10 Albums That Are Difficult To Listen To
1. Blackstar - David Bowie
There are entire genres of music that have made emotional resonance their calling card. From the brands of emo rock populating the rock scene in the early '00s to the massive amount of weepy soul ballads coming out what feels like every generation, these are the genres that hit you right in the feels from the moment they start playing. Most people are used to that though. It gets a lot more difficult when it catches you off guard.
Aside from the world being psyched for a new David Bowie record with Blackstar in 2016, the whole thing took on a whole new meaning when he passed away not even a week after its release. Going through the track listing, this entire album seems to be Bowie reflecting on his life, looking at both the things that he could have done better and coming to terms with everything he accomplished in his life.
The video for any one of the singles alone is enough to make any casual fan of the man's work tear up, from the meta experience of seeing the skeleton of Major Tom on the title track or the faint croak of Bowie's voice as he intones about being in Heaven on the song Lazarus. Even though Bowie had already written one of the greatest closing chapters of his career on Rock and Roll Suicide back in the '70s, this was the Starman coming down to give us one final miracle.