The Double Doghouse

hello folks! this week for the weekly review, we’re taking a look at a 1997 record from David Bowie, Earthling!

okay this record threw me for a loop RIGHT out the gate. i was not expecting an industrial electronic song driven by those fucking breaking fast drums. Little Wonder does some very fun stuff with that – Bowie’s vocals over the clouds parting in the harsher parts of the track are very interesting for sure. some very neat drumwork across this track too. not fully my style but i do appreciate what they’re doing here. Looking For Satellites slows it way down, comparatively. Battle For Britain (The Letter) brings back the frantic, industrial vibes. p solid track. Seven Years In Tibet is bassier, thumpier, and a lot slower. i really like when this track ramps up into the “i praise to you” chorus – those bits really work for me. really like the stream-of-consciousness background vocals in Dead Man Walking, with Bowie’s vocals soaring above them. the song feels very stratified, if that makes sense. there’s layers. Telling Lies was the lead single for this album, which makes sense to me – it’s still playing in that frantic percussion space, but maintaining a bit of distance with it. p good track! not sure how i feel about Last Thing You Should Do. very strange song, in an entrancing kinda way. i’m certain i know I’m Afraid of Americans from the Trent Reznor remix, but damn this version is very good – really an interesting track, and one i didn’t know was by Bowie, haha. Law (Earthlings On Fire) really brings everything to a head in the closer – v appropriate way to close the loop on this record, haha.

faves – I’m Afraid of Americans
dislikes –

this was definitely not what i expected when i sat down for this, but i really enjoyed it! Bowie’s bringing a really interesting flavor to this style – i’m seeing it described as jungle and drum and bass, both of which are genres i have much less experience with. def a strange record, lyrically and thematically, but i think i engaged a lot more with the strained, stressed industrial vibes i got from the record a lot more, haha. really neat!

Earthling – 5/10

for the next Weekly Album Review, i’ll be checking out Brain Cycles, by Radio Moscow. i’ll be back next Friday, August 18th with that review and to pick another weekly record, and in the meantime, let me know what album you’d like me to review! (i pool all suggestions in one place, and draw a person, then one pick from that person, so feel free to drop as many as you’d like! if you leave an email or username i’ll contact you when i’ve gotten through all your suggestions.)