David Bowie The Buddha of Suburbia 1993
24. David Bowie released THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA only six months after the release of BLACK TIE WHITE NOISE. Ostensibly a soundtrack to the BBC miniseries of the same name, only the title track ended up being featured in the TV show. (Or so I’ve heard. I’ve never seen the miniseries myself.) As for the rest of the songs, I’m not sure if it’s all original music “inspired” by the TV show or if he took themes & cues written by himself for the miniseries (whether used or not) and expanded upon them, making it a more fully realized solo album…similar to what Peter Gabriel did with PASSION, his re-worked, expanded soundtrack to THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. Nevertheless, this is an entire album of new Bowie material and more than half of the songs have vocals. And I really enjoy it. Like the second Tin Machine album, this is a Bowie record that I didn’t actually hear until after his death. When it was released in 1993 it was import-only (no American release until years later) and the album cover was atrocious (which, thankfully, got changed for all reissues). Since it was billed as a soundtrack I assumed it would be mostly, if not all, instrumental. This was pre-iTunes/Wikipedia, mind you. I was also a starving college student at the time, so I didn’t want to spend the extra money for an import soundtrack CD with a hideous cover that was probably all instrumentals. Oh well, I suppose it’s for the best because purchasing it after his death has been like getting a surprise extra Bowie album! My favorite song on the album is “Strangers When We Meet.” Bowie apparently felt this was a great song as well because he ended up re-recording it for his next solo album. Bowie once proclaimed that THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA was his favorite…most likely to shine a light on his #1 most over-looked album.
