Will the real "David Bowie" please stand up? Well, the cover features TWO Bowies, both dressed in white, with distinctively different appearances. Who could've ever thought a catch phrase like "Ch-Ch-Changes" could be so prophetic after all this time? The fact is "David Bowie" can never come full circle, because year after year he continues to reinvent himself, and with him the entrance for many of the formative musical acts that were shrewd enough to follow. Ever the opportunist, Bowie's successfully managed to reel in an audience that's willing to walk through the fields with him as he seeks new ways to express himself and that art on which he's had so profound an influence in creating. "Hours" is Bowie's 23rd album to date. In seeking to categorize it for the sake of comparison, it's been thought to similarly follow those steps of "Hunky Dory," which came out over twenty years ago. Aside from recent technical allowances put into sparse detail, that may be said. This is not "David Bowie" on the cutting edge. Moving past his "fear of Americans," and leaving behind the "Little Wonder," the pictures alone tell the story in an almost autobiographical manner where Bowie steps back to observe the pages of his life in a genuflective mood, careful to avoid any distractive elements on his way.

"Thursday's Child," "Something in the Air" and "Survive" all begin with an almost reserved apprehension, quietly wandering about with an almost uncertainty to the chosen path, although in the end there's little doubt. "If I'm Dreaming My Life" captures Bowie at his best, serenely peaceful giving way to a sudden surge of untapped energy and emotional breakthrough where a preponderance of time stands perfectly still to allow him to align the pages. Then where "The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell," "New Angels Of Promise" and "The Dreamers" are concerned, the modern Bowie is revealed, profoundly aware of the coming events smoothly syncopated into this autonomous structure that "Hours" recounts. If this were any other performer besides he, the prevailing thought would be closure - the closing chapter of a long and compelling career. In this case it's hard to imagine that "Hours" signals the countdown to anything but a new chapter at the dawn of the new era!