This thrill is amplified if A) I don't know the artist very well or B) if he/she/it had various phases throughout a long career.
David Bowie fits this mold perfectly as never having the opportunity (or desire) to delve into his intensely varied and long catalog. I think Low and Station to Station are really neat records, maybe two of my favorite from Bowie's catalog, and I think they come at an interesting time in Bowie's career.
Station to Station was released in 1976 long after his Ziggy Stardust days and right after he released Young Americans, a soul record, which got him an invitation to perform on Soul Train, which sort of makes my eyes roll back in my head and causes seizures in my body.
Essentially, the 1980s started for Bowie as he got into Kraut rock along with synthesizers and cocaine. Whatever state his drug use was before, it skyrocketed during this time as he overdosed a number of times and come off in public as scatterbrained and ... well, a guy high on cocaine.
Station to Station also revealed his newest persona, the "Thin White Duke." Dressed in a dapper fashion, the Duke seems like an ordinary guy considering Bowie's pervious incarnations. Instead, he was a sort of of a representation of Nazism. The touring supporting the album put Bowie in hot water due to some hot opinions about Fascism, getting caught with Nazi paraphernalia and a photo which shows Bowie allegededly giving the Nazi salute.
Naturally, he moves to Switzerland and does an insane amount of drugs and does a lot of art. The next year he decides to clean things up and move to West Berlin. This sparked Bowie's Berlin Trilogy including the first album Low, another synth-inspired record, mostly known for its lyrical minimalism. Cited early on as a sales flop, it wound up selling a ton of records, even more than Station to Station.
You can't say that David Bowie didn't live life to its fullest.
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