Heathen

From the first notes we are warned: this is going to be a complex, at times difficult, but ultimately rewarding album. Sunday, the opening track, is immediately reminiscent of 1995's Outside, with its discordant vocals and dense music. On that earlier album Bowie re-discovered the unconventionality and adventure of his Seventies peak, but loaded it with too many semi-complete ideas. Heathen, by contrast, is a cohesive whole with more shape to it, and knowledge of where it is going. For at the death, Sunday suddenly opens out as the drums kick in, ushering us into the rest of the album.

This tempo is built on with a cover of The Pixies Cactus that sounds like Bowie probably wished he had sounded back in the Eighties when it was first recorded. It has the prickly intensity his last great work, 1980's Scary Monsters album. And next we are treated to possibly Bowie's best work since then. Slip Away is beautiful, sad and majestic, with a typically obtuse lyric. One of the albums best tracks, it holds it's own against any other song in the Bowie canon. Slow Burn is all yearning guitars and thumping bass in a re-working of Heroes and Strangers When We Meet (the latter from the criminally underrated 1993 album The Buddha Of Suburbia - the moment Bowie started getting it right again). It is perhaps the centrepiece of this album, a beautifully grand song. And perhaps the highest praise of this album is that both these songs could not have been recorded by the Bowie of the past; they display the experience of an older, wiser man - and yet they are in no way jaded. Make no mistake; this is Bowie at his very best.

In the middle of the album are a series of songs that demonstrate how well Bowie has learned to hold onto and build on his recent successes while discarding the mistakes. I've Been Waiting For You is an aggressively bass driven track supported by wonderful walls of guitar. This is how Tin Machine almost sounded in the moments when they got it right - but this is far, far better. Meanwhile the wonderful I Took A Trip On A Gemini Spaceship uses the electronic beats that Bowie started experimenting with in the Nineties while remembering not to repeat the sub-Drum & Bass failures of 1997's Earthling album. This time Bowie sounds like himself, making records in 2002, not a has-been trying to jump on the bandwagon. Lyrically it is a lovely homage to the Ziggy Stardust era, just going far enough to sound campishly Glam without being pompous. Following on in this vein is the gorgeous Everyone Says Hi, which is early Seventies style Bowie via Suede and Pulp, and would surely be a hit as a single.

The title track, which closes the album in magnificent style, brings everything together. It is reminiscent of Low with its low groaning music and snappy drums. Indeed at one point it sounds as though it is about the morph into that album's great song Warszawa. And yet it in no way sounds dated. There are too many echoes of recent work for that. This is old and new all at once, and in that way summarizes the whole album.

Bowie has been openly referencing his own past since 1993, perhaps in an attempt to re-capture something of it's magic. And Heathen is no exception, although this time he draws equally from the success of his more recent work: it has the introspection of Low and the edginess of Scary Monsters; the pop sensibility of Aladdin Sane and the understated grace of Hours; the uncomfortable inventiveness of Lodger and the frightening density of Outside. This album works through the distant past and the recent past coming together to form something new and exciting. For the first time Bowie no longer sounds in awe of his Seventies self. Indeed, Heathen is more inspired by, than a reproduction of, Bowie's golden years. It is about then through the prism of now, rather than the nostalgic attempt to turn now into then. And in that way it sounds forward looking, modern and relevant. Music for tomorrow indeed.

This album is bold, challenging and exciting. If you ever liked Bowie, or if you just like music that demands intelligence, then buy this album!

Despite the scepticism of certain fans, and the reluctance of musical press to rate any new material from Bowie above average, I would say, yes, it is.

One obvious answer is Bowie's reunion with his long-time collaborator Tony Visconti, last seen on Scary Monsters, and, as die-hard fans will know, on the Placebo single Without You I'm Nothing and The Rustic Overtones' Viva Nueva. Visconti's string arrangements in Heathen are truly superb - ranging from the dark, intense and enigmatic I Would Be Your Slave to deceptively jolly Everyone Says 'Hi'. Yet, I believe, Mr. Visconti is not the only reason making Heathen exceptional.

Those who have followed Bowie's work during last three years will know that there was one more album between hours... and Heathen. The album was tentatively called Toy, and contained polished rerecordings of Bowie's early songs, an attempt, according to him, to finish what was started over thirty years ago. Then-Bowie's label Virgin, possibly scared by the imagery of Laughing Gnomes and Rubber Bands did not consider this idea that brilliant, and the album suddenly disappeared even before finalizing plans for the release. However, two tracks from Toy were reworked for Heathen. Afraid, a live favourite, is on par with such rockers as Suffragette City and Fame. Slip Away, Bowie's homage to the bizarre TV show, witnesses some of Bowie' best composing and some of his mot cryptic lyrics (even distorted further by the reviewers, thank you very much The Guardian). More tracks from Toy are being released as B-sides and other additional material, and should definitely be given due attention.

Next, come three covers that mostly provoke a love-or-hate relationship to the listener. In Cactus, a cover of The Pixies, David not only sounds naughtier than his multiple character in the Outside murder saga, but he also does almost all of the instruments on the track. I've Been Waiting For You, originally Neil Young's, is a look back to the Tin Machine era. The best of the three (or the worst, depending how you see it) is Legendary Stardust Cowboy's Gemini Spacecraft, a surreal cosmic love story, invoking the imagery of Bowie's alien personae without directly referencing to them. In addition, Bowie's vocals are so mellow and sexy, the track could easily be on Young Americans.

Heathen has everything a good album needs: an interesting, yet not intrusive or too in-your-face concept, very rich and deep melodic textures and wonderfully diverse vocals. Every new listen of Heathen brings a new discovery - whether it's a chord you did not hear before, subtle synthesizer effects or a pun in the lyrics. But in order to truly appreciate Heathen, one has to stop comparing it to Bowie's "classic" works. If you have Ziggy and Low engraved deep in your skin, Heathen will feel like a cup of two-day-old coffee.

This, his first album since the tuneful but dissapointing Hours..., has had exactly the same treatment, except that this time, the cliche that is "His best since Scary Monsters" is entirely justified, beacause with Heathen, Bowie has managed to rediscover three things: his unique ability to construct a wonderful tune, his lyrical inventivity and his talent at making a beautifully flowing album.

Sunday, the album's opener, is an incredibly pretentious and majestic song, which builds slowly to an incredible climax. A wonderful opening song. In Slip Away, the former Thin White Duke has made one of his best songs in years. Emotionally delivered and with a beautiful tune to boot, this is perhaps the albums highlight. Other great songs are I Would Be Your Slave (a paranoid and moving love ballad) and Everyone Says Hi (a little ditty with a catchy tune which works brilliantly). But Bowie isn't just fantastic with his own work, and on Heathen, he turns his talents towards the work of three other artists, covering the Pixie's 'Cactus', The Legendary Stardust Cowboy's 'I Took A Trip On A Gemini Spacecraft' and Neil Young's 'I've Been Waiting For You'. All are exectued to perfection, and Cactus, a song which suits Bowie down to the ground, is particularly good.

In truth, Heathen doesn't have a bad track, the closest being Afraid, and in the final song, Heathen (The Rays), Bowie has made yet another masterpiece to add to his repertoire. The opening single, Slow Burn, is Bowie's best single release in years, with the legendary Pete Townshed giving a guitar performance filled with verve, enthusiasm and energy. Overall, Heathen is an album made and executed wonderfully. Much of this has to do with the return of produced Tony Visconti, who famously produced many of Bowie's greatest albums (including the aforementioned Scary Monsters...), and who's talents with string arrangements are highly in evidence, especially in I Would Be Your Slave and Afraid. However, more important than anything else, Bowie now sounds like he cares about and feels for his music again. His voice has matured beautifully, and instead of slipping quietly into mediocrity as many artists of his generation have done, Bowie continues to surprise and delight.

A return to form? Most definitely.