This album has so much aura it's crazy
Sunday Morning is quite the intriguing track, it has such a relieving tone to it despite it being really about paranoia I think the contrast between the lush and peaceful tone of the melody and the lyrics about regret and paranoia is really good and makes for quite a unique opener.
I LOOOVE I'm Waiting for the Man it's such a cool song and definitely the highlight of side 1 for me I love the rock and roll-esque melody and I love the concept W song.
Femme Fatale is the first N*co song in the album but it is admittedly really good I like the lyrics on it and I think Nico's vocals really go with the concept really well.
Venus in Furs is another standout for me because it starts really suddenly there's no buildup it just kinda throws you into the song, I also really like John's viola in this one (John Cale = GOAT) and the concept regarding sadomasochism are really interesting.
Another drug song, Run Run Run is a really fun sounding song with a not so fun concept because it tackles addiction and overdosing and whatnot, good song but it is probably my least favorite song on side 1.
All Tomorrow's Parties is quite a unique song, it's about Andy W*rhol but it's really good I think the piano riff and pounding bass drum make up for the fact that the song is still about Andy W*rhol and the Factory.
Heroin MIGHT be the greatest song of the 60s, it starts off really simple but then it gets real fucking loud and I like that, the feeling of the music getting real intense during the high and really stale during the sober state is really cool I like that.
There She Goes Again is a personal favorite of mine I can't believe Lou Reed stole a Marvin Gaye song for it. I don't have much to say about it but it's a really fun sounding song albeit the subject not being as fun.
I'll Be Your Mirror is also a personal favorite of mine I think it's a really soothing song both lyrically and musically surely the next 2 songs follow that peaceful vibe, right?
The next song didn't follow that peaceful vibe.
The Black Angel's Death Song is a fucked up song, it's the only song in the album with lyrics that don't mean a thing, the whole purpose of this song is to be dissonant and unnerving and while I like that about the song it is my least favorite song in the album.
European Son is definitely the most unique song in the entire album in my opinion and it would heavily foreshadow the sound of VU's next album, which would lean more towards noise rock and improvisation. What also makes this song unique is the concept, with this being a bittersweet farewell to Lou Reed's university teacher, Delmore Schwartz, this album did have songs about real people and whatnot but I find this one to be particularly unique because of how it is structured.
My verdict: Excellent album when you forget Andy Warhol had anything to do with it.
I don't really have any funny comments to make about this album cuz I know like nothing about a-ha so like I guess my brief thoughts on every individual song will suffice.
As overplayed as the song is, Take On Me is a really great song and its impact is undeniable, great stuff.
Train Of Thought isn't as great as the opening track but it's still a solid song with a solid instrumental.
The title track isn't as great as either of the previous tracks but I still like it, it's just not that interesting.
Somehow it gets worse as the tracks go on, The Blue Sky is a decently boring song but at least it doesn't pan on for too long and it's really not a bad song, just boring.
The album recovers from the last 2 tracks with Living a Boy's Adventure Tale, it's a solid song on the same level as Train Of Thought.
HOLY FUCKING SHIT I DID NOT EXPECT THIS ALBUM TO HAVE A BETTER SONG THAN TAKE ON ME. The Sun Always Shines on T.V. is an absolute gem of a song even if it's not nearly as iconic as Take On Me this is a way better song and definitely the highlight of the album in my opinion.
On a less interesting note, And You Tell Me is a really boring song but at least it's really short so it's not horrible, it's an okay song.
Love Is Reason is a really fun song and while not a highlight on the album for me it's still really enjoyable.
I Dream Myself Alive is another song that's good but not crazy I don't have much to say about this one ngl.
The closer, Here I Stand and Face the Rain started off promising but again it's another song that's enjoyable but not very crazy.
Overall this is a good album with a few great songs but uhhhhh a lot of it is just really okay it's not horrible but it's not mindblowing.
This album kinda reminds me of Bob Dylan if he could sing a bit better
The title track of this album is a really great song sung from the perspective of spree killer Charles Starkweather which is a really intriguing concept and aditionally I find the instrumental to be quite nice.
Atlantic City is even better than the opener, I find the sad narrative of a struggling couple going to Atlantic City for a better life and the husband joining the mafia as a last-ditch effort to be a really great concept, additionally the instrumental is great, definitely my standout in the album.
Mansion on the Hill is a less interesting track than the previous two but it's still really nice and I find the concept of class division to be interesting.
Johnny 99 is another standout to me, a heavily rockabilly inspired track about a man who can't find a job so he shoots a cashier for money and about the legal consequences of that crime.
Highway Patrolman is also really great, it has a really mellow instrumental and the theme of a policeman being torn on whether or not he should remain a good police officer or to defend his law-breaking brother is really well written.
State Trooper is less interesting than all of the previous tracks, its instrumental is way more simple than the rest of the tracks and I don't find the lyrics to be nearly as intriguing as it's simply about a man pleading with a police officer to not pull him over because he lacks registration.
Used Cars isn't a standout track for me but it still sticks out to me because of the autobiographical lyrics, it tackles the subject of the humiliation of class struggle using Springsteen's own experiences where his family could only drive beat-up cars and the chorus "I ain't ever gonna ride in no used car again" serves as a desire to break free from the poverty his family was in.
Open All Night is another rockabilly inspired song and the happiest track in the album (though it still follows the working-class narrative this whole album follows), it talks about an exhausted man finally getting off work and being joyful that he will see his girlfriend again, it's a really nice track but not a standout for me.
My Father's House is another autobiographical song, it tackles the complex relationship of Springsteen with his father, describing a dream where the narrator is a kid and he is running from the devil before making it to his father's house, the narrator feels inspired and decides to visit his childhood house, but is told that "no one by that name lives here anymore" symbolizing the complete loss of contact with his father, it's a really devastating track and another standout for me.
The album closer, Reason to Believe is a really thoughtful reflection about how humans hold on to hope and faith regardless of the hardship and loss they might face. It uses four separate stories as a way to narrate the stories and while I can't be assed to gloss over them I do find all four of them as really intriguing analyses of why the human being remains hopeful.
Really great album
Mfw I'm dying so I drop a jazz-rock masterpiece and die 2 days later that's a lot of aura.
★ is the opener for this album and it's honestly top 5 Bowie songs in my opinion, it's such a haunting song where he deals with his imminent death by making allegories to several spiritual beliefs while the second half takes a more conventional instrumentation and has Bowie referring himself as a "Blackstar" avoiding terms of hedonistic circumstances (like a popstar, a pornstar or a gangster), really great track.
'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore is one of two tracks in the album that wasn't made for Blackstar and as such it doesn't really fit into the whole narrative of Bowie's death, but I still see it as an interesting song that uses sexual imagery to explore the devastating nature of World War 1. Additionally the instrumental fucking slaps I hope the entire band they got cooking on this track got a raise for it dawg holy shit.
Lazarus IS the best song David Bowie ever made and his most haunting one. It's so much more direct than the previous tracks in the album, addressing his life experience and his impending death more up front. This one also had a really superb instrumental especially in the outro where it has this sort of decrescendo symbolizing Bowie's fading life.
HOLY SHIT WHAT WERE THEY FEEDING TO THIS BAND. Yeah so the instrumental of Sue (Or in a Season of Crime) is really fucking cool I hope they got another raise for it. That being said with this being the other song in the album that wasn't originally made for Blackstar it doesn't really fit into the narrative either BUT I find that this concept is also really interesting the same way 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore's instrumental was, with this being more about a crumbling marriage where, after the narrator discovers his wife Sue has been unfaithful he just straight up murders her. Really awesome song as the past 3 have been.
Girl Loves Me is my least favorite song on Blackstar but with this stacked ass track listing it's still an incredible song. It is also a really cryptic song as most of the song is in Nadsat but I kinda see that as a really great thing because a lot of the song being in such a cryptic language and the line "Where the fuck did Monday go?" kinda serve as a representation of disconnection which might be as a result of Bowie's approaching death.
Dollar Days is another insanely high point in the album and the most straightforward song in the album, as Bowie directly reflects on his own life and approaching death, with the chorus and outro using the phrase "I'm dying to" as both a way to symbolize how bad he wants to finish his work before he runs out of time and as a literal expression of his death. Really emotional track and another really high point in this album.
I Can't Give Everything Away is also another really emotional track as it is the track where Bowie fully comes to terms with the fact that he's going to die, and he acknowledges with the title that he can't put out any more work and also as a way to reflect his choice to have control over his private life, only leaving his fans with the art that he made as a reflection of who he was.
Genuinely what an album, oh my days it's absolutely insane how well made this is you can tell Bowie genuinely cared about making this one a lot and made it an honest farewell to the world.
(I can't be assed to write really long notes anymore unless the album is mind-blowing)
Great album with really cool beats and I really appreciate it for being so influential for trip-hop but unfortunately I felt like it dragged on a little and that none of the tracks were really similar in quality to Unfinished Sympathy.
Favorite track: Unfinished Sympathy
Least favorite track: One Love
Holy shit this album was so funky I was bobbing my head throughout most of it.
Yeah this album was pretty fricking good but also I found none of the tracks but two of them to be mind-blowing so 4 stars it is I guess.
Favorite tracks: That Girl, Summer Breeze
Least favorite track: You Walk Your Way
Quite the polarizing album, it had a lot of really mediocre tracks but it also had some really great stuff.
Favorite tracks: Plan 9 Channel 7, Smash It Up (Part 2)
Least favorite track: These Hands
UGHHHHH boring ass album oh my god
fuck this album i dont even wanna talk about it remotely at least some tracks were decent i guess
