Lodger (1979)

The bastard child of the Berlin triplets (as in the legendary “Berlin Trilogy” of albums, also including Low and Heroes), Lodger is largely forgotten in the grand scheme of Bowie’s classic period, mainly because it feels slight. Slight is an unfair assessment, really, it’s just that it came on the back of two mind-blowing albums, and just before the fabulous, revisionist return to form that was Scary Monsters. It’s the runt of the litter, if you will. Apparently Bowie and go-to Berlin collaborator Brian Eno’s working relationship was beginning to show some cracks — this would be the last time they’d work together for at least 15 years. Lodger eschews the half-rock/half-instrumental format pioneered on Low and “Heroes”; instead Lodger digs deeper into African rhythms and non-Western scales to indulge its experimental streak. Hearing Bowie bellow “I’m not a moody guy!”over a bit of Turkish reggae on “Yassassin” is certainly weird. Ideas may have been thinning out, as a bit of recycling happens on occasion — “Red Money” uses the same backing tracks as Iggy Pop’s earlier “Sister Midnight” (which, to be fair, was produced and co-written by Bowie). “Red Sails”even digs up that trusty Krautrock staple, the Motorik beat, to keep things rolling forward. It’s a propulsive record in general, never succumbing to the moody tendencies of the preceding Berlin records, making it a good companion for a morning jog, if you’re into that kind of thing. The best thing about random, lesser Bowie is how consistently fascinating he is, no matter the overall success of an album. Here he was still operating at relative peak power, even if this particular batch of songs was not his best … meaning Lodger is still well worth the price of admission.