10 Albums That Were Released Completely By Surprise

Approaching the year 2005, it would have made total sense if David Bowie had quietly retired from the world of music. He had given us more than his fair share of amazing material and his last tour for the album Reality was fraught with health problems, leading to him taking a step back from the touring life. Bowie seemed to be content with fading out of the public consciousness, until we got a new helping of music almost a decade later.

Much like the cover art of the album would imply, the Next Day is almost like the Starman reinventing the kind of sounds that made him famous to begin with, taking the same production style of his Berlin period and turning it into some of the best songs that he's written in years. While the last few albums had seen him still dabbling on different styles, this version of Bowie is much more seasoned, going back to his roots to find out how he made such classics in the first place.

This isn't just a nostalgia trip for some hardened Bowie fans by any stretch. Going through the first handful of songs, you get the sense that Bowie is stretching himself that much further in his normal styles, as he goes for different spaces within his own voice and instrumental choices. Whereas most bands coax by on the nostalgia act tag, Bowie's return out of retirement feels like he had some unfinished business to attend to from back in the day.