Well I disagree he was relevant "by accident" but I don't know about the rest. I actually personally think Heathen was pretty different from what you'd expect the fans to "want". I mean Sunday, Heathen, A Better Future (though most will disagree with that one), I would Be Your Slave, all to me seem to be at least a bit of a step somewhere else.
On the other hand, IMO Reality is a bit more of what Morrisey describes (don't get me wrong, I do like it). To me though it seems like just a bit of a momentary thing, I wou'dn't say that it's the mean of what Bowie's been doing recently.