|
|
Post by Lord Emsworth on Apr 21, 2020 9:48:13 GMT
It's an album I never tire of. Everytime a copy comes into the shop, it is lovingly cleaned, the flimsy lyric inner sleeve has its creases smoothed out and finally play tested in its entirety. The original orange RCA presses are usually only in the rack a couple of days before they're snapped up, later issues a week or so. It Ain't Easy is a decent tune but not fitting the loose narrative. Sometimes I wonder why, with Bowie being so prolific, he included anothers song on the album? With hindsight, Sweet Head may been a better choice. Sweet Head would get my vote - wish he'd recorded it properly
Out of interest how much does an orginal RCA pressing of Ziggy in good nick go for these days?
One of these days I'm going to get rid of a load of vinyl as I don't even have a record player
|
|
|
|
Post by Lord Emsworth on Apr 21, 2020 9:48:35 GMT
Today I'm listening to Tin Machine II (more of which soon) and, to have a break, I've also been listening to and loving.... Santa Monica '72 It's a stunner. Probably my favourite Bowie live album.
The group were on fire - especially Mick Ronson who gives it everything and sounds amazing. Listening to him on Width of a Circle is worth the price of admission alone
The Spiders, what a wonderful group. I think live was probably the natural setting for a lot of the early 70s tunes
What a set list eh...? Introduction
Hang On To Yourself
Ziggy Stardust
Changes
The Supermen
Life On Mars?
Five Years
Space Oddity
Andy Warhol
My Death
The Width Of A Circle
Queen Bitch
Moonage Daydream
John, I'm Only Dancing
Waiting For The Man
The Jean Genie
Suffragette City
Rock 'N' Roll Suicide
|
|
|
|
Post by personunknown on Apr 21, 2020 10:59:53 GMT
Ziggy original in good playable condition £25/30, higher end prices for you affluent Southerners. However, there is a first press without the Mainman logo on the rear sleeve and a particular matrix number on the disc runout which goes for £200+. For Bowie completists only really but check your copy before you sell.
Santa Monica, not released officially until about 10 years ago? Pretty sure a friend had a bootleg copy back in the day. Far superior to the dull David Live and the average On Stage, possibly because it was a fixed band at the top of their game rather than drafted in musicians.
|
|
|
|
Post by Lord Emsworth on Apr 22, 2020 15:06:47 GMT
Tin Machine II Listening to this, an album I paid little heed to at the time, it’s no suprise that it was effectively Tin Machine's swansong
It’s competent, but generally feels empty and uninspired, however there are a few have decent tracks…
Baby Universal
Amlapura
Goodbye Mr Ed
…which made my Definitive playlist
Sorry is probably the worst song Tin Machine ever made, which is really saying something
|
|
|
|
Post by Lord Emsworth on Apr 24, 2020 16:01:04 GMT
Hunky Dory (1971)
One of the first proper LPs I ever bought and still one of the best. I love this album so much. The perfect listening experience.
Every track went straight onto the definitive playlist - including Bombers which was left off the original album in favour of Fill Your Heart
|
|
|
|
Post by personunknown on Apr 24, 2020 19:56:17 GMT
You could run out of superlatives trying to describe this album. His most versatile work ever, the sleaze rock of Queen Bitch to the country twang of 8 Line Poem. Quicksand and Bewlay Brothers anthems and littered with classic singles for him and Peter Noone! Should Bombers have replaced Fill Your Heart? Minor quibble, Bombers is included on the CD release anyway.
Kooks has a special place in my heart. My daughter came home from school after a stressful day and I took her off to Skegness (40 miles from Lincoln) for the amusement arcades and a bag of chips.
And if the homework brings you down
Then we'll throw it on the fire
And take the car downtown
|
|
|
|
Post by Lord Emsworth on Apr 26, 2020 12:22:30 GMT
Heathen (2002)A bit like Hours, this is Bowie looking backwards and the result is a mature and consistent album. If that sounds like feint praise it’s not to be. It’s a rock solid Bowie, well crafted album which is always a good thing. Tunes I added to my David Bowie Definitive playlist…. Sunday (Moby Remix) Cactus Slow Burn Afraid I Took a Trip on a Gemini Spaceship Everyone Says "Hi" Panic In Detroit (Outtake From A 1979 Recording) Wood Jackson
|
|
|
|
Post by Lord Emsworth on Apr 27, 2020 15:22:35 GMT
Diamond Dogs (1974)
I love this dark and strange album which captures the moment DB was saying goodbye to glam and hello to soul and funk. I love it all.
The concept might be a little confused but the songwriting is right up there with his very best
Every song* makes the DB definitive playlist, of course….
Diamond Dogs
Sweet Thing/Candidate
Rebel Rebel
Rock n Roll With Me
1984
Big Brother
We Are The Dead
*Well okay I left off Future Legend and Chant, and added a few extras from the deluxe version not least the alternative demo version of Candidate which he did for the proposed musical that never came to pass (thanks a lot Sonia Orwell)
This ain’t rock n roll this is genocide |
|
|
|
Post by Lord Emsworth on Apr 28, 2020 9:02:30 GMT
![]()   David Live (1974) / Stage (1978) I’ve been listening to both these live albums in amongst the other albums. I have owned them both for years but not played either of them for eons. Bowie famously called David Live “David Bowie is Alive and Well and Living Only in Theory”Both these albums are great snapshots and actually both sounded better than I had remembered David Live captures the moment Bowie was shifting into the soul and funk of Young Americans and Station To Station, and is loaded with Diamond Dogs tunes (a personal favourite) but the older stuff is often markedly different including an almost R&B version of Rock n Roll Suicide Stage is a better album and, in a 2005 reissue, has the songs in the order they were played and as such it opens with Warszawa. Stage features quite a few (then new) Low and Heroes tunes and the band attack them with relish. I really like these versions. And there’s a wonderful version of Stay (though it’s hard not to a bad version of that classic). To my surprise I’ll be playing both of these again soon, and again, and... |
|
|
|
Post by personunknown on Apr 28, 2020 14:02:34 GMT
Never got on with David Live, absolutely no need to reread the classics in that way. Must revisit On Stage sometime, just remember it as good album, not much more.
|
|
|
|
Post by Lord Emsworth on Apr 28, 2020 15:17:26 GMT
I'd be interested in your reaction to Stage - checkout the 2005 version which has the songs in their original order and doubtless a bit of sonic jiggerypokery too
|
|
|
|
Post by Lord Emsworth on Apr 29, 2020 14:01:12 GMT
We've already discussed Pin Ups however..... David Bowie - Pin Ups (1973)
Usually dismissed as “just a covers album” - it’s a criticism that surely misses the point of music?
David Bowie is having a lot of fun here, which gives the songs a real bite and joie de vivre.
He’s also one of the greatest interpreters of other people’s songs. Virtually all his cover versions work on their own terms and add something new.
Fun from start to finish. I’ve always loved it and always will. A good cover version is something to cherish and not disparage.
Bowie's version of ‘Sorrow’ is sublime
Tracks with made the Definitive playlist…
Rosalyn, Here Comes The Night, See Emily Play, Friday On My Mind, Sorrow, I Can’t Explain, Where Have All The Good Times Gone, Don’t Bring Me Down, Shape of Things, and Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
|
|
|
|
Post by Lord Emsworth on Apr 30, 2020 15:19:50 GMT
David Bowie - Station To Station (1976) A superb album and all six tracks are stunners.
How did Bowie manage it given his lifestyle choices? Obviously the production is immaculate, and the musicians are on fire but, above all, it’s the songwriting and arrangements that really shine through It’s also a transitional recording which links the soul and funk of Young Americans to the European influences which were even more obvious on the Berlin Trilogy…. ….the European canon is nearEvery song is a winner and, of course, all went on to my definitive playlist Stay and Station To Station are particular favourites |
|
|
|
Post by personunknown on Apr 30, 2020 16:45:21 GMT
One that I sometimes overlook for some reason. Possibly because I never had it when it was first released and I only ever heard it at friend's houses, my loss. Excellent album with varying styles from the prog length of the title into soul of Golden Years. My fave is the haunting, swirling closer of Wild is the Wind. Don't see many copies of this second hand.
|
|
|
|
Post by jsm on Apr 30, 2020 22:19:21 GMT
^ Second-hand vinyl is extremely difficult to find where I live. This is the only Bowie album I have ever found. Got it for $2 if memory serves
|
|
