London ( CNN ) -- The artwork for `` The Next Day , '' David Bowie 's first album in 10 years and a record that nobody outside his inner circle suspected was coming , is a witty vandalization of the sleeve of 1977 's `` Heroes . '' As its designer , Jonathan Barnbrook , explains : The `` Heroes '' cover obscured by the white square is about the spirit of great pop or rock music which is `` of the moment , '' forgetting or obliterating the past . However , we all know that this is never quite the case , no matter how much we try , we can not break free from the past . '' Read more : David Bowie returns with new single , album . In that sense it 's an unbeatable image . Bowie 's glittering reputation rests on his determination , during his extraordinary run of albums in the 1970s , to escape the past and embrace the future , but he was also clever enough to realize that there 's no such thing as an entirely blank slate , and that tension was the motor of his genius . The excitement surrounding his surprise comeback , after a decade of supposed retirement , reminds us that he is rock 's unrivalled innovator-in-chief . His early reinventions could perhaps be explained by sheer ambition . That 's why David Jones from suburban Bromley , on the southern outskirts of London , became David Bowie ( rhymes with Zoe , not Maui ) and then Bowie , fearing that 1969 's `` Space Oddity '' would render him a one-hit wonder , became Ziggy Stardust , the first post-modern rock star . If fame was all he was looking for , he would have been happy with that , but his hunger for change exceeded his appetite for success . He killed off Ziggy after just 18 months and unveiled a series of new identities , each with its own sound . Photos : David Bowie 's ever-changing look . To listen to all of Bowie 's 70s albums in sequence is still a dizzying experience , because each one attempts to eclipse its predecessor . On `` Aladdin Sane '' he explored the relationship between showbusiness and mental illness . `` Diamond Dogs '' was an apocalyptic vision which spun the mid-70s ' darkest fears into a kind of glam-rock opera . The `` plastic soul '' of `` Young Americans '' was his strange response to the sound of black America and `` Station to Station , '' recorded in cocaine-maddened seclusion in Los Angeles in the guise of the `` Thin White Duke , '' presaged his return to Europe . Remarkably , these page-turning albums emerged at the rate of around one a year . The only possible comparison in terms of creative momentum is the Beatles , and there were four of them . Beyond the records themselves , Bowie 's restless eye for new stimuli , drawn from the worlds of cinema , theatre , fashion and visual art , made him pop 's most imaginative stylist . London 's V & A museum is mounting a major retrospective of his visual work this spring -- rare honor for a pop star . Read more : Bowie back after the bonds . As the artwork of `` he Next Day '' and the lyrics of comeback single `` Where Are We Now ? '' suggest , Bowie 's mystique resides most powerfully in the three albums he recorded in Berlin in the late 70s : `` Low , '' `` Heroes '' and `` Lodger . '' Of all his rebirths this was the most radical , influential and multi-faceted . The Berlin albums are perfectly poised between art and pop , containing both avant-garde enigmas like `` Warszawa '' and glorious , gripping songs like the title track of `` Heroes , '' which sounded not at all out of place , 35 years later , as Team GB 's Olympic anthem . Brian Eno , who worked on Bowie 's Berlin trilogy , once compared rock music to a blank sheet of paper that was rapidly filled in and Bowie did more than anyone in the 70s to colonize that white space . Each record was , to quote one song title , a fantastic voyage , alerting other musicians to new possibilities and charting a path for entire scenes . It 's impossible to imagine the landscape of early 80s pop , for example , without Bowie 's influence , and you can detect his DNA in countless artists , from Pet Shop Boys to Lady Gaga , U2 to Blur , Joy Division to Nine Inch Nails , Franz Ferdinand to LCD Soundsystem . To any musician who worries about reconciling artistic integrity with commercial success , or sonic innovation with emotional truth , Bowie 's 70s work is proof that , with enough talent and judgement , you can have it all . Of course records this good cast a long shadow and , to paraphrase Barnbrook , no matter how much he tried , Bowie could n't break free from the past . While his bad albums in subsequent decades were justly criticized , his good ones were unfairly underrated . Although he remained curious , enthusiastic and eager to take risks right up to 2003 's `` Reality , '' he was punished for no longer reinventing the wheel with each release . As long as Bowie was still recording regularly , all but his most devoted fans took him for granted . They wo n't be making that mistake again . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dorian Lynskey .
David Bowie stuns rock world by releasing first new album in 10 years . Bowie released string of hit singles in 1970s , says Dorian Lynskey . Lynskey : This fine artist cast long shadow ; a prisoner of conscience ? Critics will never take him for granted again , says Lynskey .