IN REVIEW: David Bowie - "★"

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I was going to review this album back in January but, with David Bowie's passing just two days after the album's release, I was having a hard time working out just how to even talk about it considering how drastically and suddenly the context had changed. Given nearly a full year's worth of distance, I'm able to hear ★ without being bummed out for the duration; there's a sense of accomplishment, even celebration, present here. Make no mistake, it's still somewhat painful to hear, but it's not as harrowing and saddening as it was in the winter. I now hear it as a calming final transmission, the sound of a man who, after a half century in the business and twenty-five albums, was able to find peace and leave this world a true gift; a typically experimental album among scores of experiments in Bowie's often spotty discography, one that could have been a footnote but instead asserts itself as vital listening.

January 8, 2016 • ISO/RCA
Highlights Blackstar • Lazarus • Sue (or In a Season of Crime)

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