Well, most of Bowie's albums post-Tin Machine have been pretty "solid" actually, just overlooked. Heathen, for instance, is a great record which ranks with his best - as does the new one. I loved 8 of the 14 tracks after just a couple of listens. Yes, it mines much the same territory as the Reality, Hours, etc, but its far fresher and has better songs. The two singles, Valentine's Day and You Feel So Lonely You Could Die will become Bowie staples at the very least.
I agree it's annoying that people are suddenly jumping on the Bowie bandwagon just because he's been away for a long time, but it's the Quarry effect if you like. Visconti has said they were working on the album on and off for two years, not ten btw, and mostly it seems to be getting 4 star reviews which seems fair - the second half sags a little after the first. Odd though that you want to criticise the fact that an excellent album is getting a great critical reception. Anyway, if you're (very begrudgingly) giving the album 8/10 you're only really proving that it must be very good indeed.