waits is easily better. whereas bowie has absolutely nothing going for himself artistically, waits at the very least is entertainingly vivid. his music reminds me of this cartoon i watched as a kid called the marvelous misadventures of flapjack. its world was very similar to the one waits inhabits: rotting sailors, cannibal shop owners, fortune telling booths, bizarre magic relics, etc. you wouldn't call it innovative, exactly, but what made it funny and memorable was its extreme commitment to the bit. guess my point is not everything has to be tasteful or even original--being able to conjure up a shared fictional world in grotesque, hilarious granular detail is a virtue in itself.
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