My latest CD purchase (and the first one in a very long time): David Bowie's heathen.

I only had a vague notion of who Bowie was when Let's Dance was released. Which is shameful, considering I was a college student at the time. I made up for that quickly; after buying Let's Dance, I went out and bought every album I could find of his (mostly on cassette). I was amazed by how diverse his musical (and personal) styles were, changing almost with every album. And even I could recognize how innovative, influential and ahead of his time he was. I missed the Let's Dance tour, but caught him in the less well-received (but still amazing) Glass Spider tour, an experience that was only made better by the front row center seats we had. I believe I may still have the styrofoam cup he tossed into the crowd somewhere in a box.

I could have done without Tin Machine, the trio he put together that pounded out hard un-melodic rock - just not my taste, and not what I think he does best. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see him in a club setting when Tin Machine came to town. Boy, was that incredible - standing right in front of the little stage, no more than a few feet from the man himself. He could have been up there playing the recorder and practicing pig-calling and I wouldn't have cared.

The next ten years of Bowie music weren't much to my liking, either. As a matter of fact, heathen is the first Bowie CD that I have bought in at least ten years that wasn't a greatest hits compilation. I'm glad I did. With heathen, he returns to the classic Bowie of the late 70s. I've only listened to it once, but what struck me most was the romanticism (I was reminded of the Bowie classic, "Wild is the Wind", a couple of times) and emotion in his voice and the music. If you couldn't already tell, this one gets my recommendation. If you won't take my word for it, maybe these guys can convince you:

"Heathen is the sound of Bowie essentially covering himself -- to splendid, often moving effect. "

But Bowie is also astute enough to realize that rocking out isn't what he does best anymore; he's better off aiming for a middle ground between art song and an intergalactic Tin Pan Alley, and that's where the best parts of ''Heathen'' lie.