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==Background and recording==
==Background and recording==
Recording of the album took place at The Magic Shop and Human Worldwide Studios in [[New York City]].<ref name="album notes"/> Bowie began writing and making demos for songs that appear on ''Blackstar'' as soon as sessions for ''[[The Next Day]]'' concluded. The two songs that appear on ''Blackstar'' that were previously released, "[[Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)]]" and "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore", were re-recorded for ''Blackstar'', including new saxophone parts played on the latter song by [[Donny McCaslin]] (replacing parts Bowie played on the original release).<ref name="wsj2016">{{cite web | url=http://www.wsj.com/articles/blackstar-review-ziggy-stardust-plays-jazz-1452030425 | title=‘Blackstar’ Review: Ziggy Stardust Plays Jazz | date=5 January 2016 | accessdate=6 January 2016 | publisher=[[The Wall Street Journal]] | first=Jim | last=Fusilli}}</ref>
Recording of the album took place at The Magic Shop and Human Worldwide Studios in [[New York City]].<ref name="album notes"/> Bowie began writing and making demos for songs that appear on ''Blackstar'' as soon as sessions for ''[[The Next Day]]'' concluded. The two songs that appear on ''Blackstar'' that were previously released, "[[Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)]]" and "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore", were re-recorded for ''Blackstar'', including new saxophone parts played on the latter song by [[Donny McCaslin]] (replacing parts Bowie played on the original release).<ref name="wsj2016">{{cite web | url=http://www.wsj.com/articles/blackstar-review-ziggy-stardust-plays-jazz-1452030425 | title=‘Blackstar’ Review: Ziggy Stardust Plays Jazz | date=5 January 2016 | accessdate=6 January 2016 | publisher=[[The Wall Street Journal]] | first=Jim | last=Fusilli}}</ref> According to producer, [[Tony Visconti]], the album was inspired by rapper [[Kendrick Lamar]] and his 2015 album [[To Pimp A Butterfly]].<ref name="guardian2015">{{cite web | url="wsj2016">{{cite web | url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/nov/24/david-bowie-blackstar-inspired-by-kendrick-lamar-features-lcd-james-murphy| title=New David Bowie album, inspired by Kendrick Lamar, features LCD's James Murphy | date=24 November 2015 | accessdate=11 January 2016 | publisher=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>


==Lyrics==
==Lyrics==

Revision as of 07:42, 11 January 2016

Untitled

Blackstar (stylised as ★) is the twenty-fifth and final studio album by English musician David Bowie. It was released on 8 January 2016, the date of Bowie's 69th birthday and two days before his death,[3][4][5] through Bowie's ISO Records label.[6][7] The title track was released as a single on 20 November 2015[8] and was used as the opening music for the television series The Last Panthers.[9] "Lazarus" was released on 17 December 2015 as a digital download and received its world premiere on BBC Radio 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq the same day.[10]

Background and recording

Recording of the album took place at The Magic Shop and Human Worldwide Studios in New York City.[11] Bowie began writing and making demos for songs that appear on Blackstar as soon as sessions for The Next Day concluded. The two songs that appear on Blackstar that were previously released, "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)" and "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore", were re-recorded for Blackstar, including new saxophone parts played on the latter song by Donny McCaslin (replacing parts Bowie played on the original release).[12] According to producer, Tony Visconti, the album was inspired by rapper Kendrick Lamar and his 2015 album To Pimp A Butterfly.[13]

Lyrics

The title of the second song takes up that of a play by John Ford, an English dramatist of the 17th century.[14]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic86/100[15]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[16]
The A.V. ClubA-[17]
Exclaim!8/10[18]
The Independent[19]
The New York Times(positive)[20]
NME[21]
Pitchfork8.5/10[22]
PopMatters9/10[23]
Rolling Stone[24]
Spin7/10[25]

Blackstar has received acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 86, which indicates "universal acclaim", based on 28 reviews.[15] Rolling Stone critic David Fricke described the album as "a ricochet of textural eccentricity and pictorial-shrapnel writing."[24] Andy Gill of The Independent regarded the record as "the most extreme album of his [Bowie's] entire career," stating that "Blackstar is as far as he's strayed from pop."[19] Reviewing for Q magazine, Tom Doyle wrote "Blackstar is a more concise statement than The Next Day and a far, far more intriguing one."[2] In a positive review for Exclaim!, Michael Rancic wrote that Blackstar is "a defining statement from someone who isn’t interested in living in the past, but rather, for the first time in a while, waiting for everyone else to catch up."[18] The New York Times described the album as "at once emotive and cryptic, structured and spontaneous and, above all, willful, refusing to cater to the expectations of radio stations or fans."[20]

Track listing

Blackstar — CD – vinyl – digital download[26]
No.TitleLength
1."Blackstar"9:57
2."'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore"4:52
3."Lazarus"6:22
4."Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)"4:40
5."Girl Loves Me"4:51
6."Dollar Days"4:44
7."I Can't Give Everything Away"5:47
Total length:41:13
Digital download bonus track
No.TitleLength
8."Blackstar" (video)9:59
Total length:51:12

Personnel

Personnel adapted from Blackstar liner notes.[11]

  • Kevin Killen – engineering
  • Erin Tonkon – assistant engineer, backing vocals on "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore"
  • Joe Visciano – mixing assistant
  • Kabir Hermon – assistant engineer
  • Joe LaPorta – mastering engineer
  • Tom Elmhirst – mixing engineer
  • Tony Visconti – production, strings, engineering, mixing engineer
  • James Murphy – percussion on "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)" and "Girl Loves Me"

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label Ref.
United Kingdom 8 January 2016
[27][28][29]
United States
[30][26][31]

References

  1. ^ Dalton, Stephen (27 November 2015). "David Bowie: Blackstar". Classic Rock. Retrieved 7 January 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ a b c Doyle, Tom (January 2016). "David Bowie – ★". Q.
  3. ^ "David Bowie announces new album Blackstar for January release". BBC News. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  4. ^ "David Bowie confirms 25th album will be released in January 2016". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Watch ★ video teaser online now". Davidbowie.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "David Bowie Confirms New Album Blackstar Coming in January". Pitchfork. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Details of David Bowie's 25th album 'Blackstar' revealed". NME. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  8. ^ "David Bowie Confirms New Album 'Blackstar'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  9. ^ "David Bowie: 7 Things We Already Know About His 2016 Album 'Blackstar'". NME. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  10. ^ "David Bowie launches trailer of new single Lazarus". The Guardian. 14 December 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  11. ^ a b Blackstar (album liner notes). David Bowie. ISO Records. 2016.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. ^ Fusilli, Jim (5 January 2016). "'Blackstar' Review: Ziggy Stardust Plays Jazz". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  13. ^ {{cite web | url="wsj2016">"New David Bowie album, inspired by Kendrick Lamar, features LCD's James Murphy". The Guardian. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  14. ^ The Inside Story of David Bowie's Stunning New Album, 'Blackstar', rollingstone.com, 23 November 2015
  15. ^ a b "Reviews for Blackstar by David Bowie". Metacritic. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  16. ^ AllMusic
  17. ^ "David Bowie goes noir with the intoxicating Blackstar". The A.V. Club. January 2016.
  18. ^ a b Rancic, Michael (7 January 2016). "David Bowie - Blackstar". Exclaim!. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  19. ^ a b Gill, Andy (22 December 2015). "David Bowie's Blackstar - exclusive first review: A Bowie desperate to break with the past". The Independent. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  20. ^ a b The New York Times
  21. ^ "David Bowie - 'Blackstar' Review: The NME Verdict". NME author=Richards, Sam. {{cite web}}: Missing pipe in: |work= (help)
  22. ^ Dombal, Ryan (7 January 2016). "David Bowie: Blackstar". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  23. ^ Gerard, Chris (8 January 2016). "David Bowie: Blackstar". PopMatters.
  24. ^ a b Fricke, David (23 December 2015). "Blackstar". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  25. ^ Spin
  26. ^ a b "Blackstar by David Bowie". iTunes. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  27. ^ "Blackstar by David Bowie". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  28. ^ "Blackstar by David Bowie". iTunes Great Britain. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  29. ^ "Blackstar [VINYL] by David Bowie". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  30. ^ "David Bowie - Blackstar". Amazon.com. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  31. ^ "David Bowie - Blackstar (Vinyl)". Amazon.com. Retrieved 3 December 2015.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blackstar_(album)&oldid=699263609"