“I was torn”: The album David Bowie wasn’t true to himself
Any artist needs to be in it to serve themselves before anyone else. As much as people might like the idea of creating music for the masses that everyone could love, they need to be the first person to be a fan of one particular song before they even think about putting it out on vinyl. While nothing that David Bowie was designed to be for the masses, he admitted that he let himself down to an extent working on one particular album from the 1980s.
Before we start, it’s important to put one thing to bed: David Bowie did not sell out in the ’80s. He might have admitted to going through his so-called “Phil Collins years”, but the lion’s share of what he was doing throughout the ’80s seemed like yet another elaborate costume for him to wear instead of him trying to fit in with the kids.
You have to remember before Let’s Dance even happened, Bowie was already subverting expectations for what the visual side of rock and roll could look like. Some pieces might not have worked as well as others, but the reason why ‘Ashes to Ashes’ translated so well on MTV when it first launched was because Bowie was already a veteran of what the visual medium could look like.
So when tunes like ‘Modern Love’ and ‘Let’s Dance’ started becoming the biggest hits of his career, it almost felt like validation for the past few years. For all of the people who swore that Bowie was making a fool of himself with outrageous outfits, here he was as one of the kings of the scene and one of the progenitors of what a music video pin-up star could look like. That is, until Tonight.
Whereas Let’s Dance seemed like Bowie working with outside producers and getting a really fun result, this was when he started to lose control of what he was doing. Since he plays none of the instruments, many of the songs feel like placeholders on the album rather than something he put any heart into.
Even Bowie had to admit that the record was far from the kind of authentic projects he was known for, saying, “On Tonight I think I was torn dreadfully between writing what I wanted to write, but keeping it in a style that would follow up what I had just done. That’s where I feel I was untrue to myself as an artist.”
While it’s a bit more experimental than before, it doesn’t help when some of the experiments go wrong. The idea of Bowie doing a cover of The Beach Boys’s ‘God Only Knows’ might be a good idea on paper, but once he gets behind the microphone, he sounds like he’s stalking some random girl or about to fall asleep.
And given that accolade, that might make Tonight the worst Bowie album. It may have its fair share of bright spots if you’re willing to look, but any Bowie product that leaves the listener bored is far worse than one that still gives people something to talk about.
