As far as I can remember, this was the first Bowie album I ever purchased myself, and other than greatest hits compilations may have been the only one too. I absolutely love it, from the opening intro narration right through to the chilling closer. Not a bad track on it for my money, not even one. Created as a kind of reaction against the denial of the estate of George Orwell to allow him to make a theatrical production of Nineteen Eighty-Four, Bowie's dystopian vision of the future of course borrows heavily from the novel, especially the second side, but there are plenty of his own ideas in here too. Yes, we're missing Mick Ronson, but not being a guitar player I don't really see a big difference and I think it was brave of Bowie to take on not only guitar but also sax and piano duties. It makes this album very much more one of his as opposed to being a “Ziggy” product.
A few people here have referenced the second side being weaker than the first, and of course on side one you have the title track, the wonderful "suite" of "Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (Reprise)" and of course the timeless "Rebel Rebel", so it's hard to match such powerful quality. But I think Bowie does it well. Starts off with a great ballad, something you would not expect in a song entitled “Rock and Roll With Me” - wonderful organ here really gives the song a sense of gravitas and Bowie is on top form vocally. Sure, it sounds a little like “Lean on Me”, but that's another discussion entirely. “We Are the Dead” has a kind of stream-of-consciousness lyrical quality, quite morose and downbeat and then “1984” - love the disco/ELO stylings on this! - kicks things up nicely, linking the two tracks and sliding into “Big Brother”, with some great horn work, where you can really see how the theatrical production would have worked very well on this one. And despite what MicShaz says, I love “Chant of the Ever-Circling Skeletal Family”, a perfect end to the album. On my original vinyl copy the last word just keeps repeating, so yeah, ever-circling indeed. Boo to Orwell's estate for denying us the chance to see this as a full-blown musical. Boo I say!
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