*1/2 David Bowie

HOURS . . .

(Virgin)

At least the guy still knows how to pull off a major change of pace. His last studio album, '97's Earthling, was exceedingly dense, and though the cracked metaphors and alien topography of the lyrics were vintage Bowie, the garbled drum 'n' bass techno sounded desperately up to date.

This time out, having made his bow to contemporaneity by giving the disc a CD-ROM aspect (which turns out to be an ad for his Web site) and allowing it to be downloaded from the Net in toto for those so inclined, he's relaxed and has come up with 10 plain and simple songs. Unfortunately, that means a lot of slow ones with tastefully anonymous-sounding backdrops -- which makes for a pretty snoozy affair since, like a lot of long-haul composers, Bowie seems to have run out of melodies. Even the lyrics are uncharacteristically straightforward, though his spelled-out weary love songs sound as emotionally detached as his more baroque imagery of yore -- minus the fizz of musical discovery. The spirit lifts a little toward the end of the set with "The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell" and "New Angels of Promise" but quickly deflates for the lugubrious closer, "The Dreamers." This one's for hardcore fans . . . and maybe not even them.

-- Richard C. Walls