could do it. Amazing piece of art. 9,5/10

Lyrically strong. Interesting rhythms. Takes multiple listens to become familiar with the vibe but I believe this has potential for interest over the long haul.

among all the late-career albums from artists past their peak on this list, this is easily the greatest. it's been a shamefully long time since i last listened to this album... but it's so singular, so massive, so larger-than-life i find it difficult to be in the mood. i'm happy it was chosen for me. because GOD this is brilliant. my favorite Bowie. yes. more than his classic glam records or the Berlin Trilogy. epic swells and eclectic instrumentation. Lazarus is one of the best tracks of the 2010s. Sue has a lovely deep guitar crunch running through it. I Can't Give Everything Away is a perfect finale: urgent, ethereal. deserves to be one of the 1001? absolutely

It’s hard to remember what my initial thoughts were of Blackstar; those couple of days having the album before Bowie died feel lost to time, as the album took on an immense weight from that point forward. An artist right up to the very last second, this album about his illness, his life, his awareness of his impending death…very few albums are constructed of such emotional pieces — I Can’t Give Everything Away is a perfect end and took on an incredible sadness after his passing. This is by no means my favourite Bowie album, but it’s definitely the most impactful. The accompanying No Plan EP is a great afterword for this album.

Perfect no notes

Álbum titânico. Monumental. Lendário. Consigo contar nos dedos quantas vezes música me levou a chorar, e uma delas foi a primeira vez que eu ouvi esse disco, com a notícia da morte de Bowie ainda em primeiro plano. Que perda... Induvidavelmente, o maior artista que já viveu. É estranho ter esse álbum como o primeiro do Bowie que recebi aqui no projeto. No meu ranking de sua discografia, ele está em oitavo. Mas não interprete isso como um afronte a esse álbum, mas sim como um testamento do quão fantástica e expansiva é a discografia do Bowie. Que um capolavoro como esse ficou em oitavo. Entenda, Bowie lançou discos desde o final da década de 1960. Não dá pra imaginar um artista daquele tempo lançando um de seus melhores álbuns em 2016. A ideia é ridícula, absurda. Mas Bowie foi lá e fez. Histórico. Esse álbum é a culminância de todo o corpo de trabalho do Bowie depois de tantas décadas gravando. Você encontra vários elementos da carreira dele aqui dentro. É um álbum forte, sua última mensagem pro mundo. De certa maneira, ele me lembra muito o Closer do Joy Division. Os temas fúnebres vão muito além da instrumentalização (fantástica, inclusive, que banda fenomenal que ele juntou para gravar aqui). A voz dele nesse álbum é inexplicável, seus gemidos e palavras suplicantes. A produção é fantástica e destaca cada elemento na medida exata. Sonho para audiófilos! Compre o CD e ouça ele bem alto. Bowie te abraça e beija sua testa. A alma dele transborda do começo ao fim. Fantástico, lindo, emocional. Ouça a discografia inteira do Bowie em ordem cronológica. Todo mundo deve fazer isso ao menos uma vez na vida. Ao chegar em Blackstar, é impossível não se emocionar. Que vida, que talento, que perda. Amo você Bowie. Sempre te amarei.

5* What am I, fucking stupid?

Aweso.e death mask

I'm going to allow myself to be a bit of a hipster on this one and say I already loved this album before Bowie died. I know it was only two days, but this became my most anticipated album of 2016 after the title track came out on the previous October and knowing that "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)" was also going to be on it. (not the original version with Maria Schneider, which is also great, but a new one with LCD Soundsystem main man James Murphy). This is Bowie fully indulging in his Scott Walker aspirations, streching songs out, playing with structure, and filling them with surreal narratives. For Bowie, however, those narratives seem to come from a more personal place, and after his death it became easy to read (too much) into these songs to extrapolate their meaning. I remember early reviews were mildly positive on the album in lead up to its release and then immediately changed their tune by the end of the week. I also remember I did a full Bowie marathon in the days after his death while studying for a college exam. Regardless if someone enjoyed this right away, jumped on the bandwagon later, or never really gotten into it, it cannot be denied this was a triumphant ending to an already impressive body of work, and the way Bowie managed to turn even his own death into an art piece. Truly the mark of a Great Artist. Key tracks: Blackstar Lazarus Sue (Or in a Season of Crime) Girl Loves Me I Can't Give Everything Away

Remarkable album. I want it on repeat.

Such an amazing record, what a way to go out on

Bowie has been a muse and guide for me since my youth and I've loved everything he ever recorded. I am still not at peace about his death, and as a result I've only listened to this album a dozen times or so. I always imagined that Bowie truly was untouchable and that death would not take him. This album breaks my heart. It's genius but I can't accept that it's over. I want to take the rest of my life to get to know these songs.

Of the "Big Three" of farewell albums (being this one and those of Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen), this is the one I was least familiar with. I find that for both Cash and Cohen, their final works are among my favorites of theirs, so I was excited to get this one generated. I found it a bit different from the others... where "When The Man Comes Around" is about Cash looking back at his life, and "You Want It Darker" is about Cohen looking at his impending death, this feels like an album by a ghost who is already dead. I found it less devastating and more... haunting. I think part of this relates to the cultural context in which Bowie died just a day or two before the album's release, whereas Cohen lived for another few weeks and Johnny Cash lived another year. However, it can also be heard in the music. From the lyrics ("Look at me, I'm in heaven") to the music videos, to the much grander Jazz instrumentation, this album feels like it, more than any other work by any other artist, is meant to mythologize Bowie's life and death, where he's fully embracing his mythical persona and abandoning the material world. Also shoutout to the Jazz musicians who he got to perform on the album. They really tie it together. Favorite Track: Blackstar

Wow. I first listened to this when Bowie passed away, and this record still resonates just as much as it did then, back in 2016. Full of existential anxiety; this really is a beautiful parting shot from one of music's greats, and my favourite Bowie album by a long way. A true genius in every sense of the word. Favourite tracks: the whole thing.

First album I already had in my listening repertoire. A masterpiece!

Blown away by this album and shocked I was so out of the loop when it came out and Bowie passed. He's quickly rising to be one of my favorite artists thanks to this project. Blackstar the song feels particularly heavy after knowing the context of Bowie's passing from liver cancer 2 days after the album released. Side note, you can really feel Kendrick Lamar's TPAB influence on this album which I think is really cool and unexpected.

Such a great swan song album.

Throughout the completion of this 1001 album project, my 1* reviews can be summed into two themes: especially awful music, and “why this?”, with the latter warranting a more cutting review about why the album was ever chosen to be featured. My 5* reviews, on the other hand, have exclusively been within the theme of especially excellent music - until now. Blackstar is a “why this?”, because the “why” is beyond something any nice sounding record can do. Blackstar fills me with gentle assurance. The artistry, to be handed a terminal diagnosis and respond with a grin. “Watch this”, I imagine him thinking. Even in death, another artistic reinvention - his final form - enshrouded and buried, and showing that art can be found in all things.

Masterpiece

Wow, I am blown away. What a hell of a way to go out. Blackstar is a masterpiece.

Oh hell yeah, I was literally just thinking about putting this album on because it had been a while since I last listened to it! It’s amazing that Bowie was still at the top of his game right up until the end. Rest In Peace Starman! Favourite tracks: like all of them, but if I had to pick Lazarus, Sue (or in a Season of Crime), Girl Loves Me

It's more interesting as a final album and the idea of recording it than the sum of its parts. It's an amazing final album not necessarily a great album if that makes sense. He captured exactly what I imagine it would feel like dying. He creates a groove and an atmosphere that doesn't have any filler which I feel is on a lot of his albums. All in all not an album of listen to a lot but an album that does exactly what it needs to do

never a dull moment with this guy

Very nice saved a song

Warren Zevon knew he was making his last record and put everything he wanted to say into it. This feels like Bowie threw together his swan song on the fly. The fact that Bowie's is better is a testament to his craft. It's both just another great Bowie record and the perfect death bed goodbye. Dark and beautiful.

++: ★, 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore, Lazarus, Sue (Or in a Season of Crime), Dollar Days, I Can't Give Everything Away +: Girl Loves Me 9,7/10

Been looking for a reason to revisit this album. That intro track is a haunting masterclass in atmosphere and the video sticks in my mind to this day. The new versions of Sue (Or In A Season of Crime) and Lazarus are incredible highlights, and the former, I *think*, is my favorite. Knowing that Bowie knew it would be his last gives the whole album a sense of finality and permanence that permeates everything and is difficult to forget about.

I’ve always been grateful that I heard this on the day it was released, and was immediately able to see (as the critics did), that it’s a brilliant album of weird, otherworldly, boundary-pushing music, before Bowie’s death could influence my judgement one way or another. The news of his death undoubtedly imbued Blackstar with new layers of poignancy though - rarely has context added so much to an album. The man knew he was dying but kept it a secret from the world, thoroughly in keeping with the air of mystery he cultivated throughout his career. With that in mind, I find the last two tracks in particular heartbreakingly beautiful.

I listened to this a lot upon its release. I haven't since, as I genuinely found it too sad, post his premature passing. The album sounds like nothing he's done before, but there are many echoes of the past (Diamond Dogs, Station to Station, Young Americans, Low, Black Tie White Noise, Outside, Earthling, Hours, Heathen all feel present here). Bowie was clearly grappling with mortality - it's moving, yet admirably devoid of self-pity. This level of invention after a 50 year career is beyond belief. With echoes of the past, it's firmly fixed on looking forward, staring down death under the shadow of terminal illness with a hell of a lot of dignity. 'I Can't Give Everything Away' is a devastatingly beautiful ending to an unmatched career.

It's insane to think that Bowie still had so much to give even after all of his success and artistic output. This album is as fresh as anything he had put out in his career. The fusions of jazz and art rock work so well on this album, and I get the sense that Bowie was always inspired by current music. These tracks have a lot of hip-hop, soul, and funk influence. Blackstar is the ultimate swansong to an absolutely storied career, even without the context of Bowie's health during its recording. It's the culmination of everything he did before. 9.5/10

very cool

My feels

Отличный альбом, последний к сожалению((

Elegant farewell.

David Bowie’s Final Masterpiece: Blackstar Blackstar is nothing short of superb. As his final work, it stands as a bold, emotive, and forward-thinking statement from an artist who continued to innovate until the very end. In an industry where many artists struggle to remain creatively relevant with age, Bowie defied the trend — evolving, experimenting, and delivering something truly fresh. This album isn't just a farewell; it’s a reinvention. Deeply atmospheric and layered with meaning, it feels like Bowie knew this would be his last artistic statement — and he made it count. Favourite Track: It’s hard to choose, as every song is a gem, but Dollar Days resonates most with me. Least Favourite: Honestly, I couldn’t find a single weak track. Album Artwork: Minimalist, striking, and instantly iconic — perfectly befitting the music within.

Exceptional album

The last album by david jones… like as in the monkeys? Or the squid guy? Nah David Bowie. One incredible musician. But how you pronounce Bowie (like I’ve heard people say BOWie like as in a bow tie or bOWie like submitting to authority). Reminds me a bit of the start of the song ‘andy warhol’ from hunky dory ‘Warhol… as in HOLES’. But that’s a very different album, this album blackstar (like the radiohead song) is a perfect send off there’s only 7 songs but you can’t call any bad. Like it’s good to the point that sparks (who I love) came on after and I just wanted to go back to bowie. Brilliant ending to a great career 5/5

Rest in peace king

I was going to give this album a 4, since I only remembered two songs from it, and they were fantastic. I ended up really enjoying all the songs that got overshadowed by Lazarus and blackstar for me on previous listens. It’s now one of my favourite Bowie albums.

Both beautiful and haunting.

Wat een album. Wat een last dance van een legende.

This is actually the album that introduced me to David Bowie. Awfully bad timing, I should say because I was just began to get into him and then he's no longer with us...but enough of the regret, this is a pretty solid album, I remember when I first listened to it I thought "oh this is very Doctor Who-ish". I mean if the Doctor must have an soundtrack I would've chose this "Blackstar". I love this album, especially "Lazarus", heartbreaking for no particular reason. 5/5.

9.5/10 Favorite Tracks *Sue(Or in a Season of Crime),** Dollar Days*,

Heartbreaking, Bowie knew he’d die soon and the mood is reflected here. Interesting push pull of very Bowie traditional compositions and his modern jazz musicians. This album influenced me. I became aware of a lot of these players from this album when it came out

the final Bowie record, then he died, and the world has not been the same since

Massive Bowie fan but not one who thinks everything he does is genius. But the man was feckin’ dying and he knew it and he’d not long brought out his best album since Ashes to Ashes! And then this appears FFS! It is very dark, for obvious reasons, but I love it and probably don’t listen to it enough as it does make me sad when I do.

- To produce something so relevant, so solid, so enjoyable so late in life after so much output .... -

I still get surprised by how good this is. I enjoyed The Next Day but felt it did have that feel of "oh well this is as much as you can expect". Very good not great. Blackstar meanwhile really is up there with his best.

Even on his way out, Bowie produced a one-of-a-kind album featuring his particular brand of songwriting and music. He sounds worn, and tired, but still had something to say.

How can it be anything less than 5 stars? It’s a Black Star!

Rocks

Post post

I've never been an actual fan of the musician David Bowie, but this one is very alright. Sprawling, dark jazz rock that I never felt like skipping and if I can trust my reviews of the other five Bowie albums I've had, Blackstar's the probably most coherent. Not entirely my cup of tea, still, but a very high four and then, the Swan Song. Rounding up.

Amazing

Great record. Didn’t click the first time

the album is one for the books, the production is fantastic, the jazzy instruments here and there make it even more interesting. David Bowie is the first musician who made me understand and appreciate the artistry behind music, all the creative minds who made it possible for an album, for a song to happen. He and his music pushed me to explore what i like, to learn and dive into music and to feel. It's been 10 years since i discovered him. A few months after, this album was out and he passed 2 days later. This context made this album so much more meaningful to me. It is raw, beautiful, of great quality. Listening to it almost 10 years later, with a new perspective on music, on life and death and life in general makes it a different experience. i have grown (as i was only 11 at the time) and the music resonates so much more today. Bowie wasn't the best person but his artistry really shone through his music and persona, which was exceptional. In conclusion, the album is intrigueing, very well made, it's context of production and its different inspirations make it an "intemporel" album to me. 4.5/5

Last we spoke, only a couple of weeks ago, it was Hunky Dory – “Changes”, “Life on Mars”. So it’s a little confronting to so soon find myself here, David’s momento mori. His autoepitaph. His goodbye. With this record, I finally get it. And not just because this is an album charged with reference points and influencers I get along with already – although that helps – but because of what that actually means. Why is a man who had been one of culture’s most chameleonic, mercurial and successful lights for 50 of his nearly 70 years listening to Death Grips and Kendrick Lamar a few months before he died – let alone using those records as reference points for his final creative sign off? And smuggled away in that question is the thing I wasn’t getting about David Bowie. His ultimate vitality. I was so busy looking at him as a leader that I never really, properly let myself see him as the devotee to sound, colour, light and life that he was. And that’s in evidence here. Songs like “Blackstar”, “Lazarus”, “Girl loves me” are sombre while sprightly, look backwards while thrusting forwards; they’re legacy while never letting themselves become eulogy. This is something new, another contribution to the conversation David was having with us, with music and with posterity throughout his incredible life. And so here we are. Blackstar is seven songs sent from just this side of the event horizon, a postcard from the most alive person to have ever lived. I finally got it.

Incredible. A perfect ending to a career that endlessly pushed possibility. Sounds like no other Bowie album. I will never tire of this record

For the innovative sound, profound lyrics and timelessness I rate it 10/10

wow. rich, wistful sounds, inviting us to reflect - or to witness Bowie reflecting on death and its approach, or is it life he's reflecting on, and the end of his? either way, I felt like I was listening to beauty. It was touching, emotional, I felt privileged to be 'invited'. His songwriting in track 2 reminded me of Morrissey/Marr/the Smiths and the beginning chords of dollar days sounds just like Sing me to Sleep. Where the F did Monday go.... this album was like a master class - I loved it and of course no surprise, Bowie left us on his own beautiful terms

I Can't Give Everything Away - it's like a mission statement revealed on his way out the door. An album certainly elevated by the circumstance. Not an album for everyday but one that should be treasured when its in the air. An excellent complement to You Want It Darker.

Hjälten är tillbaka med sin bästa skiva på många många år. Ett fint avslut. Världsklass! Fem!

Excellent. A few songs are somewhat mediocre but Blackstar and Lazarus are magnificent.

The lyrics, the instrumentals, the concept behind all this... a true masterpiece.

Album 679 of 1001 David Bowie - Blackstar (2016) Rating : 4.75 / 5 What can one say? It is a "fitting and powerful swan song for one of music's most innovative artists". Not Bowie the pop star. This brings warped showtunes, industrial rock, soulful balladeering, and even hip-hop. RIP to one of the greats.

An argument for consciousness The instinct of the blind insect Who never thinks not to accept its fate That's faith, there's happiness in death

I cry everytime

This is a work of art. Absolutely incredible experience

My third 5-star album in a row, how did I get so lucky! This one is genuinely my second favorite Bowie record, and maybe the one I have the biggest emotional response to. He may never be an absolute top-tier artist for me, but you'll never find me arguing the merits of this one. 5/5

It's impossible to speak of this album without the coincidence of Bowie's death in the same week. I think this is a testament to the strength of his messages in it, and shouldn't that be the point? I am a devoted fan of Bowie's work, but I know the man himself was not perfect. This is a deeply moving testament of an artist who realizes how short his life is, and he says as much as he can as clearly as he can to us, the audience who are lucky enough to have shared time on this planet with him, but also to future listeners, who will, no doubt, have a different understanding of him and his art. I miss you, Starman.

One of the easiest 5* on this list. There's too much to say about how good this album is - it's still absolutely unbelievable 10 years on that he released an album this great and died two days later. (Writing this 10 years to the day between the release and his death)

Sad he had to go

I had heard the title song in isolation and didn't care for it (rhyming gangster with star??) In context it makes sense Great album

A chameleonic genius to the very end.

OH MY GODDODDD BOWIE BEST EVER I LOVE I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVEL OVE LOVE LOVE Jesus so gooddddd

I remember my French teacher in secondary school playing Life on Mars in our lesson just after Bowie died, and I wasn't massively familiar with him. I had probably heard the hits, and knew his look on Aladdin Sane, but I wasn't a massive muso yet. I did listen to a few of his songs on repeat on Youtube (when I was 15 in early 2016) (this was before I listened to full albums on streaming services or physical media) -- I think Starman, Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes and Lazarus from this album. I couldn't quite appreciate the decades of music leading up to this final swan song like people who had spent decades listening to him, but I loved the songs. It wasn't until years later that I "got into" Bowie along with many other Rock icons, listening to discographies, reading and watching documentaries etc. This made Blackstar hit much harder than before, and I remember early January last year (2024) being totally immersed in Bowie between his birthday and the day he died, something I repeated this year. The context does make this album more powerful, but it is also a brilliant jazzy art rock album. However you want to label it, it sounds great. I'm writing this review a few days after David Lynch died, an artist I became much more familiar with in the last couple of years before his passing, and whose death really hit me. We need to cherish our weird Davids, we've lost Bowie, Berman and now Lynch, now we've just got Byrne and Cronenberg (sorry if I'm forgetting, or not aware of any other cool weird dudes named David). I've had a run of albums I already know and love in the past few days, it would be cool to discover another great new artist through this generator soon (Stereolab is the totally new to me band I discovered through here and listened to most so far). The second I saw this album come up, I knew my score would be 5 (black) stars. Like David Bowie, I want to stay up to date with and open-minded about new music until the end, and maybe have an album I've never heard of win me over to 5 stars. The next album I get will probably be shit, though.

This is one of my favorite albums of all time. It is incredible how amazing it is, one of David Bowie's greatest albums and achievements, and even though he was gone too soon, it is equally amazing that it was his last. From beginning to end, it is impactful with incredible depth of emotion, composition, and lyrics.

Amazing for an old man

peak

Beautiful music. Undoubtably I am missing the full context here as this is the first Bowie record I've listened to — there are surely a few references to previous work and other recurring themes placed throughout — but I can still recognise its significance, the sorrow and pride that intertwine to create a swan song that knows it's a swan song. Surely this is not the first time that Bowie has dabbled in jazz, but he has given it a modern flair; you can especially hear the influence of contemporary music on 'Girl Like Me'. I want to listen to music that sounds like this more often. Favourites: Blackstar, Lazarus, Girl Like Me (4/1001, 12th Jan. '25, 1657h.)

Perfect; a gift to the world.

🌟

This was the first album that ever got me into Bowie, and it really opened the door for me to him. It will forever be a favorite and the story behind it makes the album that much greater.

Rest in peace bowie

Absolute beautiful beast of an album. Perfect swan song for Bowie.

Super powerful album about a man struggling with his mortality and the existential nightmare surrounding him. I fucking loved this album. My only critique is that I preferred the later part of the album despite all the “hits” (⭐️ and Lazarus) being at the front of the album. Girl loves me, Sue, and dollar days being my favorites. Can’t recommend this album enough, definitely check it out if you haven’t.

One of my favorite albums of all time. Every second of this album is incredible and it was a great album for David Bowie to end it on.

I've been a big Bowie fan my whole life. I take his music like medicine when I need it. I try not to abuse it because it loses its value. I can comfortably say, Bowie's been dead about 9 years and I never listened to Black Star. But im really really glad I did. Bowie has a way of staying sonically relevant no matter what time period he exsists in. Sure his 80's stuff leaned more towards garbage but thats okay, a lot of acts did that. But that being said Black Star leans heavily in to the abstract, avante garde and progressive side of Bowie. Detailing his life's journey into become and a dead "black star". Arguably flawless.

Take away the fact that this seems like a perfectly timed swan song for what was one of the greatest music careers or all-around art careers of all time, take that away, and this is still an awesome album. It is unsettling and still beautiful, it mixes some heavy industrial sounds with horns and guitar and freaky lyrics given the timing of the album. Such an awesome capstone to an awesome life.

So many different musical ideas put together in a perfect manner. Every track had me hooked in the first 10-20 seconds. Great instrumentals (horns on entire album stand out), and Bowie’s singing is perfect.

Pure quality

As a certified David Bowie hater, this was the only one of his records I'd heard before doing the game. And in a shocking twist, I think it's very good. I like it when he gets weird.

Blackstar is a good album - no an amazing album. It's so creepy and dark, that David Bowie sets the atmosphere from the get-go. My favorite instrument is the saxophone here, it's so menacing in a way you do not see a saxophone used typically. It helps set the tone and it stands out wonderfully. In the same way that music can influence the world, the world can influence music. David Bowie's death affects this record and legacy. I knew about this record without hearing it specifically because of his death. It helps elevate a great record into a classic in my eyes. The fact that an artist used his death to create music is stunning. I have a few grievances with the tracks, but I wouldn't skip any of them. It's an album worth listening to in its entirety. An album that shows David Bowie's spirit still lives on.

Really enjoyed this, probably gonna add it to the rotation.

Saxophones, drums, beats and the jazz influence Love the instruments it's so levitating

I thought about how I'd write a long intelligent post about leaving Blackstar for my very last album to rate, add some thoughts about the list as a whole and albums that have particularly struck me. But this album just makes all that seem a bit pointless and small. There have been other albums made in the shadow of death (Joy Division's Closer comes to mind) but really this is a one-of-a-kind. Bowie was never less than an artist in control of his music - even though he said he could remember making very little of Station to Station - and faced with his own death he left us with an album that pushed his work forwards, while absolutely facing head on his own mortality.

Masteriece

Bowie's ability to push boundaries and innovate shines through, making this album a fitting conclusion to his legendary career.

tiefgründig

This really is something special, the swan song of a complex and significant artist.

I could take or leave the first few songs but by the time I hit the last song I was hooked. Halfway through the final song I got a message that a long time client who I had just negotiated a release from jail had died. He was 61, homeless and a lifelong alcoholic. How fitting.

Incredible album, given the context - and one that can hang with his 70s works. I think this is the only album that's made me cry.

David Bowie was an artist who even made his death into art. At his age, most artists slow down, but he delivered Blackstar, one of his most unique and powerful albums. The music is dark, experimental, and haunting, blending jazz, rock, and electronic sounds in a way that feels completely fresh. The title track is a ten-minute journey through eerie, shifting moods, while ‘Lazarus’ feels like Bowie saying goodbye in the most poetic way possible. Songs like ‘Dollar Days’ and ‘I Can’t Give Everything Away’ are deeply emotional, making the album feel like a farewell letter wrapped in stunning music. Even without the context of his passing, Blackstar would still be an incredible album. But as his final work, it becomes something even greater, a bold and artistic goodbye from a true genius.

David Bowie may have inspired Geordie Greep. Interestingly, someone I thought was unique may have been inspired by such a large star in the industry. It was a pleasant surprise.

GOAT. Everything he does is great!

Blackstar is an appropriately beautiful swansong for such an ambitious artist. Favorite track: 'Dollar Days'

Listening to this always makes me sad. Such raw talent.

First listen. Been on the list for some time. Wow! I expected it to be good, but not this good! I haven't listened to a lot of David Bowie, but after a few listens this feels like at least being among his best work and one that I will grow to love even more as time goes by.

i mean even if i wasnt really into this for whatever reason, it would probably still feel too immense for words. without strictly imitating any of his previous work (at least that im aware of, tho im sure it takes influences from all over), it feels like bowie grasps the core of the appeal of his chameleonic always-on-the-artistic-move persona by creating a cryptic and emotive blend of sounds and styles that make anything Seem possible. for as often as this album is described as morose or oppressive it most often feels to me like wide open spaces and cosmic bursts of creativity as hungry as anything else he made at any other stage of his life. the way bowie cracks himself open and spills his caged-up vulnerabilities everywhere will be most people's main takeaway from the record, rightfully so, but i think at this point i find myself most moved by the final of finals I Can't Give Everything Away, which finds a beauty and serenity in all the things that bowie Could have shared with the world but never will. the beauty i think comes from simply the enormity of not just existence, but existence that is potentially worthwhile, u will never ever run out of things to discover and appreciate in this life. even if he wanted it would not be possible for even a nonstop maverick like bowie to express every single worthwhile thing in his life and head. he sure made a better stab at it than most though

A man coping with his own mortality. A great album that’s only better with the sad context. Rest in peace to one of the greatest pop-rock artists of all time.

Fantastic goodbye and end to a great career. I highly respectable way to meet death, and it thought me a lot about the mindset one can approach the end of ones life with.

This is why this site is great! I have a new favourite artist

Bowie

This is such a phenomenal album, but it is a hard listen knowing it was Bowie's farewell to the world. Haunting production from start to finish, even in the more upbeat-ish tracks like "Tis a Pity" and "Sue". There's a lot of prog elements to the album as well that keep it exciting and fresh. Favorite tracks: Blackstar, Girl Loves Me and Dollar Days

awesome, poignant

god damn

outstanding album, it’s crazy how he released this 2 days before he died, truly amazing, shows how much he dedicated music in his life

Overall this is a pretty good album. Its lyrics feel perfect considering he was dying of cancer. The Music goes well with the lyrics. Making this overall a great album, and I would recommend listening to it.

Incredible. His best album. I have no words for just how well produced and realized all these songs are. REAL jazz elements implemented in rock like never seen before. His voice is incredibly dynamic and exciting here. The songwriting has never been this forward-thinking since maybe Low. What a way to end your career.

Good god this album is SAD. It’s him confronting his own death and it sounds like it. Some crazy solos, almost discordant metallic sounds and Bowie singing in a dirgelike style makes this a masterpiece.

It has been a while since I listened to this, but I still think that it's brilliant. Perhaps if it wasn't Bowie's parting gift I'd see it in a different light. But it was, so I can't.

Blackstar? More like 5 star, am I right?

I think that it's fine sometimes that the circumstances around an album's release influences the way people perceive it, and this album certainly takes on a more final tone due to its proximity to Bowie's death. Even though this isn't Bowie's best work, it is still rather good! It seems a rare occurrence that an artist can continue quality output throughout their life, and David Bowie is to be commended for his skill and his adaption of new styles on display here. I think I've talked myself up to giving this album a 4.5/5 (rounded up). Favorite track: "Lazarus"

5/5

Bowie's last dance I was almost 15 when Bowie died. At that time the only thing I knew about him was the Aladin Sane cover (as recognizable as a plate of rice and beans) and I definitely wasn't ready for this album at the time. But I remember seeing the Lazarus video and thinking "This is Bowie dying" Today, 8 years later, having explored the entire discography and having Bowie as one of my main artistic influences, I can feel what Blackstar is. I can see that this was a beautiful ending worthy of a legend!

An absolutely phenomenal album. The thought and artistry displayed is awesome. The way the sax creates like a billowing tragic yet warming sound throughout, the gentle guitar and trumpet dancing in the background. Truly feels like we are floating in space in some moments, death all about, tumbling through time. Even better coming back to it older in life than when it came out. I love it

really tranports you to a different world for the length of the album. feels like going through a dark scary tunnel and then emerging on rainbow road and driving off a cliff at the end with your eyes closed smiling peacefully as you meet your fiery end and are freed from this mortal coil.

I hadn't listened to this since it came out amd forgot just how good this album was. I have a distinct memory of being in a bar with some friends the week Bowie died and talking about him and this album. A genuine icon.

I thought this would be an overrated endeavor being the critical acclaim and it being his last album. I was wrong, this is a great farewell. R.I.P.

Bowie. Love Bowie

- Das letzte Album vor Bowies Tod und zwar im Monat seines Todes erschienen. Wenn man sich die Songs anhört und durchliest und v.a. das Musikvideo zu Lazarus sieht, merkt man: Bowie wusste genau, wann es passieren wird und hat das gesamte Album darauf hin ausgelegt: Ein experimentelles und zugleich monumentales Abschlusswerk. Eine Verabschiedung von der Kunst. Eine letzte Verbeugung vor der Welt. - Es handelt sich wohl um das existenziellste Konteptalbum, das es gibt, denn existenzieller als der Tod geht nicht. Er wusste, dass er von uns gehen wird und ist quasi einen Konzepttod gestorben und das finde ich schon ziemlich einzigartig. Geht mehr Kunst als das?! - Finde das Album einfach toll, exzentrisch, unvorhersehbar und in meinem Augen trotzdem gut anhörbar. Rating: 4,5/5

I remember hearing the singles on the radio and I immediately picked up the album when it dropped. But I did not have time to really dedicate to listening to it so let it sit beside the record player. And then Bowie passed and that was a punch in the gut. It took me a while before I could bring myself to listen to Blackstar and I often wonder if I would view it differently if I had sooner. It is a brilliant piece of work, not only a culmination of all Bowie's talent and artistry, but a farewell to the world. The bass and the horns are particularly fantastic on this record. I love how the album is jazzy and experimental while being encompassed in a gloom that accentuates without stifling. Bowie's lyrics here take on so much more meaning knowing what he was dealing with. Reading back about all the things that he was frantically doing near the end, spearheading the Lazarus Broadway play on top of recording Blackstar with a couple amazing videos to boot, was reminiscent of that last run that Johnny Cash did. Blackstar is a gorgeous end cap to a long and impressive career.

Easy 5-star. Complex, somber. An amazing work and a powerful goodbye.

I have nothing new to add to the conversation, other than that this was my first time listening to a Bowie album front to back, and that I didn't know the context of this album coming out only days before his death until I listened. That context aside, Bowie's swansong is a phenomenal listen. The lyrics and instrumentation are largely experimental (apparently Death Grips and Kendrick were major inspirations during the recording process), but the musicality has a distinct flow that keeps you hooked throughout. And the final track "I Can't Give Everything Away" hurts so much more after knowing the context of his imminent death... feels like his saying one last goodbye.

No idea what's happening. 10/10 no additional questions

This is the second time I hear this album, it's a great goodbye to the one and only starman, david bowie, I heard it right when it was released, and heard it all day every day, all month, since he passed away. See you space cowboy

One of the greatest albums of David Bowie, best sounding

I was out here telling everyone to get ready for a new era of Bowie, because the blackstar video just blew me away! I was ready for jazzy goth Bowie. However, just like everyone, I was not ready for his death, or the emotions that came with it, that caught me completely off guard, even though he was explicitly telling us he was dying, I didn't think it was self referential, until it obviously was. I don't know if I'll ever get over it, Love Bowie, Starman forever!

The drum work on this is incredible. See Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime). Dollar Days is ascendant.

I’m a full on Bowie fan now because of this list.

Bowie's swan song (album?). A bleak album from a dying man that is as pure a testament to his freakish ability to maintain relevance through his entire life. Album opens with ★, a mood setter with absolutely beautiful production and composition. Jazzy in its nature, this multi-part odyssey features Bowie's distressed voice fed through layers of effects over an uncomfortable and ever-shifting electro-jazz arrangement in the first segment, before flipping into an orchestral backed section and largely ditches the vocal distortion. Lazarus plays like a TV On the Radio song in tone. I think its the use of horns + effects with the moody bass line. This song is fucking great -- the production here is top-notch. Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) once again finds Bowie stretching his genre boundaries with another moody and propulsive electro-prog-rock (a la Mars Volta) instrumental. The instrumental on its own is entertaining and takes the show -- his voice kind of exists like a powerful ghost on top of it. Girl Loves Me is one of my favorites on here -- once again, I can't help but picture this as a TV on the Radio song. I Can't Give Everything Away is a fine closing track on his career. A self aware farewell song that is bright and uplifting . Not nearly so boundary pushing as the rest, but I think that makes for a better conclusion in all honesty. Also just took a look at the supporting cast here. No wonder this came together so well. Mark Guiliana behind the kit is fantastic -- if you haven't listened to his work with Brad Mehldau before, do yourself a favor and check it out (Mehliana: Taming the Dragon). Also Donny McCaslin on saxophone and flute has some great solo jazz works (Fast Future). Then there is James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem giving percussion support on a few tracks. This is a weird album for me. I love it when I listen to it, but never think to put it on. No idea why that should be. This is a soft 5 for me.

This has been by far my favorite Bowie album and I didn't even know that this one existed. I have never heard a single song from this in my life. This was probably the most interesting wikipedia article read so far as well, the fact that this came out on his 69th birthday then he died 2 days later is absolutely insane and is the perfect way for him to go out. The dark, spooky, jazzy tones that this album gave off with everything song were pretty amazing. Lazarus is one of the coolest songs that I have ever heard. And the ending song where it kind of just fades away to the end while repeating I Can't Give Everything Away was a perfect ending. I also listened to this at the perfect time because I am currently in the outer bands of a hurricane so the weather is very dark and gloomy. Perfect match for this music.

This packs a huge additional emotional punch as it is still, to me, Bowie's "Death Album" and brings back memories of that time and the national, if not global mourning, and my partner, who was a massive fan of him, being hit by it. I am not a huge fan. I don't really know his albums very well, but I know they were good to start with and he hit a bit of a shit patch from the 80s onward. This and "The Next Day" seem different though. Somehow the weird melodies and embrace of modern electronic sounds and jazz saxophones add up to something rather beautiful and an emotional goodbye.

A truly sad and amazing album. Sometimes very hard to listen, if you cared for Bowie.

Absolutely Epic

I love Bowie and I love this album. I've said a lot about Bowie so far in my reviews for the other albums that have come up so far for me on the list. But this album means so much to me. To all of us Bowie fans. It was his final gift to us. To the world. And I love him all the more for it.

Delightfully eclectic and experimental, with just the right touch of jazz influences

Great

I miss him.

This album managed to be quite different from other things I've listened so far, and it quite fits being Bowie's last album

The context of this album being finished and released just before Bowie's death adds a weight to the whole production, but Blackstar presents an understanding of mortality that would've been just as poignant even if he had lived longer. Blackstar is an incredible song but Lazarus feels heavy and personal. The final song being I Can't Give Everything Away is beautiful. The richness of that song is one you can get lost in. The part that grabs my attention the most is the minor moment partway through when the instrumentals fall back and it's just Bowie singing with a simple bassline until everything else rebuilds. The way it balances harmony and outbursts and rising and falling feels incredibly purposeful and I feel pretentious for writing this but it hits me as a reflection on what it feels like to experience a lifetime. Bowie's my favourite artist and this album feels like one I'll listen to for years and keep finding intriguing. Production, instrumental work, and mixing are all stunning; the vocals are masterful.

First thing that hit me is top tier production. Next the use of use of classic formulas for the foundation of each of the songs. Like the break beat on track two. The bass on track three. Not a fan of the saxophone usually but it works well all over this album. The meaty guitar near the end of Lazarus. Girl Loves Me sounds influenced by hip hop without being something I feel I've heard before in a very interesting way. Dollar Days is a great evolution of a style of song that would be at home in the 1970s but with modern production it doesn't feel dated. Harmonica. As always with Bowie for me even the tracks that don't work as strong for me on first exposure they leave me with curiosity. This might be my favorite Bowie album now or at least up there. This album assures me that I have lots of time to keep creating.

When I first heard all of these Bowie albums in this book, I didn't really like any of them fully. Great songs but never a great album. Once I got to Blackstar though, everything changed. This is a masterpiece. I have since relistened and relistened to the Bowie albums and I now actually really like 3 others he made. Blackstar is a rare album. I'm just speechless coming up with anything else to say about it. It just left me stunned. By far my favorite Bowie album, I know he has a lot of albums on this list but Blackstar is one that can never be argued to take off. It's too good, and too important

Amazing.

It's hard to listen to this album outside its context - Bowie knew he was dying and turned it into a beautiful album. 'Lazarus' and 'I can't give everything away' are just incredible.

I love this album. Bowie, making it happen until the very end.

I don’t know what to say about this one but 5 stars. It’s a hard listen for a lot of people just because of what it is, but many people have better things to say on it than I ever could.

Now this is how you go out. With a bang. David Bowie had a very long career with many albums. I would know, as this is the fourth one I've gotten for this project, and there's still 5 I haven't gotten yet. And that's not even half of all the albums he released! Anyways, Blackstar was the last one he released in his lifetime, as Bowie would tragically pass away just two days after this album's release and his 69th birthday. Of course, the close proximity of Bowie's death and this album release have affected how people view this album. This feels intentional to me. This is clearly a swan song, and David Bowie knew this. This feels like a final album. Death does appear as a theme in this album. But does the album hold up on its own? Absolutely. This album is just phenomenal. Bowie's voice aged very well, as it still sounds quite good here despite him being in his late 60s at this time. The instrumental sound is also quite interesting. The influences come from many different place. There's a clear jazz influence on this thing and even an influence from contemporary hip-hop artists like Kendrick Lamar and Death Grips. That's just awesome. All 7 songs on this album are amazing. There's not a single bad one or even a bad moment in one of the songs. Blackstar manages to have some energy while still being incredibly emotional. There's so much more I could say, but I'm not sure I could put it in to words. This album, and what it represents, are immensely meaningful and create a truly fantastic experience that deserves all of the praise it can get. 5/5. R.I.P. David Bowie.

Perhaps the greatest and most gracious swan song of all time.

“Look up here, I’m in heaven” It might not have been intentional, but releasing those words just days before your death … That really hits hard. Inspired by both jazz ans hip hop artists, Blackstar perfectly exhibits the ever-evolving, curious and experimenting artist that Bowie was right until his final moments.

Muy pocos artistas se van bajo sus propios términos, dejando un micdrop que se oye a través del universo.

David Bowie's last masterpiece.

Easy 5 stars even if I don't really like Bowie

Blackstar Lazarus Sue (Or in a Season of Crime) I Can't Give Everything Away

Art rock. A beautifully human album. Really enjoyed it. 5/5

i’ve been meaning to relisten to this album for a while now… forgot how good it is. the title track is easily one of my favorite bowie songs (and one of his very best). 4.5 but rounding up since i enjoyed this one so much

One of the greatest albums ever done. The swan song of one of music's finest performers ever.

There’s a really interesting video I saw at some point that looked at the harmony Bowie used in the title track, which I thought was particularly fascinating because I was having a thing about Suede’s Dog Man Star at the time I listened to it, and one of my favourite songs, The Power, uses the same harmony during the middle eight. It became an interesting chicken or egg question in my mind. Was Bowie inspired to use the harmony because of Suede’s use of it, or were Suede, in their unwavering Bowie admiration, inspired by an instance when Bowie used the harmony in some other period? I still don’t have an answer. I feel as if everyone has a story attached to ★. When they first listened to it, how soon before or after Bowie’s death it was. The Monday that the news broke, I was woken up by my Mother, who broke the news to me. I listened to it on the walk into Sixth Form, and I’ve not listened to it since. It’s been eight years, and I’ve not heard a note. And a part of me doesn’t want to. The memory of listening to it in that moment is so perfect and bittersweet that I almost don’t want to tarnish it. But, having done so… I’m struggling to find a way of ending this review, because I do think this is a very good album, and an even better piece of art, a reflection on life and mortality, and more importantly a life in stardom. And I have a lot of thoughts about it, but they’re not easy to untangle from my own messy thoughts and feelings about death and legacy and art itself. And the fact that it has this effect on me is evidence of it’s greatness

Even removed from the context of Bowie's legacy and his passing the weekend after its release, this is still an incredible jazz rock album. Combined with those things, it earns its spot as one of the decade's best releases, and one of the finest send-offs that popular rock music's most eccentric figure could have asked for.

Bett than i remembered

Perfect 6/5

The music itself is really fascinating, but after reading that he died 2 days after release, and was recorded knowing that Bowie has cancer…wow. Not many pieces of art could say to have that sort of significance.

Haunting even without the context in which it was written and released. If only we all could get a swan song like that.

This is pretty experimental stuff, but isn't that what Bowie was all about? I really like it. I had this idea in my head that Bowie had died in like 2008, so when I read this was from 2016 I thought it was a re-release. Glad to hear I was wrong.

Incredibile

I like the kind of 80s futuristic vibe of the first half of Blackstar - it’s very smooth. The break is cool, and I don’t understand what this song is about but I enjoy the sound. I wasn’t really listening to the lyrics of Tis A Pity She Was A Whore but the vibes felt pretty rancid. I like Lazarus, and love the riff at the end. Sue is dark and weird in the best way. I love the drums and guitar. Girl Loves Me is so creepy and I’m into it. Dollar Days feels like a swan song, and that makes it very powerful and affecting. It’s very striking. And I think that I Can’t Give Everything Away was a cool final song! Overall, I liked this album and can see myself listening to it again!!

There's something to be said for saving the best for last. A perfect sendoff to a brilliant career. Still gives me chills every time I listen

This is an incredible work, and I do believe it will join the list of best Bowie albums. Moving, experimental, haunting, even familiar in places. What a swan song!

Loved this one from the first listen, and it only gets better with age. Miss you, Mr Bowie.

Lo mejor de lo mejor

Top notch album, title track is once again my favourite

This is not music, this is art. If you decide to listen to this album, make sure that this is what you do. Get your self some beer or wine and focus on the music. This is not for casual listening.

One of the best reflections on death ever recorded in any art medium.

Beautiful and haunting. Incredible that people can approach death in the way he did.

Title track is a great song to end Bowies magnificent career, but happily it’s only the beginning of this beautiful final hurrah for the spaceman. Lazurus is an epic track that is probably my favourite of them all. The whole album is a somber affair of Bowie and his struggles with cancer and accepting death. It is probably his best writing and musical ideas put into a final goodbye of one of the best and most influential artists ever.

Rocking, introspective, dark

As I’ve said before about Bowie when he’s popped up on my list, I cannot throw myself into being an enthusiastic fan. Some of his stuff is brilliant and others not so. Of all his albums I’m familiar with this comes in at number two behind Ziggy. I remember listening to one of the lead singles taken from this album - Lazarus and not being impressed at all. When this full album dropped I streamed it and again it did not grab me fully. It was only two days later that Bowie died and like most of the musical population I turned on his music in homage to the man. The more I played Black Star the more I liked it. It certainly is a grower but Lazarus still goes above my head. Prior to listening again I had a 4/5 in my head but I’ve given it another two listens and again it’s grown on me. I wouldn’t put the album anywhere near my top 50 or 100 even but some albums should be held in high esteem because of their standing in musical history. Bowie has made a few of these which have already appeared on my list but I never marked higher than 4/5. In reverence to Bowie I give it full marks as in my opinion it is a remarkable album, recorded maybe when he knew he didn’t have long to live so should be regarded highly even though one or two tracks do not personally click with me. 5/5 10/6/24

In 2016, this was my introduction to David Bowie. I have always respected his ability to release one of his best projects days before his death. Upon revisiting, there are a few low points, but the other songs are incredible. The low points aren’t bad, but get overshadowed by stronger tracks (some of Bowie’s best ever).

A perfect parting album and some of his most interesting music.

one of those albums that's amazing on its own, but the story behind its creation magnifies it multitudes higher. the jazz quartet sells that deathly sound so well. seriously something magical

Been one of my favorites for a while now

What a sendoff for a legend might be first 5 if not 4 definitely a 5 bonafide banger david bowie the goat

Bowie's last ever album released 2 days before he died, Never had a death in the music world but me so hard since Freddie Mercury. For me David Bowie was a genius and this is the work of a genius and I love this album. It skews more towards Bowie's electronic music which dominated his later years but it also has call backs to his whole catalogue and all the different kind of genres that he covered. As for the songs the title track, Lazarus & I Can't Give You Everything are highlights but all the tracks are great as Bowie sings about life and as only a few people at the time new his impending death. Its beautiful and it's heartbreaking and must be one of the 1001 Albums you must here before you die.

"I see The Sword of Damocles is right above your head They're trying a new treatment to get you out of bed But radiation kills both bad and good, it can not differentiate So to cure you, they must kill you The Sword of Damocles hangs above your head"-Lou Reed Lou Reed would be the first gone. I wonder if Bowie listened to Magic and Loss as he privately battled liver cancer, an organ, like Reed, he had abused more than his own cock, and was finally giving up. I can speculate that this is likely the case, but then again, who really knows? There are plenty of theories about Bowie's last album, though Jude Moore's 2016 assertion in The Guardian that the key to the album is an Elvis deep cut remains my favorite. This one made sense to me. I can't really theorize it though; Bowie's death took a pound of soul out of me, one, now two, Angels of Weird no longer available to comment to astonishment about the world I must now live in, and make sense of, on my own. So I haven't made sense of this puzzle poem of an album, aside from it seems to be the panoply of human experience and aspiration and desperation and ultimately, illumination. There is revelation here, though don’t expect the universe; the revelations are personal, and Bowie is pointing you in the direction. A life of art is LIFE-everything else is on the order of barely sentient means of production. I write this one without re-listening, because I don't have all day to contemplate the journey of the album, the insights therein or can be illuminated. The banal requires attention. The apostolic will have to wait. But you don't have to. Go be with this. And remember: IGGY STILL LIVES. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jan/21/final-mysteries-david-bowie-blackstar-elvis-crowley-villa-of-ormen

If i knew i'd be leaving this world soon, i'd also hire tim lefebvre and mark guiliana to play on the best goddamn album im ever gonna make

Where the f*** did Monday go?

Amazing

This album wouldn't be so special if Bowie had not died so close to the release, but the fact of the matter is that Bowie did die within days of the release and he knew it. Honestly, the MFer was so dramatic I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't holding out for release day and mad that his timing was off. That's what we loved about him. This is a beautiful, weird, rocking swan song from Bowie. I held off on listening to it when it came out because apart from a few singles, I'd never listened to the man or any of his personas before. I still have a ton of discography to go, but I know enough to feel like I can read the ending, so to speak. There isn't a single skip on this album. It's experimental and a little weird, but easy to digest. I wouldn't put this on for a party, but I'll probably listen to it a few more times and I'll think about it a lot. Lazarus, Sue, and I Can't Give Everything Away are all fantastic tracks. Particularly the last one. There's so much meaning in that simple line. "I'm dying so I can't give you all the things I have left". "I can't give you everything or I'd have nothing left". "I'm not going to share my secrets because the mystery is part of the fun". It'll stick with me for a minute. If Bowie had a made a miraculous recovery and didn't actually die after this swansong, I don't know if it would have as much impact. There are moments where musically things don't work as well as I'd like. The title track in particular is a bit long and meandering, but this is an easy five stars.

Bowie's ability to push boundaries and innovate shines through, making this album a fitting conclusion to his legendary career.

What an amazing way to leave this world. Unforgettable.

Gear: Focal Clear Artwork: ★★★ Production: 🕳️🛏️🌌 Music: 🔮🕯️🌟 Rating: ★★★★★/5

this sounds amazing, like true artistry, pushing yourself in your late 60's to make a life-defining work. Praise to the creatives and long live Bowie

That guy was great 'till the end. An artist to the core.

This might be considered a hot-take, but I don't care : this is my favorite David Bowie's album. The music is just another thing, dark and depressive (but uplifting) progressive jazz-rock from outer space. A world apart album.

Gave me feels.

Oooooh, su último disco.

Beautiful. A jewel Bowie left right before he died.

My Favorite Bowie record.

I was surprised how good this was when it came out, and I'm still surprised that it somehow feels better and better each time.

Bowie was amazing until the very end. This is just another great look into his creative mind.

David Bowie's swansong has been conceived partially at the decline of his health, partially at its recovery. The rollercoaster of fear and torture has marked the final product immensely. Bowie this channels most of his efforts into near-academic exploration of instrumental and compositional newness, lyrical mysticism, and influential hullabaloo. What becomes of this avant-pro-avant-garde fusion is a masterful and haunting work that can truly only come once in a lifetime. A d what a lifetime it has been.

A swansong from one of the greatest artists to have ever lived. RIP DB.

Excepcional final jazzistico del gran David Bowie ya enfermo.

One of the best examples of the exploration of death in music. Yea, the context matters a lot to this album, but why should that detract from it?

Disco último y una despedida secreta de Bowie de este plano para volver a la galaxia de la que vino. Siempre sentí que el tipo directamente no era humano. ¿Cómo explicar su genialidad, su vanguardia constante, si no es en términos sobrenaturales? Un trabajo oscuro, jazzero, rockero, experimental, con su voz magistral y sensible, que siempre dijo más de lo que decía.

Very good

Wow. I like 60s70s English Rock. But not in particular David Bowie. I like Jazz and I like Radiohead. This album is great, no bullshit , not just another copy/past form the past years. Highly innovative, risky. I learn after listening it that was his last work. 4.5/5. Thank you David for giving us this last Gift.

I love this album so much and it deserves all the stars. If you take in this album as just an album, it’s an extraordinary soundscape and adventurous musical journey. When you add the context that Bowie knew he was dying and created this album (one of the best of his insane career) as a parting gift to the world, it’s utterly mind blowing. In classic Bowie fashion, it doesn’t really sound like anything else in his discography. I’m not aware of many albums that sound like it either. I love that the title track is just a star symbol. I love that Girl Loves Me sounds a little like a rap song. I love everything about Lazarus. When I first heard Dollar Days I interpreted the lyric as “I’m dying to” but it’s written as “I’m dying too”, which is haunting and brilliant. I Can’t Give Everything Away is probably the best album closer of his career (Fame being the only song I can think of that’s close). Bowie’s swan song is an impossibly beautiful parting gift to the world.

Great

Love how his inspirations for this album are some of my all time favorites. What an amazing album to go out on. RIP to such an influential artist.

Amazing, didn’t even feel like it was 40 minutes. Also, if you liked this, absolutely check out black midi.

Classic

Awesome!

Just listen to it! The perfect epitaph. Just listen to how much he is enjoying himself on side B!

I can't put my finger on what exactly I loved, but it all just came together so well.

Mos Def, Talib Kweli and David Bowie, LET'S GO!!! Wait what, I'm wrong, it's about what? Oh dear lord, here comes the waterworks!

Superb

Great David

Not my favourite but since it’s his last it’s dear to my heart.

Ignoring the death of the artist, it's a stellar album with varied, cool songs, great drums and instrumentation, and interesting themes.

10/10

Classic David Bowie. Great Album

Not a single bad song on this album that grabs back to his Berlin trilogy time. Marvelous.

Listening to this album is almost unbearably poignant. I can’t help remembering the first time I heard it, sharing the experience with friends on the internet, thrilled that we were hearing a new Bowie album. We puzzled at the lyrics, especially the references to death, and enjoyed the cheeky bits about someone grabbing his cock. There were even callbacks to his very first album that we had listened to not long ago. Then we got the news …

I could fill pages talking about this album. But, in short, this is the definition of ‘masterpiece’. Bowie’s greatest, imho. I was lucky enough to see the band (Donny McCaslin’s quartet) live the year after this came out, was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to.

Really cool music on this one

What a fantastic album.

Haunting

I was listening to this (had just bought it on vinyl) when I got the news he died. I didn't want to believe it at first. I was sad for a long time after. I still don't want to believe it. But he left us this beautiful parting gift. This

Excellent Outro to an amazing Career and a great way to bow out. Thank you Bowie for this!!!! You really gave everything away.

i am completely blown away by how much i misinterpreted this album when i first listened to it couple years ago. its so different from anything else and colourful in so many ways while having the darknes you'd expect from someone as close to death as bowie was at the time. absolutely loving it, the rythm section on the first song for an exemple is still the hardest to get used to for me. such a crazy rythm in that drum part... but its a 5 to me on this very second listen and im sure it will eventually be a perfect one to my ears. and good lord, I Can't Give Everything Away is such a perfect closer.

One of the best albums of this century. The Album: A collection of avant-garde, profound, and introspective songs that never bore the listener. It's unpredictable and engaging. The Lyrics: Complex and multi-layered. Reflecting the album's themes of mortality and spirituality. The Context: An album to say goodbye. Have you watched the Lazarus video? All those references are sprinkled over five minutes. The suit, his eyes, his moves... David Bowie is a legend, and this is one of the many works that prove it.

David Bowie is one of the three most important musicians EVER in my life. I named my dog Bowie for god sakes. I remember the excitement of new music coming from him, a beautiful surprise in early January, only to be crushed that he was dead two days later. How could that possibly be, and yet of course he had given us a masterpiece final gift. I have spent many hours with this album. The musicians are superb, including the amazing drummer Mark Guiliana. All pulled together in NYC in secret to hear demos put together by the then reclusive Bowie and to work with him full force, full of creative energy, and always reinventing to some new place. The man is a fucking genius smarter than all of us put together the way he weaves art, history, metaphysical/ spiritual/ magical/ darkness/ light into one. I grieve. But I love going back to learn what was top of mind inspiring him and driving him throughout the years. It is impossible to separate the quality of the music from the totality of being the art he created while dying of cancer. It certainly colors how I feel about it, but goddammit the music, lyrics, and creativity are as good as anything he ever did. You can learn a lot more about the backstories here: https://bowiesongs.wordpress.com/category/blackstar-2016/

Return to the home planet. Listen to this one with headphones, a lot is going on there.

Incredible, the fact that he pjt this out so close to death and it still sound fresh as hell is insane.

I heard this one upon release, I think it was a Friday. It proved to me quite inaccessible. I liked that ‘TAPSWAW song because, after 8 months I was still quite heartbroken. On Saturday I went out to a “trajinera” afternoon with my family and out to drink with college friends and acquaintances that night. It was the golden years and being heartbroken really gave me a cynicism those people really enjoyed. Me and my friend took some numbers and quite stole the party. while I was hungover reminiscing the night and deciding whether to text that curled haired girl I learned about Bowies passing. I did not considered myself quite the big fan, but it was definitely a blow. I did not text her and went out to listen to the album once again while walking my now gone too, dog. I let myself feel the sorrow one more time and did not listen to the album in full again until I guess a couple years ago. I make playlists of the best of the year and the chosen song from this was ‘TAPSWAW. Listening to the album today I wish I was in a better place to listen to if 8 years ago, but I guess no one choses such things. It’s a great goodbye and, even if it’s not my favorite, this album is just excellent. My favorite song now is ICGEA.

It's haunting, dark, self-reflective... the perfect swan song for Bowie. I only really got into Bowie's music right after his passing in early 2016, and yet I avoided this album in particular. Maybe I was worried that it would be too depressing, shining in a completely different light once Bowie passed away several days after its release. The album is, for lack of a better word, a masterpiece. All seven tracks are intense, creative, incredibly unique-sounding, and somehow both chart-topping and genre-avoidant (they definitely aren't pop songs). They're also some of Bowie's most complex compositions, delving into wacky time signatures, complicated percussive rhythms, and prog-esque multi-part experiences. It's an experience you can't miss. 5/5

we love bowie

Разъёб. Лучшая песня - I Can't Give Everything Away

With the heavy jazz elements and the sound on this record, it is one of the most emotive releases in Bowie's collection. Having listened to this for the first time right after his death, I still am struck with the sense of finality he put into this work.

Wow! I've been listening to this on repeat all day on the best speakers I have. It's pretty amazing. With the album being what it is -- made for his fans once he knew he was going to die soon -- we have the ability to remove some level of listener interpretation and just listen to this honestly. Take it in, and don't overanalyze the genre, the lyrics, the playing, the songwriting ... just take it in. It sounds amazing. It feels transcendent. I think it's beautiful. If I were to overthink it though, I would say that the tracking is interesting, starting with the most challenging track and then working its way to more comfortable, accessible tracks. Maybe this mirrors his acceptance of his fate? Also, if I were to overthink another thing, I would mention how this band absolutely crushes every wrinkle Bowie throws at them. But I'm totally not doing that. If art is the transference of a feeling or an idea through an artist's creation, then this album is absolutely a masterpiece.

A wonderful mix of jazz and rock. Definitely my favourite in this list until now. Will be listening a lot to it in the future.

I'd avoided listening to Blackstar for a long time. I was deeply saddened by Bowie's passing and didn't want my view of the album tainted by that, and all the acclaim for Blackstar fed my suspicions that would happen. I think it's been long enough now where I can listen to this as an album first and a Final Album second. It's a joy to hear Bowie explore so many genres and production approaches. He was adventurous, up to the end. While I don't know what to do with lyrics like "I was looking for your ass", I do think Blackstar is great outside the context of Bowie's passing.

Me gusta un poco místico, creo que tiene álbumes mejores

Review very helpful, thanks!

Second best David Bowie album

What a way to go out. I didn’t want to believe this was the last we’d ever hear from one of the all time greats when this album first dropped. But it’s settled in for me as not only one of Bowie’s best, but one of THE best records ever made. If we could all come to terms with death the way Ziggy does on this record, how much better of a place would this be?