Blackstar

This album is perfect. A bittersweet masterpiece and a very fitting end for David Bowie

Brilliant album with such a strong lock on my memory and an incredible project. Loved having a reason to relisten today.

This album is good but has received iconic status because of the timing of its release. It is often sloppy and overproduced but still enjoyable because even mid tier Bowie is still solid

5/10 not that great overall, but has some good songs (Lazarus!)

This is more highly thought of than it should be purely down to timing

bit weird but put me through fantastic musical journey. Music tells a story and i like it

Really don’t like the first song. Almost like a good Radiohead album but worse. Overall just too sort of alternative and weird for me.

Nice

Life is too short to listen to all these Bowie albums.

Holy shit I really hate this. Like I don't know if it's wholly the circumstance ( bad family party, half an existential crisis) but my god I'm not having a good time with this. I'm having a pretty bad time, in fact. Some of the best parts are when Bowie isn't singing.

I love David Bowie. I really do. And hell do I love glazing my idols' obscure and experimental work. But hell nah. I feel like this record gets way more praise than it deserves because of the guy who made it and what happened to him a couple days after releasing it. The experimentation doesn't sit right with me. The vocals are awkward (even when used to Bowie's unusual singing in other projects), and the songwriting that we see in Bowie's other records is just not there.

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.

Not as mind-blowing as some of his career’s work, but still very good for his final album.

Probably only on here because of the connection to his death & I do think the context doubles the haunting quality of this album, but I think a lot of it stands on its own. Maybe wouldn’t have put this one on the list personally, but I’m happy I went back & listened to it.

I think I’m not a Bowie guy. RIP my fandom

This one is hard to rate. I don't know if it's so smart that I don't get it, or if there is not really much there to get. It's an interesting album, especially with Bowie's death surrounding its release. I've listened to it twice and have yet to form a solid opinion about it. I'm going with a 4 because it's Bowie's goodbye to the world and it's fascinating.

A unique album experience. Far from my favourite of Bowie's but it holds a special spot. I thought about this work when dad passed. The experimentalism and longevity of Bowie — who created this work while dying — this really is like a time capsule or message from beyond. 4/5

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

Didn't really do anything for me. The instrumentals are cool, but this guy gives off creepy old man energy. I'm hoping that his earlier albums are better. 2/5

Very good. Reminded me of Twin Peaks, ironically

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.

Well That sucked

+ Lazarus, I Can't Give Everything Away

Nunca escuché a Bowie. No sé cómo se me escapó… me sorprende no haberlo escuchado considerando lo muy metido que estuve en la música pitera original de bares locales. Es increíble la influencia que tienen todas las bandas piteras. Sin embargo, ya no soy el morrito edgy alternativo que alguna vez fui. Es buen álbum, muy a la dark side of the moon: un proyecto que te lleva caminando a donde te quiere llevar. Me faltó mariguana para escucharlo como se debe. Still: siento que no me perdí de nada al conocerlo hasta ahora. Entiendo que una riatota en su momento, pero hoy yo lo escuché como un montón de synths y guitarras con reverb en acordes disminuídos haciendo cama a un saxofonista bien periqueado. La última rola da buen giro. Still, no soy fan de su voz. Pero neta que WOW con la influencia que noto que derramó a muchísimas bandas posteriores. Aunque, es un álbum de 2016, not sure about that last part.

Okay 1/2 gute Lieder dabei

First 5 songs - could hardly get through listening to them Dollar days and I can't give everything away are the only two that I would be fine to listen to if someone put them on. I wouldn't be happy but unlike the first 5 I would not jump to immediately change the tune.

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

Not his best

Delightful the whole way through

Weird but interesting

I've had Alanis Morissette and Sheryl Crow on the last two Sundays so was fully preparing myself for some Aimee, Liz, Fiona or Bjork but instead I got the final studio album by Bowie. He was of course a master of re-invention during his career, but was never to my knowledge never eligible for a Lilith Fair bill. He did die on a Sunday though so kind of apt I suppose I remember doing an early shift the next day and waking up to the news of his death, which came just a few days after the release of this album and it was a heavy mood. It's a wonderful elegiac record and the sax playing from Donny McCaslin is a standout. Was tempted to give this a 5 for Lazarus alone, yet I only gave Aladin Same a 4 so can't quite place this above his early 70s output but the fact he was still making records almost as good four decades later is remarkable really.

Maybe not my thing, but I quite dislike this. Felt like Bowie was the worst part of every song and the vibe did not work for me. Almost stopped listening after 1-2 songs, but it got better with Lazarus which was a big step up. Finished mediocre at best. Can add that 1 song to my playlists, but have no desire to listen again.

Pretty slow, not my personal kinda vibe

some cool songs but I didn't love it. someone compared this to a Leonhard Cohen album and I thought that was apt

Makes me sad. Totally my cup of tea.

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.

Ok, DB again. My favorite of his last album is the cover

Spooky. Released 2 days before his death. He knew.

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

The ultimate example of a master releasing an important album in their late career. Provoking, relevant and absolutely engaging, not just an aged great crooning over background music. Dylan's Tempest and Lenard Cohen's You Want It Darker don't quite measure up to this.

already listened

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.

First song is pissing me off. It's ass. Don't like any of this. I like some of his older stuff but this just sounds like an annoying old man trying to be David Bowie. It's so whiney. Every song is really annoying and it's embarrassing for an old man to be going round like "ooooohhh I'm David Bowie" That was ass

How is this rated 3.5 globally? Am I deaf? Sorry I am not a fan of deep and slow vibrato. The only good thing for me is his voice. He does have a nice tone but that’s it.

didn't think i would ever give David Bowie a one star... but this album honestly didn't do anything for me. it sounded like something that would be played at a funeral... i guess maybe it could be a two stars... but here's to being hyper critical i guess.

I get that it’s Bowie and he’s an incredible musician that deserves his accolades, this album just wasn’t really for me. Not much stood out to me or caught my attention. It’s like a two and a half at best.

Guys, I.... I don't.... I don't think I like David Bowie.

No standouts

Very clear that this album was made by a talented musician who spent years perfecting his craft. I believe that there is some sort of story behind the album? I should find out.

Holy shit

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

This album is good and a departure from the Bowie I'm used to hearing. I liked the vibe of this album.

Ahh Bowie. So this album is good. It's better if you're into Bowie experimenting with jazz. Overall it's fun and sad at the same time. Fun because it's Bowie playing with jazz, sad because it was his last album. It gets a TON of positive reviews because of this. It's a good album but it's not a great album. I enjoyed it like a lot of his work, and like some of his work I'm going, "What are you trying to accomplish?" Then I have to read a review and listen again to try and grab it. It's good because when it clicks it hits hard, and I will always love his music because dude experiments. He tries and goes for it and I will always love an artist for moving out of their comfort zone. RIP David thanks for the music.

Excellent. But dark. He is clearly dying and is close to the exit. That permeates the album but in neither a maudlin or defiant way. Stoical. Appreciative, yet tinged with sadness but no regret. A challenging listen.

Me aburrio, q raro

Some good moments. Some bad. Some great. Instrumentals are impressive. Most of the singing is pretty good. But some songs have some bad moments that bring them down, and I was rarely wowed.

If you turned your life into art, then why not do the same with your death?

Who starts an album with a song that is an emoji? Really, I am of firm belief that this album only made the list because it's Bowie. But, the more I listen to his whole albums, the more overrated he becomes. The musicianship has little pockets of interesting. The lyrics tired. Kinda cool to hear him swear, but overall it was one of the harder listens on this list. I didn't mind 'I can't give everything Away', as it was more conventional. But the rest of it was a challenging smack to the senses. I was going to give it 2 stars because it is Bowie. But, I'm better than that. He's better than that. 1 Star and I want 37 minutes of my life back.

This is like a guy in his 40s skateboarding from his office to the bus station. He’s obviously talented because he’s doing the odd grind and he can nose manual, but at the same time he just comes across as desperate to display his talent to an audience that have moved on from being impressed by kickflips. He frantically tries to show every trick he knows to the silent onlookers before the bus arrives, but it is more of a distraction than being anything impressive.

This really was not great. A black mark on a great career

Sweet, some more Bowie. I know this album was a big deal at the time and I’m looking forward to giving this a listen – I always like when a music artist goes out on top. I know there’s a lot of hyperbole and hysteria around these just-before-mortem albums, so I guess I’ll just have to listen and judge for myself. Yeah, it’s certainly Bowie. Only this time much older when compared with his previous outings. There’s kind of a trip-hop/heavy ambience hanging over much of this album, which is the stuff I liked most about Heroes/Low. Pretty out there, too. I’m not an avant-garde jazz type, but when paired with the sound of this album it managed to work quite well. The album really drags during the middle, though. Not gonna lie. The opening track is pretty alright. I like the harsh percussion and the jazz stylings that occasionally rear their head, though it's the second half of the track which really impresses me. Quite a nice sound. “Dollar Days” is an interesting track. I can’t say it really worked for me, though I admired how out there it was. I did like the outro of the song, however. “I Can’t Give Everything Away” is a solid closer. The heavy percussion is, again, the strongest part of the song, though I also dig the electronic embellishments hanging over the track, as well as the sick guitar solo during the outro. I sadly can’t consult my edition of the book to understand why this is in here, though I fortunately have Wikipedia. Experimental. Bowie’s “parting gift”. International chart topper. Universally acclaimed. Multi-Grammy winner. Regarded as one of the best albums of the 2010s-okay, I get it. This is a solid pick. I cosign.

RIP DAVIE BOWIE FROM THE DAVE BOWIE BAND

Egentlig et vanskelig album å vurdere fordi det er så tett knyttet til Bowies bortgang. Men uansett et sterkt album. For meg i grenselandet mellom 4 og 5. Velger sterk 4’er i dag. I morgen er det gjerne 5. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Rating: 3.9 This was exemplary. I thought people were playing up how haunting this album is, but the fact you can hear his labored breathing and shaky voice at several points throughout conveys a profound sense of finality. I guess I’ll find myself going backwards through Bowie’s long ass catalog since this is the first of his I’ve heard all the way through.

To be honest, what the fuck were the first two songs. I was on the verge of cutting this album short but gave it the grace of the first songs being so ass that the rest has to catch up. To my surprise Lazarus was an okay song. I could do without David in this entire discography so far because his instrumentalists are CARRYING in this (SO FAR). I can definitely be crucified for this. Sue disappointed me. Girl Loves Me once again has a NICE groove man. I do like the little whimpers he lets out LMAO. Again tho, could do without David's vocals half the time. Dollar Days started so strong, but once again David cannot hang on to a vocal that works for him to save his life. The rest are mid.

-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 the last of my Bowie albums for the list, and by this point it really did bounce off me other than when the signing was particularly bad. I was curious about what this would be like given its context, but I simply can't get past my overall dislike of Bowie's sound and style to take any of it. More fool me, I guess.

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 don't feel like I needed to hear this album before I died

Not for me at all!

Just a little too odd for me

I always refused to listen to this record after Bowie's passing. Until today. It's a good record. Nothing incredible but a solid one for sure. 6/10 fav songs : ⭐️ & 'Tis a pity she was a whore.

I was a bit disappointed by this album. Just a couple of songs where I could feel Bowie...

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.

Awful, too jazzy

Weird, good. Funny. “Where the fuck did Monday go?” and “I can’t give away everything!” are two good choruses

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?

dark, jazzy, artful, angry. great final note for david bowie. crazy lore that it came out on his birthday and 2 days before he died.

Didn’t like this album

Goddamn I am so tired of Bowie albums

Sincerament, per mi de Bowie se n’ha fet un gra massa. No és que no em sembli excepcional, és que ni tan sols m’agrada

Not my Bowie album

Masterpiece

I don't get it. On the bright side, Bowie left a large catalogue that i do like.

Not for me.

Listened in the truck via YouTube music. This is the second Bowie album in a row. Blackstar was unique but so are all of his albums. Great send off for a legend.

Weak

Thanks for turning me onto this album. I don't think I would have listened to this - Bowie's newer stuff - but it was good.

Nešto je ok, nešto čisti smor. Ništa nije nadprosječno. Stvarno ne kontam ovu opsesiju Bowiem i na samoj listi i od ljudi koji ocjenjuju. Naumpao mi je ovaj album kad sam se mučila s onim Cohenovim umirućim, barem je značajno bolji od toga (nije teško).

op zich niet slecht, maar ook niet het meesterwerk dat iedereen er van maakt... had hij dit halverwege zijn leven gereleased, waren de reacties minder lovend, denk ik

Fantastic goodbye album by the master, that I don't play very often though. It's maybe too dark, too jazzy? Very nice lyrics though

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

When music nerds discovered death. Who guys look out. David Bowie recorded this and then died. Yup. He knew he was dying and felt (insert overarching emotional theme of Blackstar here) about it. Truly the greatest poet of our time. Like he DIED. Who does that? What an artist. The discourse around this album bears all the hallmarks of “deep because death,” but I’ll give it the old college try. Tally ho Mr. B, if the good lord is willing, may your 1 star streak be broken. Blackstar - Here’s the deal. Sometimes I feel guilty about my reviews. Despite the fact nobody reads them, I feel I haven’t developed a concrete rubric and sometimes my distaste for something can be based on other factors. When I think about it more, I realize that is what art is and one’s connection to said art is the combination of all their feelings about the art. I’m not the only one who does this. If you don’t believe me, please look up “rayonbase” on your music platform of choice. One is a universally beloved, critically acclaimed “icon” of the music industry. One is a universally laughed at instagram musician. Yet, for at least the start of this song, they sound exactly the same. This wasn’t even my original observation, but as a fervent rayonbase enjoyer, I had to include. Oh, this song was cool until the loose bow tie breakdown at the halfway point. “I’m not a gangster, I’m a Blackstar.” Fuck off. I love the odd instrumentation, but the singing is again, where David Bowie loses me. ‘Tis a Pity She is a Whore - More cool music interrupted by these vocals. Listen to that. If you have the mindset that it’s intentionally bad, it gets a little better. We’ll go with that. Yeah, this almost becomes a punk album. Hell yeah. Context is king. Lazarus - Almost like Sabu’s theme song and that is the biggest compliment I can give any music. I wish he wouldn’t sing. My god. But then again ugh the bad singing is so cool. This is supposed to be the deep song about being dead, and he sounds almost disinterested. Except when the white boi reggae™️ riffs start. Then he’s fired up. The crackers yearn for the white sand beaches of Jamaica. Sue (Or in a Season of Crime) - I would like to take this opportunity to sue the estate of David Bowie. For the damages suffered on “Station to Station” to sitting through the death album. Why is there a sick alt-metal breakdown in here? You won me over you sly rascal. Girl Loves Me - Yeah he just didn’t care anymore. Going completely insane. This is evil coldplay. It’s so bad, that it’s good and not even in a funny way. It’s just anti-music. Do I like this album??? That can’t be happening. Where the fuck did Monday go? The great question of our time that nobody has ever asked. Dollar Days - Are back at McDonalds. Was it McDonald’s? Who cares. Some evil corporation did Dollar Days. Possibly inspired by big Dave. More chic bad music. Very fun in much the same way that watching a horrible B movie is cinematic brilliance. I Can’t Give Everything - This was as confusing an ending as I’d expect. I’m sure there is some beautiful death allegory about giving everything but being afraid to and having no choice blah blah blah. This song extinguished most of the charm this album had going for it. If David Bowie didn’t sing in this record, you’ve got yourself a very nice piece of music. Unfortunately, we did have to endure the vocal stylings of one Dave Bowie, but here’s the thing, as I espoused throughout this review, the singing was in the “so bad it’s good” territory. This was a cool record. I think it’s artistically viable despite being borderline unlistenable. Whatever it was, I was intrigued. Pop the champagne and pour it out for my homebody D-Bow. He’s out of 1 star purgatory. He failed his way out of the mire, only to be whack-a-moled with a shameful 2 stars. Better luck next time. 2 HIGHLIGHTS: The unblinking eye of the catacombs

Боуи, при всём уважении к твоему творчеству, что это за хуйня блять.

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.

Wow. Very esoteric. Expected Bowie to explore the fringes and this album has that.

Hmm, it's somewhat a great album but on the other side, it's not that great tbh.

Awful album. Way too artsy for my liking. I doubt this album would have received the critical acclaim that it did had Bowie not passed away shortly after its release.

Feels like blasphemy for me to say... I don't like this at all. His vocals are too weird for me in this song. Instrumentals are decent, but it's kinda too busy at times, even for me. Maybe the lyrics are good but it doesn't even make me want to go read them, and they're hard to understand by itself. Got halfway through the third song (about halfway through the album) & gave up

Two days after the release of Blackstar, I was zoning out to a radio DJ set, floating somewhere between wakefulness and dreamstate, when the DJ interrupted his program to tell us that David Bowie had died. Denial spewed illogically from my brain. "No, he can't be dead, he just released an album on Friday." He had written and planned the release of this album to coincide with the end of his life. A last gift to the world from a legendary master of reinvention, a symbol of how his legacy will far outlast the limited lifespan of his mortal being. Kind of fitting and beautiful, isn't it?

While I love Bowie's earlier works, and Heathen holds a special place in my heart, I just couldn't find the right frame of mind to truly enjoy this album, as haunting and emotional as it is.

I wasn't sure about this at the time, felt it was oversold & everyone being rather sycophantic because he died soon after it's release. However I've listened to it a few times now and it's grown on me. I still don't think it's his best, but it is an interesting listen.

Some really good songs on this made all more visceral by the events around it's release. Definitely a final album but not maudling and typical Bowie continue to progress musically. Interesting

I never liked Bowie's voice very much. Great how he reinvented himself again and again, how over the years he didn't limit himself to music, but also the story and the visual representation. But this album is not for me. Reminds me of Radiohead, but not as good.

RIP Bowie, you went out with a banger 4/5

l'album est très expérimental, peut être un peu trop à mon goût, je trouve sa voix pas trop adaptée à ce style, mais y'a deux trois chansons pas mal.

It's fine. I like early Bowie more

Crazy to read that he died 2 days after the release of the album. It was a mix of rock and jazz that I did not hear before. I am not sure I woud listen to it again but it was a nice discovery, it felt very nostalgic!

Favorite songs: Blackstar, Lazarus, Girl Loves Me Least favorite songs: Sue (Or In a Season of Crime) 4/5

Some flashes of brilliance for sure. Heartbreaking and driving.

Not my favorite David Bowie, but I did enjoy most of it. Will revisit. Maybe it'll grow on me a little.

I own this CD. Great production. Somber. Music is moody and beautiful - Saxaphone is gorgeous. I love the jazz movements mixed with melody. Lyrics are sad and tragic. Much discussion and many questions. Favorite tracks: Lazarus, Dollar Days, and I Can't Give Everything Away

Listens: 4 Standout tracks: Blackstar, Lazarus I've never listened to David Bowie, at least not intentionally, and I don't think I can name any songs by him. I do recognize him by name and I am aware of some of both his tremendous musical career, and through his acting credits, mostly The Prestige, and Labyrinth (though I've never seen the latter). All of this is a long winded way of saying that I therefore think it weird for me to start listening to Bowie by listening to his 26th and final studio album he ever released while alive, rather than, for example, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust..., which I understand to be some of his most highly recognized work. As of listen one I haven't yet formed any strong opinions on the album yet besides enjoying Lazarus. The album feels musically dense, with lots of music transitions happening within songs, and I suspect I'm going to need a few listens to really soak it in. --- A few listens later, I think the album is totally fine. Nothing stands out as particularly bad or offensive, but I am not entirely blown away by any of the tracks. Lazarus and Blackstar is good tracks. I like the alternating between <Blank>-star and Black Star: porn star, gang-star ;) white star, rock star, movie star, etc. I can't help but thinking that "I Can't Give Away Everything" is directly related to the fact that he knew he was going to die soon. Annoyingly, Youtube Music does not have lyrics for this album and so I can't really easily dive into what the song is saying.

Realizing I just kinda cruised through this one without paying attention, I’m sure it was great because Bowie n such, but will need revisit to give an honest review

Beautifully sad and mysterious.

Perfect requiem. Love Bowie

Zero bad tracks and a fitting farewell

Тимати - не завидуй

#652. Jesus, more Bowie? When will it end? This is the fucking seventh album of his already. Why? This shit is not good. 2/5: shit

Always loved Bowie but never listened to this one. Really enjoyed, very beautiful, sad and jazzy in places as well.

I guess I’m not a Bowie fan.

Overrated due to his death, but still a solid album.

Not my favorite Bowie work. But I didn’t hate it. Just not an album I’d ever put on to enjoy start to finish.

no estaba mal

Dark, melancholy, and downright sad. Bowie's final album may not rank with his greatest achievements, but it certainly is a worthy send-off. 4/5 #130

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

kinda low 3 for me tbh. Strong thematic messaging and music is fine, but it's a little artsy for me. Won't be revisiting much

I get why David Bowie is considered a musical genius. He reinvented himself numerous times over the course of his career, was a huge influence on the culture, and an amazing performer. And this is a good album. I just feel like it's not really my thing and is not something I'd regularly come back to for a listen.

Lazarus and I Can't Give Everything Away were great. The rest didn't do much for me. I appreciate his late life attempt to explore new musical trends, but I personally don't get the hype for this album from a purely musical perspective. Falls a bit flat. His older stuff is of much more interest; one could argue that this album should not be here.

Amazing that Bowie made this Album while he knew he was dying. It comes through in the music, so haunting.

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.

Ziggy Stardust deserved a better send-off.

Strange tunes from an aging superstar, not great

i haven't the faintest idea how to write about this, so i'm giving myself a break and kind of deciding not to. at least not a proper review. for one: this thing's highly self-referential, if not to specific moments and bits of iconography from Bowie's career, then at least to Bowie's status As a career artist. i don't know anything about Bowie's work, not really. i've heard some singles. i'd heard spiders from mars before. and that's like it. yeah, lack of background knowledge hasn't stopped me from providing real write-ups to other records—i got the last (real) Doors album as my First Doors album and i managed that just fine. but man, this is different. the man's dying. so look, i'll just say i like this a lot. i can't give everything away coaxed some very real tears out of me at nine am on a monday. and that's that. … okay, but look, while we're here, the idea that an artist's death leads to their work being OverHyped or something feels extremely Foolish. there's already this arbitrary purist tendency among critics and more snob-adjacent music fans to try to Pull music from its context as much as possible. you see it when a negative review claims an album "aged poorly," and you see it all the time in whatever follows "people only like this because []." but like. music isn't Just music, right? the story Matters, the artist's charisma and their background and politics and the musical landscape the record was released in and the Fucking album title and the cover and the promotion—all that shit matters, because why the hell Wouldn't it? like it or not, You're bringing a lot of baggage from outside the music itself into your listening experience as well. your own background and taste, the setting you happened to hear the music in, your choice of medium itself (headphones? knockoff earbuds? speakers? vinyl? streaming? are you a sit-still-and-close-your-eyes style listener or a pace-outside-or-around-the-room style listener? do you check your phone? it's not a sin to check your phone!) this shit Matters. an artist up and fucking dying after releasing an album changes the context because art is fluid and squishy and weird. that's, like. a Lot of the appeal, honestly. i continue to not understand why anyone expresses interest in this form at all if they're going to approach it with such rigidity. how do you enjoy music? this art form, even more than Most, defies that kind of thinking! what is in this for you? …that's a rhetorical question, and i don't actually think it's that complicated. i don't think someone is, like, evil, or stupid, for approaching art differently than me. it's just music. who cares. but it does also, honestly. makes me a bit uncomfortable. that's all. i'll get off the soapbox now. y'all do y'all, it ain't serious.

A little too experimental for my taste.

started off weird but i actually ended up enjoying. also pretty short! nice going David Bowie (rip)

In my all-time Top 10 albums.

A beatiful way to say goodbye.. warm atmospheric art-rock RIP David Bowie

Awesome

Pretty good

"Look up here, I'm in heaven I've got scars that can't be seen I've got drama, can't be stolen Everybody knows me now" Honestly, this album starts off rough. The title track is a ten-minute fever dream that meanders its way around being worth listening to, never quite getting there. "Tis' A Pity She Was A Whore" is actually awful. But then, something wonderful happens. Lazarus is wonderful. Sue is the kind of experimental that doesn't make me wish I was deaf. Girl Loves Me interrupts the good album that's hiding inside the album as a whole. It's like if someone told MGK to write a Bowie song. What the fuck is this. Dollar Days and I Can't Give Everything Away round out the four songs worth listening to. But honestly, those four songs make the whole thing worth listening to. I'll just skip the others.

8/10 Favorites: ⭐️, Sue

Meh. It’s Bowie

Not a fan of this album, too experimental for my taste

Intro recht cool ja

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 don’t know what this guys talking about most of the time but this album is excellent. Takes me back! Killer last track!

This album feels massive to me. Makes the early Bowie albums all the more disappointing because of how well this holds up

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!

Great artist, bad album.

Not his best work.

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

This is very heavy material, and listening through Blackstar does not really make me feel good. I am also fairly meh on it because I don't like jazz. That being said, there are some very interesting things happening in these songs, and it is a fitting end for an excellent career.

Greit nok. Blir ikke ekstra stjerner bare fordi det er det siste albumet.

I liked the production and I like the album is inspired in Kendrick Lamar. It’s a fine album for me, not my type really I think

Highest production David Bowie album I've heard. Not something I would listen to again.

One of the first proper album's of Bowie's I got into. I will never forget listening to the closing track in Europe and all the Bowie parties that were happening all around. As close to a classic farewell/posthumous album as there ever will be for an absolute legend.

There is a small handful of swan song albums on this list, recorded with the knowledge that their long life was coming to end. They're often very powerful statements. But, true to form, no one ever created a swan song quite like David Bowie. "Blackstar" is a unique album, within Bowie's discography and also within popular music more generally. It's daringly innovative, like much of Bowie's best work. Released on his 69th birthday and a mere 2 days before his passing. The death of an artist is usually a massive boost to both sales and reviews but "Blackstar" was already a critical hit in those last days before the public knew he was dying. What is so incredible about this album is the near lack of nostalgia. Compare to the final outings of people like Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen, who powerfully delivered conclusive reviews of their lives and careers. If "Blackstar" did the same, we'd still be talking about it but it would hit very differently. Bowie was always at his best when looking forward and it's particularly startling to hear him do that when there is no forward. It creates the effect of starring into the abyss. The whole album feels mystical and cryptic. It's a clear reflection of death but also feels so full of energy and life. The music can best be described as art rock jazz with heavy influence from electronic music and experimental hip hop, which is a hell of a statement from a former glam rock star, let alone one practically performing from his death bed. The lyrics are loaded with references to death but are oddly also feels new and fresh like Bowie is trying to cram as much life as possible into his final moments. It feels as though he has created yet another new persona here, not unlike the eldery astronaut at the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey who is simultaneously dying and having life changingly bizarre experiences in his final moments. There are references to Bowie's youth here as well, though they're harder to spot. The saxophone is a dominant instrument here, calling back to both his early love of jazz and his first band, The Konrads. The highly unusual "Girl Loves Me" contains century-old slang terms from the British gay community (signaling back to his days of sexual experimentation) and the invented language used in A Clockwork Orange (one of his favorite novels and a major influence on his career). This contrasts to the slightly shocking chorus "Where the fuck did Monday go?", suggesting a person who is running out of time and trying to make sense of it. Less subtle is his expression about never again seeing the English evergreens, which feels like a reflection on having left his homeland to settle in New York. I could keep going. There's so much that you can say about this album. In short it was an incredible parting gift from an amazing artist. It's widely recognized as a career highlight, within a decades long career that was filled with highlights. It's also a call to go back and revisit his whole discography, especially the later work which has fantastic hidden gems among the odd duds. Bowie is sadly missed but he left behind a legacy that will endure for decades to come. R.I.P.

Cool bright instrumentals, and callbacks to bigger hits, with a morbid and dark undertone. I appreciated this album, not a fav, but solid send off for the big guy

This was cool, I liked what he did on this a lot more than what I've heard from Bowie in the past. There were a couple of tracks that felt a little undercooked but overall I thought it was cool

10/10

2016 was one of those years, and Blackstar one of it’s best. Possibly Bowie’s finest moment.

This is a wild ride, especially comparing with Bowie’s previous album the next day. Very 80s style arranging but with a modern feel and tone that shares a lot in common with a lot of current R&B and soul records. 2016 was an outstanding year for music and this album is a big contributor.

I mean, what can I say about this album? It might just be my favourite Bowie record. It’s him at his most experimental, a great achievement at the end of such a long career. I did not consciously experience Bowie’s passing, but I am of course familiar with the context. Therefore, it does not have such a heavy emotional impact on me as some others have mentioned in the reviews, though I always have goosebumps listening to this album. After the weird, lush opener of the album, we can groove along with the energetic and lyrically graphic ‘Tis A Pity She Was A Whore. Lazarus is a devastating song, but it might be my favourite. Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) is fast and groovy like ‘Tis A Pity, with some of the craziest drumming I’ve ever heard. And man, that outro. Girl Loves Me might be my least favourite song on here, but I love the electronic aspects of it. Dollar Days and I Can’t Give Everything Away transition into each other and are the perfect way to end this album: they are sad, they are beautiful, they are an emotional goodbye. Fastest 5⭐ I’ve ever given. Absolutely love this album. Love love love. RIP BOWIE

Alright

Listenable but quite annoying.

Not my favorite Bowie album, and not very familiar sounding in a lot of places. But the man still had it.

Solid late career album

It was butt.

найс, прикольно звучит.

Absolutely brilliant, experimental and challenging. You rarely expect someone 50 years into their career to still be making such flat out weird music, but Bowie delivers as always.

A strange album, I think I liked parts of it but then others were Bowie doing too much.

Ich mochte die düstere Atmosphäre sehr und dass es etwas jazzig ist

I came into this wanting to find flaws and I just can’t find them. Is it a five star album? Not quite, but it is bold as hell, bursting with freak folk, free jazz, glitch, soul and post rock influence that doesn’t feel forced and featuring some highly affecting lyrical hooks that certainly push it to a four even if you push the heavy context out of your mind.

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

I would never call any of these ground breaking , especially in context to the rest of his catalog. But it’s definitely a defiant album from a legendary musician. Honestly, if you told me Brand New was the band behind this I’d totally believe you. RIP to the legend himself

Me gusta el concepto del álbum, la expresión de la vida del artista en sus último momentos y como conectan desde lo teatral. Asi también como los mensajes pueden interconectar entre canciones

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.

What a legend. What a hero. Fun, unique music after such a long career? Hell yes.

I admit I have not had much exposure to Bowie so I don't know how this compares to his other stuff. I liked it though, kinda jazzy. RIP.

If the whole album were closer to it, the last couple of songs were, I would say it was an incredibly touching and emotional album with great music. But the beginning starts off with compressed high vocals that just hit my ears wrong and I couldn’t really get into the first few songs on the album. I know he’s a legend, and there are some great albums by him, but I didn’t think this was one of them.

Nicht meins, aber die Stimme erkennt man

Loved it - what talent, thx!

Liked the background music but I did not care for the lyrics and felt bored while listening

Idk… not a fan of David Bowie but the jazz band was so great

me gusta mucho y encima su ultimo disco q penita, lo amo

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

I've only listened to a few Bowie songs, the most famous ones. This is the first album that I've listened from beginning to end. Well, it is not good. It's very avan-garde, jazzy, almost fusion-like, with a lot of inovation and experimentation. But it seems a little bit without directions. No song stood out for me.

Definite 3.5 if I could give it. Bowie is amazing. This is not his best by far, but good and interesting.

the final studio album released by david bowie, a quirky and honestly heartbreaking swan song from one of the most known composers in the art pop sphere. bowie wasn't holding anything back, this album is by far his oddest, and after knowing it came out only two days before he passed... it's almost poetic. he was going to pass on stage, the walls crumbling and birds circling his eventually lifeless body. compared to other albums where life and death is talked about straight, bowie almost treats it like he's ascending to the next realm. he sings exactly how he wants to, and the musicians that join him do their own thing as well. it's a haunting, yet strangely cosmic and beautiful mess. at first it throws you off, and depending on who listens to it they might be thrown off the whole time, but above all else, there's a concept. i can almost see his ghost, standing in my room, bursting with one last song before he disappears.

Pretty rad - might listen to again

A good album and a sombre feel to it before his death. Some of the songs have a melonic tone and his voice is good throughout. It is just enough to not over egged or overdone.

I can remember where I was and what I was doing the first 2 times I listened to Blackstar. On release day, I thought it was an interesting venture by Bowie into a more experimental terrain. However, after his passing the lyrics started to make sense and to this day, I still feel amazed by the fact that even in the face of death, Bowie decided to turn his own mortality into his final artistic expression. Truly amazing and it marked me to this day.

Subpar which is surprising

Fine, haven’t ever “gotten it” with Bowie, probably need more time with it.

This is #day315 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… just yesterday, I got The Stooges' Fun House, and today, Bowie. It's not fun here anymore, though. I'm not sure what else there's to say about this record, except that it was one of my AOTYs back in 2016 (alongside A Moon Shaped Pool and Skeleton Tree). My then-future wife brought me a CD copy from Germany, and I still keep it (along with the other two). I love the confluence of genres on this album, the free-form sax in particular. And then there's that atmosphere of impending doom, the omnipresence of goodbye between the lines. Or… is it even between the lines? Listening to this today, it feels like everything's right on the surface, like Bowie's practically enunciating from one song to the next that he's fucking dying... It's a difficult album to listen to. As great as it is, I don't feel like revisiting it. Kind of like The Cure's most recent effort, Songs of a Lost World... it hits too hard, and sometimes I just can't handle it. Anyway, this is a beautiful yet poignant farewell. My favorites are the title track, "Lazarus," and, I guess, "I Can't Give Everything Away." This is a 5 out of 5. Looking forward to #day316.

Interesting experience.

Not his best work

love bowie but not this

what a weird and strange album with unique sound though

Sounded like some satanic bullshit. Sad I somewhat listened.

So powerful. Amazing album one of my favorites

I don’t like this album. The first track puts me off right away. I don’t mind Tis a Pity She is a Whore apart from the mad jazz backing, and Lazarus is fine. The last track is the pick of the bunch. I get he was making a concept album about dying,but I find the mix of genres quite jarring and I feel like it tries too hard to be remarkable. If it were not for the fact that this is very obviously a farewell album it would not be in the book at all. David Bowie has been a million times more influential, more progressive, and more innovative than this. It’s a no from me, I’m afraid.

siento que a pesar de que me gustaron algunas de sus canciones más que otras, de manera objetiva es un álbum muy consistente y su concepto es una pasada. me hace mucha gracia que bowie tomara inspiración de death grips para su ultimo proyecto.

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

Really good but there’s better Bowie.

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

Weirdly my first Bowie album that I have listened to fully and enjoyed this. It had a coherent theme (his own mortality lies heavy on this) but I don’t think it was quite straying into indulgent. It’s not necessarily something I’d pick out to listen to but it was definitely engaging and leaves me interested to try more.

Late in career album and I think that steeps this offering. Has the vibe of an experiment about it. I did enjoy it but somehow some things didn't connect perfectly for me like a bad gear change. I actually thought a little nick cave at times with the vocals, style and mortality theme. Bar the odd grating of the gears I will come back to this for sure. I also like the odd jazz double dip have it some energy.

I love the concept of this album. It's so Bowie and a fitting end to his life and career. As with most Bowie, I blow hot and cold with it. Lazarus is a great track but otherwise the album doesn't really grab me. It's dark and uncomfortable (both good things) but I find a lot of it a bit derivative and sounds a bit middle of the road. The main attraction comes from its story, a swansong from an undisputable cultural icon. Worth a critical listen but not an album I'll have on repeat.

Not Bowies best work, too experimental.

Part of me feels like I should've liked this more while the other part of me is surprised I liked this at all in the first place

7eme album de Bowie. Le morceau 'Blackstar' introduit très bien l'album, l'harmonie est vraiment très originale, et les interventions de sax bienvenues. Les autres morceaux sont assez réussis (ambiance , harmonie, chorus de sax). Par contre je n'aime pas trop sa voix sur cet album, je ne suis pas sur de l'intégrer à ma collection, mais je l'écouterais de nouveau avec plaisir. Il est bien plus intéressant que les 2 derniers proposés par le générateur ('Station To Station' et 'Young Americans'). =>3.5/5

I tried to give it a 2.5. So many highs and lows. Def not the prime of Bowie. Still cool production

Já conheço este álbum e não é dos meus favoritos do David Bowie. Pareceu-me muito um ato de despedida e tirando uma ou duas canções, é demasiado melancólico.

Kyllä bowie osaa tehdä musiikkia

Bowie's poignant swan song. I enjoyed this, particularly the title track. Certainly not Bowie's best work but is interesting enough to keep your attention.

A strange but good album with a unique sound. Not every song is great, but it’s a strong final work.

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.

Honestly a little disappointed

Blackstar is a monumental album. Bowie was infinitely innovative, and this record is a great showcase of this, being a blend of experimental/jazz rock, where he mixes different styles and concepts. It's all used in the service of a very deep, moving concept: Bowie's impending death. It's a profound artistic choice, and it's even more remarkable how well Bowie manages to execute the concept. He delivers a thoughtful, innovative and often eerie album. The performances are great, the drumming and sax are standouts, and Bowie's vocals capture perfectly the concept. My favourite song was "Lazarus", but I feel that the record works much better as whole than as songs by themselves.

david bowie if he made a mediocre black country new road album right before he died, low 3

Pre-listening thoughts: I’ve heard mixed things about this Bowie album. I’m getting the vibe it’s probably not his best work but rather included bc a) it was close to his death? After his death? Something like that and b) it’s Bowie Post/during listening thoughts: this is… yeah. Exactly what I expected tbh. I really wish people would stop glazing dead people’s work just bc they’re dead and were a legend at some point. Bowie was constantly experimenting and to me, this one just didn’t succeed. I still think he was revolutionary but I don’t have to enjoy every body of work of his. Sorry. 4.5/10 DID I NEED TO HEAR THIS BEFORE I DIE: no Fav tracks: Lazarus Least fav tracks: Sue

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

Typical Bowie - weird, complicated, and hard to follow.

relaxed, artistic, little bit on the not so easy to listen side.

4/5. A haunting and yet relaxing, for the most part, album on death, stardom, and a possible fake play? Not sure I fully understand that last one. It is a weird and jazzy album, abstract yet structured here and there, as if the norm was complexity. They are not rock songs or even pop songs, they seem to be studies on sounds. I am hyping this album up but I don't think it was perfect. It is unique and important, in regards to its relationship with its creator. But I think not all of the songs are classics or interesting enough to impress me. Best Song: Tis A Pity She Was A Whore, Blackstar, Girl Loves Me

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.

Not my fave Bowie but it's still Bowie so...

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

Why is a David Bowie album from 2016 on the list? I couldn't get through it but will give 2 stars by default.

Segundo disco de este tío en dos días consecutivos. Creo que está mierda me intenta desmotivar. El disco es insoportable. Con la estrella de la portada sería suficiente, pero esto me obliga a ponerle como mínimo otra.

Как этот человек вообще стал легендой? Музыка ужасна, вокал ужасен и вообще не в тему музыке.

Did not speak to me on first listen. might revisit

I recounted my latter-day conversion to Bowie in my Ziggy Stardust review and this album was part of it. The story of this album is fascinating and the title track is really cool. I have a No Man's Sky playlist that I listen to sometimes when I play and this is on it. Fits well with drifting through space and exploring strange worlds. (P.S. - NMS has a new update today. Woo hoo!) I would give the title track 4 or 5 stars but the rest is a 3, I think.

El "canto de cisne" del faraónico Bowie, lanzado dos días después de su muerte, este es un álbum que dudo que algún crítico pueda valorar objetivamente. Aunque su contexto pueda recordar al You Want It Darker de Cohen, ambos abordan la inminencia de la muerte de formas muy distintas. Aunque emotivo, este no es un álbum especialmente sombrío, más bien lo contrario. Se trata de art rock, más experimental que rockero, bastante animado y que mezcla muchos estilos. Aunque destaca el jazz (con el saxofón como instrumento protagonista), también hay sonidos industriales, pop, rap y, ¿es cosa mía, o hasta se intuye algo de drum and bass a ratos? Un álbum muy creativo, musicalmente excelente, y gran punto y final a la carrera de Bowie. Creo que merece buena nota, aunque no sea muy de mi estilo ni, en mi opinión, de los mejores álbumes de Bowie.

Sehr experimentell, Leider nicht immer erfolgreich aber die vergisst man schnell. läuft gut runter und ist abwechslungsreich vor allem durch die instrumentals. Highlight Lazarus. 3/5

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

I like his older stuff better.

Shorter than I thought, beautiful parting gift.

This is one of those albums that instantly takes me back to the first time I heard it and how moving it was

Blackstar reminds me of Leonard Cohen's last gasp on You Want it Darker - both artists embrace their age and feebleness, and by doing so, engender something far more powerful than forced strength. 'At the centre of it all' is a Bowie still as vibrant and addicted to imaginative production as the early incarnations, but death challenges him to be upfront and intimate in ways honestly not employed by his previous personas: 'I'm so high, it makes my brain whirl / Dropped my cellphone down below.' Especially stunning are the horns, provided by Donny McCaslin, but really the whole experience is instrumentally rich. He claims to have been inspired by Kendrick Lamar and Death Grips. I can see it: particularly K.Dot, the lyricism and riskiness.

4/7

Totally different from his other work, it's a really interesting listen. Some good stuff and a sort of final send off from this amazing artist. I'm sure I will listen to this again.

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.

4 maybe 5

I still remember how David Bowie released this album two days before his death. We lost him too soon :( Loved: - Black Star (an odyssey of a title track) - Lazarus (saxophone and vibey guitar!) - Dollar Days (more sax, more love) - I Can't Give Everything Away (the plaintive harmonica moved me to tears, and the lyrics felt like a swan song to us all) Felt fine about: - Sue (a fun experiment that mostly works for me) Did not love: - 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore (terrible title, and just a little too melodically dissonant) - Girl Loves Me (she may love me, but I don't love this song) Overall I'm really impressed with how experimental Bowie still was in the twilight of his 60s / his life.

I love David Bowie. But this didn’t stand out. One of his more experimental albums and it was more background music than active listening. Going to rate lower than I expected to

Love Bowie but struggled to get through this album. Got better towards the end but did not enjoy the first couple songs at all. Like that it’s experimental but it didn’t land for me.

Not my fav Bowie album

This grew on me as I went

I really really love David Bowie. Sadly this album didn’t connect with me.

Perfect no notes

what a drag it is getting old

If it wasn’t Bowie, I wouldn’t have listened to as much as I did. I kept hoping it would get good, or at least better than awful. But it didn’t. Just because he died right after it was released doesn’t make it a masterpiece. Or even good.

Not my thing. Past his prime.

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.

Long live Bowie. There is some fucking awesome instrumentation in this album. Dude was pushing the boundaries up until the end

Typically I'm not really a David Bowie guy and I was very lukewarm on this album when it came out but listening to it ten years later good gravy does it hold up. Probably a 4.5/5 but the title track is as good a song as any popular musician has made the last 50 years.

What a death march. It is a somber album, but that sax keeps it Bowie-dacious. So very different from his early work, but I really like it.

I mean this is a masterpiece. Madness to compose the music to your own passing. I don’t care if it is pretentious. Genius is not too strong a word. Strong 4

Never really a Bowie fan, but I liked this album overall

5* What am I, fucking stupid?

Aweso.e death mask

The album felt like a dream. A dream where things feel disjointed but also make sense. At times the energy of the instrumentation felt differently paced from the vocals, and vice versa. It was like hearing 2 different songs at the same time, but everything somehow came together. I need to give this another listen.

When this came out I really enjoyed it. Doesn’t hit the same for me but such a distinctive mood. This is what an end of life album sounds like.

One of the weirdest albums that I also like! The first time I heard it, I really didn't like it. I was hanging with a friend as he got a new tattoo, but since the tat took several hours there were several cigarette breaks. So between those, being hungover, and the artist's station being in the basement bc he was newer at the shop, I think I wasn't in the right headspace when he put this on. It freaked me out, man. But now, hearing it in a way better headspace, I can appreciate how Bowie just went for it in his swan song, diving headfirst into the abyss of knowing you're going to die soon. It's pretty incredible how he kept experimenting and making interesting music right up until his death. It wouldn't be the first thing I ever put on but I can appreciate how good it is.

always cool

I gave it two stars for sentimental reasons, but there is so much better Bowie out there. Call me old school, but I did not like the ChaChaChanges in this album.

Lazarus is big and slow and awesome—interestingly with horns reminiscent of Untitled 4, from pre-Beirut teenaged Zach Condon.

Too much for this old chunk of coal.

wow. can’t think of a swan song like this that both encapsulates an artists career while adding something entirely new to it. very impressed, but not surprised mister bowie

Ok 2/5

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

Did not enjoy.

I like how jazz leaning it is. I love the saxophone. Okay there are points where it gets a bit squeaky for me, but still. I’m not a huge fan of some of the effects they’ve put over his voice, particularly on the first track and the songs occasionally get too experimental for me. But on the whole I really enjoyed it. Fav song: Lazarus Least fav: Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)

Remarkable album. I want it on repeat.

The back half of the album was stronger to me. The way the final two songs blend into eachother is awesome. I can definitely hear the influence of death grips and jazz throughout.

A final wonderful note before the end.

Cool saxophone stuff. Sad knowing he died 2 days after this album dropped. Not for me. Feel like I should relisten later on and really focus on lyrics but at this time didn't love the album. No flow to album. 2

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.

Not really my jam, my Bowie favorites aren't on this album. Really enjoyed first and last track tough

I suppose once you reach a level of virtuosity in any creative pursuit, you begin to push out into creative realms yet unexplored by the masses like me. As a result I found this listening experience impenetrably rubbish. 0/5

2016. Pretty ethereal album with enjoyable mood setting. Significant for being Bowie's last.

So very experimental I liked the bottom 3 tracks more than the first ones; but really enjoyed the into track as well despite how long it is.

I got some very strong hip hop influence vibes from this. Didn't blow me away and probably won't listen to this one again.

Not my style. Kinda out there

They moody reflective tracks are good, let down by a couple of songs. Not as constantly good as The Next Day

After a brilliant, and sadly underappreciated comeback album in The Next Day, David Bowie clearly felt he needed to deliver something more ambitious for what he understood would be his final album. The Next Day has a comparatively packed tracklist - 14 songs to Blackstar’s 7. What Blackstar loses in length it gains in the scope and scale of the songs themselves. This is not a straightforward pop album. The title track is a multi-layered odyssey. I remember a friend of mine describing it as “weird” and not being sure about it when it was first released. Months later after Bowie's death they hailed it as “genius” and “very clever.” Well, I agree with their revised opinion. How the hell do you have a song like Blackstar in the tank while nearing end of life care? He had more energy and creativity at 69 than nearly anyone has in their prime of life. For the bulk of this album (Lazarus, Dollar Days, I Can’t Give Anything Away), after a career of writing from the perspective of different characters and rarely autobiographically, Bowie talks from the first person, as someone who is either dead or dying. Given that no-one knew about his diagnosis for the first 2 days of this LP’s release, he essentially chose to present himself to the audience as one of his characters. It's a powerful and very considered choice. He sounds mournful, nostalgic and appreciative. More than that, each of these songs are beautifully melodic with a striking central performance. The jazz musicians working around Bowie enhance every move he makes. Girl Loves Me stands out, not just as part of Blackstar, but across Bowie’s entire discography. It has an edgy, jumpy quality to it. Flirtatious and scary. He is almost rapping nonsense rhymes, which makes for a nice antidote to a lot of the more reflective and sombre songs elsewhere. There are two tracks which, for me, pull Blackstar back from being a masterpiece. Sue and ‘Tis a Pity are a rerecorded single and b-side from two years prior, both in my mind feel like a significant step down from the album as a whole. But forget that and think about this. He lived to see rave reviews from critics. He will have predicted the compound public interest ultimately generated by his death. He knew that, unlike The Next Day, this album was one of his biggest hits.

Meh. Idk what im missing. I cant give everything away is nice. But for the most part im uninterested. I listened to heros afterwards and liked that a lot.