Ashes to Ashes: The Songs of David Bowie, 1976-2016

I bought this as a gift for my musician son in law, but I had to peek at it before gifting. Incredible research was done by the author. I loved reading about the songs I knew. My son in law loves the book and intends to purchase the first one as well.

Fabulous song-by-song chronological retrospective look at the later work of the much-missed David Bowie. It has made me go back to these albums and listen with a new ear and more background into how they were made. That’s meant I have a greater appreciation of them. What more can you ask of a book such as this?

Buy it already! You won’t regret it. Very thorough, lots to learn and enjoy. A real treat for any Bowie fan.

Having thoroughly enjoyed the author’s “Pushing Ahead of the Dame” Bowie blog, I highly recommend this book and his previous one, “Rebel Rebel,” which covers Bowie through 1976’s “Station To Station.” That being said, I have a few bones to pick with the author. Not in terms of factual accuracy or chronology, but in his subjective interpretation of Bowie’s latter career. Of course, the author’s opinions are valid, but he is often very critical and dismissive of a significant portion of the body of work he is writing about. I grew up loving David Bowie; his music has been part of the fabric of my life for as long as I can remember, but his1990’s and 2000’s incarnations were “my” Bowie. I bought “Outside”, “Earthling”, “Hours...”, “Heathen” and “Reality” all when they were new, and the author gives them somewhat short shrift. He does give a comprehensive accounting of their creation and as clear a window into Bowie and his process as is probably possible now that he’s gone, but rather than taking these albums on their own terms, the author seems to regard them as self-evidently inferior to or lesser than their predecessors. I couldn’t disagree more! I was 19 when “Heathen” came out, and though I consistently listened to his glam records throughout high school, it was such a formative album for me. I have always regarded it as one of his best, an older, wiser man returning to his classic sounds and reclaiming them after two decades. O’Leary has an obvious reverence for David Bowie and his music, and this is nowhere more apparent than the chapters on “Warszawa” and “Heroes,” or “Station To Station” from the previous book. But around the time we get to “Never Let Me Down” a tone of dismissal creeps into the narrative. Bowie is constantly recycling, revisiting, indulging and imitating rather than creating, in the author’s estimation. But that was always Bowie’s strength. He had this ability to invent by imitation and assimilation. Some of his best work resulted from recycling. Listen to “New Angels Of Promise”, which the author correctly points out, recycles from “Sons of the Silent Age.” It’s fantastic! I really enjoyed these two books, but I had to share my opinion. Hopefully we’ll hear more Bowie in the future, and hopefully Chris O’Leary will be willing to provide these insights on that as well. Thanks for the enjoyable read!

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It does not get more thorough. Not only analysis of the songs, but context of the times and Bowie's life. Perfect

Excellent book with comprehensive detail

This is a book adaptation of the Bowie song-analysis essays found in the "Pushing Ahead of the Dame" blog. The book includes revisions/rewrites of essays + plus some new and exclusive song essays (e.g., Blackstar, Dollar Days) that are not available on the blog. I recommend the book, especially if you'd like to support the great work done by Chris O'Leary over the years. I will mention some things i didn't like so much though. For one, imo some of the rewrites made are vastly inferior to the essay versions found on the blog. For example, the book version of the essay for "The Motel" feels prosaic and neutered compared to the tremendous version found in the blog. My second general complaint is similar to my first in that i felt some of the new "exclusive" essays were really not worth the wait, as they felt insipid considering the weight and significance of the songs.

all you need to know ABOUT Bowies songs

É impressionante a quantidade de informação contida neste livro que abrange as canções que David Bowie compôs e gravou de 1976 até sua morte em 2016. Inclusive não creio que seja um livro para ser lido de ponta a ponta como um romance, justamente por conta desse volume de informação contido nele. Ele se torna muito mais interessante e divertido se, por exemplo, você está ouvindo a música citada e acompanhando a leitura [como se fosse um dicionário]. Os capítulos estão divididos de acordo com os álbuns e singles gravados em ordem cronológica. Indispensável para fãs ou interessados em conhecer mais profundamente a música de Bowie.

'Ashes To Ashes' by Chris O'Leary. This is a superb David Bowie book, analysing in great depth all of the songs DB ever recorded. Adopting a song by song approach, O'Leary's attention to detail is amazing, examining the meaning of, and background to the writing of, each song. He scrutinises the music and in doing so covers keys; key changes; time signatures; chord sequences; and structures. Exactly where and when each song was recorded is part of each analysis, as is who played what on the officially released (and some bootleg) recordings. Add to that the first broadcast dates and initial UK and USA release dates and you have a more than complete, comprehensive account of Bowie's work. It's forensic in its depth and a great companion to have with you to read, whilst listening to the great man's work. The most obvious comparison would be to Ian MacDonald's similar approach to the work of The Beatles, in 'Revolution In the Head'. This is up there, but not quite on MacDonald's level. It's difficult to be critical about the content, but I think the design, layout and typography leaves much to be desired. Although the songs are listed chronologically in order of recording, this is not an easy book to find one's way around. Maybe dividing the works into clearer, album by album chapters would be better, and while I understand that space restrictions may have prevented it, an index would have helped a lot. Also, with the wealth of extraordinary photographic material available, the cover is disappointingly poor. All of that is just me and my petty nit picking. Pay no heed. This is an essential reference work for any self respecting Bowie geek and I highly recommend it. Get it while you can!

This is a labour of love. The author painstakingly catalogues, documents, analyzes, contextualizes, and attempts to explain each and every song ever recorded by David Bowie from every possible angle (lyrically, musically, vocally, instrumentally, contextually, historically...) and as such it is as much an invaluable resource as Pegg's reference book is. This is the book to go to for anyone who is serious about learning about David Bowie's powers as a singer, writer, and musician, down to the smallest technical detail. The author loves David Bowie, loves with a capital C, but he is not blind, and he is as objective and sober in assessing Bowie's faux paus and blunders as he is with his successes. There is little breathless gushing in this book, although there is bone-deep love. But what really sets this book apart is that, despite dissecting the songs with as much precision, documentation, and objectivity as it can be humanly mustered, the author takes pains to emphasize that the elusive core, the mystery, the allure, that continue to be David Bowie's parcel, will ever remain out of our reach. Far from being dogmatic in his interpretations, he successfully impresses on the reader that his subject is impossible to pin down, ultimately, and all the more beautiful for being so. The author is an excellent writer. I was surprised to find it a deeply moving book, written in a very engaging, no frills, restrained prose that sometimes hits you more for it like a punch to the gut, especially when covering Bowie's last two albums, his Lazarus play, and his death. Knowing that one is not along in one's grief helps. Just buy this book, if you love David Bowie.

It’s a deep dive - close musical, lyrical and biographical analysis. It’s insightful, thoroughly researched and cross-referenced and, through individual songs, paints an overall picture that feels more complex and truer to who David Jones might have been than any other Bowie book I’ve read.