David Bowie – Never Let Me Down (1987) (digisleeve) (CD Audio) (Import)

01. Day-in Day-out (5:35)
02. Time Will Crawl (4:18)
03. Beat of Your Drum (5:03)
04. Never Let Me Down (4:04)
05. Zeroes (5:44)
6. Glass Spider (5:30)
07. Shining Star (makin' my love) (5:04)
08. New York's in Love (4:31)
09. '87 and Cry (4:18)
10. Bang Bang (4:29)

Style: Pop Rock

Never Let Me Down is David Bowie's seventeenth studio album, released in April 1987. The record received some of the most negative reviews of the musician's career due to its bland content and was largely ignored by audiences. David himself said the album contained good songs, but was marred by overly commercial and uninspiring production. However, the album contained more original material from Bowie than his previous work, Tonight.

Compositions from Never Let Me Down formed the basis of Bowie's highly theatrical 1987 Glass Spider Tour (an official DVD of one of the concerts, also titled Glass Spider, was later released). The album's second track, "Time Will Crawl," was used on the soundtrack to the French arthouse film Les Amants du Pont Neuf.

In describing the album, critic Ira Robbins noted, "Although this casual, loud-rock outing... seems at first blush to slapdash and light, the first side is actually quite good, offering provocative pop-culture lyrics delivered with first-take enthusiasm and carefree backing."

David Bowie on the album:
“At the time, being recognized by a wider audience didn’t mean anything to me. It didn’t make me happier. I felt dissatisfied with what I was doing, and eventually it started to show in my writing. ‘Let’s Dance’ was a great work in its own right, but the next two albums, ‘Tonight’ and ‘Never Let Me Down’, showed that my lack of interest in my own work was becoming apparent. ‘Never Let Me Down’ was my lowest point. It was such a terrible album. Now I’ve reached a point where I’m not too hard on myself. I do what I can do, whether it’s art or music, because I know that my writing truly comes from the heart. Even if it’s a failure artistically, it doesn’t bother me the way ‘Never Let Me Down’ did. I honestly shouldn’t have even considered going into the studio and recording that [laughs]. In fact, when I play this material, I'm surprised that David Bowie was involved at all. Interview September 1995