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Heathen
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 20 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 24 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Columbia / ISO
Release Date: 11 June 2002
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Alternative, Rock
Summary
Bowie's first studio album in three years (and first for his new label ISO Records, distributed by Columbia) finds the older white duke working with producer Tony Visconti for the first time since 1980's 'Scary Monsters.' Pete Townsend and Dave Grohl guest on guitar on a track apiece.
Also By This Artist: Bowie At The Beeb Reality
Also On The Web: Official Album Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly
For all its appeal, there's something a little off about the album.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
Whatever you're going to make of 'Heathen', you'll probably agree it's Bowie's most eclectic effort for some time - and a damn enjoyable, rockahula listening pleasure.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
Even at his most self-referential, Bowie is still a zillion times more inventive, brave and rocket-to-Mars brilliant than anyone who's been prodded by the ubiquitous genius stick, like, ever.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
A graceful marriage of synthesizers, guitars, and post-modern croon, Heathen summons the same air of romantic unease found on albums like Station To Station and Bowie's late-'70s collaborations with Brian Eno.
Read Full Review >Billboard
A soul-searching set that recalls such pre-"Let's Dance" collections as Heroes and Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps).
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
A return to form. Definitely. [June 2002, p.108]
Mojo
Heathen is a fine restatement of classic Bowie elements with contemporary twists. [July 2002, p.110]
Austin Chronicle
Heathen's swirling production, courtesy of Heroes/Low/Scary Monsters producer Tony Visconti, is so much more of a piece that it hangs together like a Thin White Spider concept album instead of an old dog/new tricks effort.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Heathen is the sound of Bowie essentially covering himself -- to splendid, often moving effect.
Read Full Review >Blender
A sound that is almost vintage Bowie.... Even so, many of these 12 perfectly harmless songs plod where instead they should spring. [#8, p.115]
Dot Music
Only lunatics would rank 'Heathen' alongside Bowie's '70s masterpieces. But for a 55-year-old who's spent such a surreally long time floundering, desperately searching for a) the zeitgeist and b) a tune, it's actually rather respectable.
Read Full Review >CDNow
While the soul-searching is utterly sincere, the music is only intermittently successful.
Read Full Review >Village Voice (Consumer Guide)
While the songwriting ain't bad, it also ain't that good.
Read Full Review >Uncut
None of the 12 tracks on Heathen displays anything memorable in the way of melody or chorus, their phrasing short-breathed and tired, their sequences energyless. [Jul 2002, p.108]
Mixer
Unfortunately, Heathen is as much Tin Machine as Outsider. [Aug 2002, p.79]
New York Magazine
For anyone with a critical reading of his long career, the album is a drowsy downer unconvincingly cloaked in interplanetary piffle.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 24 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
T Mahoney gave it a9:
This album is simply amazing. After repeated listens, I am left with the understanding that Bowie is indeed GOD and we must kneel before him. Like the rest of his work, the music herein has a timeless quality and depth of complexity absent in most music made nowadays. 'Sunday' and '5.15' both rise over percolating percussion loops and bleeps. Indeed, these songs, along with 'Afraid' and 'Slip Away' show Bowie's imaginative chord progressions and make perfection look easy. This KILLS!!!!
Alexander S gave it a9:
Overall a very good album, none of my alltime favourite Bowie songs come from this album, but there´s not a single bad song on it.... Bowie is and will always be the single greatest musician ever!
KiwiClay gave it an8:
Despite the flaws, Heathen has got to be the best Bowie in years - far superior to the following Reality. At times the music is transcendent. This CD must be listened to with headphones on, eyes closed, and no interruptions. There aren't very many CDs or artists who warrant that level of listening commitment.
Jesse S gave it a 10:
This a masterpiece. Not Bowie's masterpiece, but nevertheless a masterpiece. Best of the year.
Doug B gave it a 9:
From the burbling opening seconds of Sunday, the unlikely lead-off song, to the industrial sobriety of the title track that closes this CD, I found a Bowie very much in tune with his muse - namely producer Tony Visconti. A cursory listening of the first 30 seconds of each track reveals a sense of openness and willingness to experiment which has marked all Bowie's landmark moments. I flat out loved this CD: Sunday is the most honest song he has put out since Through This Architect's Eyes from "outside" and I couldn't stop listening to it; A Better Future puts forth a committed and very jaunty swing; Gemini Spacecraft shimmers with electro-style and fuzz guitar. I keep thinking "When is this guy going to run out of creative energy?" Why compare it to his previous efforts. He is a man who just keeps plowing forward and no longer has contemporaries. Bravo.
Teresa C. gave it a 9:
Many critics say that this is his best album since Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps), and I agree. Heathen is filled with great songs (both originals and covers) that open the album and flow smoothly until the end. Reuniting with Tony Visconti was a smart move--the production on this album is nicely layered and contributes to the album's cohesiveness. When asked to say whether I prefer the regular or 2-CD special edition, I'd have to say the regular jewel-case version: the linear notes keep falling out of the special edition's cover, and the extras aren't really anything to die for. Still, these are minor quibbles and don't detract from my overall enjoyment of the album.
Michael S gave it a 2:
I really wanted to like this album, but it is one of the most boring albums Bowie has released. He sounds like he is covering his old tunes without adding anything new to the mix. While his last albums have been poorly review, they all possessed one to three gems. This album does not have a memorable song on it.
