32. On June 25, 2004, after singing his final song (“Ziggy Stardust”) at the Hurricane Festival in Scheesel, Germany, David Bowie collapsed as he left the stage. He was helicoptered to a local hospital where they performed an emergency angioplasty. The remainder of the Reality Tour was canceled and Bowie never toured again. After his heart attack Bowie essentially removed himself from public life, preferring to spend time with his wife Iman and their young daughter Lexi.
Ten years had passed since the release of REALITY. Many people (myself included) started to believe that he’d completely retired and we’d never get to hear new music from him again. Then, on his birthday (January 8) in 2013, Bowie released a new song on iTunes with no publicity or fanfare: “Where Are We Now?” The song flew up the charts and news quickly came that it would be included on an upcoming new studio album called THE NEXT DAY.
Boy, was this album worth the wait. It’s fantastic! “Valentine’s Day,” “Boss of Me,” “The Next Day,” & “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)” are some of my faves. But the absolute best song, far above the rest, is “(You Will) Set the World on Fire.” I loooooove this song! I’m still flabbergasted that it was not released as a single. I think that after 10 years of silence if it had been the first single (rather than the dull ballad “Where Are We Now?”), the song would have conquered the world and renewed interest in Bowie would have skyrocketed. It’s classic glam rock Bowie. It’s amazing.
The one thing I’ve never understood about this album, however, is the cover art. It’s basically the same album cover as “HEROES” but with a large white square obscuring the original picture. The former album’s title is crossed out and “The Next Day” appears in large letters inside the white square. The guy who designed the cover claims that it’s supposed to connote “forgetting or obliterating the past.” It’s certainly original, but I still think it’s a shitty album cover.
For this album Bowie reportedly recorded 29 songs in secret over a three year period, 14 of which appeared on the album (22 total on the super deluxe edition that was released the year following). That means 7 songs still remain unreleased. I often wonder about how many songs Bowie recorded throughout his career that still haven’t been released for public consumption. I hope as time goes on some of them will see the light of day.
