David Bowie 27: The Buddha Of Suburbia

With a sudden obligation to nobody, Bowie kept working, and something called The Buddha Of Suburbia snuck out at year’s end. Derived from work on the soundtrack to a TV adaptation of the novel of the same title, Bowie used it as an opportunity to explore and experiment over various musical themes, and ended up with one of the more satisfying if mysterious releases of his career.

Much of the album is instrumental, performed by himself with occasional collaborator Erdil Kizilcay. It also heralds the return of Mike Garson, who adds his distinctive piano style to two tracks. “The Mysteries” ranks with side two of both Low and “Heroes”, while “South Horizon” is jazzy and dynamic, and the extremely ambient (save the sound of vinyl surface noise) “Ian Fish U.K. Heir” is easy to tune out, quiet as it is.

But there are actual songs here, too. The title track appears twice—the second time embellished with superfluous guitar by Lenny Kravitz—and includes some pointed lyrical and melodic references to earlier Bowie tunes. “Strangers When We Meet” and “Dead Against It” are infectious, accessible pop tunes among his best, while the otherwise unintelligible “Untitled No. 1” comes closest to the dance groove of Black Tie White Noise without overdoing it. Even those with few lyrics past the ones in their titles (“Sex And The Church” and “Bleed Like A Craze, Dad”) capture the attention and bear repeat listening.

Even with only tangential connection to the film, The Buddha Of Suburbia was marketed in the UK as a soundtrack, which it wasn’t. The album wasn’t released in America for two years, until Virgin picked up his ‘80s catalog and lobbed it on the market with zero fanfare around the time of what was then his next Big Project. Even then, with a new cover but absolutely no context or explanation, it was mostly ignored, to everyone’s detriment. It remains truly worth seeking out, especially as proof that he wasn’t that lost at the time after all.

David Bowie The Buddha Of Suburbia (1993)—3½