Bowie said recently on his online diary that he has 16 songs done for a new album. He sounds very enthusiastic by saying, "eight of them I'm mad for." Five of them still have unfinished lyrics and the remaining 3 he's waiting on his band to complete them. He's also working on 4 old favorites/covers for the album of which he'll pick the best for the finished product. He closes by promising that "we'll have this sucker out by September."

Other interesting news includes reissues of Outside, Earthling and Hours, all as 2 disc sets.

Here's what you can expect on the bonus discs.

Outside:

1. Heart's Filthy Lesson (Trent Reznor alternative mix)
2. Heart's Filthy Lesson (Good Karma mix by Tim Simenon)
3. Nothing To Be Desired
4. Get Real
5. Hallo Spaceboy (Pet Shop Boys 12" mix)
6. Hallo Spaceboy (Double Click mix)

Earthling:

1. Little Wonder (Junior Vasquez club mix)
2. Little Wonder (Danny Sabre dance mix)
3. Dead Man Walking (House mix by Moby)
4. Telling Lies (Paradox mix by A Guy Called Gerald)
5. Seven Years In Tibet (Mandarin version)
6. V-2 Schneider (Tao Jones mix)
7. Pallas Athena (Tao Jones mix)
8. I'm Afraid Of Americans (Version 1 w/ Nine Inch Nails)

Hours:

1. Survive (Marius De Vries mix)
2. Seven (Marius De Vries mix)
3. Thursday's Child (rock mix)
4. 1917
5. We Shall Go To Town
6. We All Go Through
7. No-One Calls
8. Something In The Air (American Psycho mix by Mark Plati)
9. Seven (Beck remix)

wow...this man has not been sleeping much lately, huh! I wonder what the reason for the sudden boost in work is. Regardless, this is great news!

AHH!!! When will Bowie stop ripping off his fans with these expensive 2 disc sets with little or no new material. It is absolutely ridiculous, his last album was dismal... Please god Bowie STOP!

awesome!


and WatchThemFall, how can you say the last album was dismal? are you fucking dumb??? or just have no taste?

Everything David Bowie has done post Let's Dance has been bullshit. The man has totally lost all artistic emotion or point, and just delves into self-important bullshit. His sound is totally shallow, and ages extremely quickly (listen that horrible mess Earthling or Outside). His mindless lauding of younger artists (Trent, Moby) is extremely annoying to his fans. Bowie was a genius, he revolutionized style and music in the 70s but since then has been on a steep artistic downfall peaking with Heathen. I can't even believe I bought it. He is so out of touch with his influences that it is repulsive, his cover of the the LSDC's Gemini song almost totally forgets what Bowie and his peers were originally about. He will never pull another Scary Monsters, or even another Man of Words, Man of Music because he has totally lost touch with himself.

WatchThemFall said:

I totally don't understand where you're coming from. I thought Let's Dance was kinda lame but love everything from 1993. And I mean LOVE. I think some of it is right up there with the best of his 70's stuff. Especially "Heathen". That one is a masterwork.

This is the first I've heard this opinion, that's all. It's kinda shocking.

Thanks Tron ~ this is hugely exciting news. Little Wonder is one of my all time favourite songs especially after I read the lyrics. And Heathen is a sublime work of art!

I guess only old time Bowie fans see it... Kind of sad if you ask me, you guys just don't get what Bowie was all about...

WatchThemFall said:

I totally get Bowie - every phase, good and bad. He's just about my favorite artist. I understand that he was a trendsetter in the 70's. He's still experimenting, but more in a craftman's manner. I think he found himself again with Black Tie, White Noise and has kept getting better since. My favorite albums of his are the Berlin trilogy and Scary Monsters. But I still think the 90's/00's output is totally brilliant.

WatchThemFall said:

i think that is pretty pretentious comment to make. So, because someone doesn't agree with your opinion on a musician/artist, they don't "get" it? Gimme a break! Heathen is a fantastic album. You are completely in the minority here and wouldn't be surprised to find out you are only saying this to get a rise out of people. To call the music dated or aged is laughable. There isn't really a bowie album out that doesn't now sound dated or aged. He is a man who works from the moment. His sound is indicative of what he is interested at the time. Please, just because you don't like something, don't assume you are above it or above the people who dig it. It's music, man, leave the pretense at home.

And what I find strange is that he's picking specifically on Heathen. I find it to be one of his most timeless, universal sounding albums, right up there with Ziggy, Low and Scary Monsters.

heathen is definitely a Bowie album that could be from any era...it just has that Bowie sound.

imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty said:

Hours is pretty much the same way. Just timeless, classic stuff.

TRON said:

I'm not even going to go into Hours... If you consider that Timeless or classic then you need your head examined... And yes my comment was pretentious but it was honest, it seems the only people criticizing bowie's current undertakings are the long-term hardcore fans...

WatchThemFall said:

May I ask what you do like by Bowie?

And what is your specific complaint with Heathen? It's not trendy at all. Songs like 'Sunday', 'Slip Away', 'Slow Burn', 'Afraid', 'I Would Be Your Slave', '5:15', 'A Better Future', and 'Heathen' are beautiful, well-crafted songs. I can't understand anyone not liking this album. It represents everything that Bowie is about and I feel that it's one of his most mature and honest works.

TRON said:

What I like by Bowie:
Man of Words, Man of Music (so personal and introspective, some shitty songs though like Memory of a Free Festival)
Man Who Sold The World (tough rock and roll with a twist)
Hunky Dory (everything good about bowie)
Ziggy Stardust (best glam rock album of all time, up there with Touch Me & Jobriath )
Aladdin Sane (more of defining Bowie material, cracked actor burns a hole every time he plays it)
Pin-Ups (pretty good)
Diamond Dogs (pretentious but still pretty cohesive, the death of glam rock)
Young Americans (Bowie showing he is a pop master)
Station To Station (Bowie's best pre-Berlin album, perfect.)
Low (This is art.)
Heroes (More art.)
Berlin (A return to form but not as good as the past two)
Scary Monsters (the best album of the 80s)
Let's Dance! (funkadelick 80s pop album with great singles)
After that it starts to suck. Tonight and NLMD were HORRIBLE and it didn't get better until Buddha. After that it went downhill again. Earthling was the worst album by a legend that I've heard since that terrible Elton John disco thing.

I don't mean to be a prick or anything, but didn't you mean 'Lodger'?

TRON said:

Bowie sounds tired, out of focus and uninspired. The production sounds so hollow, there is no core to the music. This may be a complaint about the current state of affairs of music in general, but Bowie can no longer compete with his peers.

TRON said:

Sorry, I suppose I felt the need to Move On before reading over the post.

WatchThemFall said:

I just don't see it. There's a lot of detail and subtlety to what he's creating right now. I even think that Earthling and Outside were very successful forays into techno. I'm sorry that you're not getting any enjoyment out of his new stuff. Maybe the problem isn't the newer fans. Maybe it's people who aren't growing with him and that think that everything new sucks. Do you feel the same way about Prince too?

TRON said:

I listen to a lot of new music, there are a lot of good acts around. Bowie is not growing, as an artist he is getting old and lazy. Prince is getting lazy too, but he still manages to interest me because he hasn't really given in to nothingness (well he did on Rave), I still find his music exciting and inspiring...

With Bowie's new album coming out this year, I'd say 7 albums of radically different styles within a decade is far from lazy. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

TRON said:

Good idea, do I get to kiss you now to make up?

WatchThemFall said:

How's that?

On the albums ya'll hate...

I like the video for "Blue Jean" from tonight...

I like "Shining Star" on Never Let Me DOwn

His performance on the NY firefighter benefit was cool...

How would long-time Bowie fans and experts rate "Stay" from Station to Station?
That's propably my favorite Bowie song.

ufoclub said:

I actually like Shining Star as well, I think it is the best song on NLMD but everyone seems to despise it...