New to Bowie: Where Should I Start?

[40footwolf]

Figured it was about time I should start listening to some David Bowie. From what I've sampled off of his 70's stuff(what I'm assuming is his best ouput), "Heroes" seems to tickle my fancy the most. That said, are there any other Bowie albums that I absolutely HAVE to have?

[Jonathan Bogart]

I started with Ziggy Stardust and worked my way out in both directions from there. That was necessary for me, since at the time I had a lot of unexamined meathead "only hard rock is any good" prejudices floating around in my head. If you're ready to jump into the Berlin Trilogy (in which "Heroes" is the third entry), then go for it: it's Bowie's peak, and one of the peaks of 20th-century pop music.

[Adam C]

I'd have to second Jon's recommendations, if only because my personal knowledge of Bowie's back catalogue is still somewhat limited. The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars has been one of my all-time favourite rock'n'roll albums, and not only features superb material, but flows extremely well. Heroes is a brilliant album too and I think I've grown to like it more than Ziggy (possibly because I became too familiar with the former). A warning though. Only the first half of the album features proper lyrical songs, whereas the second half features instrumentals. (Wonderful ones though.) The first two tracks "Beauty and the Beast" and "Joe the Lion" are also fascinating in the way they highlight the links between modern electronic pop and rhythm & blues.

Also be wary of anything in Bowie's eighties catalogue. Too much of it runs into generic territory and is full of bad creative decisions.

[twilight]

If you're ready to jump into the Berlin Trilogy (in which "Heroes" is the third entry), then go for it: it's Bowie's peak, and one of the peaks of 20th-century pop music.

Don't you mean second entry?

Anyway Jonathon's pretty much on the money.
The best Bowie is Low,"Heroes",Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars.

-Twi

[mattx110]

Hunky Dory is my favorite album, but I'm not a huge Bowie person. I'm usually in it for the guitarplayers, which he's had a few great ones.

Is the (glass?) spider tour on dvd? I'd get that. Gives a nice sampler and there's a giant spider.

[Adam C]

Is the (glass?) spider tour on dvd? I'd get that. Gives a nice sampler and there's a giant spider.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JISvzR4-7iA

Wow. It's no wonder that the Glass Spider tour is widely regarded as a joke. And that's one of his better songs getting dragged through the mud.

[mattx110]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JISvzR4-7iA

Wow. It's no wonder that the Glass Spider tour is widely regarded as a joke. And that's one of his better songs getting dragged through the mud.
Is it wrong I really enjoy it?

[Jonathan Bogart]

Don't you mean second entry?
So I do. I always think of Low and Lodger together because I bought them first.

[40footwolf]

So wait a second. Are they an ACTUAL trilogy? As in, I would be missing out on story and plot if I started listening to Heroes first?

[rick]

It depends on which Bowie you're in the mood for.

Spaceman Bowie, you've got to go with Hunky Dory

Thin White Duke, then the Lodger.

[Kara Zor El]

I'd say get The Man Who sold the Earth, Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust first off. They came out in that order too. Then Diamond Dogs, Aladdin Sane, and Low. Out of his recent work I'd say go for Heathen, which is a great album.

Ones to avoid until you've got them and all and want to be a completest are, Never Let Me Down and Black Tie/White Noise and the Tin Machine Albums.

I tell you what though. You're in for a treat going off on a Bowie phase.

[twilight]

So wait a second. Are they an ACTUAL trilogy? As in, I would be missing out on story and plot if I started listening to Heroes first?

Nah,just a trio of albums that've come to be known as his Berlin trilogy because parts of them
were recorded while Bowie was living in Berlin and Brian Eno (of Roxy Music and doing lots of production fame) helped him out with them.

It's goes Low,"Heroes",Lodger.

Low and "Heroes" are great.
Lodger...is an acquired taste.

-Twi

[Adam C]

Nah,just a trio of albums that've come to be known as his Berlin trilogy because parts of them
were recorded while Bowie was living in Berlin and Brian Eno (of Roxy Music and doing lots of production fame) helped him out with them.

That and they are stylistically linked by their heavy use of synthesizers and other forms of production that made them pioneers in the development of electronic music in pop.

It's worth keeping in mind Bowie's 70s discography, which All Music Guide or Wikipedia can help to understand. The beginning of his classic period is widely seen as The Man Who Sold the World (1970) with his glam period following roughly in Hunky Dory (1971), Ziggy Stardust (1972), Aladdin Sane (1973), and Diamond Dogs (1974). (Plus a covers album called Pin-ups.) Diamond Dogs was Bowie's attempt to break out of glam, but he wasn't sure where to go. During a tour of America he became fascinated with a style of soul music called Philly Soul and recorded Young Americans (1975) which made him a star in the U.S.

But Bowie became heavily addicted to cocaine, utterly paranoid, meglomaniacal, and downright made. As such the 'plastic soul' sound of Young Americans mutants into a weird hybrid that experiments with some electronics and sounds a bit disco-y in places called Station to Station (1976). After he gets started on cleaning up and regaining his sanity he ends up following on the electronic tendencies of Station to Station with Low (1977), Heroes (1977), Lodger (1979) the 'Berlin Trilogy'. And he tops it off in 1980 with Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) which is supposedly a sort of musical summation of his 70s output.

Then he's quiet until Let's Dance comes out in 1983 and you can safely ignore him, at least until the 1990s, but I'm not as familiar with the music of that period. (Save that it's better than the 80s.)

[Infra-Man]

I'd say start with Hunky Dory. Then hit up Ziggy. Then Low and Heroes and Aladdin Sane.

[leonaozaki]

I'd say start with Hunky Dory. Then hit up Ziggy. Then Low and Heroes and Aladdin Sane.

I agree with all of that except I would replace Heroes with Lodger.

rob

[Ontir]

If you can find the Sound & Vision box set at a good price, that's a great place to start. It gives you a very broad overview of everything Bowie until the late 80's. Rare demos, single versions, "Heroes" in German, and just lots of really good stuff.

[berk]

I'd start with Space Oddity and more or less follow his career in chronological order from there up to Scary Monsters. You can probably skip the two live albums - I don't really have an opinion on them, never having bothered to listen to them much, but most of the material is covered on the studio albums. So, if memory serves, that would leave:

Space Oddity
Man Who Sold the World
Hunky Dory
Ziggy Stardust
Aladdin Sane
Pin-Ups
Diamond Dogs
Fame
Station to Station
Low
Heroes
Lodger
Scary Monsters

All of which I strongly recommend. But if you want my short list of what I think is absolutely indispensable:

Man Who Sold the World
Hunky Dory
Ziggy Stardust
Aladdin Sane
Diamond Dogs
Station to Station
Low
Heroes

which isn't really all that much shorter, is it. But his 70s catalogue is just so very strong, it's really hard to whittle it down. Of the eight listed above, I'd rate five as out and out masterpieces - an extraordinary achievement for a single artist, I have to say - and three as just a shade below that level of near perfection. The 80s you can forget other than a couple nice singles (e.g. Modern Love) and one great song, Absolute Beginners; the 90s and 2000s I haven't listened to enough to judge.

[40footwolf]

Just got finished listening to Heroes. I like it a lot; it sort of reminds me of "Remain In Light" meets "Another Green World", if it were to be an album mesh.

I think I'll try for the rest of his Berlin Trilogy.

[howyadoin]

So wait a second. Are they an ACTUAL trilogy? As in, I would be missing out on story and plot if I started listening to Heroes first?They're records, not comics.

But Bowie became heavily addicted to cocaine, utterly paranoid, meglomaniacal, and downright made."Made"?

[mattx110]

They're records, not comics.

"Made"?
"Bowie, you're money, you know that? You're fucking money"

[rick]

But Bowie became heavily addicted to cocaine, utterly paranoid, meglomaniacal, and downright mad.


Hell, Adam back in the '70's, we just called that Tuesday.

[Adam C]

"Made"?

God. What's worst is how frequently I make ill-timed spelling mistakes like that. -_-'

Hell, Adam back in the '70's, we just called that Tuesday.

I can only imagine how bizarre and downright alien this strange epoch you call "the '70s" was. Tell me did the men of the '70s walk many leagues taller, consume quantities of cocaine that would fell today's mortals, and grapple with mythical beasts beyond our comprehension?

[rick]

God. What's worst is how frequently I make ill-timed spelling mistakes like that. -_-'



I can only imagine how bizarre and downright alien this strange epoch you call "the '70s" was. Tell me did the men of the '70s walk many leagues taller, consume quantities of cocaine that would fell today's mortals, and grapple with mythical beasts beyond our comprehension?

No on the taller, most certainly yes on the cocaine, and as for mythical beasts, yes, but only if you count Nixon.