The Next Day Never Knows

David Bowie – The Next Day

If there’s one thing in this damned crazy world of ours that I agree with John on, it’s that “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)” is an awesome song. Maybe one of the best David Bowie has ever done. That he can manage to put out a song like that, or an album like The Next Day after a decade without a single release continues to be amazing to me. It definitely makes me feel validated in spending the last month revisiting and meeting his entire catalog. But are we all caught up in the hype of Bowie finally coming back after all these years, or will The Next Day remain as a proud part of his legacy?

If anything, I consider this a validation of the last few Bowie albums. Tony Visconti is back as producer, and listening to all of his work in quick succession, The Next Day really does feel like a continuation of the work they did on Heathen and Reality. What that means is music that touches on Ziggy Stardust, The Thin White Duke, and The Berlin Trilogy easily and capably, with a keen awareness for contemporary tastes. Bowie’s done a lot, and his music at this point reflects the knowledge and experience he has playing the pop game.

That is a lot to say that The Next Day is expertly done, although far from innovative. There’s no underlying menace, groundbreaking production, or anything to that could possibly get in the way of this album feeling like a treat. A pleasant little treat. And that’s OK, right? What possibly could David Bowie have left to prove at this point? That last Radiohead album was innovative and I haven’t listened to The King of Limbs since 2011 because of that. My star rating here is an indicator of where I would place this album in the overall Bowie legacy, if I hadn’t just done that Retrospecticus, I probably would have given The Next Day a higher rating.

I’m really excited to not have to write about David Bowie anymore for a while, but I fear getting out of the habit of listening to his music every day will prove more difficult.

Favorite Tracks: “The Stars (Are Out Tonight),” “Where are We Now?” “Dancing Out in Space”

T3 54: Top 10 Remakes We’d Like to See

Hollywood sure loves a remake. I mean, it makes sense. Movies have to compete with YouTube, cable TV, on-demand, Netflix and God knows what tomorrow will have in store for our entertainment. So the filmmakers of the world have to leech onto anything we might possibly recognize. And sometimes, that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Sometimes a movie has a good concept, maybe even a good script, but it just doesn’t work out. This week we talked about a bunch of movies just like that, that we believe deserve a second chance.

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R.I.P. Roger Ebert

I know this is one of those deaths where you could definitely see it coming, as Roger Ebert seemed to have been battling one physical ailment after another ever since being diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2002. But still, it’s hard not to be affected whenever we lose one of the all-time greats in any particular medium, and Roger Ebert was certainly one of those for film criticism. I can’t speak for everybody here at Mildly Pleased, but I’m sure Mr. Ebert’s work has had more than a considerable impact on this forum for amateur film & media criticism.

Sure, the late great At The Movies, starring Ebert and his long time friend and sparring-partner Gene Skiskel was a bit before my time. And yet, when the entire archives from that show were released on to the show’s website in 2007, it had a pretty profound impact on the way I thought about film. I was just then getting serious about the possibilities of film as an art form, and here were two guys that embodied that love of movies as a medium capable of high art as well as thrilling entertainment. And I’m certain that the whole At The Movies format also managed to leave somewhat of an impact on the way we do things over on our T3 podcast. Because along with the unending intelligence of the conversations that took place on At The Movies, you always felt that these guys were very close friends, and were just as eager to make each other laugh as they were to jump in to a heated argument.

As for Ebert as a writer, the man’s pedigree pretty much speaks for itself. He’s of course the only journalist to ever win a Pulitzer for film criticism, and his work for the Chicago Sun-Times has been syndicated in countless different places. And despite his fame as one of the few household names in the world of film criticism, you always got the sense that writing was his first love. Take for instance when Ebert was rendered unable to speak after a series of cancer treatments in the late ’00s. Yet despite his physical shortcomings, he started producing about as many reviews and as much content as any film critic out there. And of course, every review was delivered in that very personalized and conversational tone of wit and reverence that had become Ebert’s trademark over the years.

I think it’s always hard to say what impact film critics truly have on the world of filmmaking as a whole, but I think you can undoubtedly say that for four decades, Mr. Ebert was a force for good in a Hollywood landscape that often needed someone like him to demand more of it. In my book, that’s more than worthy of one final thumbs up.

Bowie Blowout: Sean’s Top 10

I guess I like David Bowie more than most people? Well, I can’t really speak to that. I can say with certainty I like his music more than Nancy, and most likely more than John or Colin, since they haven’t gone to the trouble of listening to all of his albums. Narrowing everything I’ve heard of his, both in my life and in the last month, down to just 10 songs was a daunting task. To make it a little easier, I disqualified any song that was already on Colin or John’s lists, but that only helped a little. Not that I disagree with their picks, there are just so many songs I like. I mean, there would have to be, to get me through 24 albums.

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Bowie Blowout: John’s Top Ten

Like many children who grew up in the age of video, my introduction to David Bowie came from the 1986 cult classic Labyrinth. In the film, Bowie played the tuneful yet terrifying Jareth the Goblin King. Flashforward to junior high when I come to the realization that Jareth is that guy who sings that song “Changes” that I’d heard on oldies radio. I think that background is important on how I’ve come to view David Bowie, slightly sinister and full of surprises. As for my favorite Bowie songs don’t expect to see much out of the ordinary. Though I was this close to giving “Magic Dance” some much needed love. I’m not lying when I say that song is pretty sweet.

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Bowie Blowout: Colin’s Top Ten

Now that Sean has given us a fairly exhaustive chronicle of David Bowie’s career, I suppose it’s time we move on to writing about something else. Or at least, that’s what I’d be saying if there were actually some decent movies or albums coming out soon. But there aren’t, so I guess we’ll just keep the Bowie lovetrain a-rollin’ as each of us (minus Nancy probably) share our top ten songs by Mr. Bowie.

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Some Strokes Bullshit

The Strokes – Comedown Machine

I feel the same way about The Strokes that I do The Simpsons, it’s not that what they do today is bad, but when you compare it to what it once was it it seems bad. The Strokes released two of the greatest rock albums of the 2000s but have felt directionless since then. First Impressions of Mars was too long with too many cooks (songwriters) in the kitchen. Similarly, each song on Angles had so many parts that it felt like a confused Frankenstein’s monster chasing villagers into the hills. I wouldn’t say either of these albums were bad but they lacked identity. Do the Strokes still want to be East Coast garage rockers? Do they want to be an 80s tribute band? Why can’t they capture what they once had?

Comedown Machine, like Angles is another throw back to the days of vinyl records and Phil Collins domination. Songs like “Tap Out” and “Partners in Crime” wouldn’t have been out of place in a Duran Duran setlist. Titles like, “80’s Comedown Machine” are even less subtle with their message of “We like to do things old school.” As if Julian Casablancas hadn’t already paid his respects to the era of a-ha with his solo record Phrazes for the Young. There’s nothing wrong with going retro if you do it right. But what leaves me more concerned are the tracks I can’t even define.

The album’s lead single “One Way Trigger” is my least favorite Strokes’ single of all time. A mess of busy synths and uncharacteristic falsetto makes for a confusing listen. Luckily, the followup “All the Time” rings more true. It’s not quite hit single material but could have made a nice middle of the lineup track on Room on Fire. Alas, nothing else here harkens back to The Strokes of yesteryear. As many times as I listen to Comedown Machine it just doesn’t want me to remember it.

In my experience, an immediate tepid reaction to a band I like usually leads to a less negative response as times goes by. I adjust to a “new” sound and begin to appreciate it for what it is as opposed to what I want it to be. Yet the more I listen to Comedown Machine the more crestfallen I become. It’s becoming more and more clear that this band will never be what I want it to be ever again. I’m sad to say I have very little interest in what The Strokes will do next. You don’t like my attitude? Then Comedown at me bro.

Favorite Tracks: “All the Time,” “Tap Out”