"Heathen marks a new beginning for David Bowie in some ways - it's his first record since leaving Virgin, his first for Columbia Records, his first for his new label, ISO - yet it's hardly a new musical direction. Like Hours, this finds Bowie sifting through the sounds of his past, completely at ease with his legacy, crafting a colorful, satisfying album that feels like a classic Bowie album ... The result is an understated, utterly satisfying record, his best since Scary Monsters, simply because he'd never sounded as assured and consistent ".