Stephen Holland - Multimedia Journalist

  The Bowie Project #31 - Blackstar (2016) After an intensive career that saw incredibly highs and desperate lows, going from an alternative cult act to stadium superstar, through ambient dreamscape and drum and bass freakouts. You can call him Major Tom, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Halloween Jack, Thin White Duke, the Man Who Fell to Earth just to name a few. His career is one of the most long lasting, influential, and interesting in the entire music industry. When taken as a whole the work that he did adds up to a complete body of work that was consistently pushing the boundaries and daring to push pop culture past the point of what was considered appropriate or acceptable. This kid who was born in Brixton just two years after the end of World War II grew up with an innate need for success, a drive that saw him become on of the most recognizable figures on the planet, and a sense of showmanship and theatrically that would bleed through right up until the moment of his death. Da...

The Bowie Project #30 – The Next Day (2013) In the early 2000s David Bowie’s career had something of a resurgence, the release of the albums Heathen and Reality and the reconciliation with longtime producer Tony Visconti had restored his critical standing that for quite a few years had been in question. His songwriting was strong, he enjoyed performing live, he had cemented his role as a legend in the music industry and with a run of two strong album’s it looked like this wasn't going to slow down anytime soon. In 2003, he hit the road for what would be the longest tour in his entire career with plans to play to more than one million people across 17 countries, Bowie started to appear regularly on our TV screens making appearances on German and French television stations, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on the BBC, The Today Show, Last Call with Carson Daly, The Late Show with David Letterman and more. He would perform new and old music and it seems like he felt content to entertai...

The Bowie Project #28  - Heathen (2002)  Heathen is David Bowie’s 23rd studio album and after years of critics prematurely announcing a return to commercial and creative success this time it was actually proved to be true. The record was the most well-received album he had released in years and was lauded by critics as his best work since Scary Monsters in 1980. Boosted by a vast marketing campaign and numerous promotional appearances it was his most widely anticipated record in years and it features an art rock and art pop sound that is reminiscent of a lot of the music he made in the 1970s, the sounds of the album all come together to make a record that recalls classic David Bowie albums while remaining sounding contemporary and exciting. The success of this record can be attributed to many different things, but one of the most important is the return of producer Tony Visconti. Visconti acted as Bowie’s producer for much of his career, producing nine albums with him between ...

The Bowie Project #27 – Toy (2000) Hot off the heels of touring his latest album, Hours , in 1999, David Bowie decided he wanted to utilise the energy of his touring band and record a quick surprise album for his fans. The project he envisioned would be made up of re-recordings of his old material from the 1960s and described as “Not so much Pin Ups II as an Up Date I ”. Work on this sixties album began in July 2000 under the working title Toy . No longer working with his previous collaborator and former Tin Machine guitarist Reeves Gabrels due to creative differences the lineup now consisted of his touring band guitarist Earl Slick, bassist Gail Ann Dorsey, pianist Mike Garson, frequent collaborator Mark Plati, and drummer Sterling Campbell. The band rehearsed songs at Sear Sound Studio in New York City and recorded them as live tracks with Plati stating the idea was to keep things fast and loose, record them quick and not focus too much on perfection. Or has Bowie himself said:...

The Bowie Project #26 - Hours (1999) The David Bowie of 1999 is an interesting one, after an incredibly experimental and while uneven never uninteresting 1990s he seems to finally becomes at peace with his own legacy and place in the pop and rock musical landscape. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Not only was this a decade of intense musical experimentation, it was also a time that focused on endeavours outside of the music industry with a particular interest in the power of the rapidly expanding Word Wide Web. In 1998 Bowie became the first (maybe only?) rockstar internet service provider with the founding of BowieNet. This service not only offered fans high-speed internet access but also unparalleled access into the world of David Bowie including live chats, live video feeds, chat rooms and bulletin boards for just £19.95 per month. The forward-thinking Bowie always saw the potential of technology and the far-reaching impact it could have, this has been a theme in his music sin...