David Bowie / Earthling by Emily Smith Virgin Records In 1997 David Bowie decided to find out whether there really was life on Mars. So he jumped aboard the Millennium Falcon (in his space suit, with a copy of Pretty Hate Machine in hand) and flew there. Upon returning home, Bowie produced Earthling, a hybrid of rock and jungle beats seething in apocalyptic tension. Bowie's newest, self-produced release departs from his older, melodic style with a foray into electronics. Bowie combines aggressive rock beats with jungle's sampled percussion breaks on tracks such as "Little Wonder," "Telling Lies," "Battle of Britain," and "The Last Thing You Should Do." "Dead Man Walking," an extremely eclectic track, features Bowie's vibrato-laden vocals over charged guitar riffs, hard-driving drum'n'bass, synthesizers, and even a Phish-y piano solo (possibly a nod to Trey and Page for "David Bowie," their 1988 tribute to the vampish star). The sound of Bowie's voice over synthesizers gives Earthling a space-age sound which is at times spooky, at times disconnected and chaotic, but always thrilling. In a departure from his better-known works, Earthling relies less on Bowie's talent as a singer/songwriter and more on synthesizers. Bowie, however, makes up for what is lacking lyrically with his ecstatic music. The sometimes mellow, sometimes explosive guitar combined with rapid-fire drum'n'bass in "Little Wonder" takes the listener on a hauntingly epic journey. "Battle for Britain" mixes energetic jungle beats with forceful Zeppelin-style chords and coquettish keyboards. "Seven Years in Tibet," in which Bowie refers to the massacre of fleeing Tibetans from Chinese choppers in the early 60s, wrenches the listener with alternating senses of fear, power, and melancholy. The up-beat, space-age sounding "Looking for Satellites" fuses an unpredictable rhythmic structure with an inspiring guitar solo near its end. Earthling combines a sense of melodic popular appeal with an experimental edge. This album's voyeuristic style allies it not with traditional Bowie, but rather with his experimental albums from the mid-70s: Low, Heroes, and Lodger. While old-school Bowie fans expecting a hit like "Ziggy Stardust" may be disappointed by this disc, which showcases Bowie mainly as a producer, they should instead marvel at his ability to stay at the vanguard of music culture at age 50. David Bowie -- poet, vocalist, guitarist, producer, saxophonist, pianist, actor‹has been an omnipresent rock icon for four decades. The breadth of his achievement is amazing, and this move toward electronic music is merely his next step in genius. Although Earthling may sound more like it was produced by Trent Reznor than David Bowie, its soul is Bowie's. Through the fused rock and modern rhythms of Earthling, space oddity Bowie takes his listener on an emotional voyage which is all at once beautiful, disturbing, and haunting.

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