Tag: Blackstar

You Picked It! – David Bowie – ‘Blackstar’ (2016) – Album Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic26 Comments

Alright…You Picked It! And this one wasn’t even close. The winner had the first vote and got passed, but ended up winning in the end. The winner was David Bowie’s Blackstar which was his last album before he died and one I have never listened to in its entirety. Here are the results.

  1. David Bowie – ‘Blackstar’ – 9 votes
  2. Aldo Nova – ‘The Life & Times of Eddie Gage’ – 7 votes
  3. Steve Vai – ‘Passion & Warfare’ – 2 votes
  4. Journey – ‘Raised on Radio’ – 2 Vote
  5. Beyonce – ‘Lemonade’ – Sadly, 0 votes

Thanks to all for participating. The June choices will be up on Saturday!

DAVID BOWIE – ‘BLACKSTAR’:

When I saw this won, I was really worried about reviewing it because Bowie is very intimidating to me. Also, this was a well received album by the critics and fans as well as the fact he died two days after the release of the album which was released on January 8, 2016. David recorded this album in secret and surprised everyone with its release. He knew this was his last album and that makes it a really special album so I don’t want to hate it and bash his last efforts. Thankfully, that was not the case. It did take me a while to warm up to it, but after a couple spins I really started digging this album.

The album had a lot of experimental art rock elements, but the main thing I noticed was that it had a lot of Jazz elements as well and doing research I now know why. The band consisted a lot of New York local jazz musicians including saxophonist Donny McCaslin, pianist Jason Lindner, bassist Tim Lefebvre and drummer Mark Guiliana; guitarist Ben Monder joined the ensemble for the final sessions, while James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem contributed percussion.  The musicianship on this album is second to none and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment.

Continue reading “You Picked It! – David Bowie – ‘Blackstar’ (2016) – Album Review” →

You Pick It! – Which Album to Review in May?

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic55 Comments

You, my reader, are going to pick an album for me to review each month.  It is really simple…first, I will give you 5 albums to choose from and second, you will tell me which one of those you would like to see reviewed on the site.  See…simple! Now, if you want to cast more than one vote, comment on the Twitter and Facebook post and you could get up to 3 votes on your favorite pick.

There are a few simple rules I have put in to place in my selections.  They are…

  • One has to be a new release (within the last month)
  • One has to be one I have never heard before (new releases don’t count for this one)
  • One has to be from a genre I don’t normally listen to at all or very often
  • And the last two are choices from my collection that I haven’t reviewed before

What are the 5 albums you ask?  Funny you should ask because I have those right here…

  New Release – Aldo Nova – ‘The Life & Times of Eddie Gage’

  Never Heard Before – David Bowie – ‘Blackstar’

  Not My Normal Genre – Beyonce – ‘Lemonade’

  From My Collection – Steve Vai – ‘Passion & Warfare’

  From My Collection – Journey – ‘Raised on Radio’

Let me know which one you would like to see and sometime in May, I will post a review of the album that gets the most votes. You have one week to decide and from there I will start listening to the album and do a review.

Thanks for participating!!