Flours

Overall Album Score: 8.2 out of 10

Like the hours of the day go through the hourglasses of our souls ... and so are the days of our lives. ...

Hello! I am pleased to inform you that Mr. David Bowie underwent another underpants change once again. He's not music hall man, not a hippie, not a guy in a dress, not Ziggy Starbust, not a dog, not James Brown, not a proto-punkster, not an experimental oddball, not a bleach-headed pop-star, not a washed up jerk, not a hard-blues dude, not a techno star, and not a grunge star. For the first time ever in his career, David Bowie is David Bowie. He's not trying to appeal to anybody under the age of 26. His music isn't primitive or hard enough to be enjoyed by the younger culture, and it isn't even retro enough to be aimed at his old fans. David concentrates on the music, and the music only! ... And, dude! He is awesome for it!

Unfortunately, the general quality of the songs is a bit too shaky for this to be considered, by me, to be an ultimate Bowie effort. He does have some really really great songs in here, most notably the 10-scoring tracks "Thursday's Child," "Survive," and "Seven." ... and even "What's Really Happening" and the most-rockingful "All the Pretty Things are Going to Hell" are really good, too. But when your album has such hookless downers like "If I'm Dreaming My Life" and "New Angels of Promise," you can't really call this a great one, either!

Nevertheless, Bowie fans should get this posthaste! As I said earlier, there are five really good songs in here ... and three others are pretty good, too.

Overall Album Score: 8.2 out of 10 (This is a good album for David Bowie! ... The material is spotty, but there's plenty of great moments to make this worthwhile.)

Average Song Score: 8.5 (A good combination of REALLY GOOD and really kinda dull songs.)

Album Tilt: 8.0 (The inconsistency really is a downer, but when this album is good, IT'S GOOD!)

Artist Rating: 8.0 (Not an artistic feat as such, but I do wish to give Bowie credit for finally throwing in the towel at trying to be hip.)

Track Reviews

Thursday's Child 10/10

Dudes! Is this song great or what? ... Yeah, this is not jungle or hard-post-grunge song or anything stupid like that ... it's a pure and unadulterated David Bowie song that has no pretensions of being enjoyable by a younger generation whatsoever. And he's better for that! ... Much better! He goes back to penning *great* melodies ... the slower-pace of the song is lucid and mesmerizing ... and this is just purely pleasant. Very nicely done!

Something in the Air 8/10

This song starts out rather weakly (with a sort of dumb drum-machine beat), but the song practically redeems itself totally when it gets to the chorus! ... It's not the best chorus on the planet, but it does manage to make the song enjoyable, overall. Bowie, at least, is trying to return his songwriting to a level of high quality, and it's shining through.

Survive 10/10

As far as I'm concerned, you had just might as well rack this one on top of the heap along with "Rebel Rebel" and "Modern Love" as one of David Bowie's classics! ... The bad thing about it is that "Survive" goes under-appreciated! (Much like "As the World Falls Down" and "Absolute Beginners" that I wrote so many love letters to.) This has a really great melody ... and it's even kind of emotional! The instrumentation is lovely as well! This really makes me glad that Bowie's risen out of the teen-pop culture garbage heap.

If I'm Dreaming My Life 6.5/10

Look. This is a lot better than "The Last Thing You Should Do" from Earthlings, but there's not a hook in sight here. And it's more than seven minutes long. ... In general, though, I do like the instrumentation. It's hardly a tedious song.

Seven 10/10

Freaking crap, David Bowie! ... Are you like being awesome and sucking simultaneously just to mess with my mind or something? This is another super-fantabulous song that ...... Ggeeeeeeagerrrrrrgggggggggg! I love it! The melody is really good, and it also has a nostalgic, sentimental quality about it. You know, like Bowie suddenly figured out how to be genuinely thoughtful in one of his songs. ... Dude!

What's Really Happening? 9/10

*Whew!* I can rest easy now! This song doesn't suck! ... It's really good, actually. I like the melody again (even though it's kind of simplistic) and the dreary instrumentation is even better! ... Yes! David Bowie is awesome!

The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell 8.5/10

Uh oh ... David Bowie's going back to that post-grunge thing. Distorted guitars, threatening bass-lines, high-tech sounding synths ... but, oh! Hey! This song is pretty good, actually! ... This is, indeed, what the entire Earthlings album should have sounded like! This is wicked, man! ... I mean, it's not perfect, but it's good, indeed.

New Angels of Promise 7/10

Again, this isn't really an awful song ... David Bowie isn't drowning in a pool of jungle-snot! ... But, look far and wide, and there are scant few hooks.

Brilliant Adventure 7.5/10

This is a very short instrumental track that sounds like it belong along with all that ambient movie mood music from Labyrinth. Oh well! Bowie's pretty good at doing movie music, anyway! But listening to this track, I don't necessarily think that listening to this is worth it, unfortunately, and this seems like filler to me. But it's so short! ... Actually, "If I'm Dreaming My Life" was the filler!

The Dreamers 8/10

Ummm... This is overall entertaining, I guess. ... I like parts of this song ... when it soars. When it's not soaring, though, it's rather boring!

Spend an hour and think it over, and then tell me what you thought of here!