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I was only 11 when I got this album (wanting to find out more about this strange singer after seeing Labyrinth and being very impressed) and to my untrained ears "Never Let Me Down" had a certain something that made it stand out from the bland yuppie pop of the time, but compared to recent efforts like "Outside", "Heathen" and "The Buddha of Suburbia" it certainly is weak for Bowie. The only other albums (OK tapes!) I bought in 1987 also go to show how weak "Never Let Me Down" was in comparison, and how low Bowie had fallen from his creative peak - "so" by Peter Gabriel, and "Actually" by Pet Shop Boys.
There are some terribly uninspired songs that leave me cold - a pointless remake of Iggy Pop's "Bang Bang", and "Too Dizzy" a song so bad that it has been left off the most recent version of this album! But, wierdly, it also features songs that are much better than almost everything on "Let's Dance" and "Tonight"! "Day in Day out" is an early attempt at the drum- and sequencer-led techno-rock of "Earthling" with some good one-liners, but suffers from very '80s horn arrangements. "Time Will Crawl" is vintage Bowie - reminiscent of "Ashes To Ashes" mixture of synth and guitar with lyrics full of wierd, apocalyptic surreal images and a suprisingly profound look at the chilliung idea that the boy round the corner could grow up to be the next Hitler-style nemesis! "Beat of your drum" oscillates between some icy slow verses with Bowie sounding like a man on the edge of the world (you can imagine his character in labyrinth singing it), and a very lusty chorus a la "Rebel Rebel". Again, too many horns though! The title song is a great ballad that really should be put in his live set. Despite typical ballad fare - harmonica, a whistling coda! - it has a certain strangeness in its jangly, jerky chorus that almost sends it into "Lodger" territory!"zeroes" is a brave attempt to make a 'fake' psychedelic song, maybe this was to blame for Kula Shaker?! And "Glass Spider" is quite like nothing else in his back catalogue and certainly not "Let's Dance"! The rest of the album is disposable, except for "87 & Cry" although the version on the "never let me down" twelve inch is a better mix.
So, not quite as atrocious as the critics make out - and not as boring as the very overrated "Let's Dance" - but not exactly his finest hour! Thankfully he made "Tin Machine" after this, which completely destroyed his '80s middle of the road pop star persona and got him thinking about making interesting records again, and most of his '90s work has been essential listening, with the exception of the rather dull "Hours".
Definitely the worst Bowie record sleeve ever!
Watch Bowie in interviews from 1987 on youtube,a truly mind boggling experience as Bowie very much the insulated,rich pop superstar uses words like "dynamite!",raves about Paul Young,talks about the "funky,turkish,durvish" playing of his guitarist,plays a goblin king in Labriynth....
You can almost feel the cool crowd suffer a collective coronary as the former purveyer of taste swaps artistry for platinum,middle aged blandness.You know everyone goes on about this period but lets be honest here David Bowie is in no way,shape or form a stupid man.This is a performer who knows exactly what he's doing.
Except what he was doing in 1987 was awful,cheesy,soaked in irrelevance.
Bowie i assume thought i want this.
Never Let Me Down should be treated as a harmless artefact of its time.On its own terms its an enjoyably superfluous album.From the multi millionaire rock star preaches about the homeless Day In,Day Out to the actually rather brilliant Time Will Crawl,the cringing monologue of Glass Spider....its a baffling,flawed album.
Certainly make no mistake 87 Bowie was equally as much as a character as Ziggy,Thin White Duke.
In this context Glass Spider,Never Let Me Down works.
Plus i like to think this experience led to the genius albums Buddha Of Suburbia and my favourite album Outside.
Bowie in the 70s was UNTOUCHABLE,so what about a few duds?If you are going to mess up,do it on an ernomous scale with a 60 foot spider scaling down wires.
Mistakes are a fascinating thing.
Best tracks: "Never Let Me Down", "Zeroes"
The 1980's output of David Bowie is one of the more derided eras of modern music, in direct contrast... Read more
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