David Bowie - The Buddha of Suburbia

“Soundtrack album” an overlooked pleasantry

That The Buddha Of Suburbia was unnoticed by so many besides the faithful was perhaps just circumstantial. Maybe if more music other than the title track had appeared on the Buddha… TV mini-series the public may have flocked to it as they did with the recent Life On Mars soundtrack (Bowie did also compose the used soundtrack, which would have been a welcome addition to this reissue). As it stood, The Buddha of Suburbia saw one 1993 release and then got deleted. Perhaps still best approached as a soundtrack (no great cohesion, but plenty of singular moments to get involved with), with hindsight Buddha… seems something of a seed, giving way to ideas that got explored in the coming years. There are touch points in Low-reflecting instrumentals such as Ian Fish, UK Heir, jazzier leanings that reference the then-recent Black Tie White Noise, and Sex & The Church, which sounds a pinch Nathan Barley now, but points to the explicit dance excursions on Earthling. Bowie clearly hit something in this mix. Strangers When We Meet cropped up again on Outside and, along with the title track, it points the way to the dominant late-Bowie sound across ‘hours…’, Heathen and Reality. Free from hit commercial pressures, Buddha… is continually inviting.

EMI | 500 4632

Reviewed by Jason Draper
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