- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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A colorful, satisfying album that feels like a classic.
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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.
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A soul-searching set that recalls such pre-"Let's Dance" collections as Heroes and Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps).
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BlenderA sound that is almost vintage Bowie.... Even so, many of these 12 perfectly harmless songs plod where instead they should spring. [#8, p.115]
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While the soul-searching is utterly sincere, the music is only intermittently successful.
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A tremendous waste of time for everyone involved.
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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.
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The best he has sounded in years.
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For all its appeal, there's something a little off about the album.
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MixerUnfortunately, Heathen is as much Tin Machine as Outsider. [Aug 2002, p.79]
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MojoHeathen is a fine restatement of classic Bowie elements with contemporary twists. [July 2002, p.110]
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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.
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For anyone with a critical reading of his long career, the album is a drowsy downer unconvincingly cloaked in interplanetary piffle.
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Heathen is the best Bowie release in years.
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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.
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Q MagazineA return to form. Definitely. [June 2002, p.108]
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Heathen is the sound of Bowie essentially covering himself -- to splendid, often moving effect.
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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.
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UncutNone 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]
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While the songwriting ain't bad, it also ain't that good.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 53 out of 58
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Mixed: 2 out of 58
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Negative: 3 out of 58
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Dec 9, 2013
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Apr 26, 2020
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Jan 4, 2020