Track Listing

1. Fantastic Voyage
2. African Night Flight
3. Move On
4. Yassassin (Turkish for: Long Live)
5. Red Sails
6. DJ
7. Look Back in Anger
8. Boys Keep Swinging
9. Repetition
10. Red Money

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16797 in Music
• Released on: 1999-09-20
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Enhanced, Original recording reissued
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

CD Description
LODGER (1979) was third in Bowie's Berlin trilogy, his collaboration with legendary producer/experimentalist Brian Eno,which began with HEROES and LOW (both released in 1977). While those dark records were heavy on alien-sounding instrumentals, LODGER had none, and even contained songs that seemedrelatively straightforward. Considered inaccessible at the time, LODGER now sounds like a classic, transitional Bowie album, if only for its rich spirit of experimentation. From the Middle Eastern strains of "Yassassin" to the bizarre wordplay of "African Night Flight", LODGER feels like a journey through strange lands.
Songs like "Boys Keep Swinging" (later covered by ex-Bangle Susanna Hoffs) and "DJ" have the structure of traditional rock songs, but the odd textures, rough edges and dissonant elements make them into something richer and stranger. "Look Back in Anger", with fierce guitar playing by Adrian Belew, became a staple of Bowie's live concerts for years to come. "Red Money" is Bowie's adaptation of Iggy Pop's decadent, futuristic "Sister Midnight" from THEIDIOT. The anthemic "Red Sails" (co-written with Eno) has amajestic sense of forward motion, its glorious crescendo and fadeout providing the record's most spine-tingling moments.

Customer Reviews

Underrated Bowie album
Bowie collaborated with the innovative producer Brian Eno on his trilogy of 'Low', 'Heroes' and 'Lodger' (Eno later went on to produce David's 1995 album 'Outside').

I have always loved this little gem of a Bowie album and it's one that often gets overlooked by the critics and some fans. It may not be as ground breaking as 'Low' or 'Heroes' or even 'Scary Monsters' that followed a year later, but it is still chock full of tunes, plus in it's own way, it is experimental, influential and even ground breaking, what with it's blend of New Wave and World Music. Think about it, firstly it's the Eastern influences that may have inspired bands like The Clash and The Pogues, for example 'Straight To Hell' (The Clash) and 'Summer In Siam' (The Pogues), which are not too far removed from 'D.J.' and 'Yassassin' in origin. Also Bowie got in there first before Paul Simon's 'Graceland' with splicing African Music to Pop/Rock.

There are so many highlights to recommend here. My favourites are: 'Fantastic Voyage', 'Yassassin', 'Red Sails', 'D.J.', 'Look Back In Anger', 'Boys Keep Swinging' and 'Repetition'. There you go, that's 75% taken care of, and as for the other 25%, well that's also blooming marvellous. One to add to the record collection.

terribly underrated album
i told a friend of mine - a fellow musician and songwriter - that most bowie fans didn't like this album. i'd introduced him to bowie and this album some 6 months before. he replied; "but that's not real bowie fans". and i must agree. this is pure bowie. pure complex and daring lyrics as well as musically daring composition and innovative orchestrations.

this is an absolutely brilliant album, but also one of bowie's most challenging. none of the songs are as catchy as any on ziggy or as soulesque as stationtostation, and that may be hard for some fans to swallow. but when you let this liberating album grow on you, it proves to be a revelation more complex than most. and isn't that what bowie's all about, more than "let's dance"?

i still consider low to be the best berlin album, but this is surely one of the best albums of the 70s. incredibly demanding of it's listener, with no quick hook lines or flashy productions, this is post modernism at it's best.

enjoy.

Artful lodger
I recall buying the single 'Boys Keep Swinging' and playing it for weeks. In the wake of its success, I was surprised that 'Lodger' seemed to pass everyone by, more so than just how conventional the b-side, 'Fantastic Journey', sounded. It isn't so difficult to understand now, though, why the album seems to have a reputation for being wedged in at the end of the 1970s. Unlike its two predecessors, 'Lodger' has a jarring disparity of styles. The exotic 'African Night Flight' and 'Yassassin' provide a stark contrast to the album's more straightforward moments. Though each track benefits from the usual care and attention, the sense of fragmentation gives 'Lodger' an unfinished air, as if Bowie hadn't decided how he wanted it to sound. Brian Eno was reputedly none too impressed with the finished item because some of the more daring material was axed in favour of the straighter stuff.
Even so, there are several great moments on 'Lodger', Adrian Belew's guitar-throttling solo on 'Boys Keep Swinging' only adds to the riotous feel of the song and the follow-up single, 'DJ', has Bowie's delicate offbeat magic behind it. Bowie's experimentation doesn't work as well as on previous albums, but 'Lodger' is certainly worth a spin.