David Bowie

David Robert Jones (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie (/ˈboʊi/), was an English singer, songwriter and actor who is often considered to be one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. He was a leading figure in popular music and was acclaimed by critics and fellow musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s…

Earthling is the twenty-first studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 3 February 1997 through RCA Records in the United Kingdom, Virgin Records in the United States, and Arista Records/BMG in other territories. Developing musical styles previously explored on Outside (1995), Earthling showcases an electronica-influenced sound partly inspired by the industrial and drum and bass culture of the 1990s, further exhibiting jungle and techno styles. Lyrically, the tracks express themes of alienation and spirituality. One of them, "I'm Afraid of Americans", was remixed for release as a single by Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor, who appeared in its music video. The artwork depicts Bowie wearing a Union Jack coat co-designed by Alexander McQueen. Earthling charted better than its predecessor and reached the top ten in several countries.

Never Let Me Down is the seventeenth studio album by David Bowie, released in April 1987 by EMI America. Bowie conceived the album as the foundation for a theatrical world tour, writing and recording most of the songs in Switzerland. He considered the record a return to rock 'n' roll music…

Brand new mix of the Space Oddity (aka David Bowie) album by longtime Bowie producer/collaborator Tony Visconti, including the track Conversation Piece which was omitted from the original album. Of the 2019 Space Oddity album mix Visconti says “It was so much fun to find hidden gems of musicianship with more time to mix the second time around, a guitar twiddle here, a trombone blast there, Marc Bolan’s voice in a group choir and more detail in general that we overlooked all those years ago when the label gave us a week at the most to mix this album. And in the details you will find 22 year old David Bowie, who would soon take the world by storm."

As if the flood of compilations called Best of Bowie in 2002 weren't confusing enough – there was a different track listing for each territory around the world, all bearing the same name and album cover – in 2004, a double-disc version of Best of Bowie was released in U.S., which was different than the "bonus CD" edition released in North America in 2002. It's not too different – a slightly different sequencing, it's a track longer, it has a couple different songs (and there's an edition with a bonus CD containing remixes) – but even if the details are slightly different, the overall gist remains: this is an excellent double-disc overview of Bowie's '70s and '80s peak.

Jumping on the post-grunge industrial bandwagon with Outside didn't successfully rejuvenate David Bowie's credibility or sales, so he switched his allegiance to techno and jungle for the follow-up, Earthling. While jungle is a more appropriate fit than industrial, the resulting music is nearly as awkward. Though he often gets the sound of jungle right, the record frequently sounds as if the beats were simply grafted on top of pre-existing songs. Never are the songs broken open by a new form; they are fairly conventional Bowie songs with fancy production. Fortunately, Bowie sounds rejuvenated by this new form, and songs like "Little Wonder" and "Seven Years in Tibet" are far stronger than the bulk of Outside. Still, the record falls short of its goals, and it doesn't offer enough intrigue or innovations to make Earthling anything more than an admirable effort.