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Rating:  -
Lodger, the third of the Bowie/Eno trilogy is more reflective of Bowie's style than the more collaborative efforts of Heroes and Low. The sound with its constantly driving percussion and the vagulely African/Middle Eastern rhythms creates a hypnotic feel that captures the listener. But when focus shifts to Bowie's typically distant lyrics, this CD becomes a triumph of style over substance. A little more substance and this could have been one of Bowie's best, as it is it is well worth your time.
Rating:  -
seen by most as the weakest album in bowie's trilogy with brian eno ('low' and 'heroes,' being the first two), 'lodger,' nontheless is a vital album in bowie's carreer, and was yet another of his premonitions for music to come, since the classic, 'scary monsters,' could not have been made without this album.
although rather listless at times, 'lodger,' is full of great, often fun songs. there is plenty of keyboard experimentation (the best track of which is easily, 'repetition,') but there is also a vital return to his use of soulful, dancable beats and the stripped down rock 'n' roll he so obviously loves. the three songs that best portray his departure are the sensuous, 'dj,' the frantic (and even harrowing) beats of, 'look back in anger,' and the simply wonderful, 'boys keep swinging,' an invigorating little camp rocker that hints at bowie's infamous gay undertones.
this is almost it, the second to last album of bowie's career that really, really matters. necessary for any bowie fan.
Rating: -
The first portion of the disc is a set of brief Travel Postcards.
1)Fantastic Voyage is about the threat of nuclear war. Some strong Bowie singing and a very attractive melodic line flows along through it but its a pretty slight song.
2)African Night Flight starts wildly mixing tribal beats and modern guitar sounds. A sort of sound collage reminiscent of Eno/Byrne's My Life in The Bush of Ghosts which appeared a couple years later.
3)Move On. More traveling man tribal beats. Excellent lead vocals and backing vocals layered together. About uprooted mans need to keep moving on.
4)Yassassin(Turkish for:Long Live). Middle Eastern sounding synthesizer and strings. Bowie meditating in a mystic setting about the simple life that "I'll never know".
5)Red Sails. Sailing the high seas. Good guitar work but again kind of slight.
All these songs have an unfinished feel to them. They are appealing and maybe the approach is on purpose but for all that seems to be going on in each song there is no accumlating feeling that, wow this is a great album.
6)D.J. I have to confess I have never cared for this hit.
7)Look Back in Anger. Easily the strongest track here. A real momentum is built in those chords. Such a solid strong song it makes the others seem even more slight and unfinished in comparison.
8)Boys Keep Swinging. This song has great guitar at the end but what is it doing here with all these serious songs.
9)Repetition. Song about a wife beater.
10)Red Money. Funky song about I can't decipher what....involving "a small red box"....
I have never really cared that much for this disc. The first five songs seem to be pretty good while they are playing but are so quickly forgotten. I can never remember how any of them go when I consider playing the disc. And since there is no song on this I ever really need to hear or want to hear or even ever think about I never play it.
By the way Look Back in Anger and Boys Keep Swinging are both on the Christiane F. soundtrack and I prefer them in that company actually, surrounded with equally strong songs.
Part of the reason for this discs lack of spark is the absence of Fripp. His guitar make Bowies compositions sound more ferocious. Belews approach, at least here, is quieter and thus just barely keeps things going. I like Belew elsewhere but he and Bowie haven't worked it out as smoothly as Bowie and Fripp have done on occasion, especially on the next disc which is very strong all the way through and quite unforgettable, Scary Monsters.
Rating: -
This album has been ignored in a very thankless fashion. It is the last, and to some, the weakest link in the 'Berlin Trilogy'. It's unfair to characterize it as the odd man out, though. The songs have a strong inner logic and manage to follow coherent themes. The instrumentation is wonderful... some of the strongest and sparest rhythm work is here (thaks to Carlos Alomar). There is a beautiful old world feel that suggests the lonely atmosphere of travel in far-off places. 'African Night Flight', 'Red Sails' and 'Yassasin' all suggest this. There are also pop gems: 'DJ' and 'Boys Keep Swinging'. It might take a while to see the influence of this beautiful album... listen to the Au Pair's version of 'Repetition'.
Rating: -
"Lodger," the third and final installment in what Bowie fans call the "Berlin Trilogy," is a marvelous album in and of itself. As part of the trilogy, it is slightly weaker. The singles released from this album, "DJ" and "Fashion," are solid pop songs. However, my favorite cuts are "Boys Keep Swinging" and "Look Back in Anger." The latter has a fascinating video (Bowie was a video pioneer) showing Bowie as a painter in reverse "Dorian Gray" scenario -- whatever happens to the painting happens to Bowie. Two rarely mentioned tracks, "Red Sails" and "Yassasin" (Turkish for "long life") are superior in many ways to "Fashion." The most depressing track on this album is definitely "Repetition," which is about spousal abuse. Bowie has a lot of interesting things to say on this album ... and it sets the stage for better works yet to come.
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