The Official David Bowie Thread (instrumental, jazz, rock, albums)

[ProggyMan]

Here's some incredible tracks on Hunky Dory, all these I consider classic:
The Belway Brothers
Quicksand
Eight Line Poem
Oh! You Pretty Things
Changes
Life On Mars

[Urban Hat€monger ?]

While we're pissing on Bowie albums I never really liked the Ziggy Stardust album. There's only about 3 or 4 songs I like on it.

[boo boo]

Ziggy Stardust is my favorite Bowie album period, probably Low after that, then Aladdin Sane and then Hunky Dory.

I like the music hall style of Hunky, I know that a lot of people hate it when rock musicians play around with that style of music (like say, Paul McCartney) but I think it's great, Bowie has always been kinda vaudville anyway and to me it's one of his defining albums, I disagree with it being all filler, I think most of the tracks are great.

I strongly disagree that Bowie is weak as an album artist, but he does know how to pick his singles, in fact he has one of the best run of singles of any artist.

[ProggyMan]

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger

While we're pissing on Bowie albums I never really liked the Ziggy Stardust album. There's only about 3 or 4 songs I like on it.

But it does have Rock N' Roll Suicide.

[lucifer_sam]

Originally Posted by Rainard Jalen

loz, dude, just what IS your issue? Like, seriously?

Changes and Life On Mars are fantastic songs. But on the basis of what I know of his early work (with the one exception of The Man Who Sold The World [album]), Bowie is all about the singles/big hitters. The album tracks on Hunky Dory are absolute crud. It's reminiscent of the same crappy music hall tripe that he began his career with.

Aside from that, your claim that I "dislike things just because they're good" is not only arrogant, but completely ignorant of who I am and my tastes in music. Hell, you know WHY I am bothering to listen to Bowie's discography? Because I grown up listening to and loving David Bowie, on the basis of his greatest hits CDs. Liking David Bowie as much as I did/do, I am curious to have a fuller picture of his work. Up to now I am not impressed.

David Bowie is counted among rock's great musicians because of his albums, not his singles. If you want to contest that fact, be my guest. It doesn't make you right. Here's a sampling of his excellent albums (these are just the classics, but feel free to make a list of your own):

The Man Who Sold The World
Hunky Dory
Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
Aladdin Sane
Young Americans
Low
"Heroes"

Hunky Dory is an amazing album which foreshadows the compositional genius in later albums like Ziggy and Aladdin Sane, and is filled to the brim with excellent songs. Writing it off as "tripe" is immature and clearly shows a lack of appreciation for his unique songwriting. What other Bowie albums showcase such a varied portrait of his talents like Hunky Dory? It's probably one of his most widely appreciated albums, and as far as Bowie goes, that's certainly saying something.

If you want to base your experiences with Bowie on a greatest hits CD, I don't see much reason arguing with you.

[Rainard Jalen]

Originally Posted by lucifer_sam

David Bowie is counted among rock's great musicians because of his albums, not his singles. If you want to contest that fact, be my guest.

I was not contesting it. I was merely stating that I don't rate his early material much. By early I'm talking late 60s and early 70s. My view is that in that particular period his main strength as a songwriter were his singles. I'm not going to say that the album tracks are absolute suck - that would be going too far - but there was a great deal of better album music being made over the same period, both in mainstream and more niche markets.

The Man Who Sold The World
Hunky Dory
Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
Aladdin Sane
Young Americans
Low
"Heroes"

I think "The Man Who Sold The World" is a good album for reasons already stated. Young Americans is TERRIBLE! I've even come across Bowiephiles who are only too quick to call that album a mis-step. Low and Heroes don't come into what I'm talking about, because they were later-period Bowie albums. I like both, particularly Low.

Writing it off as "tripe" is immature and clearly shows a lack of appreciation for his unique songwriting.

Why is it immature? It merely reflects my opinion that on the whole it's not a good album. I don't see why disliking a record and using harsh language to describe it would qualify as immature. Please explain yourself further.

If you want to base your experiences with Bowie on a greatest hits CD, I don't see much reason arguing with you.

Presumably you did not understand. I simply said that I came to know Bowie through his singles, and had always been a fan. I was merely establishing that I was not a hater of Bowie, if anything quite the contrary. I'm not a hater now, either. Just, his early work disappoints me and cannot live up to the standards of some of the truly terrific stuff that was being churned out in the early 70s, in all genres.

[lucifer_sam]

His earliest TWO works account for tripe by my account. The s/t was abhorrent, and Space Oddity got him out there, but everything afterwards (you must know that TMWSTW was only his third album) was brilliant. In fact, I think those four albums (TMWSTW, Hunky Dory, Ziggy, and Aladdin Sane) surpass most of his later work (though admittedly the Berlin era was very good too).

I have twenty out of his twenty-five studio works (though Tin Machines could hardly be called solo albums), and I've been impressed by most of them. I actually enjoyed Young Americans and Station to Station. Dunno why everyone else didn't like it...

[boo boo]

Young Americans is fantastic.

If any of Bowies 70s work is worthy of trash talk, then surely it's Diamond Dogs, the only good song on that was Rebel Rebel, really.

[Piss Me Off]

I like Young Americans, must have been a head**** when it came out though, what with going from glam rock to soul like that. It has Fame, which is an instant winner straight there, and i like the Beatles cover.

Station To Station is really brilliant, one of his best opening songs on there.

[lucifer_sam]

Oh, so not everybody actually hated it.

I need to stop listening to what he says.