[rayword45]

Thanks for the kind words, I'm always looking for more recommendations even if I don't get to them all in the end.

Day 276: Blackstar by David Bowie

After almost a year of repeated listens, I'm upping my rating of Harmony In Ultraviolet to a 10/10, making the fourth 10/10 from this collection. Congratulations on my oh-so-important approval Tim Hecker. That means two out of four 10s I've given out are to drone albums (the others being trap mixtapes), but I swear I'm not some ambient freak... That's not even a bad thing why do I feel the need to specify this?

This dude just died. This album was released like two days before he died. I've never listened to his music before not because I'm anti-dadrock but because I'm lazy and I don't like MOST glam I've listened (most glam being... Bon Jovi). I'm not gonna be nice to this album just because he's recently deceased but I suppose I should give my respects. There they are.

Dear god, the mixing on this album is absolute TRASH. Are those drums and vocals meant to sound spacey? They sound fucking cheap and not in a pleasant way, like the budget for the equipment was in the double digits or something but they didn't want to admit it. Guitars? Who needs to hear them? That saxophone is really sexy but it sounds vaguely muffled. This whole album sounds like it went through just one level of compressor, enough to make it annoying but nothing else.

Remaster this damn album, because these songs are actually pretty good. They're over-the-top and a bit long but I cannot deny a good songwriter when I hear one. There are some seriously catchy choruses in here and great arrangements horribly marred by this production.

Rest in peace, hopefully to celebrate your legacy comes a remastered boxset.

Best Track: Girl Loves Me
Rating: 6/10 (could go up as much as 2.5 points with a remaster, but I'm not sure until that happens)