The David Bowie album that shaped Tom Morello’s style
The term ‘seminal’ is tossed around a lot these days. Considering we’re living through a period widely regarded as a cultural afterthought, it follows that we should look back on the acts of yesteryear as the craftsmen who lay the foundations. Often this view feels a little overblown, but not when it comes to David Bowie. As the decades roll on, Wavey Davey’s influence only seems more apparent. From electronica and spoken word to hip hop and thrash, there isn’t a corner of the music world that doesn’t feature the architecture of Bowie’s grand vision.
According to Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello, Bowie had a profound influence on his guitar playing. “The Scary Monsters era was really important to me; that was a real big record,” Morello said in the wake of Bowie’s death. “First of all, David Bowie was a Chameleon-like artist. You know, the guitar players he chose to work – at the time I was an aspiring guitarist – he had these almost like pop song structures, but these really avant-garde players, who really helped my ear go in other directions.”
Released in 1980, Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) served as the follow up to Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy (consisting of Low, Heroes and Lodger). Featuring the lead single ‘Ashes To Ashes’ the record features not only some of Bowie’s most adventurous pop songwriting but also a stunning selection of guest guitarists, including The Who’s Pete Townsend, Carlos Alomar and Robert Fripp, the latter of whom made his name as the guitarist of pioneering prog outfit King Crimson. Fripp’s work on ‘Its’ No Game’ is a prime example of how Bowie managed to mould an album that is at once listenable and wayward. The central motif holds all the usual hallmarks of a late ’70s riff, but there’s something wonky about it, something oblique and quietly atonal.
Describing the impact of Scary Monsters, Morello said: “Literally, you don’t have to play for the song. What you play is the song, and let people ‘damn the torpedoes’, let people get used to it. And so his making those choices, you know, he was an artist’s artist, and there’s never been anyone that had the specific kind of artistic ambition – with a capital A and a capital A! – as that guy. He was using music as sort of a paintbrush for a lifetime’s work as an artist. He was really unique, and he’s terribly missed.”
Hear Hear. You can revisit Scary Monsters – and listen to Morello discuss Bowie – below.
