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10.0
51438
10.0 |
Daily Telegraph
An absolute wonder: urgent, sharp-edged, bold, beautiful and baffling, an intellectually stimulating, emotionally charged, musically jagged, electric bolt through his own mythos
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10.0
51439
10.0 |
The Independent
May be the greatest comeback album ever
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10.0
51441
10.0 |
Q
This long album of short songs is packed with evidence that Bowie has spent his supposedly indolent decade doing the hardest work of all. He's been thinking about himself and the world his music made. Print edition only
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10.0
51871
10.0 |
Pretty Much Amazing
So this is what it’s like to be astonished by a new David Bowie album
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10.0
52036
10.0 |
musicOMH
The release of The Next Day would have been one of the biggest stories of the year no matter what its quality – the fact that it also happens to be one of the best records of Bowie’s career to date just makes the comeback that much more triumphant
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9.1
52101
9.1 |
A.V. Club
The Next Day isn’t great simply because it’s the return of Bowie. It’s great because it’s the return of Bowie’s voice: rich, delicate, smoky, wise
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9.0
52067
9.0 |
The Quietus
More than half the album is fantastic, and the rest is very, very strong
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9.0
51498
9.0 |
BBC
A triumphant, almost defiant, return. Innovative, dark, bold and creative, it’s an album only David Bowie could make
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9.0
51611
9.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
The Next Day hands nothing to you on a plate. If you want a sing-along chorus, you’re made to endure (and eventually enjoy) a threatening verse
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8.5
51919
8.5 |
God Is In The TV
Review 1: David Bowie no longer wears masks, doesn’t feel the need to act out a persona (8/10). Review 2: To say it’s a pleasure to have him back would be an understatement (9/10)
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8.5
52144
8.5 |
Under The Radar
Though it's been 10 years since his previous release, The Next Day is Bowie's most consistent record in twice as much time
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8.5
52202
8.5 |
Paste Magazine
The Next Day offers an embarrassment of riches that should keep listeners busy for weeks and months to come
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8.0
52237
8.0 |
The Fly
A really great rock album from a man who knows a thing or two about writing really great rock albums
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8.0
52241
8.0 |
Beats Per Minute
He doesn’t sound 66 on this album. He doesn’t not sound 66 either, but another striking feature of The Next Day is how much it doesn’t sound like an old man trying to keep up with the times
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8.0
52409
8.0 |
Art Rocker
History should be left to judge the relative merits of The Next Day as opposed to Scary Monsters, Lodger or any other Bowie record - this is a record you can just go with right now
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8.0
52186
8.0 |
No Ripcord
The Next Day is the best Bowie album in 33 years, but it’s perfectly reasonable to not even call it a top 10 Bowie album
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8.0
51436
8.0 |
The Guardian
An album that's thought-provoking, strange and filled with great songs
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8.0
52033
8.0 |
Drowned In Sound
Only a little better than its two predecessors and probably only Bowie’s best album since Outside, but that’s not to knock what is easily the best mainstream art pop record of recent times
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8.0
52046
8.0 |
Slant Magazine
Bowie has, with an imperfect but exhilarating album, announced his return to rock's top table
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8.0
52053
8.0 |
Consequence Of Sound
One has to dig deep and fight uphill to connect here, but that climb results in a rewarding, fascinating listen
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8.0
52057
8.0 |
The 405
Bowie still experiments, never content to rest on his laurels
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8.0
51812
8.0 |
The Digital Fix
There’s nothing new here. Be clear about that. Because, lest you forget, he’s 66. But it’s a blast, so for that be grateful
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8.0
51858
8.0 |
State
On the whole, The Next Day is a great album
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8.0
51446
8.0 |
Mojo
It's [the] undercurrent of despair that makes The Next Day Bowie's most impassioned and convincing work in decades. Print edition only
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8.0
51490
8.0 |
NME
Above all, this album is about songcraft. Rather than reinventing Bowie, it absorbs his past and moves on, hungry for more
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8.0
51612
8.0 |
Rolling Stone
Has a strong connection to the late-1970s period when Bowie and producer Tony Visconti made their Berlin trilogy of Low, Heroes and Lodger
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8.0
51615
8.0 |
Evening Standard
Standards on The Next Day’s 14 tracks are exceptionally high. A cover that blithely slaps a white box onto the classic “Heroes” album sleeve confidently invites comparison with his finest work
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8.0
51643
8.0 |
DIY
'The Next Day' is about as far removed from the sound of a frail old man as it's possible to get
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8.0
51693
8.0 |
Independent on Sunday
David Bowie's perpetual predicament is that he can't escape David Bowie's past. In that respect, he's just like the rest of us: we can't escape David Bowie's past either. The Next Day leaves you wondering why you'd ever want to
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8.0
51701
8.0 |
Clash
Reflective, revitalising and luxuriously refined; it’s bloody good Bowie after all
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8.0
51717
8.0 |
The Scotsman
Out of the blue, David Bowie has delivered another classic
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7.6
52041
7.6 |
Pitchfork
As astute as ever, casting a ghoulish shadow over sounds and images we know and love
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7.0
52061
7.0 |
All Music
Neither enhances nor diminishes anything that came before, it's merely a sweet coda to a towering career
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7.0
53123
7.0 |
Entertainment.ie
A fitting cherry atop an outstanding career's worth of expression and innovation
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7.0
51491
7.0 |
Uncut
Along with the clanging guitars, a grim trepidation courses through The Next Day, like the frozen urban tundra that formed the landscape of Anthony Moore's brilliant post-punk LP Flying Doesn't Help. Print edition only
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6.0
52025
6.0 |
The Observer
If it is the mark of a satisfying album that you want to absorb every last note and reference, then The Next Day is a banquet, but one in which superfoods and gristle both feature
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5.0
51808
5.0 |
Spin
This didn't need to happen
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5.0
52043
5.0 |
PopMatters
Now he’s just an old fellow who is fighting against the current, and The Next Day is a brutal drowning
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