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5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Loving The Album
I don't really see what so many people hate about this album. Sure, it is not Bowie at his best, but as one reviewer stated, it is not Bowie at his worst either. Tonight starts with one of the great late Bowie songs: "Loving the Alien". I never really gave this song a good listen to until I brought this album and once I put it on, I thought it was fantastic. One of...
Published on 26 Oct 2004 by Simon Edwards
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
Bowie's Big Mistake
I've been working my way through the Bowie back catalogue album by album recently. It's a catalogue that I was already intimately familiar with but sometimes returning to records that you haven't heard for awhile gives you a new sense of perspective and a chance to re-evaluate. The following observations were made. Firstly his 60's period is far more varied and...
Published on 17 Oct 2005 by Dave Edney
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
Bowie's Big Mistake, 17 Oct 2005
I've been working my way through the Bowie back catalogue album by album recently. It's a catalogue that I was already intimately familiar with but sometimes returning to records that you haven't heard for awhile gives you a new sense of perspective and a chance to re-evaluate. The following observations were made. Firstly his 60's period is far more varied and interesting than I thought ("The Laughing Gnome" being the obvious exception) whilst the 70's stuff confirms what an astonishingly innovative and accomplished songwriter he was. And then there's the 80's and consequently this album. I remember thinking when I first heard it that it was easily the worst record that he had made. And you know what? I haven't changed my mind. This album is STILL a piece of crap and there are several reasons why this is the case. In 1983, Bowie decides that he wants commercial success. So instead of sticking with the hugely versatile Tony Visconti as producer he hires a couple of "young guns" - namely Nile Rodgers and Derek Bramble, both of whom use 80's production techniques that make Bowie's records sound just like any other from that period. Bowie decides not to play on either album and exists as a vocalist only. This not only gives the producer greater control over the musical direction but it also significantly limits Bowie's input. With the hugely successful "Let's Dance" shifting zillions of units, for the first time on "Tonight", instead of being one step ahead of the game, Bowie treads water by following the formula of the previous album. Meanwhile the lack of decent new material on this record suggests that either Bowie had lost interest in songwriting or that his creative well had dried up, though the inclusion of no less than 5 Iggy Pop songs leads some people to think that the record is a deliberate attempt to line Mr.Pop's pockets as Ig had recently fallen on hard times.O.K. So what do we get for our money? The singles - "Blue Jean" and "Loving The Alien" are good but elsewhere there are 2 vastly inferior re-treads of songs that Bowie and Iggy had already perfected on "Lust For Life", one of which, the title track - is given an awful cod-reggae arrangement that takes away the humour and the vitality of the original. Iggy's "Don't Look Down" is also afflicted by another reggae make-over whilst the 2 new Pop/Bowie songs are so-so but are swamped by a production that is so shiny that the material struggles through a blinding flash of drum booms and saxophone squeals - an aberration that not only effects the entire album but afflicted the entire decade. As for the remaining cover versions - Leiber and Stoller's "I Keep Forgettin" is an abomination whilst no disrespect to the reviewer who suggested that Bowie's turgid "God Only Knows" is better than the Beach Boys original but it's like comparing Michelangelo to Paint By Numbers. It took a while for Bowie to come to his senses but rest assured it never got as bad as this again. If you want good Bowie I would suggest everything from Hunky Dory to Heroes, a good 60's compilation and a close look at his last 4 or 5 records - all of which confirm that David is back on the ball and making great records again. Meanwhile, if it's the 80's you're after - buy Haircut 100.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
The worst of Bowie, 22 Dec 2007
Although I am a Bowie fan this is ,in my opinion , just an album made to cash in on his success , having followed on from his biggest selling "Lets Dance" album. There is not much original work on Tonight and of the many covers on it they are poor imitations of the originals.
Tonight does start with loving the alien which is a great atmospheric song and gets the listeners hopes up a little too much as what follows is sub standard music and leaves the listener to believe that the hugely talented Bowie had just ran out of ideas.
The Iggy pop covers, some of which are given a weak reggae treatment are disasters, neighborhood threat is messy and all over the place. The title track is just such an ordinary cover of one of Iggy s best songs.
God only knows is awful , such a shameful cover of what was an extremely well made song by Brian Wilson , I bet that Brian would smile if he heard Bowies inglorious and weary version on this album!
The album ends with "Dancing with the big boys " almost sung in tune , but sadly , Bowie was no longer up among the big boys and it would take a good few years before he would return to anything like his creative best after this affair!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
If it wasnt for two tracks on this album it would be a 2 star review, 11 Jul 2007
As the above states if it wasnt for two particular songs on this album it would be given two stars by myself as this is the least best Bowie album to date. Following on from the excellent Lets dance this album is a dissapointment. The two tracks which save it are Loving the alien and Blue Jean. Both excellent and both released as singles. For Bowie completists like myself only.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Much maligned but not his worst, 28 Nov 2003
I was expecting a bit of a pig's ear of an album when I bought this after reading some of the scathing reviews of "Tonight", however I was relieved to find that it really wasn't that bad at all. It is rather cliched , but "Loving the Alien" is a smashing song with its mystical lyrics and coruscating melody, although it does go on a bit. I also liked Bowies cover of "God Only Knows" which beats anything on "Pin Ups" and I always have liked the short , punchy "Blue Jean" .The Title Track is a pleasant duet with Tina Turner. However the rest of the songs are easily forgettable and not worth mentioning. I enjoyed this much more than "Never Let Me Down" , Bowies 1987 turkey, but it definitely doesnt compare to most of his 70's and 90's repertoire.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1, 9 Nov 2001
Although I enjoyed it I think new listeners should be warned. Do not by this album until you are a hardcore Bowie fan. LOVING THE ALIEN is tremendous, if not a bit too long. DANCING WITN THE BIG BOYS is passable but is more an Iggy Pop record with Bowie unfeasibly drowned out by his talented cohort's vocals. Apart from that it's the most inoffensive, pedestrian album available today. NEVER LET ME DOWN isn't much better, but it is!
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5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Loving The Album, 26 Oct 2004
I don't really see what so many people hate about this album. Sure, it is not Bowie at his best, but as one reviewer stated, it is not Bowie at his worst either.Tonight starts with one of the great late Bowie songs: "Loving the Alien". I never really gave this song a good listen to until I brought this album and once I put it on, I thought it was fantastic. One of the reasons I brought this album was for Bowie's cover of one of the greatest love songs in the world ever: the Beach Boys "God Only Knows". The original is one of my favourite songs ever and I think Bowie is the only person who has covered it and brought it up there with the original. Giving it the great Bowie magic, he has turned it into his own. The other songs I really love on this album is the fantastic "Blue Jean" and "I Keep Forgetting". Both of them are superb and really brings Bowie into that great rocking 80's turning into 50's period. I have to say go out and buy this once you have got a few of his other classics (Do not get this album first). Once you have it in your collection, you will be very satisfied because it is another chapter in Bowie's great magnificent career.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Bowie loses the plot, 3 Oct 2008
Official - this is Bowie's worst album. Blue Jean and Loving The Alien are superb, but these tracks can be listened to on numerous Bowie compilations. The rest of the album comprises of past Iggy Pop/Bowie collaborations and a couple of truly awful cover versions - God Only Knows indeed! Even Bowie distances himself from this album and the follow-up Never Let Me Down.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Life's too short to bother listening to the 23rd best David Bowie album...., 13 Jun 2008
Rating: 2.5/10
Best songs: "Blue Jean", "Loving the Alien"
Urgh, what happened? I can't even say that Tonight is worth purchasing on the strength of its best songs, as they are easily available on many a Bowie retrospective. Okay, so Let's Dance was the weakest Bowie album for over a decade, but it was still pretty good (its first side was terrific in fact), while Tonight was tragic evidence that the 1970's brightest artistic light had well and truly run out of ideas and was seriously slumming it. Tonight is the first album of Bowie's that doesn't feel like a proper album at all, more a sloppy compilation of half-hearted recordings, too many of which are sub-par covers.
Of course, the presence of a genuinely sparkling cover version on a Bowie album was the norm on most of his 1970's output (although tellingly, his most creative period from 1977-1979 featured no cover versions at all) and he even recorded a whole album of them with 1973's Pin-Ups, but I get the feeling that the decision to work with other people's (including his own on two Bowie/Iggy Pop-penned examples) material on Tonight was less to do with the desire to re-interpret than the fact that he just didn't have enough fresh material of his own.
Still, at least opening song "Loving the Alien" at least keeps any fear at bay - it's very much of its time (and Bowie seemed to acknowledge this, performing an almost apologetic stripped-down acoustic version on his Reality tour back in 2003), but it made for a fine, dramatic single - however, it's the shorter single mix which I find more effective than the slightly overlong version here, but I'm not going to rip too much into it - compared to most of what else is here, "Loving the Alien" in any version is positively glorious. "Don't Look Down" is, on one level, thoroughly depressing - Bowie appears to have lost all identity, content to become another past-it rock star happy to let fashion and expensive studios do all the work for him....it's all just so OKAY, professionally performed, sleek, slick, ever-so-slightly sterile, but taken on its own, I suppose it's reasonably enjoyable reggae-lite fare, with some nice synthesisers here and there.
The ghastly, insincere cover of The Beach Boys' superlative "God Only Knows", which has some rent-an-orchestra showering bathos over a sub-par karaoke vocal (one of Bowie`s worst ever), has rightfully been dismissed as one of lousiest tracks on any Bowie album ever. Only slightly less painful but pretty damn awful is the title track, which is a cover of the astonishingly powerful song of the same name from Iggy Pop's Lust for Life album, and all the drama, tension, fear, horror, beauty and impact of the original has been entirely obliterated in a wretched wave of dull faux-reggae and pointless guest vocals from Tina Turner. Oh yes, and there's horns. Tonight is definitely Bowie's `horniest' album, and the horns don't just blow here, they suck too. A slightly better Pop cover arrives next with "Neighbourhood Threat", which was also on Lust for Life - it's not up to the original, but at least it's got some punch, especially with that guitar hook.
"Blue Jean" is the kind of the song that Tonight needed much, much more of. It's so good you feel sorry for its presence, surrounded by so much trash. This is one of Bowie's most overlooked singles, precisely because it's so throwaway, it's a brilliant bit of bubblegum, it sounds great, has a fun verse, an even more fun chorus, and at three perfect minutes, it doesn't outstay its welcome. Top stuff! The last three tracks are all filler- you wonder what Bowie was thinking, cruising his way through such empty, anonymous, forgettable material.
Now, on a closing note, I know that it's very fa-fa-fa-fashionable to deride everything Bowie gave us after Scary Monsters - after all, it was after that album that he essentially ceased to be a force to be truly reckoned with. However, some of his post-1980 work stands up very well; he's done some great albums and songs since 1980 - it's up to you to appreciate the likes of Outside, Earthling, Heathen, etc, for what they are in themselves, not in comparison to what's come before. I guess what I'm trying to say is - the main reason Tonight is a failure is less to do with the fact that it doesn't match up to Bowie's golden years period, but mainly because most of the songs are crap. Simple as that.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
rubbish or genius???, 18 Jan 2007
ok.......let's get down to it.
let's dance was of course brilliant.....then it's followed up with tonight!.
i remember this coming out in the 80's and thinking ho hum, i don't know if i like it or not. now in my 30's and in 2007 im still finding myself saying.....ho hum, do i like this or not?.
loving the alien is quite sweet, god only knows and tumble and twirl, dancing with the big boys kinda aggravate me sometimes.
if you are a bowie collector you need this for your collection, but i think only a couple of tracks will be put on the ipod.
if you want it try it out first....but remember it's not your typical bowie album.
i gave it 3 stars because i like the structure and a few of the songs but i don't love them.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Give this a go - you might be surprised, 23 April 2006
This album is not bad at all. Take it for what it is - David Bowie in the 1980's. Trust me, that's no bad thing! As 80's pop albums go this is pretty good stuff and it does contain the excellent 'Loving the Alien' and 'Blue Jean, together with an interesting take on Brian Wilson's 'God Only Knows'.
Recommened, even for the new converts.
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