{"id":40904,"date":"2008-05-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-05-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/lodger\/"},"modified":"2008-05-18T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-05-18T00:00:00","slug":"lodger","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/lodger\/","title":{"rendered":"Lodger"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Bowie\u2019s fruitful collaboration with Brian Eno on the critically acclaimed and highly influential Berlin Trilogy of albums came to an end with the release of Lodger<\/i> in 1979. <\/p>\n

Rather than simply repeat the formula established on Low<\/i> and Heroes<\/i> (half eccentric pop songs and half ambient instrumentals), Lodger<\/i> is a flawless fusion of the unusual sonic worlds explored previously. Initially, this album may appear less experimental than its predecessors, but a close listen reveals just how wonderfully bizarre and diverse it is, full of unconventional arrangements, odd chord sequences, melodies that take unexpected directions, strange instruments and sounds, all by way of a more direct, stripped down, forceful approach in a post-punk format.<\/p>\n

Another important difference from all previous Bowie<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> albums is the presence of a consistent level of energy. The songs are all fairly brisk, with a plethora of catchy melodies and beats, along with a never ending parade of musical surprises that easily makes Lodger<\/i> in all probability the most fun album of Bowie<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s career.<\/p>\n

Once again, along with Eno, producer Tony Visconti, and long time session guitarist Carlos Alomar, Bowie<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> employed the services of top notch musicians, most notably future King Crimson guitarist and front man, Adrian Belew, whose patented, almost mathematical style of playing plays an important role in lending the songs on this disc an experimental excellence.<\/p>\n

As I mentioned earlier, there is a virtual buffet of styles to be found, but never in a clich\u00e9d manner. Tribal chanting is found mixed with dissonant, Primus-like arrangements on \u201cAfrican Night Flight,\u201d followed by the brisk travelogue, \u201cMove On.\u201d One of the highlights is found with the exotic Turkish reggae song, \u201cYassassin,\u201d which is full of wonderful instruments like slithering violins and plucking mandolins in addition to the standard rock equipment. <\/p>\n

\u201cRed Sails\u201d is a driving, feedback drenched rocker, while \u201cDJ\u201d is a disco song that finds Bowie<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> at his subversive, sarcastic best, ruthlessly mocking the genre while simultaneously incorporating the infectious, danceable qualities of it albeit in a rather twisted manner. Fantastic stuff.<\/p>\n

The winning streak continues with another batch of fast, energetic songs \u2013 see the great, spastic vocals by Bowie<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> in \u201cLook Back In Anger,\u201d the cheeky nod to transvestites, \u201cBoys Keep Swinging,\u201d and the robotic new wave track, \u201cRepetition.\u201d The album then ends its all too brief running time with the off kilter funk of \u201cRed Money,\u201d yet another outstanding track.<\/p>\n

Admirably adventurous from beginning to end and successful in every unpredictable aspect explored, Lodger<\/i> is David Bowie\u2019s career high water mark, where Bowie the entertainer and Bowie the artist mesh into a cohesive form with spectacular results. It is shameful that the lack of an obvious hit single has caused this disc to remain overlooked in comparison to his weaker albums. As far as I\u2019m concerned, every track on Lodger<\/i> hits its mark \u2013 there are no weak moments to be found.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":29344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5671],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-40904","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-david-bowie","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40904"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}