It’s a strange experience listening to David Bowie’s latest and final album, Blackstar, after his death. Eerie even.
The album, released on Friday January 8th – two days before his death – is tinged with death throughout, especially on the standout track, Lazarus, which opens with the lyrics “Look up here man, I’m in heaven”, or on title track Blackstar during which Bowie sings “Something happened on the day he died”.
Blackstar is extremely strong album. Each song has a defining quality that makes you want to continue listening, none more than Blackstar, which in it’s near ten-minute runtime sounds like at least three different songs.
Arguably not as strong as older Bowie albums such as Low or even 2013’s The Next Day, Blackstar is however especially experimental, and shows that even in his final days, David Bowie was ahead of the competition.
Most other artists, an album like Blackstar would be their best album, and for Bowie, whilst not his very best, is still a five star album, testament to his enviable catalogue. A fitting farewell for one of the greatest artists to grace the universe, David Bowie was the ultimate Blackstar, and this album is the greatest goodbye.
by Scott Paterson
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