Speed of life is a fucking amazing opener. Never fails to make me boogie That harmonized drum sound Breaking Glass is a bop, but it’s too short! “You’re such a wonderful person, but you got problems” is a hilarious lyric What in the world is also awesome. Love that Pac Man Synth. Also Iggy Pop Cameo. Nice lead guitar by Ricky Gardiner too. Sound and Vision is an amazing fusion of disco, electronic, and country. Very catchy. That Solina line in Sound and vision tho Also like that white noise cymbal on the left channel of it. Mary Hopkins cameo! Always love it when David plays sax The lyrics of sound and vision are quite sad when you think about it. It’s about Bowie being coked up and depressed and conking up in his room all day. Song and Vision is just a verse and chorus, but it feels longer! I haven’t listened to Always Crashing the Same Car in a while, so this is basically blind. Extremely psychedelic with the phaser stuff. Very sad guitar leads. Apparently some of the songs were inspired by Syd Barret. Makes sense, since he was a huge influence on Bowie. Be My Wife has this thundering piano that’s really intense. Like it sounds like there’s thundering timpani in it. Also this one has lead guitar by Bowie! Reminds me of how on Diamond Dogs he played all the guitars cuz he parted ways with Mick Ronson. George Murray is an amazing bassist. A New Career in a New Town starts out with this synth electronic opening that reminds me a bit of Blue Monday by New Order but then goes to this rocking instrumental with this amazing harmonica. No wonder Bowie revisited it on Blackstar years later on I Can’t Give Everything Away. Here’s the ambient section. Warszawa is fucking beautiful. Brian Eno worked some magic on this one. I just noticed they’re going pretty liberal on the phasers on this album. Not that I’m complaining. I love phaser! Bowie singing gibberish! Also he says Mario. Art Decade has an old drum machine and a bunch of harmonizer effects. Sounds like something from a dungeon level in a Nintendo 64 game. Also there’s some vibraphone! Don’t see that every day. Weeping wall has some Steve Reich style xylophones and pianos, some spooky vocals, and a synth lead that reminds me of Scarborough Fair. And there’s a guitar part too! Finally there’s Subterraneans. Amazing. Backwards electric pianos and guitar, a creeping synth bass line, a haunting choir, a beautiful jazz saxophone solo from Bowie himself and Bowie singing impressionistic lyrics When that saxophone hits on Subterraneans…. MMMMMM SO GOOD One of my favorite Bowie albums of all time.

Listening to this cuz I forgot to. Tell Me Why is a good acoustic song, with nice CSNY style harmonies. Don’t know why it’s the opener tho, cuz it seems like it fits better in the middle of the album After the Gold Rush is an amazing song. Don’t have much to say cuz I heard it before and I liked it a lot. Next is Only Love Can Break Your Heart. Very breezy country rock song. I like it! Southern Man is a banger. Fuck Lynyrd Skynyrd from hating it. I’m from Georgia and that song goes hard. Fuck people who simp for the confederacy. Black people deserve reparations. Killer guitar solo Next is Till the Morning Comes. A pretty simple songs with only a few minutes, but it’s pretty catchy and breezy Next is Oh Lonesome Me, which is a cover of an old country song. It’s alright, but this song has the weird quirk of being mixed in mono instead of stereo. I dunno if that’s a problem with the version on Apple Music or a deliberate choice. That harmonica tho. Next is Don’t Let it Bring You Down. Pretty good acoustic rock song. He called trucks “lorries” in the first verse, which is weird cuz they aren’t called lorries in America or even Canada. Nice shift from minor to major in the end Next is Birds. Another piano ballad like After the Gold Rush. I think the metaphor of a bird flying away relating to someone breaking up with a woman was something Lynyrd Skynyrd nicked with Freebird. Very beautiful. Next is When you Dance I Can Really Love. Reminds me of his earlier song Cinnamon Girl. Also has a piano part that reminds me of the one in I Wanna Be Your Dog by The Stooges. Next is I Beleive in You. This was recording during the same sessions as Oh Lonesome Me, but it isn’t mono like that, so that raises more questions about it. Very good ballad tho. Finally is Cripple Creek Ferry. This isn’t as good as the other songs in the album. It’s a cheesy song about a boat. Sounds like they didn’t take it seriously since it’s only around a minute long.

Never listened to Leonard Cohen before aside from Hallelujah. This is a first listen Suzanne is fuckin beautiful. Beautiful lyrics and beautiful arrangement with strings and backing vocals Master song is alright. Nice upright bass, brass, and some electric guitar. Lyrics are pretty cryptic. Is it about an ex lover? Also it’s a bit too long Winter Lady is also pretty good. Nice flutes. Also pretty good lyrics. The Stranger Song is also alright. Seems like it’s about a relationship and it compares the guy to a card dealer in a poker game. I thought it was a reference to a drug dealer at first. I like that lyric about “some Joseph looking for a manger”. Kinda funny cuz it’s almost Christmas now. Sisters of Mercy is next. Very beautiful with accordion in the background. I’d say it sounds like a good band name but then I found out apparently a goth band from the 80s took it lmao. I like it a lot! Now here’s So Long Marriane. Another highlight of the album. This one has a full rock band backing him. Seems like he knew this was gonna be the big hit of the album. It’s real catchy. Reminds me of Fairytale of New York by the Pogues. Or In the Airplane Over the Sea by Neutral Mill Hotel. Next is Hey That No Way to Say Goodbye. Another good song! Also I think there’s some weird middle eastern instrument or a Jaw Harp in the background. And there’s the female backing vocalist again! She has a pretty voice Stories of the Street is next, and it’s about living in New York City. He doesn’t seem to like it that much. “Take me to the slaughterhouse, I’ll wait there with the lamb” Next is Teachers. It’s pretty good, has an oud in it and I think some tabla. Leonard Cohen is pretty angry in this song Finally is One of Us Cannot be Wrong. The guitar reminds me of Rainbow Connection. Again, amazing lyrics. Has whistling too. And some guy in the background drunkenly singing “LAA LAA DAA DAAAA” Pretty good!

Aight here’s Tracy Chapman. Third folk record in a row. Talking about Revolution is first. Very based lyrics about the flaws of reaganomics and capitalism. Damn shame the revolution didn’t come. Next is her cover of Luke Comb’s hit Fast Car (I’m kidding obviously, it’s fucking crazy that Luke Combs covered it and now it basically eclipsed the popularity of the original, to the point that people don’t know it’s about lesbians) Good song! Next is Across the Lines. It’s a very sad song about racism and racist violence and segregation and stuff that’s still relevant today. Also it has a nice fretless bass part. Next is Behind the Wall. It’s an acapella song about domestic abuse. Very effective use of just Tracy’s voice and no instruments. Makes it much more effective. Next is Baby Can I Hold You. It’s a pretty ballad about a relationship that’s on the brink of ending due to lack of communication. It has some electric violin and a hint of electric sitar, which is very cool. Next is Mountains O’ Things. Looks like we got some Latin and Tropical vibes in this one. Kinda dated tbh. But it’s alright. Like the percussion in it. Next is She’s Got Her Ticket. It’s basically Fast Car but reggae influenced. Seems like she’s repeating things. Next is Why? More based lyrics about poverty and war and stuff. “Love is hate, war is peace, no is yes, we’re all free”. Lyrics are a bit repetitive tho, but it’s still a good song. Next is For my Lover, another gay song. Even have references to conversion therapy and anti-sodomy laws in it. Pretty decent. Next is If Not Now… Despite sharing the same refrain as the King Gizz song, this isn’t about climate change, but about a fraught relationship, like Baby Can I Hold You. It’s meh. Reminds me of a neutered version of Under Pressure. Finally is For You, a rather sweet love song featuring just her vocals and guitar. Nice way to end the album. Overall this album is alright. 6/10

Finally something in my wheelhouse! Get Innocuous starts with a pretty long drum machine intro with an acid style bass in the background. Funky! James Murphy’s vocals remind me of David Bowie. Also there’s some female vocals and guitar too. And a violin outro. Next is Time to Get Away. Nice funk drum intro. Got some clavinet and some percussion. Very funky. Reminds me of Talking Heads. Next is North American Scum. One of their hits, and a song I remember digging a lot when I first heard it somewhere. The lyrics are hilarious! Next is Someone Great, which I heard is a tribute to James Murphy’s late therapist. It’s very beautiful. Reminds me of This May Be The Place by Talking Heads. Amazing. Next is All My Friends. Very Krautrocky and has a John Cale esque piano part (fittingly enough he actually covered this song) Also they referenced Pink Floyd’s Set The Controls to the Heart of the Sun! Very good song! Next is Us v Them. I remember hearing this song in Burnout Paradise and digging it. Also I like the part where James Murphy says “Bells” and then agogo bells play. Huge banger. And it has an instrument called the “Fun Machine”. I don’t know what that is, but every song should have it. Next is Watch the Tapes. Nice ramonesy punk intro leading into a dancer new wave / post punk main portion. It’s alright. Also some funny studio chatter at the end Next is Sounds of Silver, with an acapella intro and some Linn drum and synth bass, then going into an ethereal section with choir and piano, then a tribal dubby section with lots of reverb and delay, and some xylophone sounds. Really trippy. Pretty minimal lyrics, but that’s ok cuz it’s mostly focused on the instrumental and the progression of the song, with the repeated refrain being a mantra. I like this experimental stuff. Finally is New York I love You But You’re Bringing Me Down. Another song I have previously heard. Mostly cuz of the music video with Kermit and its use in movie trailers. Very scathing critique of Bloomberg era New York City (which still remain prescient under the current Eric Adams regime. Dude was tried for corruption for Christs sake). Love when it goes all balls too the wall with the distortion at the end a la Rock and Roll Suicide by Bowie. Also it has a fake out at the end like Strawberry Fields Forever or November Rain! Damn good album!!!