Customer Reviews

Tonight

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

It's interesting to see what rumours can do to an album. It's only a few years since I got in touch with Bowie, and have been a fan ever since, virtually running out the house to buy all the albums in his amazing, colorful and quite often brilliant discography. I heard them all, but in all those years, I kept ignoring 1984's "Tonight" (and I still haven't heard it's 1987 follow-up, "Never Let Me Down"). With only very few positive reviews to back this album up, yet a truckload of negative ones to break it down to pieces, I was expecting awful drivel, an album so incredibly bad you don't know how fast to run to your stereo to turn the damn thing off.

So I got "Tonight" and gave it a spin. The only song I knew was the title-track, and ok, I always hated it. But the rest really isn't bad at all. To be quite frank, there's not one 100% awful track on it, with the exception of the cheap, tacky cover of The Beach Boys "God Only Knows". Bowie knows his way with covers, always picking either obscure songs to give them an improved re-working, or better-known songs and respectfully cover them. In case of this song, it's just a big riddle what Bowie's intention was. It's bad, and it's cheap. And yes, a mistake.

Once we get past "God Only Knows", there's a lot of nice stuff to be found on "Tonight". Opening-track "Loving The Alien" is an atmospheric and dramatic track, that doesn't have anything remotely bad about it. "Don't Look Down" is lite-reggae, which isn't all too exhilerating, but fits well into the context of the album and is enjoyable. But from "Neighbourhood Threat" to the closer "Dancing With The Big Boys", there's no reason why this album shouldn't be a worthy follow-up to "Let's Dance". They're all catchy, decent tracks, which remain enjoyable after tons of listens.

Bowie has a serious catalog of great music AND a reputation of constantly changing his sound, and possibly break some ground too, please. What, do people expect him to keep that reputation up forever? "Tonight" was clearly conceived in a lesser-inspired period in Bowie's career, but to call the album absolutely worthless or even 'unlistenable' goes way too far and absolutely doesn't make any sense. It's really very eighties, even more eighties than "Let's Dance". And that's a sound you have to like. I personally love that sound; as it reminds me of a great time. Maybe it's just personal, but "Tonight" is very far from being a bad Bowie-album.

If you're considering to buy this to complete your Bowie-collection (it's not that good that it should be your introduction to Bowie or something) you really should track down the Rykodisk-edition which offers you three really good bonus-tracks, including "This Is Not America"; hands down one of his most beautiful singles ever.

This album was the last one of Bowie's that I purchased, simply because I had seen a few bad reviews on it and I was skeptical. I was happy to find that its actually a very nice, relaxing 80's pop album. Sure, if thats not your thing, you probably won't like Tonight, but if you're like me and grew up in the 80's, this album's likely to make you all fuzzy and happy inside. I'd recommend it as long as you know what to expect. If you don't think you'd like it then don't waste your money, and then write a review trashing it simply because you don't like the style of music. Too many people have a bad habit of confusing 'albums that suck' with music they don't prefer.

This is my favorite cd out of the ones bowie did in the 80's. Even though it has a bunch of remakes of older songs and it doesn't break any new ground, most of it has a nice feeling too it. It does have some tracks that don't really meet his standard but it is worth it for the remake of god only knows. P.s. Bowie released a statement over a year before these reissues were released asking that they don't have the bonus tracks because it takes away from the original work. SO THERE WERE NO PROMISES MADE ON BONUS TRACKS. That reviewer made up those promises in his own mind.

Ooh, now this is quite bad. Let's Dance was mediocre on a whole, but sometimes it was really good. This doesn't even have that much going for it. It's one of the most insipid albums I've ever heard. And the weird thing about it is that it's strangely listenable. Well, other than those two craptacular covers (an overproduced '80s version of "God Only Knows," which is a terrible version of a fantastic song; Leiber and Stroller's well-known "I Keep Forgettin,'" that's apparently supposed to be a classic or something - Bowie tries to be Elvis, and comes up way short). There's nothing particularly abrasive about it. It's just wretchedly, abysmally boring. It's genre experimentation horribly bungled. Some of it is mood music gone horribly wrong. Look at "Loving the Alien," which runs out of ideas after two minutes but still slogs on for seven. And reggae music gone horribly wrong, too: check out the title track (with Tina Turner sounding really, really bad on backing vocals, and again co-written by Iggy Pop), and the Iggy Pop cover "Don't Look Down." This, friends, is conclusive proof why Bowie never, ever tried to play reggae during his salad days. And, in some cases, synth-rock gone horribly wrong, as if that term wasn't redundant in the first place. As an example, there's another gourd-awful tune penned with help from the Igster, "Neighborhood Threat," with the amazingly inept attempt at self-censorship "everyone wants to kiss your trash." I don't know squat about Iggy's solo career (though I love the Stooges), but I think he's capable of a lot more than "Don't Look Down," "Tonight," and "Neighborhood Threat." This is the guy who wrote "China Girl," after all. That song rules! But `Neighborhood Threat" does not. It overdoes chorus-happy guitar and synthesizers. The one song I do enjoy out of this entire collection is "Blue Jean," which is neither mood music, nor reggae, nor an inept cover, nor rock. It's a fun, bouncy retro pop song is what it is. Naturally, it was a pretty sizable hit, breaking the Top Ten. And it's so good I have to wonder if it perhaps fell on this album by accident. I mean, look how much better it is than its comrades-in-arms! It's definitely classic Bowie. Sadly, he takes a similar approach to the mildly funky "Tumble and Twirl," and comes up with a fairly bad song, even if I don't hate it the way most the rest of the population does. I'm not exactly defending it as buried treasure, but it sounds great next to his version of "God Only Knows." And, come on, the horns are kind of fun. But the album closes on an awful note with "Dancing with the Big Boys," an attempted fusion of dance-pop and '80s rock. I give the album a bit of credit for being experimental, but it just doesn't work. Sorry.

in the mid 1980's, David Bowie had finally ascended to the top of the Billboard charts, placing himself along the same level of popularity as Michael Jackson and Prince thanks to the Let's Dance album, however, that wasn't to last when he released "Tonight" in the fall of 1984.

Both fairweather "pop" fans as well as longterm Bowie fans found something to love with the leadoff track, "Loving The Alien", a song that puts the album off to a great start. The song was inevitably released as a single, but when he released it in the summer of 1985, the album was dead in both the US and UK and didn't become the hit it rightfully deserved to be (I think it should've been released as the followup to "Blue Jean"

Next we get a midtempo reggae track called "Don't Look Down", which drags.

The album officially becomes kitsch with "God Only Knows", a torch remake of the Beach Boys classic.

The second single (most likely due to the fact that Tina Turner was hot at the point) was "Tonight", an upbeat but slow reggaeish track that doesn't sound much different than "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" by Culture Club.

The album picks up with the next two tracks, "Neighborhood Threat" and "Blue Jean". Both tracks are rockers and are very fun to listen to. "Blue Jean" was the leadoff single and went to #8 on the Billboard chart.

"Tumble And Twirl" starts the crash again, a mid-tempo calypso track that I usually skip.

The next track is another ill-advised remake, "I Keep Forgettin'" by Elvis. It's actually a fun track but yet you couldn't help but realize just how below Bowie's calibre this song is.

The album ends up with a high point, the rocking "Dancing With The Big Boys"

All in all, one of Bowie's worst albums, but it's not necessarily BAD. Bowie just managed to record so many great albums through his career that albums such as this and Never Let Me Down look worse than they really are because this is the guy who has delivered classic after classic throughout his career that a few 80's mis-steps are real scars on the resume.

If you get this on CD, I'd recommend checking out the 1995 Virgin cd used instead of the 1999 reissue. The Virgin remaster includes three of Bowie's best soundtrack songs from the era (in this time, Bowie's soundtrack work was far exceeding the albums in quality), "This Is Not America" from The Falcon and The Snowman, a top 40 hit, "As The World Falls Down" from Labyrinth and "Absolute Beginners", which is included in its epic 8 minute entirity here... these are the highlights of the album and they aren't even from the original record.

...

My first introduction to David Bowie was with this album and Let's Dance, so there's sentimental value for me in Tonight. I first saw him performing on HBO's Tina Turner concert in 1985, where he sang "Tonight" and "Let's Dance."

Well, naturally, the former song is present on this album, and yes, Tina has some vocal duty here as well.

The contrasting times of the Middle East are portrayed in "Loving The Alien," which is good in the single version, but here, it's in its full resplendent 7:09 glory. From the times of the Crusaders, who were promised a place in heaven for fighting the Saracens, to "Palestine being a modern problem," (it is something poignantly topical to this day), we see a Middle East ruled by "terror in a best laid plan."

"Don't Look Down" is a song with the aura of having a leisurely walk down the streets of uncrowded London, if that's at all possible. I've always liked his singing in a lower register, which he does for ballads, and his cover of the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" is a perfect example of that.

There's a little bit of everything here. The hard rock of "Neighborhood Threat," the 50's rock-and-roll of Leiber and Stoller's "I Keep Forgettin'," and the lazy calypso rhythms of "Tumble And Twirl." I can almost taste the akee and tamarind juice listening to this latter song.

The irresistible single "Blue Jean" is the highlight here, with Carlos Alomar's guitars never more effective.

Bowie is in a unique category of artists who keeps changing with each album..., and that's what makes him legendary...Who will like this album? Bowie fans, because their tastes are the union of those mutually exclusive sets. And I'm proud to say, I'm one of them.

David Bowie got lazy with his follow-up to 1983's smash album "Let's Dance." I remember as a teenager being excited about FINALLY getting a new Bowie album - only to be disappointed.

Bowie relies heavily on covers for this entire album. My original opnion has not changed in questioning why the album was divided as all slower tunes on side 1 with the upbeat material on side 2.

Everything is not bad here; it just lacks "that certain something" that the powerful Bowie albums deliver. His rendition of The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" is gorgeous with David showing off his strong baritone voice. There's great pop appeal to the energy in "Blue Jean" and I get a guilty pleasure out of the goofy "Dancing with the Big Boys," but the touted duet with Tina Turner on the title track is ruined by poor production choices. Turner is barely audible and the mix makes her sound like a background singer. The 1985 live version the duo did in Birmingham, England had the song (and Turner!) shine; it showed what the song could do. "Loving the Alien" is hauntingly memorable but most of the rest of tracks are, at best, lame and forgettable.

"Tonight" - Not quite the turd of Bowie's fine recording catalog that "Never Let Me Down" is, but it's not too far off.

I'm not sure why so many people dislike this record, but I hold it high among the most enjoyable things Bowie has ever done. I can listen to it repeatedly from beginning to end and get a very warm feeling from it. This album is kind of like the sonic equivalent of a good pair of comfy shoes...they feel great everytime you put 'em on!

Of course I bought "Tonight" when it first came out, lo these many years ago, because of the smash (and deservedly so) hit, "Blue Jean". It was a phenomenon at the time. The extra-long video playing during an era when music TV stations actually played music videos, and so the album became mine. At the time I must have owned about 20-30 Bowie albums, having amassed quite the collection shortly after "Let's Dance" arrived a few years earlier.

And yes, as some reviewers here have also said, I was let down. But I played it. Over and over. I recall the same feeling when buying "Scary Monsters", and several other of Bowie's albums.

With each new album Bowie re-invents himself, and this one perhaps a bit moreso. Gone was the glam-rocker, and here was the lounge singer. But like most of his albums, he brings a bit of his own art to each of these songs. It's as if you walked into a night club in the 1950s and this guy was opening for Sinatra or something. But the more I listened, the more I began to really really love the haunting tones of Bowie's voice lent to some of these creamy lounge songs.

And now, some 20 years later, I find myself missing this album. I sold off my Bowie cassette collection years ago during a move. (No room for everything of course.) So I'm ordering this one again now. I can get one or two of the songs on his various "Greatest Hits" albums, but you may find, as I did, that this album is not something you can cut up and serve in pieces. It's best served whole.

I feel that Bowie changes with every new album so I always go in listening to Bowie with open ears, not prejudice. This is a fine album. I think that Bowie was trying to go for a more latin sound than Let's Dance. The title track is disposable, but it's the only one. I liked this album, maybe it's because I am a Bowie fan, but give this album a chance, you may like it.