David Bowie
Blackstar

LA RECENSIONE

David Bowie's black star gave us a stratospheric farewell. A greeting from the future that reflects on the end of existence. The "Thin White Duke" has always been an extraterrestrial, a superior entity, capable of chameleonically changing style, while maintaining an "Art Rock" profile. And even this time, he literally told today's society to go to hell, caring nothing for radio, television, or anyone's opinion. He simply said goodbye, heading towards a new life. He left us a GOD of music, leaving us a magnificent testament, a true masterpiece. We must hold "Blackstar" dear and consider it as a message, written by a person, as they approach the end of the tunnel, understanding what it feels like, how it feels to familiarize oneself with death, to live with it, to know its bitter taste. This is also thanks to the perfectly fitting and extremely innovative musical framework that spans from rock to jazz to trip-hop to hard bop and even to fusion, signed by the New York jazz group, personally chosen by Bowie following a performance in a tiny jazz club in Manhattan.

It is precisely thanks to this original choice that an album has been obtained, surrounded by a mysterious aura, with a chilling, dark atmosphere that, as mentioned before, evokes thoughts of death. The lyrics, which address the same themes, also contribute to this; an example is the excellent "Lazarus":

«Look up here, I'm in Heaven, I've got scars that can't be seen, I've got a history that can't be stolen from me, Now everybody knows me. Look up here, friend, I'm in danger, I have nothing left to lose»

Goosebumps,

Chills, listening to these words told by Bowie's melancholic voice.

He then repeats in the chorus:

«Oh, I'll be free, oh I'll be free».

Contributing to making the work a true masterpiece are also the music videos, which defining them sublime would be an understatement. They too are part of the Duke's farewell project, indeed referring to the end of earthly life, the contact with death.

I think it is one of the best albums of the last 5 years, if not more, that manages to compress many sounds, belonging to different stylistic numbers, which take flight in different directions, ranging across so many musical genres only to reunite in one great hue, that of art, an art that is both classical and experimental, innovative, modern, a blackart made by a blackstar.