Chief Arrowhead
01-11-2016, 02:01 PM
I never felt the urge to delve into his discography. A bit too . erm ... weird(?) I guess you could say. Plus, I like bands more than individual artists. Not to say that I haven't enjoyed his pop music that made the radio, particularly 'Modern Love', which I consider to be an almost perfect pop song tinged with a bit of soul and jazz in there.
But for some reason I was intrigued by his latest, Blackstar, as a jazz/pop fusion project and have listened to it all weekend. Unlike others of his peer group, Rod Stewart and Elton John I'm looking at you, that long ago retreated to Big Band music, duets, or the AMerican Standard Songbook, this is an incredibly creative and original work. To my knowledge there has never been such a successful attempt to blend elements of jazz, electronica, soul and pop. Not a weak song amongst the 7 on there.
YOu also have to acknowledge that he also had a keen eye on commercial viability as well. The title song was cut to 9:57. Why? iTunes limits the songs you can purchase individually to 10 minutes!
I salute the man on an epic way to go out. He one-upped his peers and they are left knowing they can't hope to come close.
Given that we now know what his motivations were for this ethereal, other-worldly effort, we might as well etch his name on all the yearly honours for a year that has just started! Well done, sir. Well done indeed.
But for some reason I was intrigued by his latest, Blackstar, as a jazz/pop fusion project and have listened to it all weekend. Unlike others of his peer group, Rod Stewart and Elton John I'm looking at you, that long ago retreated to Big Band music, duets, or the AMerican Standard Songbook, this is an incredibly creative and original work. To my knowledge there has never been such a successful attempt to blend elements of jazz, electronica, soul and pop. Not a weak song amongst the 7 on there.
YOu also have to acknowledge that he also had a keen eye on commercial viability as well. The title song was cut to 9:57. Why? iTunes limits the songs you can purchase individually to 10 minutes!
I salute the man on an epic way to go out. He one-upped his peers and they are left knowing they can't hope to come close.
Given that we now know what his motivations were for this ethereal, other-worldly effort, we might as well etch his name on all the yearly honours for a year that has just started! Well done, sir. Well done indeed.