The Buddha Of Suburbia (1993)

It’s debatable if this is an album in the proper sense, but I’ll include it for the simple fact that so many Bowie fans hail this thing as a lost classic. Originally written for a BBC adaptation of Hanif Kureishi’s novel of the same name, Bowie took his original batch of instrumental themes and expanded them heavily, adding lyrics and depth to the existing arrangements. In a lot of ways an extension of Black Tie White Noise, Buddha meanders, wandering in one direction then another, failing to coalesce into any kind of logical or meaningful whole. Some of the experiments are fun (the title track inches toward alternative rock), others recall glories past (“The Mysteries” and “Ian Fish, UK Heir” hint at the darker instrumentals on Low and Heroes), but most feel like afterthoughts at best. Bowie once proclaimed this his favorite album, but everyone’s entitled to a lapse of sanity now and again, right?