Best Ever Albums

Re: (Closed) 2015-2019 Round 4: Agusa vs David Bowie

babyBlueSedan — Tue, 3 Nov 2020 23:19:24 GMT

Author: babyBlueSedan

Posted: 11/04/2020 04:19

A...lose...a?

Bowie wins 17-3

Re: (Closed) 2015-2019 Round 4: Agusa vs David Bowie

craola — Mon, 2 Nov 2020 12:46:40 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 11/02/2020 17:46

BozoTyrannus wrote:

I see a lot of people assigning post-death hype to the album, but when it came out I got it immediately and listened to it four times in a row. I've never done that before, and haven't since. The second day I listened to it two more times before hearing the news of Bowie's death.

similar experience. i'm not a big bowie fan, but for some reason, i listened to a leak of the album a few days to a week before its official release, and i was really into it. recommended it to a couple of friends on various points of the bowie spectrum and hailed it his magnum opus. and then he died, which i think sealed its fate. but even if he hadn't've died right around its release date, the quality is such that this would be regarded as one of his best works. its really the only bowie-ism i revisit from time to time.

Re: (Closed) 2015-2019 Round 4: Agusa vs David Bowie

travelful — Mon, 2 Nov 2020 09:59:54 GMT

Author: travelful

Posted: 11/02/2020 14:59

I voted for Bowie in this match-up, but yeah it's not an album that has stuck with me much at all since its release. Even when just considering 2016 albums about death, I return to both Leonard Cohen's 'You Want It Darker' and Nick Cave's 'Skeleton Tree' way more and prefer both as complete listens over 'Blackstar'.

Lazarus is of course the best pick of the album.

Re: (Closed) 2015-2019 Round 4: Agusa vs David Bowie

BozoTyrannus — Sun, 1 Nov 2020 20:24:55 GMT

Author: BozoTyrannus

Posted: 11/02/2020 01:24

Skinny wrote:

Also, thinking about it, it might just sneak into my top ten, on a good day:

1. Low
2. Station to Station
3. Ziggy
4. Hunky Dory
5. Young Americans
6. Lodger
7. Diamond Dogs
8. "Heroes"
9+10. Any two from: Aladdin Sane; Scary Monsters; Let's Dance; �.... (Depending on mood.)

Curious. Here's my take.

1. Blackstar
2. Diamond Dogs
3. Low
4. Outside
5. Hunky Dory
6. Ziggy Stardust
7. "Heroes"
8. Let's Dance
9. Station to Station
10. Lodger

(honorable mention to The Next Day and Scary Monsters)

Re: (Closed) 2015-2019 Round 4: Agusa vs David Bowie

cestuneblague — Sun, 1 Nov 2020 16:11:58 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 11/01/2020 21:11

I actually haven't listened to Lazarus since the point I went through it quite a bit right after it's release, should revisit to see how it holds up

But Lazarus pretty easily this tournament, though I like a lot of what I hear from Agusa and should check into more of their stuff

Re: (Closed) 2015-2019 Round 4: Agusa vs David Bowie

mickilennial — Sun, 1 Nov 2020 14:23:17 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 11/01/2020 19:23

LedZep wrote:

Yup me too. Bought it the day it was released and spun it at least several times, think it was my AOTY before he died and it remained for the most of the year (until I spun Skeleton Tree several times).

I think the lowest it got in 2016 for me was #16-18. Still ended up a Top 20 record. Really great year for music.

Re: (Closed) 2015-2019 Round 4: Agusa vs David Bowie

LedZep — Sun, 1 Nov 2020 14:16:01 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 11/01/2020 19:16

Gowi wrote:

TBF I was all-in on Blackstar before he even died. IIRC he didn't die until a few days after it came out.

Re: (Closed) 2015-2019 Round 4: Agusa vs David Bowie

mickilennial — Sun, 1 Nov 2020 14:04:08 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 11/01/2020 19:04

TBF I was all-in on Blackstar before he even died. IIRC he didn't die until a few days after it came out.

Re: (Closed) 2015-2019 Round 4: Agusa vs David Bowie

LedZep — Sun, 1 Nov 2020 13:53:50 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 11/01/2020 18:53

It's probably my 3rd. Interesting to see so many different opinions on Blackstar, 4 years after all the hype.

Re: (Closed) 2015-2019 Round 4: Agusa vs David Bowie

mickilennial — Sun, 1 Nov 2020 13:46:53 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 11/01/2020 18:46

I think it is my 7th or 8th favorite album from Bowie.

Re: (Closed) 2015-2019 Round 4: Agusa vs David Bowie

Skinny — Sun, 1 Nov 2020 04:14:46 GMT

Author: Skinny

Posted: 11/01/2020 09:14

baystateoftheart wrote:

I trust that people actually do like Blackstar as much as they say.

Yeah, sorry, I wasn't trying to cast aspersions on people's sincerity. What I meant was that it felt like publications were desperate for it to be his last great album, and that a lot of people got caught up in the hype at the time, myself included. But yeah, if someone says they love the album then fair enough; I don't doubt it.

Also, thinking about it, it might just sneak into my top ten, on a good day:

1. Low
2. Station to Station
3. Ziggy
4. Hunky Dory
5. Young Americans
6. Lodger
7. Diamond Dogs
8. "Heroes"
9+10. Any two from: Aladdin Sane; Scary Monsters; Let's Dance; �.... (Depending on mood.)

Re: (Closed) 2015-2019 Round 4: Agusa vs David Bowie

baystateoftheart — Sat, 31 Oct 2020 20:06:45 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 11/01/2020 00:06

I trust that people actually do like Blackstar as much as they say. And Lazarus is by far the best track on the album - gets my vote.

Re: (Closed) 2015-2019 Round 4: Agusa vs David Bowie

BozoTyrannus — Sat, 31 Oct 2020 18:42:48 GMT

Author: BozoTyrannus

Posted: 10/31/2020 22:42

I see a lot of people assigning post-death hype to the album, but when it came out I got it immediately and listened to it four times in a row. I've never done that before, and haven't since. The second day I listened to it two more times before hearing the news of Bowie's death.

After having listened to it six times I comfortably ranked it as my favorite Bowie album (and I rarely assign high scores to new stuff, since things normally grow on me). But with Blackstar it was clear something amazing had been crafted.

However, for this round the Agusa song is blocked in my region. So abstain.

Re: (Closed) 2015-2019 Round 4: Agusa vs David Bowie

mickilennial — Sat, 31 Oct 2020 17:10:53 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 10/31/2020 21:10

NewsFromHome wrote:

I generally agree there is a concentrated effort in the music community to make Blackstar the last great Bowie album. There's a lot of tracks on it that feel like Next Day B-sides, an already all over the place work. And some of the tracks feel very unfinished. If there are two songs on it that do strike me as placed with tender love and care it's probably this one and the closer. As Gowi said, I'm attracted to the vocals on it. I like how it's clashing over the groove, regardless if it was forced in there it just kind of works for me. So do the reverbed out horns.

Agusa does seem more organic but that's not everything. Last night I did some mixing for a very organic improvisational live band that, while all the compositions felt solid and expertly sussed out, I came away feeling cold and like I had just worked with zoomer Primus.

I feel like when Blackstar is good its near perfection, but when its... less good... its kind of middling and unremarkable at best.

The self-title track, Lazarus, and I Can’t Give Everything Away are what make up for the weaker points of the album because they are really something else.

Re: (Closed) 2015-2019 Round 4: Agusa vs David Bowie

Anonymous — Sat, 31 Oct 2020 15:06:25 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 10/31/2020 19:06

I generally agree there is a concentrated effort in the music community to make Blackstar the last great Bowie album. There's a lot of tracks on it that feel like Next Day B-sides, an already all over the place work. And some of the tracks feel very unfinished. If there are two songs on it that do strike me as placed with tender love and care it's probably this one and the closer. As Gowi said, I'm attracted to the vocals on it. I like how it's clashing over the groove, regardless if it was forced in there it just kind of works for me. So do the reverbed out horns.

Agusa does seem more organic but that's not everything. Last night I did some mixing for a very organic improvisational live band that, while all the compositions felt solid and expertly sussed out, I came away feeling cold and like I had just worked with zoomer Primus.

Re: (Closed) 2015-2019 Round 4: Agusa vs David Bowie

mickilennial — Sat, 31 Oct 2020 14:52:49 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 10/31/2020 18:52

The groove isn't what draws me to Lazarus but rather the sheer emotional weight of the vocal delivery in line with the dreary existential mood the beat creates behind that.

Re: (Closed) 2015-2019 Round 4: Agusa vs David Bowie

Skinny — Sat, 31 Oct 2020 06:24:11 GMT

Author: Skinny

Posted: 10/31/2020 10:24

Agusa, for me. I still get the feeling that people were so desperate to anoint �... as "the last great Bowie album" that they clung onto the admittedly interesting and atmospheric production choices whilst conveniently forgetting that he didn't really write many actual songs. I actually really like the album, but it wouldn't make my top ten Bowie LPs, nearly five years removed from the hype. 'Lazarus' has some cool flourishes and a really memorable vocal performance, but the song itself feels forced, as though everyone involved had a groove that they liked but spent ages struggling around for a melody to go alongside it. Since its groove is its strong point, I feel they need to point out that Agusa's groove is juicier, more vivid, more lived-in, and their mix of prog-folk and space rock just feels so much more effortless and sure of itself than Bowie's rather laboured, ultimately futile efforts to put all the (perfectly fine) pieces of 'Lazarus' together in a way that makes it more than the sum of its parts. Agusa, on the other hand, take a handful of elements that they know will work and just patiently let their flutey freakout unfurl over ten minutes, in ways that feel completely organic.

Re: (Closed) 2015-2019 Round 4: Agusa vs David Bowie

Hayden — Sat, 31 Oct 2020 00:35:43 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 10/31/2020 04:35

Bowie's got this.

(Closed) 2015-2019 Round 4: Agusa vs David Bowie

babyBlueSedan — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 23:30:59 GMT

Author: babyBlueSedan

Posted: 10/31/2020 03:30

Landet Längesen by Agusa

Link

Year: 2017
Nominating user: Fischman

vs

Lazarus by David Bowie

Link

Year: 2016
Nominating user: BozoTyrannus

Matches closes end of day Tuesday November 3rd