It’s Week Two of Round Two of Montauk Madness, and we start with a showdown between Counting Crows and David Bowie.
Counting Crows advanced following a unanimous decision over Morrissey in Round One, while David Bowie faced stronger competition in U2 but still won easily with 82% of the vote. Continue reading
Our next Montauk Madness matchup pairs two legends, one who sadly (and triumphantly) passed away last year and another struggling to remain relevant after spending the better part of four decades as the world’s greatest rock band. David Bowie vs. U2.
Had I faced this decision before Bowie’s passing, I likely would have gone with U2. Apart from the hits, I knew Bowie’s work mostly by reputation. Of course, Bowie’s hits alone put him in contention, but I own almost all of U2’s albums and consider them at worst enjoyable and at best masterpieces (The Joshua Tree remains one of the seminal listening experiences in my life as a music fan).
David Bowie’s Blackstar topped the Village Voice 2016 Pazz & Jop album list, but he doesn’t show up until #8 on the singles list. To be fair, he shows up at #9 as well, with the album’s title track.
At #8 is ‘Lazarus,’ probably the best song on Blackstar, and given the added meaning it took on following Bowie’s death, probably worthy of a much higher spot on this list. Come on, Solange ain’t got nothing on Bowie.
2016 was the year we lost David Bowie, and so many other legendary entertainers.
But it was also the year I truly discovered Bowie. His death, just days after the release of his final album, Blackstar, prompted me to dive into his catalog and buy more than a dozen of his most-revered albums. I chronicled the process here on the blog.
My 4th favorite album of 1980 is one I didn’t hear until 36 years later — just a few months ago, in fact.
As I wrote in June while marching my way through half of Bowie’s catalog, Scary Monsters is widely considered the last great album he ever made. It capped off a remarkable run that spanned more than a dozen ground-breaking records in just over 10 years.
