Rating:  -
This album definitely merits more study by people who find it dull. There is no Bowie album which is more art-referential than "Lodger," and a cursory listing of its musical attributes only tells half the story. I've often kept the cover art for the vinyl version on my wall since it was released. It's a unique work of art and never ceases to inspire me.
Unfortunately, many of the graphic elements that made the cover and inner sleeve such a perfect pop koan have not been reproduced in CD form, an omission which is sadly true for virtually all of his CD reissues.
The strange enigma of a cover is a reference to the dadaist Francis Picabia's "Portrait of Cezanne," as well as to Bowie's gatefold image in "Aladdin Sane." Like that album, "Lodger" takes us on a whirlwind tour of landscapes that may or may not exist, but in an inner terrain enabled by Jungian symbolism and dadaist vitriol. It adds up to a form of synthetic modernism that is absolutely unique among Bowie records.
To say that "Lodger" is weak on any level is really to underestimate Bowie's perspective on the future and his own past, to overlook the fact that before Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, Malcolm McLaren or Paul Simon did their own take on the issue, Bowie was looking to the very foundations of rock to trace the evolution of modern Western consciousness. "Lodger" creates its own language of simulationism which remains unprecedented in pop music. This album is ABSOLUTE genius folks!
Since when is ennui NOT a proper subject for art? I seriously discount the idea that the song "Fantastic Voyage" refers to anything besides Bowie's depression. It's a worthy introduction to a treatise on cultural colonialism (revived in the video for "China Girl" as well as the visual theme for his "Serious Moonlight Tour." "Lodger" also contains Bowie's first major use of angel symbolism, a theme he beat to death in later years.)
In short, in the Seventies, Bowie was more than a musical figure, he was a cultural prophet, and "Lodger" finds him poised as a lonely scout for the human tribe. His art then was as much visual as it was musical, and in the entirety of this album are artfully conceived, enigmatic mysteries that have kept me fascinated for nearly 25 years.
Rating:  -
This is my least favorite of Bowie's trilogy of albums produced by Brian Eno. It lacks the innovation and freshness of Low, and there are no truly spectacular songs like the title track from Heroes. Perhaps it is that I find the music somewhat clinical and devoid of emotion, but I experience this album as very fragmentary. While not bland, the musical textures and moods are aloof and have an unfinished feel about them. To me, Boys Keep Swinging and Fantastic Voyage are the only memorable songs and `Boys' had a fantastic video clip. The song DJ comments on the disco era in a set of vivid images and the various experiments in rhythm are noteworthy. I'm awarding it 3 stars for its obvious intelligence, but my personal enjoyment of it is limited.
Rating: -
Lodger is the worst Berlin/Eno album by a country mile, but if any album was half as good as Low or Heroes then it would still be a peach. Alas, Lodger isn't even half as good as those two Bowie masterpieces. I bought Lodger with the knowledge that it wasn't supposed to be a very good album, but I was nevertheless very curious about it, as i instantly am with all of Bowie's seventies output, one of those decade-long periods that borders on truly glorious. Plus, i just had to get Look Back in Anger because it's absolutely stunning.
When i first heard Heroes i was amazed by it. The first time i heard Low i thought it was pretty fine, a few more listens later i realised i was listening to a total masterpiece (better than Heroes). The first time i listened to Lodger i thought it was the second worst Bowie album I'd ever heard (the worst being Earthling). I just thought it was so dull, full of half-hearted experimentation, completely dislocated, uninvolved and completely lacking the coherence, beauty, emotional kick and chemistry that made Low and Heroes such addictive albums. I still loved Look Back in Anger though, one of the best Bowie songs ever in my opinion, full of energy and power, at odds with everything else on Lodger, except for the hilarious Boys keep Swinging, more on that later. It did not feel like an album, it felt more like a collection of B-sides.
Over the three years since first experiencing Lodger, I've warmed to it a bit more. That's not to say i don't think it's flawed, because it is. I still think it feels more like an album of songs that were simply dumped along side each other in the vain hope that it would form a coherent whole. This is none more obvious than on the first side, a collection of songs that have no idea where they are going and despite starting off quite interestingly in a couple of cases, cop out towards the end. The two best songs on Side One, Fantastic Voyage and Red Sails, could have been a lot better were they worked on a bit more. The former, which contains some of Bowie's best vocals, fades out a mere three minutes into it, just as one was starting to really enjoy it, cutting short what could have been one of his most epic songs, instead becoming a merely pleasant number. The latter is one of Lodger's more interesting songs, quite funky and full of exciting guitar effects, but after an exhilarating first couple of minutes doesn't seem to know what to do with itself and simply fades into an inconsequential noise.
Side Two is a lot better; DJ is a fine single with a memorable chorus even if it does go on a bit. Not a classic, but quite okay fun.
Look Back in Anger is three minutes of watertight pop brilliance; Bowie sounds extraordinary throughout, the guitars are thrilling, urgent, the only time Bowie and his band sound on top, classic form.
Boys keep Swinging sounds like a faster version of Fantastic Voyage, with great, funny lyrics and some great hooks. However, it does trail off into a weak fade out.
Repetition lays down a repetitive (oddly enough) beat complimenting a story of domestic abuse which is one of Bowie's more direct and stark lyrics. Again though, this song doesn't seem to go anywhere, just the same unremarkable riff for about three minutes. Great string bit about thirty seconds into it though.
Red Money is a reworking of Sister Midnight from Iggy Pop's great Bowie-produced album The Idiot, which isn't as good as Pop's version but does have a good instrumental about a minute into it. But again, it trails off into nothingness and is easily the least effective closing track of any of Bowie's seventies albums.
And then of course, there's "African Night Flight", "Move on" and "Yassassin" on the first side, which have some mildly diverting touches but reek of lethargy and pointlessness, exeperimental without being remotely exciting or interesting.
Still, Lodger is an okay album that I won't get rid of, because there are the odd good touches here and there, and Bowie's vocals are as superb as ever. It's a frustrating work, only Look Back in Anger is astonishing from start to finish, but six of the other songs all have something about them, a flawed, unfinished quality to them that makes them strangely appealing.
Bowie has said that his heart wasn't 100% into this album, and it sounds like it. A relative dissapointment after a rollercoaster ride that spanned eight years of masterly work. His next album Scary Monsters, while no masterpiece, would be a far more successful, confident and powerful work.
Rating: -
This album is a brilliant, on the edge, trend defying masterpiece, that has been very sadly underrated and destroyed by critics. It's difficult to follow two albums like heroes and low, and this of course isn't as cutting edge as them but nonetheless is extremely experimental, and has many excellent tracks, and no bad ones. Also as a plus the greatest progressive guitarist that there is (Adrian Belew) plays guitar along with the excellent Carlos Alomar. This album is like nothing that you've ever heard, if u don't own it, so don't let it throw you, give it a couple of listens, it takes some effort but it's well worth it. Definetly though check into Station to Station, Low, Heroes and Scary Monsters first and whether you like this album or not give one of those stunning albums a fair shot.
Rating: -
Bowie was never dull in the seventies. Lodger isn't boring in terms of analysing Bowie's wonderful career, but it's sandwiched in between better albums. As a piece of work, it continues Bowie and Eno's musical explorations. For that, those going through Bowie's back catalogue may find it interesting, yet unspectacular in parts.
Bowie's musical aims at this point, unlike later with the success of Let's Dance, weren't about pleasing the fans. It was however, about doing something new. Lodger has a lot of stuff that stands out in an odd way, or slips by you. But it doesn't feel as cutting edge as its predecessors Heroes and Low did - this is a more assorted, almost disparate outing.
While the album doesn't shine as a whole, there are nuggets in the rough. "Look Back In Anger" which would become a Bowie live favourite - is as excellent as they come. "Boys Keep Swinging" sounds dated now, but is memorable for its music video, which should have come with the CD. "DJ" is Bowie's histrionics. A nod to campiness. The other tracks feature Bowie's stabs at different vocal stylings and world beats.
By today's standards, old Bowie fans would hunger for him to return to a form like this. A better album to come would be the next one however - Scary Monsters and Super Creeps. But one must give Bowie his dues for his constant experimentation - which has made him the legend he is.
Collect this if you must. But this one doesn't get much play amongst my Bowie collection.
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