Each half closes on its worst song, but in each case they're also welcome as changes of pace from Bowie's futuristic funk/disco concoction. "Word on a Wing" is a basic Bowie ballad, while "Wild Is the Wind" goes for (and achieves) campy excess. But the lead-up to each is some of the most brilliant record-making Bowie ever engaged in. Title cut moves through a few phases - each of them compelling - over its 10 minutes and "Golden Years" is a stone classic of his catalog. Second half kicks off with one of my top 3 Bowie tunes - the impenetrable "TVC15" and the earnest rocker "Stay" before it hits its Nina Simone camp/tribute. But it flows like an album should, moving through different moods and paced brilliantly to afford some dramatic ups and downs. More and more as I get older I'm thinking that it's more important how a record sounds while it's playing than how much you're poring over it later, and this sounds like one of his best to me.
By: nevernet.