#if you havent seen that video its an entertaining 5 minutes

[leafbatraccoon]

again ?? friggin' again ?!

[asamlambung]

Gush about your fave DR character! ♡

WVJHKHKHKHK anon whoever you are please know that youre unleashing a beast but also thank you im….. 

(actually i made a tierlist for this though it might not be as accurate since it was a few months ago)

(also sorry for the characters that are in the lower tiers i swear even if i don’t like them most of them are still good memes. and the ones in “c” and “b” i’d definitely like more if there’s some good art/fics that explore their characters better though i might not actively look for it.)

OK so just to preface i havent seen most free times and most of my impression came from joseph anderson’s playthrough sooo i might be biased but im definitely planning on rewatching at least v3 in its entirety with all of its ftesO i guess it’s best if i start chronological and lemme just say. SAKURA OOGAMI IS BEST GIRL

it’s easy to say that im weak for big stronk gal who can lift me easily. and there is /definitely/ that point.

this is gonna sound weird but i really like the level-headedness she brings to the trials. i wouldnt say she’s the smartest but she rounds up the whole cast in a way that keeps the trials from being too absurd and non-sensical. there are other characters that also do this but seeing it come from her makes me happy somehow? maybe it’s because she also balances asahina in that sense and also that she’s the fourth trial stronk person who’s the most level headed compared to gonta and nekomaru. not saying those two are bad either, they’re great characters in their own right but i feel like their function is more on the side of entertaining rather than weighing in on the discussion. i especially think nekomaru’s whole thing with shitting is funny and it’s kinda a shame that sdr2 cut him from trials starting from the third.

speaking of sakura, yes i ship her with hina. no, duh. they’re good together. but i was also kinda touched when she talked about kenshiro. idk, sakura has two strong beefy hands and she can hold her girlfriend and boyfriend at the same time ok.(pretty sure kenshiro appears in udg but i havent experienced that game outside of seeing a few cutscenes so i wouldnt know)

also the fact that we get a callback to her in the strawberry house was. idk if i should say cool or if it was funny but it was something. and yep, her death was the saddest out of the fourth trials the games had. nekomaru’s death was more respectful for me and i felt more sad about gonta during his trial than his death. it’s more gruesome than sad, to be honest.(and ok the smoothskin joe gives to sakura is also kinda funny)

with other dr1 characters i like most of them are usually because of my friends’ (who got into dr years before i did) influence like kyoko and celeste. there are some others i laugh at but it’s more because of the inside jokes of the streamer i was watching.

.

ok so with sdr2 komaeda is easily one of the top. but tbh the reason why it is is bc a few years ago i read this (illegally distributed) doujin that had written his character really well. tbh i feel kinda bad now knowing that the doujinka stopped circulating their doujin bc of that and some of the subject matter of their doujin is… a bit too much for me. but the ones that are good are really good and when i came into canon i was like, “oh, this is the fingers in ass guy who got memed to death" nowadays, i see him more as pickle nagito though. i am interested in seeing how his character can be… well, not redeemed but i want to see him heal. whiiich might never happen in canon bc his hope bagel personality is too infamous now.

also i know everyone hcs nagito’s voice as smth along the lines of nico’s voice or john’s voice but like consider jph’s stoner voice. please. it’s so fucking funny with the fucking pickle komaeda meme. maybe it’s bc although im not obsessed with hope or despair, i related to his way of seeing karma. 

after experiencing sdr2 thoough, lemme just say that johnny yong bosch did a great job voicing hajimmy hinata. like im not even kidding i really like that voice and if i was ursula i would steal that voice for my own use. buutt i cant do that. unlike komaeda, i’m pretty indifferent to his character arc and enjoy his one on one interactions with the characters more and how he reacts to the immediate events that happened over the course of sdr2.

soo yeah komaeda and hinata are literally opposites in my head, ain’t much of a surprise that i ship them i guess. but!! i like a lot of the gals in sdr2 surprisingly.

like, ok. maybe i’m biased but the designs for the gals in sdr2 are so goddamn adorable. like okay there’s the obvious ones like chiaki and sonia. and i don’t know why sonia’s personality is so goddamn adorable. like not in the “awww you’re so fucking uwu” type of way but more in the sense that she’s funny? it feels like even through all her weirdness that she still manages to make genuine connections with the characters.

with peko, it’s hard to dislike her considering her whole arc with the second trial. of course liking her goes in hand with liking fuyuhiko’s character too but i just like.. how stoic she sounds??? it’s adorable????? and with mikan yeah she kinda went… off in the third trial but consider???? her voice when she snaps was so goddamn hot?????????????? sdr2 has the best voice acting cant change my mind.

and i don’t know why, gundham is so goddamn funny and if i wanna show how absurd sdr2 can get i show my friends gundham’s scenes. he’s fucking funny, ok. and alongside nekomaru i can respect his death in a way. i goddamn saluted when i first watched his execution (with the full context of the trial) because i just really liked the conviction he carried with his murder.

.

aand with v3…

miu’s one of the funniest character ever!! i swear. i know some people look at the sex jokes and go, “ugh” but im a manchild so i ended up enjoying her moments so much. though i’m kinda a bit meh on the fanservice side, i like how she’s one of the characters who sticks out more. in my language we call her “pentolan” i guess.

tenko’s kinda an easy character for me to like considering… stronk lady. would love for her to carry me. the misandry can get a bit too much but she’s also a pretty funny and genuine character on top of that so she came out with me liking her.

kaede and tsumugi are characters i grew to /love/ after i thought about them a lot.

with kaede, the point i started to relate to her… was with her thirst with girls. i swear im not joking. but. okay. i like her position as the protag and all her ideals. one thing i was surprised that didn’t manage to make me relate to her was her passion for piano considering i’ve also studied it for like, around 12 years. maybe it’s because i kinda fell out of it around 2 years ago because reasons. despite of that though, i like how assertive she was in her time as the protag. and her execution was goddamn beautiful.

tsumugi, though, i wouldn’t grow to love as much if it weren’t for 郁十‘s works. like. please. go watch all of their videos it’s all so good. i think someone else talked about this, but tsumugi’s position as the mastermind feels a lot more “human” than what we got with junko enoshima. compared to kaede, i feel like we could’ve gotten so much more with her as a villain and i just want to see more of her outside of her “plain bread” facade.

it might also be due to my own hcs for them so they’re on my head a lot more than most of the other v3 characters are. even more than my two actual favorites!!

ok, ok. kochiki and shuichi are definitely my favorites of the bunch. like, the toppest tiers of fav actually. it’s kinda hard to talk about these two separately tbh. maybe it’s because before danganronpa, my previous otp in my previous fandom had these two’s dynamics as well. and like, there’s a certain pairing to a fandom i haven’t caught up to in years who also have a detective/phantom thief dynamic. aaand also persona 5 and that one pairing that i don’t have to name for people to know which is my otp.

yeah i’m a sucker for these types of characters. it’s kinda typical that they’d be popular in the fandom. which i’ll  h a p p i l y  eat up.

soo it’s kinda easy to start with kochiki. i think i don’t have to go into every minute detail and go all meta on why i like him as a character because a lot of people have articulated better on why his character works. he’s fun to watch when interacting with other characters and figuring out his motivation put my brain on work. i’ll say this though, i actually enjoy kokichi better when he’s not being woobified. he’s a rat through and through and i will enjoy this possum boi for that.

(oh wait, possum boi is rantaro. nvm.)

and now mr. detective himself. so i loved his character at first. didn’t love him more than kochiki but. liked his arc, he was a fun protag. then the fan content came and he became very moe in my eyes so i guess it’s easier to say that i uh, like fancontent of shuichi better but i like canon kokichi better. and also how is it that the majority of ousai e-rated works has shuichi as a top SHUICHI IS NOT A TOP um yeah anyway. i feel like out of all the main characters he’d be a pretty nice person to hang out with.

also his eyelashes are nice. im totally not embarrassed while typing this out. im literally physically restraining myself from typing out more so i can not embarrass myself even further.

.

okay congrats anon here you are i hope you enjoyed this embarrassing mess it took me more than a day to type this out because i don’t know where i should stop myself regarding some characters. but uh yeah. i have gushed. now i shall return to the abyss.

(unless anybody asks me to gush about my ocs which might actually be thrice as long as this)

[estuarries]

baby’s first liveshow commentary

hello lads i have decided to attempt doing @nihilist-toothpaste​ inspired video commentary/write up/review thingies!!!! welcome to ramble-y fun time

phil’s liveshow on august 10, 2017

his smile in the first minute makes my heart so happy i love him so much

i love the eye-tongue-eye emoji stop being mean to it

he’s a bit late bc he just finished filming a new ap vid!!! it took him longer than he thought it would to finish filming bc he was rambling. this is a #relatable brain thing

“i just said goodbye and now i’m saying hello again!” wrt filing and then doing a liveshow makes me rly happy bc i wouldn’t have thought abt it that way. i love phil’s brain

new vid clues: paper bag(?) and bubble wrap. amazingphil asmr part ii??

dan’s not joining the liveshow bc he has a headache but phil’s gonna hop into dan’s next one

closed eyes and happy gesticulation whilst telling sleepy-morning “unexpected window cleaning man frightened me” story

phil’s fight/flight/freeze response is freeze

“imagine if i had decided to make breakfast naked! ...if i was that kind of person…” its okay m8 we know u like to make nakey bro brunches w danyul

are the emoji pants the only pair of graphic pj pants he has now ??? why are they being featured so prominently lately ???? phil IS an emoji is the only phnnie conspiracy i can support now

in the ap vid phil did SCIENCE and REACTED TO THINGS (chemistry . reaction . hehe :3)

he’s out of tv shows to watch ….he and dan have watched so many series together over the years ..... i am emotional

phil hasnt watched in a heartbeat EITHER !! BLASPHEMOUS BOYES!!!

re: rick and morty. i strongly agree and it makes me so nervous that rick burps all the time i cannot focus on whats happening in the show bc rick gives me so much anxiety

he misses the cherry blossom tree in thehowlter’s front yard and they are hopefully going to put it in when they have money

“you’re all like dan! not everything has to be symmetrical!” thank u for these affirmations that not everything has to be perfect thank u for being chill. a chill phil. 

“i dont mind a little bit of wonkiness!” “i’m at a bit of a wonk!” “is the entire house wonky?” the only real phil branding is ~WOnKy~

phils hands are so beautiful???? i love them?????? @ 8:50ish

him trying to figure out his best side and saying “one? or two?” as options like at the optometrist when ur getting ur eyes checked. 

someone in the chat: “both!” phil’s cheeky grin/”don’t flatter me!!!” response

someone in the chat: “side three!” i snort laughed along w phil this is truly Good Content. dark!phil RISE

phil doesn’t think he really has a bad side and his easy neutrality wrt his physical appearance is dreamy. i love him and i love that he’s comfy w himself like this

phil had an eye infection and this is the first day he’s been without glasses…… why does he glasses-bait us like this …..

it’s really hard for him to concentrate with dilated pupils so that’s why he was being a wee bit wonky in the last liveshow

his eye is no longer infected and is “white and ready to see!”. the tone of his voice, his accent, and the phrasingof that reminded me so much of my british grandma who i havent seen in a few years and now i want to call her i miss her

wicked was “as the kids say...Wicked.” I SNORTED AKLHFAEIHKF

also i cannot believe that he and dan used the same silly phrasewhen talking about their opinions of wicked. is it still #copyrightinfringement if its your bf blatantly enterprising ur intellectual property?

phil was feeling a bit meh going into wicked but now he’s converted and a fan

he loved defying gravity :(

phil: every audience is important! me: crying

phil loves coming-of-age/college/highschool aus … Me Too

phil remix: the top fans to the tune of mad world “all around me are familiar faces...lillyphanstuff, joteleena…”

he’s had “mad world” and also that fuckin. ditty song stuck in his head

“...is one thicc bih - NO!” is the best thing ive ever heard

im so sad that phil hasnt experienced the joys of ditty. apparently he doesn’t have it downloaded and doesn’t really know what it is

14:07 is my new ringtone (he sang the ditty tune in “doot doot doot”s)

“bandicussy” IM DEAD

phil thought it was a good family activity to see dunkirk but it made his parents very emotional bc his maternal grandad was in the war

making your entire family cry is apparently the phil way to entertain

neither he nor dan understood the timelines of dunkirk upon first watch

after filming his ap vid he sanitized using vanilla cupcake hand sanitizer

he watches zoe’s bath and bodyworks candle/lotion hauls??????? ME TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

apparently b&bw has some ~priiiicey~ candles. phil is the coupon clipping, consumer reports reading dad

he said that livestreaming games on dapg would be “dope”. i am reminded for the millionth time that he is a 30 year old white man. i am moderately uncomfortable.

jk it was someone in the chat who said it he was just reading the comment

“hi to the ‘phan’s moving boxes’ group chat”

facterino according to the nature man on tv: in england nature has decided that it’s autumn already. this is evidenced by blackberries coming out in august. because fall isstartingso early they’re expected to have a harsh winter but its fine bc he is excited for snow!

some climate change discourse

he’s not a big doctor who fan but his fav doctor is david tennant

he’s excited for the “lady doctor” and i’m uh. not a huge fan of that wording

23:02 pre-sneeze noises and hand motions are Delightful

apparently it’s southern england peeps who pronounce scone with a hard o (scOHne) and northerners pronounce it with a soft o (scAWn). phillu doesn’t know which pronunciation he uses

my mom grew up in cornwall (and moved to america when she was a teen. i’m american btw!) and pronounces it the northern way. we’ve had the scohne vs scawn debate!! lots of #britishfamilythings in this liveshow

philly homework motivation song @ 24:52

his first response to ppl being sad about school starting in a week is to calculate how many seconds are in a week so they can re-frame their time left in a way that feels more plentiful. i love this ???

i also really love how he tries to read premium messages from different people every time. idk that’s just really thoughtful and as a fan i really appreciate it

he knows that black makes him look good …. GOodBYe

today is world lion day!

phil is the one who puts the funny/random holidays on the dnp calendars. of course it was but im still so happily surprised  

doinganap’s sicth/sixth discourse

he’s reading people from the chat’s bdays and telling them what funny holidays are on their birthdays! i love how he finds different ways to get ppl in the chat involved every liveshow. i appreciate him so much !like yeah i know its a marketing thing but let me pretend its solely phil’s care for us

he wants to go back to japan

he can’t read or edit and listen to music at the same time! me neither

someone asked what a good pet would be and phil went on a lil tangent about how it’s important to have enough time to take care of the pet you choose!! dont get an exotic pet or a breed of non-exotict pet that requires a lot of time, money, or energy to care for it if you’re not at a point in your life where u can take care of it to the best of your ability! <3

hedgehogs are one of the most common animals in the uk??? what the heck?

he can’t remember whether or not he’s seen a hedgehog irl so he texts mum lester to ask <3 why is this the sweetest thing in the world . like seeing a hedgehog irl would be an experience that his family facilitated or even if he was moved out when it happened it would have been so exciting that he def would have told kath about it. so any way it happened she would know about it. my heart is Warm.

he’s not a huge summer candle burner but as soon as it’s september he’ll be on the pumpkin spice train

mum lester texted back and apparently his grandparents had a family of hedgehogs in their garage and his granddad built them a little hedgehog house to hibernate in :( wow!

phil might play shelter 2 … with dan. No Thank You. let us have some phil-only time plz 

shelter 2 is more of an autumnal game so he might do it later when he can cozy up with some cocoa and herd the badger babies

he feels a coffee buzz after five (5) chocolate-covered coffee beans. r u sure u even drink coffee phil????

rye bread is worse (in phil’s opinion) than regular bread and is ”claggy”. i busted out laughing and texted my mom IMMEDIATELY bca LOOOONG time ago we were at a family christmas party with my dad’s extended family and all of the Adults were playing scrabble. my mom ended up spelling claggy and everyone else was like THATS A MADE UP WORD WHAT THE FUCK!!!! and my mom was like ???? no its not? my dad’s family is from the eastern us and had never heard the word claggy before and i remember my dad giving my mom shit about it for YEARS afterward because she caused such an uproar. idk if it was a regional thing or if americans just don’t say claggy but REGARDLESS. my mom and i had a good laugh over this description of rye bread and we both love phil

he’s nervous abt what dalien is going to look like and become as he grows up. phil’s general reaction to dalien has been one of caution and nervousness and idk ?? someone more thoughtful analyze that please

his advice for making the most of the last bits of summer: do something you haven’t done before! immediately after bestowing upon us this Wise Advice he giggles and becomes self aware of his parental tone. Our Dad Is Becoming Self Aware

he doesnt swear around his parents?????? my mom says fuck all the time :0

2018 calendar and season two pastel plushies are in the works!

he’s singing another song to list the top fans. suggestions include toxic, the ditty tune, and the tetris theme. he goes with the ditty song and starts laughing in the middle of it so makes a seamless musical transition to toxic

if everything recorded properly with his new vid we should see it in the next few days!

he hopes that we have a lovely weekend and that whatever we end up doing brings us a bit of happiness :( i love him thank u phil

tiny little bonus song after he covers up the camera. schrodingers phil.

all in all i love phil’s liveshows and this has been the highlight of my day. thank u for reading!

[cjostrander]

David Bowie: Heathen

Good morning everyone! it’s been a little while since i’ve done a David Bowie review and today i shall tackle one of his more odds and ends albums. It’s been roughly a year since his passing and this album is also on its 15th anniversary since it’s release. There hasn’t been too many decade anniversary works this year; so i’m going to adjust my list for five year intervals so that i have more work to focus on. I haven’t listened to much of this album but from what i remember; it focuses on a more classical style than his preceding electronic pop era in the 90′s. Let’s start this year of reviews off and see how it does.

Sunday: We begin with a futuristic key tone and background keys that give off a holy organ style of tone. It’s religious atmosphere is an interesting approach for Bowie’s deep and soothing tone. He doesn’t demand much attention but does do a fair job of creating an interesting atmosphere for the listener to ease into. The electronic drum beats do serve to liven it up a hair and add some extra substance for the listener to absorb before backing chants enter. It further adds to the song title’s reference and actually wouldn’t be a bad piece to play on movie credits or be covered in an accapala format. It is a decent piece to start off in the sense that it isn’t painful to sit through and its refreshing tone will do well to put the listener in relaxed mindset. Definitely not an album to play if you are in a headbanging mood. It also reminds me of the video game soundtracks for 90′s Sega games with the Streets of Rage series being a reference point. 7.5/10

Cactus (Black Francis/Pixies cover): This is the first of three covers on this album. I believe he was on a bit of Pixies fix during the writing of this album since that band covered the Neil Young song that will be featured later on in this album. If you’ve ever heard of his Pin Ups cover album from the mid 70′s; the later two covers were originally going to be on a follow up cover album titled Pin Ups 2 that never got recorded. A catchy acoustic guitar starts it off on a drastic departure from the prior religious themed opener. Bowie begins it with a very catchy tone full of swagger and the bass/drum rhythm give hims ample support to create a low echo approach in his tone. The keys give it a nice psychedelic approach and would make it an easy song to identify mistakenly as a Bowie original. The lyrics progress smoothly for him and the angsty guitar solo changes it up well enough to be appreciated by the listener with ease. The drums do succeed in giving it a groovy rhythm to dance to; so overall this piece proves to be a decent choice for him to cover. That was a pretty quick listen and hopefully gives the listener some motivation to check out the Pixies and see how their own version is before venturing onto their other work. I havent listened to them but do note them as a crucial influence for the post grunge band Bush (Glycerine, Machine Head, Comedown). 8.5/10

Slip Away: This one begins with a soothing key tone similar to the first track but with a chime effect as opposed to a holistic organ one. You do sense some electronic loops hidden faintly in the background while guitar effects softly tone tone them out at times. The keys get a bit more tense in the background while Bowie enters with a low and harmonious vocal tone. The drums and bass enter to provide him with a soft yet catchy foundation and his lyrics serve to give it a strong level of melody and substance. It is easy at times to ignore the lyrics but Bowie really pours his emotion into this song; especially during the chorus. His high notes aren’t demanding and contain a relaxed approach; but he still manages to make a dramatic show with them. The instrumentals will continue to be another good show of support for him and would make this mellow tune a decent piece to play during one of his late night concerts. I actually didnt even notice it as a  six minute tune; so thats gotta say something about the general flow of this song and album in general. By now; you should note that this album is very softly driven and is destined for a calm night time listen. I can also see it being an album that will very likely not be initially liked by younger audiences in comparison to his highlight era; but  it is shaping up to be a stronger offering than i expected it to be. Definitely a complex piece for an eclectic listener. 8.5/10

Slow Burn: Now this is the first single on the album and is a pleasant note that Bowie didn't put it as the first track in the album. Gives you at least a couple songs to see how the album’s base sound is before he gives you his more radio focused work. It is very likely my favorite song on this album and begins with a soft guitar melody, a rumbling bass note and a smooth drum patter. The solo riffs in the beginning will do well to relax the listener further before Bowie begins singing. His vocals are very easygoing and progress with a solid flow. He makes effective use of his melodic high notes without even appearing to be putting in much effort. It shows off a clear show of confidence in his delivery which is expected as such given his 30+ years in the business at this point. The lyrics are very strong and will be a good focal point for the listener; while the guitars continue to draw out the song with interesting guitar melodies. It will be a good live piece to see and is a smart choice for a single. It has a music video that i havent seen yet; but it’s surely worth a view. 10/10

Afraid: This one begins with a more energetic and continuously cheerful guitar melody before the groovy bass rhythm kicks in. Bowie gives the song a more despairing tone with his lyrics and the strings do well to give what could be jokingly described as his lazy style delivery a good push. The classical touch is a rather energetic approach which will do wonders in keeping the listener entertained. The keys are a bit more subtle and serve a more transition like role as opposed to anything major in the song. I will note that despite how decent the song is; you can sense some signs of force in his delivery that is different from the previous songs. I think lazy is probably the best way to describe his tone but surely going by the lyrics and title it is meant to portray him as being a tired and broken individual as a whole. In that sense it gives his style a nice purpose and while i view it as weaker; its certainly not filler. 7/10

I’ve Been Waiting for You (Neil Young cover): This cover tune begins with a more rough guitar rhythm than expected. I dont really know Neil Young’s work so i will just assume that it is his style. I know he was prominent in the 70′s so i’m expecting some sort of blues focused rock in this era for him at least. It has a lively tone that refrains from being overbearing though Bowie is smothered in the beginning at first. Bowie recites the lyrics with a nice show of reservation and the bass rhythm provides decent support but not quite enough to entertain. The guitar riffs do lift it a bit before the rhythm segment returns to battle it. The solo wins out with a soothing melody and a groovy bass rhythm. Bowie manages to liven it up pretty well and show himself to be the real winner in this battle of musical prominence. It’s another one that u’m not prominently big on but do note its appeal to some audiences and its potential to maybe garner some younger focus on Neil Young himself. 7/10

I Would Be Your Slave: A soft but energetic drum beat begins before electronic loops and soothing keys join in. It is actually pretty cheerful and relaxing which will fit in with the earlier songs on the album. Bowie uses his reserved style and places emphasis on his lyrics and the general atmosphere of the song. The keys prove to be the dominant factor in deciding this song’s energy level and as a result it has a very “slow burn” lol in his progression. Bowie has a nice echo delivery in the middle segment that infuses some decent tension into the song and follows through with a  good degree of balanced power and determination. It actually makes this piece more enjoyable as a whole and will do a fair job keeping the listener engaged regardless of how long of a listen it feels. I do acknowledge that this one would of been better labelled as “Slow Burn” due to its progression style. At the very least it would of been tongue in cheek. 7.5/10

I Took a Trip on a Gemini Spaceship (Norman Carl Odam): This is the final cover for this album and comes from an artist that Bowie was a major fan of back in the day. The song Stardust off of his iconic Ziggy Stardust album was a direct influence from the singer’s stage name (Legendary Stardust Cowboy). It begins with an electronic beat and shifts into a guitar rhythm that is very reminiscent of Bowie’s poppier electronic work. Seeing as this is a song from the late 60′s i doubt it was as futuristic in style. Bowie does do a very good job of giving it that space like vibe with his use of clever brass, tense keys, subtle strings, and prominent guitar effects. This is definitely one of those songs that you appreciate for its ability to create an atmosphere that is perfectly reflective of its title. 7.5/10

5:15 The Angels Have Come: A catchy drum echo starts this song off and keys enter to give it a very spacey sense of beauty, The guitar melody in the background is catchy and serves to give this song a rather interesting opening. As expected it takes its time in warming up until Bowie enters with a modest vocal tone and delivers some simple but rather charming lyrics for the listener to space out around. Things take on a more powerful tone during the chorus Bowie reaches for some decent high notes while the instrumentals take on a stronger rhythm. It all concludes after an appropriate tone and Bowie returns to his modest melodies as he seeks to push this song towards its soothing conclusion. 7/10

Everyone Says Hi: This is the final single of the album and begins with a good level of guitar effects and it develops a very soothing level of melody. The keys are emotional in tone and the electronic supports are perfect for their desired role. Bowie has a more psychedelic inspired delivery that reminds me of Space Oddity and his first three albums. It isn’t heavily reminiscent but it will be a very pleasant tune for fans of that era especially. The lyrics are solid and the instrumentals provide Bowie with a significant degree of skillful support so that he can focus on delivering a stellar vocal performance. The backing vocal harmonies are rather nice addition towards the end that helps it to transition with enough diversity as to end smoothly without feeling repetitive. 9/10

A Better Future: This one begins with an eerie guitar effect in the background while the drums develop a catchy rhythm. The bass and keys combine to give it that cheerful 80′s pop tone that will do a decent job of attracting that era of his fanbase but with his electronic vocal style from the 90′s. The lyrics are low but give the song a nice flow for the listener to space out around. He develops a nice degree of energy towards the end but other than that turns this easygoing song into an ideal piece for winding down the album before the finale piece surfaces. 7.5/10

Heathen (The Rays): This conclusive track opens up with very feint key notes and grows gradually deeper once a constant drum beat joins. It sounds very reminiscent of his ambient era (Low, Heroes, Lodger). The organs/keys make that comparison very easy until the drums and brass enter to liven it up a bit more.It does a pretty good job of elevating the album’s final impression the listener’s mind. Bowie’s voice is pretty smooth and his lyrics make it very easy to relax and space out around them as they progress. It is very soothing and surely gives off elements of complexity and drama as it concludes. 8/10

Overall album rating:7.9/10

Well, this was a pretty interesting album to do today. It is very mellow and soft as would be expected from an accomplished musician in his mid 50′s at the time. I’d say give it a listen during one of your more mellow moods and see how it impacts you. It’s obviously not a highlight album for him but it’ll be a pleasant companion piece for a fan to pull out when he is in a mood for something different from Bowie’s renowned work. I was originally expecting his follow up “Reality” album or Young Americans to be reviewed before this but being its 15th anniversary i figured i might as well scratch is off the list. He has two other anniversary works that i can do this year (Ziggy stardust at 45 yrs and Never Let Me Down at 30). I’m not sure which one but i know i will have at least one of them by the end of the year. Enjoy your day everyone and i will get back to you soon.