Aladdin Sane

One day though it might as well be someday
You and I will rise up all the way
All because of what you are
The Prettiest Star

...and then that beautiful Ronson solo

is this his "masterpiece"?

The way such a brilliant album ends with such a strange but florid headscratcher as "Lady Grinning Soul."
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, June 24, 2003 11:46 AM (11 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^ worst post in ilx history (sorry ned).

lady grinning soul is my favorite song on this album. the best thing is that you have songs like that and aladdin sane alongside rockers like panic in detroit (which, can we say, has the grooviest percussion it's just so good.) somehow these songs all sounded very cohesive to me this week.

don't like the lyrics to cracked actor or time. the other songs have lyrics that range from unobtrusive to amazing, typical of bowie.
.
this album, full disclosure, used to be the one i didn't "get". i was so stoked to get it in 9th or 10th grade bc i new it followed ziggy which was the one i loved but it just didn't click then.

:)

what's wrong with those lyrics?

first Bowie album I bought, definitely my favorite… to me it’s a quantum leap from Ziggy harmonically, and atmospherically… also his persona and performance is more fluid and it just exudes pure adrenaline whereas Ziggy kind sounds more rehearsed and wooden. It’s looser and sexier. Don’t get me wrong I love Ziggy, the songs on AS just sound more sophisticated, more meaty to me. And one of the great closing tracks for sure. Just like, Aw yeah this is a total classic 70s album <3

is this his "masterpiece"?

I feel bad for sorta dissing Ziggy, because I understand how much that record meant to so many people. how it represented possibilities.. I would have been one of those people if I was around then.

Hunky Dory and Ziggy have a lot of great songs, but I find both the singing and production thin and fussy. This record is more lived-in, spontaneous.
I hate this version of "Let's Spend the Night Together", though, I should replace that with the studio version of "All the Young Dudes" or maybe "John I'm Only Dancing".

I hate this version of "Let's Spend the Night Together"

aw yeah, I have always found it horrible which is weird since I love the Stones' version and love this Bowie period, including most of the covers he made around that time !

This album is a distinct step down for me from and Hunky Dory and Ziggy. It's highs are as the high (Panic, Jean Genie, Lady Grinning Soul, but it seems tired and off-kilter to me and has at least one completely forgettable song (The Prettiest Star) and one that I wish I could forget (Let's Spend the Night Together). I still like it a lot, of course.

I wouldn't say I hate the "Let's Spend the Night Together" cover, but both "All the Young Dudes" and "John I'm Only Dancing" are so far superior to it that either one could replace it and vastly improve the album.

I'd also replace "The Prettiest Star" with the original, slower version, but I guess it would've been weird to stick a single from 1970 onto a 1973 album.

I vastly prefer it to Ziggy. AS just sounds fabulous. I love Ronson turning up the raunch.

I prefer dd to either

I may like this more than Ziggy, but I love Ziggy. Of his glam-era albums, Hunky Dory is possibly my favorite, but I don't see the need to put one down to elevate the other. Those three albums are masterpieces, just flat out great in their own way.

The arrangements and production on this album are a small step up from Hunky Dory and Ziggy imo (not that those albums are slouches at all). But it's been like 20 years since I first heard this album and I STILL want the vocal on "Watch That Man" pushed up, whether it was intentional or not

agree that "Spend the Night" is a big weak link, too cokey in a bad way when the rest of the record is coked up in a good way.

in my youth i was strong on ZS as my fav of the glam era, but since then AS is the one i've gone back to more often & consistently gotten more out of. over the years it's slowly revealed itself as a bit stranger than ZS, with more mysteries to explore. (bird is right though in that thankfully we dont have to pick just one.)

"Let's Spend the Night Together" is so bad it would have been the worst song on Pin-Ups!

I may like this more than Ziggy, but I love Ziggy. Of his glam-era albums, Hunky Dory is possibly my favorite, but I don't see the need to put one down to elevate the other. Those three albums are masterpieces, just flat out great in their own way.

― birdistheword,

You gotta include Diamond Dogs, the best of the bunch after Hunky Dory.

I'm actually not a fan of Diamond Dogs, at least not a huge fan. Some great stuff, but also some stuff I don't particularly like and the whole thing never comes together for me. (The "1984/Dodo" outtake is a favorite though, with Ronson still in the band and applying some nice Shaft-like licks all over the place. In a way it feels like a stronger bridge between the glam rock records and Young Americans.)

On the contrary, it hangs together quite well thanks to the richness of the production. It took me a few years.

Covers are a real blind spot for Bowie in the 70s. I mean pinups is his worst 70s album and every other cover he did (with the exception of wild is the wind maybe) is the worst song on the album

Exception: "It's Hard to Be a Saint...," largely b/c he's having a good time.

The cover of “The Electrician” is fine

Title track and “Drive-In Saturday” are spectacular but I am ambivalent about the rest of this album, especially compared to the sky scraping heights of the previous two

I’m of the opinion that Pin-Ups is fine tho

xxxp I didn't really mean the production or the overall sound, more the songs and the concept which never really sustained itself for me - maybe there's too many things that are too familiar (I'm not sure it would've helped had he been able to license 1984 either) but whenever I've sat through the whole thing as an active listener, it feels like a slog. The stuff I like I most I enjoy out of context.

As for the covers, I kind of enjoy Pin Ups but yeah, they're really hit-or-miss. I think they've always have been - one can probably program a double LP compilation of non-Pin Ups covers where one disc is pretty awesome and the other the pits.

I'll keep trying with Diamond Dogs. It feels like something I should like more just because that whole era of Bowie music means a lot to me, but I always feel a bit disappointed every time I've put it on.

Sweet Thing/Candidate is one of the grandest things he ever accomplished. The mix has so much going on, so rich.

and of course his gloriously terrible, appropriate guitar solos and sax bleats

in the 70s every other cover he did is the worst song on the album

I'd rank "Across the Universe" over "Fascination" or "Right".

The cover of “The Electrician” is fine

"Nite Flights"? I made a post elsewhere describing how Bowie changed one chord in his version and completely modified the balance between the song's verse and chorus.

Diamond Dogs is a crazy attempt to touch all the bases at once; he's trying to uphold his rock 'n' roll and glam "roots", but also do cabaret, soul, prog, funk, sci-fi, apocalypse, Krautrock, etc.

His version "Across the Universe" is the worst cover of any song by anybody, let alone by David Bowie.

otm

IIRC he had Visconti cut out two good songs to make room for "Across the Universe" and "Fame" too. (I think "Fame" by itself could have been shoehorned in without sacrificing any songs - wish they had done that.)

my favorite one on here is the title track, what a performance by mike garson. i do laugh to myself a little during the part of his solo where he interpolates "tequila" by the champs.

His version "Across the Universe" is the worst cover of any song by anybody, let alone by David Bowie.

― Doodles Diamond (Tom D.), Thursday, June 23, 2022 4:07 PM (twenty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

otm

― in places all over the world, real stuff be happening (voodoo chili)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnu61JbAVvQ

i.e. both of you are wrong

"wild is the wind" excepted, its funny how bowie was so good but seemed to have almost a uniquely difficult time recording a half-decent version of anyone else's song. he could only be bowie.

His version "Across the Universe" is the worst cover of any song by anybody, let alone by David Bowie.

― Doodles Diamond (Tom D.)

this to the power of ...

The first couple of minutes of the title track are my favourite Bowie stuff ever.

I agree "God Only Knows" is his worst cover. I also know I'm alone in enjoying his "Across the Universe".

No!

The guitars sound fab.

xxxp yes yes I meant “Nite Flights” ugh

If it counts, I’d argue “Tonight” is his worst cover

what i'd like to know is how we feel about "fill your heart"

Maybe it would be easier to list the good covers? Not necessarily better but ones we enjoy.

"Sorrow," "Kingdom Come," the Velvets stuff done live, "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday," "China Girl" (if that counts), "Cactus," "I've Been Waiting for You," "Pablo Picasso"...

I actually quite like Fill Your Heart but it's still probably the worst song on the album, or second tier at least. It's also pretty much the same as the Biff Rose original.

For me, Sorrow and Wild is the Wind are the only standout Bowie covers. The rest don't add much, or anything at all, to the Bowie oeuvre.

I love Lets Spend the Night Together! I didn’t realize most aren’t that fond of it. It sounds unhinged in just the right way, overloaded and horny.

I think it works in the context of the album, plus I love the “DO IT” part with mick ronson’s motorcycle revving

god, "wild is the wind" is SUCH a slog. the three-minute single edit is plenty

I love Lets Spend the Night Together! I didn’t realize most aren’t that fond of it. It sounds unhinged in just the right way, overloaded and horny.

I agree. I’d argue that there’s a worse Stones cover on Diamond Dogs (I have no love for “Rebel Rebel” except that it’s on the radio often and I like to be reminded of Bowie)

I always forget that “The Jean Genie” is on this. I love that song

I slag on Diamond Dogs a lot but isn't it the first album since early days that Bowie made without Ronson? If so, I gotta cut it some more slack

Bowie wrote a song so similar to Scott Walker

afaic, one of Scott Walker's greatest achievements was proxy-teaching Bowie his latter-day technique. Bowie from Buddha onward is like... my favourite singer. I prefer Bowie-doing-Walker to Walker-doing-Walker, oftentimes; Walker tends to get a little too Phantom Of The Opera at times

xp I believe so. That's one reason I mentioned "1984/Dodo" which was early enough to be recorded with Ronson. You get rid of "Dodo" and it's more or less the same song and arrangement as what's on the album, but Ronson's guitar part was also my favorite and that's completely gone.

One of my favourite things is Scott Walker wishing Bowie a happy 50th birthday and Bowie starts crying

I mean, it's famous, but here it is in case anybody missed it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V01oQ_BsX00