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.
Rating: -
This is usually considered the worst of the Berlin period Bowie/Eno albums, not least by the participants themselves, but it actually contains some the best SONGS of the three albums. How can any album which contains "Fantastic Voyage", "Yassassin", "Red Sails", "DJ", "Look Back In Anger", "Boys Keep Swinging" and "Red Money" be considered disappointing? Admittedly, "African Night Flight" suffers from a distinct lack of anything resembling a tune while "Move On" and "Repetition" are second string Bowie (tho the latter has very interesting and brave lyrics on domestic violence. Elsewhere, Bowie's magpie tendencies are on display, "Red Sails" is a pretty blatant steal of the Neu/Harmonia motorik style (in particular Harmonia's "Monza") but redeemed by Bowie's inventive melody and singing. Likewise, "Look Back In Anger" suggests Bowie had been listening as closely to the Walker Brothers' "Nite Flights" album as Scott Walker had been listening to "Low" and "Heroes"! Overall, the album has a surprisingly lean and sparse feel with Bowie's best ever rhythm section (Carlos Alomar/ Dennis Davis/ George Murray) as reliable as ever, Adrian Belew fills in as "stunt guitarist" in the absence of Robert Fripp, and almost out-Fripps the master on "Boys Keep Swinging"! Bowie and Eno contribute here and there too, in fact, there's more of Eno in a songwriting sense on this album than on either "Low" or "Heroes", odd as it's usually considered the least Enoesque of the trilogy. The bonus track, (the oddly titled) "I Pray Ole" is good if not essential, sounds to me as if it re-uses chords from another song (a typically Enoesque ploy) but the 1988 version of "Look Back In Anger" merely demonstrates how much less interesting Bowie was in 1988 compared with 1979....
Rating: -
I like this album because its out there. Sure,It maybe not his best but, it isn't his worst. D.J. is in my opinion,the best song on the album.
Rating:  -
Lodger was a stumble for Bowie after the incredibly well written and performed music of Station to Station, Low, and Heroes. A small group of fans see brilliance in the mess, but other than DJ and African Night Flight, most of the CD deserves gathering dust.
|
