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Rating:
Summer 1987. A time when, as a 17-year-old acne-ridden teenager disinterested in any sporting event, I would transform my parents' allowance into vinyl and cassette tapes in a nanosecond, as did my peers. It was precisely then that I returned home triumphant with the Duke's latest LP, hand in hand with my inseparable friend Sandro. I don't think my peers need to make an extra effort of imagination to go back to those roaring years. So, I undressed the record from the cellophane and placed it on the turntable, positioning the needle on the first groove.
An "alienating" refrain rose from the speakers, shouting "Day in day out" punctuated by the most reverberated snare drum ever and an imposing layer of synths and improbable horns from which, occasionally, a sharp solo by a young Pete Frampton emerged. Sandro and I looked at each other with disappointment. The needle moved to the second groove, and I had the reassuring feeling that Bowie had returned to that of "Loving the Alien," which, albeit not my favorite "alien," slipped by pleasantly. The start of "Time Will Crawl," with its melancholic keyboard ostinato, didn't displease me, and so the song, a typical pop ballad, was quite consistent with his recent works. The rest of the album seemed to me to settle on a quality that unfortunately confirmed the direction already taken with his previous "Tonight," of which I loved several tracks. I continued my journey into "Never Let Me Down" and finally understood the reason for so much irritation—arrangements so pompous and redundant that they overshadowed even the most worthy composition. My listening stopped with the self-celebratory "Zeroes," another pop ballad that, apart from sounding similar, had nothing to do with the refined "Heroes," once more stuffed with the omnipresent keyboards of Erldal Kizilcay.
I judged the album to be pretentious, and the pretext seemed to be that Glass Spider Tour, for which I already had a ticket. The aforementioned album sounded like a bad omen. A few days later, I listened to the same exact tracks from the lawn of the Comunale in Turin, where I watched in amazement as Peter Frampton, with his fluffy blonde hair so fashionable then, manhandled his Strat and duetted with Carlos Alomar, precise in rhythm and frigid in his perfectly post-atomic look. Suddenly, everything was shrouded in magic, and every single track on the album seemed like a masterpiece, supported as it was by themed choreography, the comings and goings of dancers, Klaus Nomi-like mimes, basically a concentration of the best New York avant-garde teetering between Soho and Broadway. Then, when late at night the lights dimmed, and the piano released the intro of "Time," a shiver ran through me from side to side, and 25 years later, it's still there. That wasn't just any concert, but an exploration of two decades of metamorphosis, where the piano-driven lyrics of Aladdin Sane chased the velvety philly sound of "Young Americans," and then the abrasive approach of "Bang Bang" or the funk of "Scary Monster." A night that, given the increasingly persistent rumors of the Duke's retirement, the new generations might never see. In conclusion, a questionable album generated a memorable tour, and even if Bowie later managed to redeem himself with "Heartling," etc., I like to remember him like this, a sprite in a red suit born from the jaws of a giant glass spider, the same spider that in 1972 consecrated him as an international star.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
03 Beat of Your Drum (05:03)
Photograph king, watches you go
Now fashions may change, heaven knows, but you
still leave a stain on me
Only to go colours may fade
The seasons may change, weather blows, but you still leave a mark on me
Wrong-negative fades-never the twain, reckless and tame
I like the beat of your drum
I like to look in your eyes
I like to look thru your things
I'd like to beat on your drum
I like the smell of your flesh
I like the dirt that you dish
I like the clothes that you wear
I'd like to beat on your drum
I beat it I beat I beat it
I feel it
Disco brat-follow the pack
Watching you peel, heaven knows, prison can't hold all this greedy intention
Only to go-I picture you now
Music may change-hi-di-ho keen to follow your nose
Wrong-love out of tune
Sweet is the night, bright light destroys me
I like the beat of your drum
I like to look in your eyes
I like to look thru your things
I'd like to beat on your drum
I like the smell of your flesh
I like the dirt that you dish
I like the clothes that you wear
I'd like to beat on your drum
I beat it I beat Can't beat it
I feel it
I like to beat on your drum
I like to beat on your drum
I like your face in the crowd
I like to beat on your drum
I beat it I beat Can't beat it
I feel it
Can't beat it
I feel it
Ho beat it
I beat it
Oh yeah
I'd like to beat on your drum
I'd like to beat on your drum
I'd like to yell it out loud
I'd like to beat on your drum
Can't beat it can't beat it
I feel it I feel it
I'd like to beat on your drum
I'd like to beat on your drum
I'd like your face in the crowd
I'd like to beat on your drum
Yeah yeah yeah
Can't beat it
Can't beat it
I be there
Baet it all out
Beat it all in the crowd
Beat it beat it beat it beat it
I feel it I feel it
I'd like to beat on your drum
I'd like to beat on your drum
I'd like to blow your horne
I'd like to beat on your drum
Yeah yeah yeah
Ahhhhhh
05 Zeroes (05:44)
[Ladies and Gentlemen]
[Tonight, yes, the Zeroes will be singing for you!]
Yeah Yeah (x4)
You've arrived in the land of a thousand different names
And the fabulous sons have crashed their planes in flames
Now tomorrow's back claiming redemption is on your heels
And a toothless past is asking you how it feels
And me my little red Corvette has driven by
My fair weather heart has fallen in
My rainy day girl is feeling down
And she tells me that the world is spinning round
I say the dream was all for you
You're nobody else
Tonight the Zeroes were singing for you
Yeah Yeah
Yeah
Hi, can I walk you home again today
Gotta get forgive and forget hey-hey
Something good is happening I don't know what it is
Don't you know we're back on trial again today
And it's breaking wine for you
Hell it's only 'cause you're true
Someone outtimed my heart
Stopping and preaching and letting love in
You are my moon, you are my sun
Heaven knows what you are
Tonight the Zeroes are singing for you
Yes they were
Tonight the Zeroes were singing for you
Tonight the Zeroes were singing for you
Doesn't matter what you try to do
Doesn't matter what you try to do
Doesn't matter where you try to go
Doesn't matter who we really are
Doesn't matter (repeat ad lib)
Doesn't matter, doesn't matter
09 '87 and Cry (04:18)
It's just a one dollar secret A lover's secrets in the UK Torn apart in the UK In the dribble of May-Day '87 and Cry '87 and Cry And there's nothing inside And there's nothing in mind no And only you Rocket on thru the sky Well it couldn't be done without dogs Yeah it couldn't be once without us '87 and Cry '87 and Cry When the days were the days boys When blue ties were for the bigg guys Frannie dressing down for the enemy You saw him hangin' on the enemy And there's no one in love And there's nowhere to scream no And only you Race on to wonder where Well it couldn't be done without dogs It couldn't be once without us '87 and Cry '87 and Cry You can't make love with money You can't make mistakes with babies Nothing looked good on you That's how I liked you best Now you're ready for the real McCoy Deep in the heart of Cupid Murder on the heels of love Just a ghost of a story Just a one dollar secret Baby these were the sounds Baby these were the sounds And only you Whisper these things aren't true Well it couldn't be done with dogs Well it couldn't be once without us '87 and Cry '87 and Cry '87 and Cry '87 and Cry Cry Cry '87 and Cry '87 and Cry Cry Cry '87 and Cry '87 and Cry Cry Cry Cry Cry '87 and Cry Cry Cry Cry Cry '87 and Cry '87 and Cry '87 and Cry '87 and Cry Hey Hey '87 and Cry
10 Too Dizzy (03:59)
There's too much talking for a night drive
Too much mist in front of my eyes
I'm not trying to lose control
But you're just pushin' pushin' pushin'for a fight
You look trapped, turn the radio on
Too much smoke, air conditioning gone
But I'm helpless in love with you
But you're just looking looking looking for a break
Is it love or is it what
Who's this guy I'm gonna blow away hey
What kind of love is he giving you
I'm-a-dizzy's what I'm trying to say
I said
Too Dizzy-You can't have a lover
I'm too Dizzy-It's me and no other
I'm a bad loser-I'm-a-shakin' in anger
I'm a too Dizzy-you can't have no lover
You can go on dreaming every night
But I'm not letting you out of my sight
I'm-a-ten times the man than any guy around
But you're just itchin'-twitchin'-itchin' for a break
There's too much talking for a night drive
And too much mist in front of my eyes
But I'm helpless in love with you
But you're just looking looking looking for a break
Is it love or is it what
Who's this guy I'm gonna blow away
What kind of love is he giving you
I'm-a-dizzy's what I'm trying to say
I said
I'm too Dizzy-You can't have a lover
I'm too Dizzy-It's me and no other
And I'm a bad loser-I'm-a-shakin' in anger
I said too Dizzy-you can't have no lover
I said Too Dizzy
Don't come any harder
I said I'm Too Dizzy
Don't come any closer
I said I'm Too Dizzy
I said too Dizzy
Too Dizzy
Too Dizzy
Too Dizzy you can't have no lover
Too Dizzy
Too Dizzy
I'm Too Dizzy
11 Bang Bang (04:29)
Wow, this ain't the right thing to do
So, so let, so let's go
Young girls they know what they're after
Young girls don't kiss me goodbye
Rockets shooting up into space
Buildings they rise to the skies
Bang Bang I got mine
Bang Bang reach for the sky
I keep a good friend on videotape
He'll drive his sports car until it's too late
But we'll have a hot time on the town tonight
Cause love is my bet and it's the best yet
Bang Bang I got mine
Bang Bang sun don't shine
Bang Bang you all angels
Bang Bang now you all ought to be in pictures
Oh girl
Oh girl my problems can't follow me
Phone calls I take my machine
I wander lonely to the sea
Lonely-Ha Ha Ha-what does it mean
Bang Bang I got mine
Bang Bang and you are next in line
Bang Bang reach for the sky
Bang Bang sun don't shine
Rise buildings
Rise to the sky
Well young girls they know what they're after
I said, young girls don't kiss me goodbye
Bang bang
Then you close, then you should close, then you close down
You big man
Bang Bang
Spot the brack
Just come in first
Bang Bang
If praise had wings
Bang Bang
And you next in line
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