Celebrity List

Yes folks- working in showbiz can be fun. This is a list of all the notable people I have worked with over the years. A lot of them have Chicago connections but a lot were random strokes of luck. There are some funny stories of course, and some shocking ones. And I even got to meet a couple of childhood idols. But I will share what I can remember.

LEGENDS:

Buzz Aldrin

Stan Lee

Jim Lovell

William Shatner

Iggy Pop 

Film and TV Folks:

Elliot Gould

Liam Neeson

Jamie Foxx

Jerry Stiller

Ben Stiller

Marlee Matlin 

Rob Lowe 

Drew Barrymore

Kathy Bates

John Cusack

Joan Cusack

Steve Coogan

Viola Davis

Vince Vaughn 

Jennifer Hudson

Zoe Saldana

Gillian Flynn

Michelle Rodriguez

Oliver Platt

Eamon Walker 

Stephen Weber

Delmot Mulrooney 

David Eigenbourg
and the rest of the casts of Chicago PD, Fire and Med

Tiffany Boone(the whole cast of the Chi)

Gillian Anderson

Rosie O'Donnell

Lou Diamond Phillips

Rainn Wilson

Angelica Houston 

Wes Anderson

Joe Esterhaus

Gerard Depardieu

Robert Englund

Eric Andre

Keenan Thompson

Jefferey Ross

Nick Offerman

Keke Palmer

Denis Farina (at his sons wedding)

Brian Dennehy (at moscow at night when i was 11)

Susan Lucci

Karen Black

Steve Mcqueen (director)

William Friedkin

Abel Ferrara (rode in limo with abel ferrara) 

Dave McKean

Carla Gugino

Mercedes Rheull

John Pankow

Rockmund Dunbar

Jared Logan

David Shore

Lisa Bonet

Tiffany Haddish

Lily Singh

JB Smoove

Jay Pharoah

Tararji P Henson (3 times!)

Guilianna Rancic

Michael Shannon

Ethan Embry

Robin Thede

Epatha Merkelson

Wanda Sykes

Deon Cole

Andy Richter

Richard Roeper

Tim Kazurinsky

Tom Bosley

CariDee English

Joyce Dewitt

The Soup Nazi

Bob Eubanks

Chuck Woolery

Supernanny

The Oddities People

Kelly Osbourne

Marshal D. Jones

Torrey Devitto

Bill Bellamy

Doug E. Fresh



SPORTS PEOPLE:

 
Peyton Manning 

Dwayne Wade

Giannis Antenokoumpo (the entire 2019-2020 Bucks)

Scottie Pippen

Gary Payton

Taj Gibson

Joakim Noah

Pau Gasol

Jimmy Butler

Sean White

Hope Solo

Candice Parker

Danica Patrick

Pannarin

Jonathon Toews

Patrick Sharp 

Ovechkin

(many more hockey stars)

John Mchanroe

Roger Federer

Bjorn Borg

Djokavic

Andy Roddick

Sloane Stephens

Mike Ditka (3 times)

Jason mckie

Mexican bear

Reggie Wayne

Lovie Smith

Jim Harbaugh

Joe Madden

Coach Quenville

Fred Hoiberg

Eddie Jordan

Rulon Gardner

Denis Savard

Aimee Mullins



MUSIC FOLKS:

Sting

Jennifer Hudson

Andrea Bocceili

Renee Fleming 2x

The Wailers

Donald Kinsey

Chubby Checker

Reggie Watts

Ric Ocasek

Tommy Lee

Leanne Rhymes

MC Lyte

Crystal Castles

Mark Sandman and Dana Colley

Billy Corgan

Donny Wahlberg


POLITICIANS:

Jill Biden

Rahm Emanaul

Scott Walker

Dick Durban

Bob Dold

Mayor Daley

Betsy Devos


NEWS/SPORTS ANCHORS:
 

Sage Steele

Robin Roberts

Mike Torico

Pat Hughes

Sherry Margolis

dean richards

Janet Davies

Ron magers

Cheryl Burton

David Muir

Bill Kurtis

bill zwecker

Robert Jordan

Ira Glass

Laura Schwartz

James carville

Mary matlin

Rob Stafford

Allison Rosatti

Ji Suk Yi


OTHER NOTABLE PEOPLE:

Bruce Mau

Michio Kaku

Oz Pearlman

All the Shows!

This is a comprehensive list of all the concerts I've seen in my life. I am very lucky that I got a chance to see some of these shows. HORDE 1997 was a particulaly memorable day. I met Mark Sandman after watching Morphine jam with John Popper, Les Claypool and John Medeski. And then later on, Neil Young played, and a rain storm almost decimated the entire event. But Neil kept playing. And we never left.

The Who- This was a gift for my mom which initially was postponed. So it was almost an entire year before we ended up going. Viv, my dad and my mom all went out to Holy Frijoles and The Who were very good at United Center. The sound and projections were very impressive and harkened back to their mythology in a really cool, trippy way. They did the Rock which was unusual but had a particularly cool montage. Roger was in fine voice and Pete didn't miss a note. Zach Starkey was there along with Pete's brother on backing guitar.

Ray Davies- I went up to Madison to see this show. I saw it with Josh and it was a strong show. He played some of his better new material but he played a lot of the classics as well. Not a knock out but it was a solid performance from a legend.

Paul McCartney- In all fairness, I did not actually see this entire concert at Wrigley way back in 2011. But, Vivian, Kris Polinski and I sneaked in and caught about a half an hour. We saw him do Strawberry fields, we saw him do something, and we saw him do yesterday. And then the end suite. It was rocking and I regret not seeing the whole thing. But it was a memorable story.

Robert Plant w Allison Krauss, T-Bone Burnette-

An All Star lineup, headed by a legend of rock. Plant was in fine form and he and Krauss worked their folky magic, with T-bone conducting the whole affair at Ravinia. A couple of Zeppelin tunes were played but all and all, Plant proved that he is a mature artist who wasn't afraid to move on, long ago from Zep. And his career has panned out nicely because of it.

Roger Waters- I saw this show way back in 2002 with Andre and Gene. My parents were there too although we never ran into them there. He played Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun at the start of the second set. That was memorable, but honestly, I can't really remember a whole lot from this show.

Bob Dylan(3 times)

Lou Reed

Leonard Cohen

Neil Young (Day after Burroughs died and there was a hurricane)

Paul Simon

Tom Waits(twice, -- Once in Nashville at the Shriner)

David Bowie-97

Roxy Music- (twice 2001&2022)

Bryan ferry 94+14

King Crimson

Adrian Belew

Iggy Pop(5 times)

Stooges

Iggy and the stooges (twice)

Motorhead

Blue Oyster Cult

Cheap Trick

Ramones

Television

Tom Verlaine 2007

Patti Smith

Pere Ubu

Rocket From the tombs

Jah Wobble

Wire

Devo

Bob Mould

Ex

X

Steely Dan

Santana (twice)

Los Lobos

Neville Brothers

Michael Frenti

Phish

U2

Nick Cave (Lollopalooza 94, 2001 solo, last tour w/ harvey+ Bad Seeds twice, and 2025 Wild God Tour)

Grinderman (twice)

PJ Harvey (w/ her all-star band)

Siouxsee and the Banshees

The Cure

Echo and the Bunnymen

Psychedelic Furs

Bauhaus

Love and Rockets
Peter Murphy and David J 

Poptone (Daniel Ash, Kevin Haskins, Diva)

Dead Can Dance

Billy Idol (twice)

The The

The Church

Mark Lanegan (5 times)

NIN (91, 25)

Afghan Whigs

Morphine (3 times—98 new years eve- one of their last American shows)

Janes Addiction 2x(91,16)

Porno For Pyros

Curve

Smashing Pumpkins (3 times)

Sonic Youth

Pixies (twice)

Frank black

Breeders

L7

Boredoms 

Jon Spencer

G love

Posies(owed Josh Twelve bucks)

Guided By Voices

Butthole Surfers

Shellac (twice)

Cake

fugazi

Feelies

Sponge (played with them in 23!)

The Smile (Thom Yorke+Johnny Greenwood)

Jean Michel Jarre

Air- X2

Tricky (x2:1997/2016)

Massive Attack X2 (once w/Damon Albarn and once with Liz Frazier)

Martina Topley-Bird

Bjork

Aphex Twin (97)

Juana Molina

Moby

Nouvelle vague (twice)

KristaBell with Marc Collin

Ice T

Beastie boys

Tribe Called Quest

Faith No More

Beck

Living Colour(five times)

Fishbone

Bad brains

Lee Scratch Perry

John Zorn

Dakka brakka

Andrew Hill

Benny Carter

John Lee Hooker 1993

Buddy Guy

Donald Kinsey Trio

The Temptations

Parliament (2X)

Bootsy Collins

Jack White

Yeah Yeah Yeahs (twice18, 25)

Spoon

Peaches (twice)

Crystal Castles

CSS

White Mystery

Arcade Fire (X2)

BRMC

Queens Of The Stone Age (twice-once at metro & acoustic set in Army Surplus on Belmont)

Them crooked vultures

Josh Homme w/iggy

Eagles of Death Metal

Death From Above 1979

Chelsea Wolfe (X2)

St Vincent

Angel Olson

kurt vile

Black Angels

A Place to Bury Strangers 

Tegan and Sara

Lemon Twigs

soft moon

Glove

Pussy Riot

Starcrawler

Rival Sons

Sons of The Silent Age

Reverend Horton Heat

Blasters

Merle Haggard

Patti Labelle

Joanna neusom (twice)

Lollapalooza 91&94

Riot fest 14-15,

HORDE FEST

SKOAL FEST

Why the Oscars Suck (2011)

I’m not one to write meaningless blogs about trivial things like TV shows and especially award shows, but after last night’s Oscars I felt inspired. Not by the creativity of the show or the dazzle and glitz of it all. This inspiration comes from something a little more negative. First off, I understand the concept: Your producer pulled out late in the game and with his exit followed the exit of your then-host Eddie Murphy. That’s a hard place to be stuck in between. I commend the producers for scrambling to make the show happen. That I can’t deny. But it’s not like it would have been canceled. However, I still can’t excuse the total lack of originality, quality and vision that has been lacking in this show for quite sometime. Now, don’t worry. I don’t have any preconceived notions that these types of shows are supposed to be great because they almost never are. They are bloated, Gaudi, self-important, self-congratulatory bullshit that shines no actual light on what were actually the best films of the year.

Why the Oscars Suck. Case in point, the best film of last year, in my opinion was Drive. Yes, Drive may not be the most original selection since it has received rave reviews from everyone, but one thing is for certain: Drive is cinema at its best; visually arresting, great lead character, methodical pacing, stylized cinematography, abstract imagery and a story that is always challenging our expectations. To keep from turning this into a review of Drive, I will simply Drive straight to my point. Why was Drive NOT nominated as the Tenth best picture? You have a slot open- why did this film not fill this slot? Was it too violent? Maybe people were disappointed in the kind of film they were expecting to see versus the film that was in front of them? Perhaps the director, Nicolas Winding Refn is too much of an Auteur for the Academy? His films aren’t safe and don’t stick to a formula. They challenge their audience, so maybe this turned people off? Last I checked, filmmakers striving for these latter goals, used to be praised and awarded for pushing the limits. Now, films of this nature are simply labeled ‘Cult’. Not to say there weren’t good films up for awards this year. Many of the nominated films are actually quite good. The Artist certainly challenges the norms of the art form but in a gimmicky, nostaligic way. Woody Allen’s film is excellent but it’s a bit of a shame to give awards to a person who doesn’t care about them and who doesn’t even show up. I commend Scorsese for breaking out of his own mold and doing something completely different for himself, but is Hugo anything really that original? Isn’t Marty revisiting the past yet again? Yet, Jonah Hill gets a nomination for a role that he essentially plays himself, but Michael Fassbender gets nothing for his work in Shame. Something seems very wrong about that.

Then there is the Award Show itself. Crystal’s opening monologue and song and dance routine was so catastrophic I actually had to look away in horror. I’m glad they peppered the show with a lot of pre-taped segments because that cut down on the Crystal(something I generally don’t do). Cirque Du Soleil was bewildering and didn’t translate to the small screen. And Meryl Streep won. In general, nothing really happened. I guess my point is, the state of cinema is in bad shape. And therefore the show that’s supposed to celebrate the art form will not be very good because what are you celebrating? Mediocre films? Can we even call them films anymore? None of them are shot on actual film anymore. Sadly, I'm not alone in my disillusion. Look at the faces in the audience-They don’t even care. Not just because of the tremendous jealousy that exists in Hollywood, but these celebs do so many awards shows around this time, by the time Oscars come, all spontaneity and excitement was left behind at the Golden Globes. Industry people know what bad shape the state of the art form is in and they don’t even mask their jaded attitudes. Moneyball? Is that the best Hollywood has to offer? Listen to ESPN. The Help? Really? Isn’t that a Lifetime channel movie? Even Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life is rather terrible. A filmmaker trying so hard to do something artistic that you can just hear the pitch: “It’s a visual poem to my father and god”. Sold! Sold? I’m glad executives took a chance on something like Tree of Life but the actual film is a total failure. (Trying to be Ozu but closer to film class failure).

Yet, there Drive sits, with the engine running- Waiting to go for the award but never will because it wasn’t even nominated. You would think at this point in time, people would get the idea of nominating movies that people will actually consider to be good twenty years from now. Yes, that’s a hard call because who’s a psychic? But I think you can gather if a movie seems like it will have staying power. Or better yet, not choosing films that you think will NOT have staying power- Like the Help, or Moneyball. Look at the travesties of Ordinary People beating out Raging Bull. Or Crash winning best picture. If it looks brilliant and innovative that’s because it probably is. So please, Academy people, next year, pick some films that you know are game changers and that people will watch in the future and NOT pick the boring, contrived drivel that people can tell were made solely for the purpose of winning an award. I’ll still watch either way, but only because it’s fun to comment on it with my facebook friends.

Greatest Hendrix Guitar Moments

1. The Star Spangled Banner (Woodstock- 1969)
2. Machine Gun (Band Of Gypsies- 1969)
3. I Don't Live Today (San Diego- 1968)
4. Sunshine Of Your Love (Winterland- 1967)

5. Hear My Train A Coming (Atlanta- 1970)
6. Voodoo Chile (Electric Ladyland)
7. Manic Depression (Winterland-1967)
8. Gypsy Eyes (Electric Ladyland)
9. Driving South (Radio One)
10. All Along The Watchtower (Electric Ladyland)
11. Midnight (studio track-unreleased)

I know I know... this is silly but I had to do it for those who aren't aware of some of these versions.
Let's break it down.

1. Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock:
This gets the top spot because never has a musician created such a political statement as Hendrix did with just some distortion. Truly breathtaking, and even though the Woodstock performance doesn't rate highly as an over-all concert for him, this certainly was a game changer for guitarists and music in general.

2. Machine Gun at the Fillmore January 1st 1969:
The Star Spangled Banner was Jimi's take on another composers work, but Machine Gun is Jimi's own statement. No one will ever come close to this performance at least in terms of the electric guitar. Every note is superb and if you aren't moved by the end of this, you have no soul.

3. I Don't Live Today- San Diego 1969:
Before Machine Gun and Star Spangled Banner, there was I Don't Live Today,  Jimi's first political statement and again he makes it with his guitar. This is one of the absolute most vicious guitar solos ever performed and sets the stage for his later master strokes. He even plays a line from the Star Spangled Banner in this, alluding to things to come. Oh, and the drum intro is one of the best drum intros of all time.

4. Sunshine of Your Love- Winterland, 1969:
Jimi loved covering other peoples stuff and whenever he did, it was with masterful results, most of the time exceeding the quality of the original songs. In this case, he made a statement early on, that he can cover Clapton and take it to levels Clapton would've never thought possible much less executable. I'm sure people in the audience were in shock after hearing something like this. No one had ever heard anything like this before and the Cream version seems tame in comparison. And I love the Cream version!

5. Hear My Train A Coming- Atlanta, 1970 (available on the Stages boxed set):
Jimi's blues masterpiece. Not only is Jimi the greatest ROCK guitarist of all time, he is also the best blues guitarist ever. Problem is, his grand blues opus was never recorded officially and there are so many live versions going around, it' s hard to choose, but this one may be the best one I've heard. He seems to just rip into this one and some of the softer moments are just beautiful. He also has his full effects package in tow. Stevie Ray Vaughn built an entire career on copying some of the licks from this tune.

6. Voodoo Chile- Electric Ladyland:
Jimi's other blues opus, which he recorded for Electric Ladyland. Jimi, soaring to new, sexy heights on this one- You can hear the ground breaking. Of course, Slight Return should get honorable mention, as that too, is Jimi's defining solo.

The Best Guitar Solos in Rock and Roll History

Here is a list of some of the all-time greatest guitar solos in Rock history.

Hendrix- Machine Gun

Okay. Most of this guys solos can be on this list but the one that takes the cake is Machine Gun.Voodoo chile is a good choice as well,  but Machine Gun is Jimi’s heartbreaking Opus. His sonic manifesto.  And yeah, you can bring the Star Spangled Banner into the conversation, but both examples demonstrate that no one can get as close to war sonically as Jimi can. Maybe because he served brifly,(he saw no action) or maybe he was able to channel the pain in the air through his electric guitar? Whatever it is, it is uncanny. 

Robert Fripp- Baby's On Fire

Everyone knows how amazing Fripp is, and his usual showcase is his band King Crimson (of course!) Certainly his work in that band stands as great music for many years to come and I believe he really shines as a composer in the context of the band. There’s certainly plently of guitar gymnastics that occur on their albums but my favorite stuff of his is when he appears on other peoples records. Peter Gabriel, David Bowie, Talking Heads, etc. But his greatest collaboration outside crimson, has to be with Brian Eno. PArticulary his work on Here come the warm jets. And specifically Baby’s On Fire. This is Fripp on Fire.

Phil Manzanera- In Every Dream Home a Heartache (live)

What can you say about this guy, other than one of the most underrated guitarists ever? Phil is one of the most versatile players in rock history, always finding a great tone coupled with memorable guitar lines but most importantly he is the perfect complimentary player and in Roxy that’s quite an achievement! However his skill as a soloist is where Manzanera achieves true greatness with his blistering work. There is no better example of this than on Viva Roxy Music- Every dream home a heartache. What he does there is simply the jam to end all jams. Unreal.

David Gilmour- Comfortably Numb

Pink Floyd is considered one of the all-time great Rock bands, and the Wall can be considered the culmination of their work. Whether you like it or not- whether it is a masterpiece or flawed, The Wall stands as one of the great benchmarks in Rock history. It spanned a massive theatrical Live show that has still never been matched. And it had a major motion picture created for it. Yet, the pinnacle of all of it, is the same: David Gilmour’s solo in Comfortably Numb. It all leads up to that great cathartic moment when Gilmour stands on top of the wall and delivers one of the deepest cutting solos ever played. His work on the album version is simply breathtaking and goes to show you that piecing together fragments can sometimes have amazing results.

Mick Ronson- Moonage Daydream

Bowie is one of rocks greatest icons and nothing defines his sound more than his gitar players. And it is his career defining album Ziggy stardust, that features possibly his greatest collaboration- Mick Ronson. Yes, Ronson isn’t as prestigious as fripp, or as clever as Gabrels, or as creative as Alomar, but he was the perfect foil for Ziggy. And on the track moonage daydream, we take off into the stratosphere and our pilot is Mick Ronson. His rhythm playing, song writing, riffs, and solos are all top notch. He does it all magnificently but with a rawness that signifies the edge that music had at that time over other stuff. The solo from the concert film Ziggy Stardust is particulary amazing.

Eric Clapton – While my guitar Gently Weeps

The Beatles are probably the greatest band of all time, but they weren’t known for their amazing guitar solos. Sure, Harrison is one of the all-time greatest rock guitarists, with a signature sound and amazing riffs and chords. And the Beatles have many great solos from him. But when it came time to lay the solo for his own track, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, he decided to call up his friend Eric Clapton. Whatever it was that gave him that instinct, it was the right one, because Clapton delivers one of his own finest solos. The way the solo brings the whole song together is outstanding and becomes one of the top highlights for the Beatles overall. Ironically, when George up and quit the Beatles once, John purposed calling Clapton, in which case the Beatles would have had a different look.

Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner on Lou Reed- Oh, Jim

Lou Reed has always been synonymous with a high standard of rock guitar. He was a pioneer, and his work with other great guitarists over the years, shows his love and understanding of the instrument. In 1974, when Lou chose to hang up guitar playing, he enlisted Alice Cooper's two guitar heroes, Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner to go on tour and reimagine some of the old VU/ solo stuff. And that really paid dividends for Lou with two outstanding live albums: Rock and Roll Animal and Lou Reed Live. Even though Animal is better overall, Lou Reed Live contains one singularly amazing guitar duel that really is a cut above the rest. I mean sure you can think of freebird and others (Jewel by Thin Lizzy, many really...) but this one is just vicious.

Television- Johnny Jewel

You can really list most of Television's work in this category, but the best jam for me is this single that kicked off their career. It's odd that a CBGB punk band would actually be a jam band but Television was able to jam unlike most of their contemporaries at the time. They took their cues from jazz and fringe rock. This culminates in an almost psychic conneection between Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd. Both are excellent and they both have very different styles. Even though the recording of Johnny Jewel is amazing, try to seek out some of the live versions like from San Francisco. It's truly amazing.

Lindsey Buckingham- Tango in the Night

Lindsey is a criminialy underrated guitarist and it is no more criminal than his solo in this title track from Fleetwood Mac's 1985 comeback album, Tango in the Night. The song itself is quite beautiful but the solo at the end is just a total all-out emotional assault. The man can play.

Mike Campbell- Running Down a Dream

Another underrated guitarist, who usually has such a good sense of what a song needs, he certainly doesn't overplay or add solos when not neccessary. But when it's his time to shine, boy does he know how to take the reigns. His solo at the end of this classic Tom Petty hit, is absolutely sublime.

David Bowie- "Blackstar" Review

It’s hard to write a fair review of Blackstar now that it's January 12th. Would I write something different if it were January 9^th? In all fairness I heard Blackstar on January 5^th. And in all honesty I was still waiting to write a review because I was still letting it sink in. But now that it is January 12^th, I find myself forced to write a review of the new album because it’s easier than writing an obituary. Which is what I should be writing now that it is January 12^th.  Because sadly David Bowie passed on into the cosmic stream early Monday Morning January 11th.  One would think this casts new light on this record and it certainly does, even though I already made up my mind about it before his untimely passing. Have some perspectives changed? Of course. First, last week I believed Bowie was simply revisiting his old trick of finding new musicians and going into bold directions. With only seven tracks, you got the feeling he was revisiting his formulas from albums like Station to Station and Young Americans. Cutting to the chase if you will. However, now I’m not so sure that was his initial intention. Perhaps it’s only seven tracks because he didn’t get a chance to finish more? Or perhaps he knew he didn’t have time, so he did in fact plan a succinct artistic statement? The album certainly has that feeling of urgency that his previous record did not have. You get this sense that Bowie didn’t want to go out with that one. He wanted to do one more adventure into the unknown. And the album certainly is daring. The production on most of the record is masterful. In hindsight, you get the feeling the Tony Visconti worked his ass off to get it to that sublime place. Another thing is now this album stands as Bowie’s final statement. And from this point on, it will be hard not to look into every single thing about it, trying to make the connections. Perhaps Bowie has achieved his greatest masterstroke of all with this album? Why not make an album about your own death and mortality? Yet, if you examine his last four records, that theme is a constant. I suspect David might have been ill earlier in his career as well. Of course this is just my guess but somewhere around “hours… “ perhaps? But the fact that this album is so singular in it’s vision (helped by the amazing jazz ensemble he assembled just for this album), leads me to believe that this time around, David knew he didn’t have much time. I’d seen photos of him recently and generally he looked good. But I saw one shot where he looked really bad. He looked like an old man who just got out of the hospital. And that photo certainly made me wonder about the state of his health. And even last week, I was telling a friend that I thought the album smelled like a final album. From the title down to the very last glorious, beautiful moment of the album in which now I see David was saying goodbye.  As of last week I believed he was simply making a bold artistic statement and saying, “ I’m back!” And that’s why the album is so good. But now I see it’s so good, because he was going through an existential crisis. And in true Bowie fashion, he transformed his situation into art. In many aspects, he got lucky that he had the knowledge of his imminent death. It gave him the impetus for going so far out on a limb. That’s another reason why it is a masterstroke. Because no matter what you thought of it before, now it will always be seen in the context in which it was created. It is a worthy send off to one of the most brilliant careers of any artist in any medium. I believe David Bowie passed with peace in his heart because he got to feel the love for his final work. And he got to secretly savior the fact that no one knew its true meaning. At least not until January 11^th, 2016.

David Bowie- "The Next Day" Review

After ten years of being absent from the music scene, David Bowie returns this week with "The Next Day". Now, this is a welcome thing because I love David Bowie. He is a supremely talented artist. However, this album shows one very obvious thing: David Bowie hasn't really been working on music in this last ten years. He has been acting, he has been painting, he has been raising a daughter and he has been living life. Bowie could have easily retired, but it is also obvious that the world would not let him off the hook that easily. So, he decided to scrape together some old ideas he had laying around, and combine them with some newer stuff that he'd been working on, and the result is the new album " The Next Day". As much of the album shows, music hasn't been much of a priority for Mr. Bowie. He revisits quite a few old styles of his own, many from periods that really should have been left in the past. There are songs that sound like material from Reality, Earthling, Black Tie White Noise and even Never Let Me Down. What's scary is, I'll take songs that sound like the latter over the former any day. That's because Mr. Bowie made a crucial error in his career.  In the late eighties he formed a group called Tin Machine which was supposed to be Bowie getting back to his grittier roots. Tin Machine wasn't very well received, however Tin Machine accomplished what Bowie failed to do for years to come: Be relevant and cutting edge.  After Mr. Bowie decided Tin Machine was an abject failure, he obliterated it and went on to make album after album trying to jump on the trends of the moment. Here is where the Next Day seems to truly fail because Mr. Bowie decided to revisit so many styles from this era. Styles that seemed out of touch even in their time. Styles that, set in our current musical landscape, seem so far removed from anything interesting or relevant, that one can't help but think Mr. Bowie is just 'going through the motions". Therein lies the ultimate problem with The Next Day; it's an album that seems utterly uninspired. Now, granted it's not all bad. The album actually starts off strong with the first four tracks being the best. Also, How Does the Grass Grow? isn't bad and the final track 'Heat' is rather excellent. At least on this last track, Bowie is trying to do something different even though it is vaguely reminiscent of something off Outside. Taken as a whole, the album can only be defined by one word: weak. The song writing is weak, the performances are weak and most importantly the production is weak. The only thing that stands in contrast to all this weakness are the lyrics. Here, Bowie does achieve something quite good because he is actually trying to say something on a lot of these songs. Unfortunately, what he's trying to say gets buried under everything else.