David Bowie - Let's Dance [ECD]
![Let's Dance [ECD]](/images/Let-Dance-ECD-B00001OH7Z-L.jpg)
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Free Music Notes for Let's Dance [ECD]
Free Music Review: David Bowie - Let's Dance
Hit: 3 Stars
David Bowie never stays with one musical style for very long; however, I think this may be the first time he has revisited a previous approach. His interest in R&B/dance music began with the Young Americans album and ended with the Station to Station album - or so we thought. David teamed up with famous R&B producer Nile Rodgers to create Let's Dance. The first three tracks on this album; "Modern Love", "China Girl", and the title track "Let's Dance", all got a lot of air time on radio and the music videos for "Let's Dance" and "China Girl" went into heavy rotation on MTV. All three of these tracks are fine examples of how well David Bowie can assimilate musical styles and still make them sound like he invented them. Some of the other track don't fare as well. "Without You" is a love song with a softer melody and somewhat slower pace. It's a good song, but somehow seems out of place on this album. Then there are tracks like "Richochet", "Shake It", and "criminal World" - the only track on this album David didn't write or co-write. None of these really stand up to repeated listenings. There is a version of the song "Cat People" here as well, but be aware that it isn't the version David recorded for the movie of the same name. He has re-worked it to a large degree and not for the better in my opinion. I like the original version better. One note of interest here is that some of the great guitar licks heard on this album were provided by the late, great R&B legend Stevie Ray Vaughan. To sum things up there is some great music on this album, but there is also some junk. If you're not strapped for money, then this is a good item to have for your Bowie collection.Free Music Review: Definitely listenable and worth picking up, but it was all downhill from here....
Hit: 4 Stars
This was actually the first Bowie album I ever bought (!), and I still like it, despite listening to his much more adventurous and creative music that preceeded this album. This was Bowie's biggest album commercially, infuriating many longtime fans and gaining a lot of new ones. Is is awful? No, absolutely not. Is it commercial? Compared to most of his other work, yes, but that doesn't diminish the fact that it's a very well crafted album, very danceable, great vocals, very good songwriting, and great arrangements.
I've always loved Modern Love, China Girl, the title track (the full version), Ricochet, and Cat People. They all still hold up remarkably well. It's also interesting to note that after this commercial watershed for Bowie, his music declined sharply, both in artistic interest and commercial interest. The only really good album he did after this was the first Tin Machine album (even though some hate that album). His followups to this one were uneven and sometimes downright awful. I never thought of this album as a complete sellout, but it's not as adventurous as Bowie's early work, and he was never the same after this one.
Free Music Review: Lets Dance
Hit: 4 Stars
David Bowie-Lets Dance ****
Alright, alright, alright, it is easy to see that Let's Dance is not David Bowie's best album, it is way far from it. But with that being said lets make it a point to say that Let's Dance is also not his worst album, way far from that as well. Everyone says that this was him trying to be commercial, well of course it was, this is David Bowie, he couldn't sell out if he tried because the man would get bored with it. Besides does no one remember the Young Americans album? I do and honestly I think it was way more commercial than Let's Dance, and I also think it was one of his weakest albums. The title track to that album is the closest Bowie ever came to selling out.
Let's Dance was really just another attempt at Young Americans but in a different danceable way. Both the title tracks are similar, though personally I feel 'Let's Dance' is far better as it has always been a favorite of mine as said as that might sound to some. 'Modern Love' is even more danceable then the title track if you can imagine. It is also the perfect track to open the album. Now 'China Girl' is easily the best song on the album, much as it was the best song on Iggy Pops first solo album The Idiot. Iggy Wrote the song and David created the music. I love both versions. Bowie's is a little more camp, obviously. After this the rest of the album is not by any standard, commercial. 'Without You' would have fit in along side 'Ashes To Ashes' on Scary monsters, as would 'Ricochet.' The two Metro covers 'Criminal World' and 'Cat People' are more or less my least favorite songs on the album and those seem to be the ones that most people enjoyed. I think they are dated, even seemed it when they were first released, and honestly are among the worst covers Bowie ever did. The album closes with 'Shake It' which really is just a continuation of the great title track, with what sounds like Barry Gibb on backing vocals.
Let's Dance is a fun danceable album with dark imagery. Stevie Ray Vaughn plays lead guitar and became a super star after this release with his own band Double Trouble. People who call themselves Bowie purists have this album, because they say it is not Bowie enough. Well there are many things wrong with that, for one you can't pigeon hole Bowie to one thing, or really multiple things, so there for you can't be a Bowie Purist, so go with your gut on this one.
Free Music Review: Mistaken reinvention
Hit: 3 Stars
Very much a product of its time, "Let's Dance" has not aged particularly well. It's a post-disco dance record by way of a superstar and is also easily his most uneven since "Young Americans" (another album that was a product of its time). And is he trying to look like Billy Idol on the album cover?
The good ones here are often borderline guilty pleasures (like the ultra-catchy and VERY 80s "Modern Love" and the candy-flavored "Without You"). As for the title track and "China Girl," the former is funky and goofy but even less graceful than "Modern Love" (and overlong in its album version), and the latter was better when it appeared on Iggy Pop's "The Idiot." Hardly essential Bowie, and the beginning of a slump that would last more than a decade, but even bad Bowie is usually still listenable (and still miles above most of the other carbon copy post-disco, watered-down new wave of the era).
Best cuts: "Modern Love," "Ricochet," "Without You," "Let's Dance," "China Girl"
Free Music Review: Two Thumbs Up
Hit: 5 Stars
What can you say? Every song on this CD is great!