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 Keep It Simple
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Roger McGuinn @ the Huntington IMAC, Long Island, NY - April 4, 2008
Emily Saxe @ the Allen Room/Jazz at Lincoln Center - April 5, 2008
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Tift Merritt
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Paul McCartney – The McCartney Years (DVD)
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Various Artists
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Day and Night Driving
Seven Mary Three
InterMedia Arts Center 2/2/08
Huntington, NY
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David Bowie
Artistically speaking, the phenomenal commercial success of Let’s Dance provided more problems than solutions for David Bowie. In a sense, Bowie had danced himself into a corner, and Tonight provides the soundtrack for an artist struggling between artistic integrity and commercial success. Everybody loses.
More than anything else, Tonight lacks a distinct perspective, which is extremely disappointing for an artist of Bowie’s caliber. Hearing him walk his way through the faux-reggae of "Don’t Look Down" and "Tonight" is almost depressing, since it sounds so uninspired and, well, ordinary. Previously, ‘ordinary’ is a word that never could have applied to Bowie. Here, it is unavoidable.
Bowie records no less than five songs here that were written by or with Iggy Pop. It’s almost as if the album was intended to be a tribute to his friend, but the versions here are so muted that they aren’t even distinguishable as Iggy Pop songs. The sexy dependency of Pop’s "China Girl" was a highlight on "Let’s Dance", but nothing here comes even close to that level of successful interpretation. While I’m on the subject, there are few songs in this world that are more beautiful than Brian Wilson’s "God Only Knows". That being said, Bowie’s recording as it appears here only ensures that the Beach Boys’ version will retain its stature as a masterpiece. The same can be said for Leiber and Stoller’s "I Keep Forgetting," which was a soulful hit for Chuck Jackson in the sixties. Then, it was revelatory. Here, it is pabulum.
Considering how great of a writer Bowie is, why would he expend so much effort on other people’s songs? Without question, the best songs on Tonight are his own, but there are only two that he wrote alone. "Loving the Alien" is somber without being morose, and "Blue Jean" is nearly ecstatic, especially when compared to its surroundings. It’s a pity such a great song is buried in such a dull album.
Grade: 
 
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