I don't 'get' Bowie at all.

[chick draper]

Actually, he was sober at the time of the "Glass Spider" tour and I am a worshiper, but will accede that it was a bit crap.

[Diamond Dog]

Actually, he was sober at the time of the "Glass Spider" tour and I am a worshiper, but will accede that it was a bit crap.

That whole mid 80s suckfest is poor - no one in their own right mind would deny that. It was Dave making some dough - having been fleeced rotten throughout the 70s. Can we really blame him for doing so??

[bhoywonder]

Actually, he was sober at the time of the "Glass Spider" tour and I am a worshiper, but will accede that it was a bit crap.

That whole mid 80s suckfest is poor - no one in their own right mind would deny that. It was Dave making some dough - having been fleeced rotten throughout the 70s. Can we really blame him for doing so??

Aaaah, so you're beginning to accept that he went shit after the 70s and therefore I am right. Good lad. I knew even a muppet like you couldn't remain that long for beyond just a couple of years. Apology accepted

[Diamond Dog]

In your dreams.......

[bhoywonder]

It's OK Pete, we both know that Bowie's crap, but let's both pretend that you don't think so. Good lad

Up the toffees, eh?

[Diamond Dog]

In your dreams.....

[bhoywonder]

Good lad, that's the spirit, got to keep up appearances!

[Diamond Dog]

In your dreams.........

[Sneelock]

I never like that Glass Spider era stuff but I know Bowie fans who remember those shows fondly. they feel like they got some bang for their bucks. who am I to tell them they didn't?

[Hepcat]

I listened to all of 'The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust' last night, and simply couldn't understand why the thing is so highly rated.

The same applies to every other Bowie album I've ever heard. Not one has done anything for me. He just sounds like a charlatan to me, riding on the coat-tails of his latest producer or collaborator.

Where am I going wrong?

It may be that you're looking for originality which is a scarce commodity indeed in this day and age. Some in fact would argue that it was all done at least a score of times by the time of the great Emperor Vespasian. I'll leave that question to the more learned than myself. I'll just suggest that you flip the LP over to side two and stop thinking so hard. That all too often gets in the way of enjoying the music.

David Bowie



Vespasian

[Diamond Dog]

Vespasian



Ronnie Biggs

[Minnie the Minx]

Well DUUUUUH

[Minnie the Minx]

You're not going wrong at all. You're dead right. Sort of.

Ziggy is a great pop record, has some cracking bits and I thoroughly enjoy it, but only in the same way I enjoy Sheer Heart Attack.

He's the most over-rated artist ever, to these ears. Don't worry about it mate.

Jesus wept. You cloth eared council tit gristler

[Minnie the Minx]

I think once he hit his stride around Hunky Dory he ws pretty brilliant up until Young Americans, which is pretty dull, but then rebounded until Scarey Monsters. He is a bit of a stylistic chameleon but I don't think it was until let's Dance that hestarted chasing whatever was hip in his reinventions. I mean, if you listen to Low or Heroes they both sound years ahead of their time, and I doubt it was all Eno's imput. Same for his glam period- Visconti worked with Bolan as well as Bowie so all credit can't go there. I love T.Rex but if Bowies songs weren't as consistantly strong he's have sank as quickly as Bolan did.

WHT?????

[Minnie the Minx]

i kind of agree myself here,

his albums are pretty far from consistent for the most part.

but then, if you listen to his earlier greatest hits, you'll hear some breath-takingly good songs with some real variety in there.

for a good ratio of decent to flawless album i doubt you can really beat the beatles and led zeppelin.

certainly i dont think his bobness is quite up there, far too much shite. same with bowie.

##

oh my SWEET TITS

[Minnie the Minx]

I could talk at length about my fondness for his music but Im off t' shops in a minute so I will just say this..I fancied him more before he got his teeth done.

Ditto Clive Owen

good lass

[Minnie the Minx]

I pretty much agree with JQW. I was a big fan in the 70's but the records don't hold up too well IMO. I have Hunky Dory & Ziggy Stardust on CD, but haven't played either in years... I think it's been more than a decade since I played any of the others on LP. I just have no interest in his work at this juncture.

The records don't hold up well.
Oh my God.
How did I not see this all before?
Oh my God.

[Minnie the Minx]

Jeth, I can only say that it takes a lot more than riding a producer's coattails to write a song. The shifting of styles is his "hook" but ultimately it's about the many great songs he's written. Listen to them. Forget about trying to follow his "arc" or thinking you're cleverer than he is for figuring him out. The whole chameleon thing is just the surface. There's nothing producer-y about "Life on Mars?" or "Soul Love" or "Rock and Roll Suicide". They're just very good, lyrical songs.

Not everyone is destined to be a Bowie freak like Atomic Loonybin, but there's no denying the man constructed song after song. The way the albums sounded may have had a lot to do with his producers and sidemen, but they didn't write the songs. That was David Bowie's gift, and how he differs from Madonna.

i HEART QUACO

[Minnie the Minx]

Let's say it again, for old times sakes:

From "Man Who Sold The World" up until "Scary Monsters" he released (with an occassional blip - like "Young Americans" & "Lodger"- which were just mildly superb) the greatest run of studio albums by any artist with the exception (maybe) of The Beatles and Led Zeppelin. The truly brilliant ones "Ziggy stardust", "Aladdin Sane", "Diamond Dogs", "Station To Station" and "Low" are quite magnificent and stand out from the vast majority of 'product' within that timescale.
It's a scientific fact guys - I've used my calibrator....

gIZZA KISS PETE

[Minnie the Minx]

Maybe if Bowie had released quality material in the last twenty years I'd feel differently...

Absolutely fucking drives me mad this does. Anyone actually heard the run of albums from Buddha of Suburbia through to Reality? There is plenty of quality material on those albums. OK, maybe Bowie isn't as vital a part of the zeitgeist as much these days, but for a 50 plus bloke those are daring and excellent albums. Some of the material certainly stands muster with his seventies stuff. At least he had the balls to acknowledge that he made some crap records and that he needed to restore his reputation.

Absolute fucking laziness to say he's released nothing of quality since 1983. Mostly from people who can't be bothered to bloody listen.

iM listening now. and you are right.