Search - David Bowie :: Outside

A work of art

Staring Girl | Thornton, CO | 05/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've been meaning to write a review on this album for some time now. I was in middle-school when this album came out. My cousin, who is a huge David Bowie fan, bought this CD and we listened to it in the car while driving home. I was absolutely blown away. Sadly, this was the first time I really ever heard David Bowie (boy was I missing out). I ran out right away and bought my own copy and I've not been able to put it down since. This album is responsible for opening countless doors for me in the music world. Before this I was stuck in a rut of listening to whatever was on the radio but this album showed me there is so much more out there.



David Bowie is a true artist. This album is a work of art. Every song takes on its own personality, and between the songs are creepy monologs of characters that accent the music. I love every track on this CD. Some of the tracks are very hard and industrial-like, and some are more upbeat and dance-like. I agree with another reviewer in saying that the album is quite bipolar; great analysis. This album is nothing like his previous works or his following; but then again, when are any of his albums similar to one another. David Bowie is forever changing with the times. That's why he's been one of the top musical artists for so long.

"

My Name is Mr. Touchshriek

Gustave O. Frey | Oracle, AZ | 12/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This Bowie album soars to great heights primarily because it flies UNDER the radar. Somebody switches off the rock star spotlight and Mr. Bowie, being a nocturnal type, calls for the murkier and shyer elements of his personality to venture to the surface. Murder, dismemberment, torture occur INSIDE (in the dense physical world), not OUTSIDE. The music is outside. God is also outside, adjusting the radio hum, tending the celestial fires and so forth. Lunacy, the female, the moon: compared to the inane arsons going on inside, "Outside" is quite sensible and liquid. Mr. Bowie and company are merely arranging flowers and wrapping gifts as it were. This dimension of the album can easily be missed.



Unlike Rupert Hine's crisp but bleak "Immunity," "Outside" respects the presence of a loving goddess somewhere. Not all witches are wicked. Some are though. A church-inspired organ on "I'm Deranged" holds my hand, lest I succumb to Ramona, an emotional vampire who would make Gustav Klimt consider going into accounting. "Outside" is both infatuated with and terrified of the female, and for good reason: Ramona is having a bit more than a "midi (?) life crisis." She's nuts. (I believe the proper English is "deranged.")



Mr. Touchshriek's eery cameo appearance could pass for a Ginger Baker senior moment, but, no, it's just Mr. Bowie pulling our chain. And, on "Wishful Beginnings," the background vocal sounds like Brian Eno being stretched out on a rack. Maybe it is.



Despite its grim allusions, this album is actually very upbeat, very much about keeping a stiff upper lip, even if the lower one is quivering. Moreso than ever, Mr. Bowie is game. We can't just avoid or regret the world; we also have to live in it. If we agree to stick around, Mr. Bowie will turn on a night light, even if it is a spooky moon.



Bowie's mafioso impersonation is ridiculous and provides the perfect setup for the lunar winds of "I'm Deranged." Actually, the first few notes of "I'm Deranged" have much in common with the riff repeated in "Tell The Truth." The impersonation distracts your mind but your body remembers the riff, and, subliminally combined, the song really takes off. I don't know, maybe I'm just deranged too.



Fittingly, the last song ("Strangers When We Meet" on my CD)is a love song, all beat up and muddy, recalling with great fondness and regret the twinkle-twinkle of a receding little star."

One of the best.

Balthusdas | 11/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can see why this wasn't a hit, but it has some legitamately moody pieces and would have to be my favorite bowie album after Station to Station just because it sounds so unreal. After this came Earthling which sucked ass, but Outside stands as a great album and I'm Deranged and Strangers When We Meet are among Bowie's best songs."