The precursor to Bowie's masterpiece, The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, Hunky Dory points in many of the same musical directions as... read more

The precursor to Bowie's masterpiece, The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, Hunky Dory points in many of the same musical directions as Ziggy, with Bowie camping it up outrageously through a mixture of cabaret piano, coquettish lyrics and soaring vocals. After the hard rock "The Man Who Sold The World", Mick Ronson's guitar is turned down in favour of plenty of piano and acoustic guitar, as Bowie proves his mettle as a masterful singer-songwriter. Not a dull note is struck on the whole album, which flits from opener "Changes" to the vampy "Oh! You Pretty Thing" to the heart-wrenching "Life On Mars" with a seemingly impeccable ear for a tune. Flirty, sexy and irresistibly seductive. --Amber Cowan (hide)

After flirting with heavy guitar rock ("The Man Who Sold the World") and lighter pop ("Hunky Dory"), Bowie found middle ground on Ziggy Stardust. The creation of the... read more

After flirting with heavy guitar rock ("The Man Who Sold the World") and lighter pop ("Hunky Dory"), Bowie found middle ground on Ziggy Stardust. The creation of the Ziggy Stardust persona would live on well after Bowie shed the alien skin, marking the first rock concept album by a sexually ambiguous, artistically bent musician who confounded critics at every turn. A blend of dramatic strings, swaggering saxophones, jagged guitars, and theatrical arrangements, the album's darker rock numbers like "It Ain't Easy," "Moonage Daydream," "Ziggy Stardust," and the irresistible "Suffragette City," still serve as solid excursions into the future (then and now) of rock. The buoyant "Hang on to Yourself" and the dreamy "Star" offer hints of optimism in Ziggy's bleak world. The dramatic "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" and the image-heavy "Star Man" ("he'd like to come and meet us but thinks he'd blow our minds!") no doubt provided plenty of stage-worthy moments when Ziggy toured in the '70s, but years later they still thrill. Bowie blew our minds! --Lorry Fleming (hide)

David Bowie returned to recording after a four-year break with this relatively clean-cut 1983 album. Although offering another definite new direction for Bowie, with Nile Rodgers of Chic... read more

David Bowie returned to recording after a four-year break with this relatively clean-cut 1983 album. Although offering another definite new direction for Bowie, with Nile Rodgers of Chic helping to produce a stylish post-disco dance sound, Let's Dance is a mixed bag. Much of the album's success was due to its three danceable hit singles--"China Girl," a sensuous Bowie/Iggy Pop collaboration, the distinctive "Modern Love," and the funky title track. However, much of the rest of the album is bland and vapid, marking the start of serious decline in Bowie's songwriting skills. A cover of Metro's "Criminal World" and "Cat People" are the only other strong tracks here. --James Swift (hide)

Always up for messing with the formal expectations of rock, Bowie teamed up with Brian Eno for three frustrating but compelling albums, starting with Low. Treated instruments are... read more

Always up for messing with the formal expectations of rock, Bowie teamed up with Brian Eno for three frustrating but compelling albums, starting with Low. Treated instruments are claustrophobically crowded together, and Bowie's voice leaps in and out of the mix seemingly at will. Where it seems like it might show up, it's replaced by wailing synths or nothing at all, and it vanishes altogether from most of the second half-- a series of long, menacing, barely mobile synth explorations. To prove that they could make pop out of these herky-jerky mix tricks, they pull off "Sound And Vision" in the middle of the disc, but the essence of Low is that the "star" is either absent or alarmingly in your face. --Douglas Wolk (hide)

Though one of rock's most influential figures, David Bowie's accomplishments are pocked by some distinct ironies. His willful efforts at being a musical and visual chameleon spurred triumphs... read more

Though one of rock's most influential figures, David Bowie's accomplishments are pocked by some distinct ironies. His willful efforts at being a musical and visual chameleon spurred triumphs in genres as diverse as folk, glam, new wave, and electronica. Given the dizzying range and success of his '70s incarnations--from Ziggy to the Thin White Duke to the gaunt, goth-cypher of Low and Heroes--he seemed the artist most well-equipped to weather the changing tides of taste and trend, yet saw his career essentially shrink to cult status after scoring his biggest triumphs when he reshaped the soulless, dance-oriented club music of the early '80s into his own image. This 20-track compilation does little to address the Chinese puzzle that has been Bowie's post-'85 career, but it does deliver an artistically dizzying slate of hits as it skips from one early peak to the next, from evocative cabaret ("Space Oddity," "Changes") through muscular glam-rock ("Suffragette City," "The Jean Genie") to R&B ("Young Americans," "Fame") and post-punk flirtations ("Ashes to Ashes," "Fashion") to the dance-club hits ("Let's Dance," "China Girl," "Modern Love") and '80s one-off duets ("Under Pressure" with Queen, "Dancing in the Streets" with Mick Jagger) that essentially marked the end of his superstar reign. Whole eras and at least one classic '70s album (Low) go completely unaddressed, but all of Bowie's signature hits are here, as well as Earthling's powerful, underappreciated "I'm Afraid of Americans." --Jerry McCulley (hide)

One of Bowie's more stellar moments working with Brian Eno, Heroes again sees the artist moving into barely chartered waters (at that point, 1977), creating moving, emotive rock... read more

One of Bowie's more stellar moments working with Brian Eno, Heroes again sees the artist moving into barely chartered waters (at that point, 1977), creating moving, emotive rock and putting it right up against some very detached and futuristic synthesized sounds. The collection opens with a ferocious rocker, courtesy of Robert Fripp's taut, snarling guitars ("Beauty and the Beast"), and then slides into the roar of "Joe the Lion" without missing a beat. Bowie's vocals have rarely sounded as desperate as they are on "Heroes," the anguished "Blackout" rages on a peculiarly up beat, and suddenly the listener finds they've slipped into a parallel world of icy soundscapes. The next four tracks present glassy synthesizers, stark piano, the ping of Asian-styled guitars, and other styles presumably left over or influenced by the Low recordings. The delicate "Moss Garden" is particularly beautiful, and "Sense of Doubt" is brooding and ominous. The closer, "The Secret Life of Arabia," moves with the rhythm of a snake charmer, and Bowie's vocals are irrepressibly intoxicating. Challenging, and worth the effort. --Lorry Fleming (hide)

This 1969 release features David Bowie's first hit single, "Space Oddity," and sets the tone for the spacey Ziggy Stardust to come. But other than the title track,... read more

This 1969 release features David Bowie's first hit single, "Space Oddity," and sets the tone for the spacey Ziggy Stardust to come. But other than the title track, Space Oddity isn't a glam-rock album. For that phase, one must move ahead to 1970's The Man Who Sold the World. These folk-based tracks largely present Bowie as a surrealist singer-songwriter. The uncharacteristically bitter and sarcastic "Letter to Hermione" is the most impassioned track here, presenting, as it does, the angry side of this master of cool. While still earlier recordings are noted for their Anthony Newley affectations, Space Oddity is where the Bowie myth begins to take shape. --Rob O'Connor (hide)

The 1976 best-of Changesonebowie (slyly named for a Charles Mingus disc issued the previous year) was the Thin White Duke's last major commercial hit of the decade. Collecting... read more

The 1976 best-of Changesonebowie (slyly named for a Charles Mingus disc issued the previous year) was the Thin White Duke's last major commercial hit of the decade. Collecting famed singles and album cuts from an amazingly fertile period, it clicked both with those who got into Bowie through his mainstream popularity and with the crowd who loved him for his challenge to it. This expanded edition goes forward from "Golden Years," the original closer, with a hopscotch through later radio favorites like "Let's Dance." Flaws? A remixed "Fame '90" that already sounded dated when it was new, and the disc's omission of almost all of Bowie's collaborations with Brian Eno. The upside? A generally smart update of a key compilation. --Rickey Wright (hide)

After the success of the dance hits "Fame" and "Young Americans" (both off 1975's Young Americans), Bowie seemed to step back, ponder the future of rock, and then... read more

After the success of the dance hits "Fame" and "Young Americans" (both off 1975's Young Americans), Bowie seemed to step back, ponder the future of rock, and then turn up the guitars and the art-rock sensibilities and make a completely engaging and evocative album. From the epic title track (introducing the Thin White Duke character and building into an incendiary rocker) to the irresistible "Golden Years" (another dance hit) and on to the physically wrenching and funk-drenched "Stay," the soul of David Bowie is pretty much meshed into every track. The playful "TVC15" takes the listener on a bumpy ride into unholy tech-love, and the gorgeous "Wild is the Wind" and "Word on a Wing" have Bowie stepping out of his rocker persona and into sensual crooner mode. Strong from beginning to end. --Lorry Fleming (hide)

Some would argue that this is the last great Bowie album, and certainly his only great album of the '80s. While it lacked the bite of its punk... read more

Some would argue that this is the last great Bowie album, and certainly his only great album of the '80s. While it lacked the bite of its punk brethren at the time, it appealed to some fans of that genre and to middle-of-the-road rockers as well. Muscular playing met with no-frills production, and the product as a whole was infused with a gloriously arty style. "It's No Game (Part I)" opens the album, and is sung in Japanese, and "It's No Game (Part II)" closes, in English. New York punker Tom Verlaine even contributed a track ("Kingdom Come"), and "Scream Like a Baby" tells a dark and violent story with a howl. The drug-oriented "Ashes to Ashes" confesses that Major Tom was a junky while sounding all sleek and alluring, and the dance floor hit "Fashion" took aim at its very subject. The crowning jewel is the title track, with Robert Fripp's guitar ripping the place up at a relentless pace. It's been a long time since Bowie sounded this inspired. --Lorry Fleming (hide)

The second most important moment in Bowie's glam period, Aladdin Sane is full of smart, cutting-edge songs that hold up decades later as classic moments in rock. Standout... read more

The second most important moment in Bowie's glam period, Aladdin Sane is full of smart, cutting-edge songs that hold up decades later as classic moments in rock. Standout tracks include "Panic in Detroit," with Mick Ronson's screaming guitars and Mick Woodmansey's urgent drumming; "Watch that Man," a piano-driven, rollicking number perfect for the Bowie strut; the lascivious and sweaty "Cracked Actor"; the punky "Jean Genie"; and a perfectly raucous cover of "Let's Spend the Night Together." "Time" hearkens back to the theatrics of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, while "Drive in Saturday," "The Prettiest Star," and "Lady Grinning Soul" serve as precursors to Bowie's "plastic soul" sounds that came later in the '70s. Aladdin Sane is even more impressive when considering that the same year this album was made, Bowie was also working with artists like Iggy Pop and Lou Reed, producing some of their most heralded works (the Stooges' Raw Power and Reed's Transformer). --Lorry Fleming (hide)