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Tonight

David Bowie - Tonight Audio CD

A fair review of the David Bowie "Tonight" 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: Tonight
Rating:

Release Date: 1999-09-28
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Loving the Alien 2: Don't Look Down 3: God Only Knows 4: Tonight - David Bowie, Tina Turner 5: Neighborhood Threat 6: Blue Jean 7: Tumble and Twirl 8: I Keep Forgetting 9: Dancing with the Big Boys - David Bowie, Iggy Pop

Not One of His Better Efforts
The original recording is very muddy, and this enhanced disk is a little better. This release lacks the clarity of production that earlier Bowie disks had, and needed a re-release to clean up the tracks. The material, unfortunately, was never cleaned up. "Loving the Alien" is a good song, but suffers from over production. The next song is written by Iggy Pop and his guitarist sidekick, James Williamson. "Don't Look Down" does not measure up to the original Iggy version, and only the first Pop penned tune. The version of "God Only Knows", the Brian Wilson/Tony Asher classic is hard to enjoy. Although the melody is beautiful enough to carry the tune, overproduction creates unnecessary mellodrama in what was a beautiful song. "Tonight" another co-written by Pop, was performed very tongue in cheek originally as a dialogue between God and Iggy. This version features a reggae attempt in the middle, and cashes in on the timely popularity of co-vocalist, Tina Turner. The Iggy original was a funny song, prefaced by the vocal introduction, which is omitted from this version. Another Bowie/Pop composition, "Neighborhood Treat", is re-writen and is mixed as an 80s dance tune. The classic on the release, "Blue Jean" follows. The song explodes with a powerful horn blast accented by Omar Hakim's drum pops, quickly punctuating into the verse. The mariba accents of Guy St. Onge ring in the background, aiding the rhythm just enough. This is one of my favorites of the later Bowie releases, with its wailing sax that bring on the chorus. "Tumble and Twirl" is another Bowie/Pop composition, that is fairly forgettable. The next cover is a Leiber/Stoller song, later released by Michael McDonald, "I Keep Forgetting". I do not feel this version even stands up to the McDonald cover. "Dancing With the Big Boys" is a powerful dance tune that unites Bowie and Pop on vocals. In all, this is a decent release, but does not stand up to the Bowie classics. As a true fan, I needed to get this for a few tunes, and have learned to like some of the others, but build up your collection before making this investment. Also, be sure to get the enhanced copy.

A Bowie Masterpiece in Its Own Right and it Did Not Deserve to get Slammed On

Loving The Alien, the opening tune, is as lush and lovely and grand a painting in sound as the title track of Bowie's classic Aladdin Sane, between the gorgeous instrumentals and The Gentleman's sensuous yet angelic voice. For the life of me, this David Bowie fan cannot fathom why just about everyone and their best friend, including hard-core Bowie fans, has slammed on this sublime recording, which is just as entertaining and fun and classy as anything else The Gentleman (as I refer to him, cap T, cap G) has ever done record-wise. Only Bowie can make a song about religion sound sexy!

Tumble and Twirl, Dancing with the Big Boys, Blue Jean, and Neighborhood threat are not only candy for the ears but fuel for the legs. I can't listen to those songs and NOT want to dance

In my opinion, Bowie's cover of God Only Knows is so exquisite and romantic and seductive it makes the original sound like an advertising jingle by comparison (no offense to Brian Wilson and his Beach Boys cohorts :-) )

The title track, a duet with Tina Turner, is a masterpiece, and Don't Look Down is a delightful foray into reggae a la Bowie.

I think this work of audio art should have won a Grammy award, and I kind of onder if those who slam on it do so because they were expecting Ziggy Part II or Let's Dance Revisited. Hah! Everyone knows that The Gentleman's trademark is to always delight his fans with something different -- and delightful, and he succeeds beautifully with this gem of a recording! If I could give it 10 stars I would.

Ultimate Sell-out album, no offense to Bowie
This phase in his career brings up the question of being a fan of the musician or the music; I'm a fan of Bowie the musician and enjoy just about everything he's released, but this album is one that I just try to ignore. I'm a huge fan of Bowie, but his 80's habit of milking in on his fame is at its height in this album. Here is my reasoning:

1 it took him almost no time at all to spew this thing out, since it came out just after 'Let's Dance'

2 a number of tracks are covers, not to mention the other tracks that were written with Iggy Pop for his own release(s), then re-recorded them on this album, showing he did not put a lot of creative effort into it.

3 he does a duet with Tina Turner! It may be my opinion, but what could be more mainstream edge than that?

4 a 20-minute long film was made to promote the album; the film, in my opinion, was egotistical and had little to do with much except the song 'Blue Jean'.

5 don't forget the huge touring Bowie did for this album, which showed him as his pompous best.

I will admit a few songs are pretty good, but not nearly as strong as previous or latter releases (Scary Monsters, Let's Dance, Never Let Me Down). It seems work was put into only the three singles that this album spawned, and I'd say that his next album, Never. . . , was much better single-wise.

Altogether, this album is the biggest reason most people tend to shy away from his 80's material.

.

Dancing with the '80's
It's not "Ziggy", nor is it "Heathen," but who cares? It's Bowie having fun, giving us great music. It's some of the most unique material in all of Bowie's catelogue. I'm so in love with his voice that just about anything he sings I'll enjoy, truth be told. But tracks on here, especially Neighborhood Threat and Tumble and Twirl, are really infectious and never really get stale because of their uniqueness. Why does everyone hate God Only Knows on the the album, by the way? Sure, maybe it's not the original. But why do you feel the need to compare disparate things? Bowie is a whole animal unto himself. Appreciate him for the true artist he is, and buy some of his music (rather than simply lazily downloading his past stuff illegally).
PS: the following album, "Never Let Me Down," is also not so bad either, especially the very catchy title track. Quit hatin' on the master!!! .

(1.5 stars) Arguably Bowie's nadir
Let's Dance was mediocre on a whole, but sometimes it was really good. Ooh, now this is quite bad. This doesn't even have that much going for it. It's one of the most insipid albums I've ever heard. And the weird thing about it is that it's strangely listenable. Well, other than those two craptacular covers (an overproduced '80s version of "God Only Knows," which is a terrible version of a fantastic song; Leiber and Stroller's well-known "I Keep Forgettin,'" that's apparently supposed to be a classic or something - Bowie tries to be Elvis, and comes up way short). There's nothing particularly abrasive about it. It's just wretchedly, abysmally boring. It's genre experimentation horribly bungled. Some of it is mood music gone horribly wrong. Look at "Loving the Alien," which runs out of ideas after two minutes but still slogs on for seven. And reggae music gone horribly wrong, too: check out the title track (with Tina Turner sounding really, really bad on backing vocals, and again co-written by Iggy Pop), and the Iggy Pop cover "Don't Look Down. " This, friends, is conclusive proof why Bowie never, ever tried to play reggae during his salad days. And, in some cases, synth-rock gone horribly wrong, as if that term wasn't redundant in the first place. As an example, there's another gourd-awful tune penned with help from the Igster, "Neighborhood Threat," with the amazingly inept attempt at self-censorship "everyone wants to kiss your trash. " I don't know squat about Iggy's solo career (though I love the Stooges), but I think he's capable of a lot more than "Don't Look Down," "Tonight," and "Neighborhood Threat. " This is the guy who wrote "China Girl," after all. That song rules! But `Neighborhood Threat" does not. It overdoes chorus-happy guitar and synthesizers. The one song I do enjoy out of this entire collection is "Blue Jean," which is neither mood music, nor reggae, nor an inept cover, nor rock. It's a fun, bouncy retro pop song is what it is. Naturally, it was a pretty sizable hit, breaking the Top Ten. And it's so good I have to wonder if it perhaps fell on this album by accident. I mean, look how much better it is than its comrades-in-arms! It's definitely classic Bowie. Sadly, he takes a similar approach to the mildly funky "Tumble and Twirl," and comes up with a fairly bad song, even if I don't hate it the way most the rest of the population does. I'm not exactly defending it as buried treasure, but it sounds great next to his version of "God Only Knows. " And, come on, the horns are kind of fun. But the album closes on an awful note with "Dancing with the Big Boys," an attempted fusion of dance-pop and '80s rock. I give the album a bit of credit for being experimental, but it just doesn't work. Sorry.

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.