Once you listen to the lyrics it's hard to get past the misogyny. It's a theme. It hasn't aged well (also wasn't cool at the time). Admittedly though, I enjoyed it for a bit. The first half of the album is definitely better than the second; there's only so much greasy hip thrusting and fist pumping that one can do. "Back in Black" s an anthem, worthy of album title status. I like a good guitar solo, and this has plenty. "Let Me Put My Love Into You" brings the misogyny to the sexual assault arena, then it's not so low-key and I found it hard to enjoy. I'm marking down for misogyny and sameyness.

Patterns is a bop. Music you listen to on a journey and feels like you have a sack slung over your shoulder off on an adventure. Had me in the first half of big bright green pleasure machine but then it started to annoy me and I had to skip. 59th street brought me back with the soft guitar sounds and whispery vocals with the upbeat tone. Liked the vocals in for emily, almost sounded like Bowie at points. Good album, would listen again and have put a couple of songs on my "sunday" Spotify playlist.

Chameleon goes on far too long, and should have started from the second half. Watermelon man does better both in sound and length. The following tracks are less inspirational, but a welcome change in tone and tempo. Overall, I regret to say, that although I once enjoyed the first two tracks, I now find myself feeling like I was "on hold" for the council, and was increasingly aware of how long they'd had me on hold, wondering whether I should put myself out of misery and call back tomorrow. Maybe more indicative of my grown impatience than anything else.

I liked this more than I thought I would. I liked the scratchy guitar and heavy hip hop beats in "Brothers Gonna Work It Out". "911 Is A Joke" is unsurprisingly a hit, the juxtaposition of the funky beat with an essay on police brutality and negligence makes it feel like it's a joke that's been told too many times. I could "get down" to "Power to the People", the fast-and-loose trumpet(?) is fun. The line "Don't diss your sisters" from "Revolutionary Generation" should be graffitied in every bathroom stall - and I endeavour to do so. It's absolutely a necessary album, it's messaging is still relevant today, and no song feels singular (which you don't get much of these days). You move from one song to the next without noticing, but each song is still unique. Am I a hip-hop die-hard? No. Will I be listening every ride to work? No. But, I appreciate it's significance, respect it's production, enjoyed some of the tracks, and I've added some to my hip-hop/rap playlist.

This album went over my head. The "Stars (Are Out Tonight)" was a bit cheesy, and on relistening the lyrics could have been taken from one of Jed and I's improv'd songs after lots of weed and wine (Fuzzed up T-Rex 4eva). 2010s wasn't our best decade for music, unfortunately this seems to have extended to Bowie. It's trying a bit too hard to be cool, maybe something you'd expect from a comeback album following a 10-year hiatus, or just music from 2013. Guitars lacklustre, bit dull? Seeing others' comments on the subsequent album, "Blackstar", I queued it up. It snuck on mid-listen, and unwittingly I thought "Oh fuck, this is good!". I enjoyed that 30s snippet of a song from Blackstar more than any of the songs on this album. Disappointing but forgiven. Struggling how to rate this one after the past few. Dropping the score a tad as it wasn't particularly memorable for me and didn't earn a spot on any playlist. 2.5/5

Once you listen to the lyrics it's hard to get past the misogyny. It's a theme. It hasn't aged well (also wasn't cool at the time). Admittedly though, I enjoyed it for a bit. The first half of the album is definitely better than the second; there's only so much greasy hip thrusting and fist pumping that one can do. "Back in Black" s an anthem, worthy of album title status. I like a good guitar solo, and this has plenty. "Let Me Put My Love Into You" brings the misogyny to the sexual assault arena, then it's not so low-key and I found it hard to enjoy. I'm marking down for misogyny and sameyness.