David Bowie - Black Star (Album Review)

David Bowie is a glam rock solo artist from London, and as you may have heard; the artistic icon unfortuneatly recently passed away on the 10th of January 2016 due to cancer. His new album which was released on his 69th birthday, just two days before his death; has been known to pull on everybody's heart strings on a global scale, due to the album basically telling his fans that he is dying. Bowie was an inspirational icon for many reasons, but more so for the fact that he influenced so many young fans to be who they are and not care what other people think; Bowie was unique and different and it worked in his favour. In his solo singing career of 49 years he had written 26 albums, 120 singles and 6 EP's during his lifetime... And that isn't even counting the songs or albums that he may have featured on! Anyhow, I am reviewing his last ever album called 'Blackstar' and with just seven tracks, I am hoping for something spectacular!

 The title track 'Black Star' opens up the album with an instrumental on the piano, followed by an unusual introduction. The 9 minutes and 58 seconds-long track has an awful lot of intense depth and meaning to it; but the real eye opener line for me was -

"Something happened on the day he died, spirit rose a metre and stepped aside. Somebody else took his place, and bravely cried."

This tells me that even if somebody else gained the notoriority and idolism that Bowie has portrayed throughout his lifetime; that they wouldn't feel ok with taking the starlight away from Bowie, and he knows this as it explains significantly within his lyrics. The song title is dark within itself; stars are bright and full of light which signify a heaven, however a black star is dark and evil so perhaps Bowie is trying to tell people that he has sinned and he is going to hell? As far as we are concerned we will never know, and it will play on our minds for the rest of our lives... Moving forward, the next track is called 'Tis A Pity She Was A Whore'. I think that the whore that he is perhaps referring to is cancer.

"Black struck the kiss"

A black kiss is often otherwise referred to as 'the kiss of death', therefore he knew that death was inevitable within his circumstances, and it is a horrible thought knowing that you are going to die; but Bowie wants people to appreciate their life as it can be taken away from you within a glimpse of a kiss. The third track is called 'Lazarus' and this is the single that he released before the album; and once he passed away millions of people around the world felt repulsed with themselves for not realising that the music video was a sincere goodbye to his fans; and not just a goodbye from music, but a goodbye from life. To be fair; the opening line says it all. The slow pace of the song instantly creates a melancholic atmosphere and immediately you know that this song isn't necessarily going to be the most cheerful of songs.

"Look up here, I’m in heaven - I’ve got scars that can’t be seen."

As everybody knows; cancer doesn't always show on the outside, it kills you from the inside. That is why Bowie has scars that can't be seen due to the emotional damage and physical damage that the cancer is doing to him. The next track 'Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)' is a lot more upbeat compared to the previous tracks that this album has displayed. However this track is a shorter re-release from Bowies 2014 compilation album; 'Nothing Has Changed'. Furthermore, the next song is called 'Girl Loves Me' and unfortunately I don't like this track as the way he sings some of the vocals hurts my ears as he yodels his voice on some of his words for emphasis.

The second to last track on the album is called 'Dollar Days' and he's basically telling you that he doesn't care anymore and he doesn't care if he never sees the earth again, and this links to his alter-ego of Ziggy Stardust as he doesn't belong on earth, he belongs somewhere better, somewhere unknown... Somewhere extraterrestrial... Space! As the album comes to an end, the final track called 'I Can't Give Everything Away' ceases the album with a very emotional ending. This song contrasts with the previous track is he goes on to say that he is not ready to leave yet;

"I can't give everything away"

In conclusion this album has definitely met its expectations with the odd exception of 'Girl Loves Me' as my ears just could not take the odd yodelling sound that Bowie was doing with his voice. My favourite tracks off the album are most definitely 'Lazarus' and 'Black Star' as to me; they were the most deep and meaningful tracks off the album. I give out my sincere thoughts to those die-hard Bowie fans as he was an influential idol to many across the world. This album has been a huge eye opener for me, and I'm sure that it has for everybody else that has given it a listen. The man who fell to earth has now returned to the stars, Rest In Peace. X

9/10