Main menu
Fretplay home Submit tabs

David Bowie
David Bowie tabs David Bowie discography

Channels
Guitar channel Bass channel Guitar videos Reviews

Message Forum
Guitar forum Bass forum Bands and artists Promote your band Recent discussions All categories

Fretplay.com

David Bowie guitar tabs

CD reviews

Earthling

David Bowie - Earthling Audio CD

A fair review of the David Bowie "Earthling" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all David Bowie reviews here, or go back to the David Bowie tabs.

Band: David Bowie
Title: Earthling
Rating:

Release Date: 1997-02-11
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Little Wonder 2: Looking for Satellites 3: Battle for Britain (The Letter) 4: Seven Years in Tibet 5: Dead Man Walking 6: Telling Lies 7: Last Thing You Should Do 8: I'm Afraid of Americans 9: Law (Earthlings on Fire)

I just don't get it!
I don't have a problem with Bowie going techno. I'm an old Bowie fan, but I like nine inch nails. What made Bowie great was the story telling, There's no story here. On the opening track he repeats you little wonder 34 times, he repeats the phrase so far away 30 times all rapped around electronic noises and blurbs that make no sense to me. As I listen to the rest of the CD, the same thing. 1 line phrases repeated over and over with noise in the background. What made bowie great was a collection of the some of worlds greatest musicians led by one of the worlds greatest composers. Not here on this CD you get about an hour of non ending electronic drum beats with noise blurbs, not 1 cool guitar riff. I picked this CD up because of the high rating and it's low price on Amazon. I gave up on Bowie several CD's ago this one's no better!.

Earthling (***1/2)
David Bowie-Earthling ***1/2

Is it worth owning? Well yes. . but only for the simple fact that all Bowies work is worth owning. Bowie's willingness to try anything once is commendable, and his knack for creating new genres of music and latching on to new ones as they pop up is merritt worthy. Not when he tries to cram it all into one album, or even song as he does sometimes here on Earthling. While this album did bring a lot of what Prodigy and Nine Inch Nails did to the mainstream (mainly the latter) this was not his best attempt at industrial and trip-hop or house or whatever you want to call it. The bottom line is that almost everything on this album, he did better somewhere else. With a few exceptions of course.

'Little Wonder' despite the repeat of the title over, and over again is a surprisingly great opener. The electro background makes for a great canvas for Bowies vocals. 'Looking For Satellites' works better than it should. The guitar work rivals that of Robert Fripps in the 1970's. The theme behind the lyrics is also one of his strongest. 'Battle For Britain' is brilliant, simply put. 'Im Afraid Of Americans' the big hit single is one of Bowies all time greats, no question about it. The same can be said for 'Dead Man Walking' which might be Bowies strongest release since 'Fashion. ' The rest of the album however is below the radar so to speak. It is hardly listenable. And what works perfect on the rest of the albums fails on all the remaining tracks.

Erathiling is not Bowies best album, and it isn't even in his top ten but it has enough not worthy tracks to make it worth owning. More than that I will go so far as to say two of his all time best songs can be found here making this release essential, minus it's low rating if you can believe it.

4.5 Stars: Punchiest and Most Solid Latter-Day Bowie Album!
" Maybe it's the insistence associated with the whole drum-and-bass thing, or perhaps it's the catchy nature of the tracks, but this album is by far one of my favourite late-period Bowie releases. While many might scoff at this album and its production, I happen to be smitten by "Earthling. Unlike the bloated "1. Outside", this is a lean, mean and aggressive little album. Despite placing a now-exhausted techno approach at the forefront of the mix, "Earthling" succeeds showing us a re-invigorated Bowie. And while he's got the irksome noisenik Reeves Gabrels on guitar duty, the music is still surprisingly tasteful. Below are my impressions of the original release's 9 songs:

1. Little Wonder- Boy, what a way to kick off an album! Standard jungle clitter-clatter plus gee-tar noise, meshed with jazzy piano, makes for a great song. The lyrics are good fun and are eminently memorable. The midsection is a bit cluttered and pointless, but that's forgivable. "Little Wonder" is the first of many outstanding songs on the album, and it will likely become one of your favourite Bowie numbers.

2. Looking for Satellites- A goofy and ultimately pointless track. The lyrics themselves bear little connection to anything. It's literally Bowie listing things in a chant-like sort of manner. This track is not as propulsive as its predecessor, and it feel like a tedious plodder in comparison. There are some goofy spacey sounds throughout, and there's that fabled Reeves Gabrels guitar solo that's ultimately does nothing. That should have been obvious, given that we're talking about Gabrels. Irritating, and submerged in the mix. A waste of a track, as far as I can see.

3. The Letter (The Battle of Britain)- The album's tempo picks up on here, and the song itself keeps you hooked. Sparse guitar crunchiness adds to the drum and bass fun. Following the verses, the chorus finally strikes: "Don't you let my letter get you down!" followed by an echoey "Don't you, don't you, don't you". Suddenly, all we hear is Bowie and some dentist drill ambiance. The track picks up slowly and is soon back on track. But we then get derailed by a random out-of-tune show tune piano. Gotta love that old tyme jazzy interlude. That stops and we get more techno blipping. Echoey vocals follow and the track kicks into high gear once more. A rousing number that ends up being one of the album's many highlights.

4. Seven Years in Tibet- The album slows down again and we get some bizarre mix between slow jazz, looney toon animation and a dash of Reeves Gabrels feedback. Bowie's vocals begin softly, and then the LOUD dynamic kicks in. Good stuff. Unfortunately, the song rambles on for 6:21 and feels overlong.

5. Dead Man Walking- At first, this song didn't make that much of an impact on me. Upon further listening, I've noted that this song is more an upbeat techno song than a drum and bass track. The four on the floor beat keeps your head a-boppin', and the chorus will stay in your head. The sound effects are more prevalent than Gabrels noise, too. A nice and unexpected jazzy piano outro closes the song. Many I've spoken with hold this track in high regard, and I'm inclined to agree.

6. Telling Lies- The skittering beats are back, as is Reeves. The track is definitely on the moody side. Overall, the song itself is unremarkable: Bowie intoning "Teee-lling Liies" is the only thing that you might remember once the track is over.

7. The Last Thing You Should Do- Nice intro on this: Beats, computerized blips and an ambient synth. The lyrics imply that laughing is the worst possible action. It's a pretty paranoid track, and despite the beauty of its construction, it's not memorable. Oh, and Reeves drops by to throw pointless white noise.

8. I'm Afraid of Americans- I'd heard the V1 Radio Edit on "Best of Bowie," and a friend informed me that this version was different. My, how it is. The drums are more subdued, the blipping is more prominent and the infamous chorus sports a different instrumental crunch. If you know the V1 Edit, try this one for size: The disparities between both versions will bring a smile to your face.

9. Law (Earthlings on Fire)- The song kicks off with a sample that says "I don't want knowledge: I want certainty!" The beat kicks in, the best way I can describe it is "jungle" meets "space. " It's got a heck of a dark mood, but its in your face. Samples abound, as does repetitive intonations by Bowie. It's head-spinning and dynamic and shiver-inducing. A heck of a way to close the album!

This album is short and to the point. Few of the songs on here are throwaways and most will burrow themselves deep in your consciousness. However, the heavy use of techno and drum-and-bass textures undermines the potency of many of the songs. Similarly, Reeves Gabrels presence hurts the album. As such, I'm giving this album 4. 5 stars.

It's not perfect, its not for everyone, but those who approach it with an open mind will instantly fall in love with the tunes and the dynamics of the album.
.

Great.
For the people who have problems with all the Changes Bowie goes through, THAT's Bowie. This is techno/space/head-banging/emotional stuff all in one package. He is elastic and timeless. His old stuff is still fresh, his new stuff metamorphasizes with him.
If you want the same old song and dance, listen to aerosmith.
(which i like, btw).

The Absolute Best Album By Anyone Ever
. . and I mean that. I'm not gushing unjustly. This is a perfect package from the bottom up.

Most of the criticisms of this album take into account that Bowie was 50 years old at the time, like techno is strictly a young person's game. It's sad to think that, had a 20-year-old recorded EXACTLY this album, in the same time and place, I'm almost certain it would have been huge. HUGE. But because it was done by Bowie, people attached the weight of his age and his musical history to it, which is missing the point entirely. Take this album on its own, as it is, without any preconceived notions or ageism or anything, and this is a real firecracker.

Frankly, if anything, Bowie's experience only makes the album better than what a 20-year-old could have done. The songs are actually structured like pop-rock, with moving chord progressions, ice-water piano, live drums mixed seamlessly with programmed ones, and some of the best vocals of Bowie's career (or, for that matter, anyone's). This is not like any other techno out there, at all. There's literally NOTHING ELSE LIKE THIS ALBUM. It's entirely unique. That really makes me sad, because this album is so spectacular, I want more like it.

One thing I find particularly interesting about this album is that there is a subtle A-side/B-side quality. It may not be apparent right away, because the division is not nearly as obvious as it is on Low or "Heroes", but it's there. All the songs in the first half of the album, from "Little Wonder" through "Dead Man Walking," are positively-charged and upbeat - with the exception of "Seven Years In Tibet," which is venomous, a sizzling acid burn. Then, from "Telling Lies" through "LAW (Earthlings On Fire)", the album takes a dark, ominous turn. There's a distinct sense of foreboding and danger in this second half. It's a very clever arrangement. This album is so flawless, I wouldn't even change the order of tracks!

In iTunes, one can rate individual tracks from 0 to 5 stars. This is the ONLY album to which I have given solid five-star ratings. "Little Wonder" and "Telling Lies," being perhaps the least utterly amazing tracks on the album (and ironically, also the first two singles from it), I had initially given four stars each, simply because it felt wrong to say an album is perfect. I finally gave in and gave them five stars as well, because honestly, were I given the option to tell Bowie what to change about those tracks to make them even better, I'd tell him not to change a thing.

This really is a perfect album. Whether someone new to it is going to like it or not really depends on their expectations, biases, and so on, moreso than strictly the album itself. But if one can strip away all that baggage and just let the album stand on its own merits, I expect they'll be blown away. To anyone who can do that, I recommend this album most highly.

You can see a complete list of all David Bowie discography, or go back to the David Bowie tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.