The Smiley Smile Message Board

The Berlin era (Low,Heroes,Lodger) has to be number one on my list but as of late I've been mostly listening to his mainstream 80's stuff.
Sure it's full of gloss but I kind of enjoy the cheesiness. lol

Anyways enjoy this cut from his "worst" album. (according to critics and fans)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_Uyrvp3Ydc

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Early 70s RCA era.

Hunky Dory - Ziggy Stardust - Aladdin Sane - Diamond Dogs.

Can't beat that (imo).

If it has to be eras, then I'd say it's the era when he recorded with Robert Fripp. Albums? Then it's Heroes and Hunky Dory, with several others in hot pursuit. 

Station to Station is my favorite Bowie album.

+1, a masterpiece. Funny that Bowie barely remembers recording it.

So you guys don't enjoy Let's Dance,Tonight or Never Let Me Down?  :lol

Let's Dance is one of the runners-up among my favourites, for sure.* I'm not familiar with either of the others.

* See my signature!

Never listened to it. I probably should, huh?

It is a combination of the soul thing he had going for a few years before and that cold, eerie atmosphere that would be all over Low and Heroes a year later. I get the same vibe from it that I get from late-70's new-wave such as Talking Heads' Fear of Music. The title track is a monster, easily my favourite thing he's ever done, lots of musical ideas and genres blended together. World on a Wing is a beautiful religious/spiritual song, though I've seen it dissed. But I love all songs, really. As a side-note, just a few days ago I made an attempt at choosing my favourite album from each year, and was stuck between Station to Station and Aerosmith's Rocks for '76.

Thanks for that, Ovi. I guess I'll try to cop some Station, then. :brian

Saw Bowie perform it in its entirety many moons ago. Awesome!  

You can check out some of it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwwKHw84ZBM&list=PL93536D0B7A0F806E

Bowie really went downhill after Ziggy. He was such a prolific and inspired composer until that album, but fame really sucked a lot of his creative juice. He began to rely much more on production and his session players in later albums to make up for a lack of material or lack of strong songwriting. Bowie became known for showing up to sessions with only a "few ideas" versus a huge amount of original material.

I don't really like his early work. He just wasn't a very good songwriter to begin with. BUT Hunky Dory is an excellent album but still pales to the masterpiece Ziggy Stardust which is really at the same level as Pepper conceptually and the quality of the hooks. The next few albums suck until Station to Station, but it's only six tracks stretched out to fill an album. Low's also great, and unlike Heroes, it seems the instrumentals were actually composed before recording. Heroes IMO is 80% filler. Beauty and the Beast and Heroes are the only worthy cuts. Scary Monsters is a good album but a little overrated. He was really starting to recycle material at that point. I actually prefer Let's Dance, because the catchiness but the songs are shamelessly long, and two songs are recycled and there's a cover. I love all the material though so I can't really complain.



So I guess the glam era is my favorite.

Spiders From Mars. Mostly because of Trevor Bolder. What an incredible bassist!

The run of albums from The Man Who Sold The World in 1970 to Diamond Dogs in 1974 is freaking awesome (yes, even Pin-ups) . I like just about all of his albums, but that era can't be beat.

I'm torn between 1971-1974 and 1976-1980.

Do any of you guys care about his later albums? (Black Tie White Noise,Outside,Earthling,Heathen,Next Day)  ???
I rarely hear people mention these albums it's like they don't even exist to certain fans.  >:(

I have listened to Heathen and Next Day - and I like both of them. Haven't spent much time with them, though..

My favourate 'era'  :) . His song-writing was strong, his vocals often richer than on the earlier stuff and a nice, ironic sense of humour at times in evidence.

Having said that, Life on Mars and Heroes are absolute classic tracks of the first order.

I care about everything he does, but his rep was made in the 70s, and that's where the real gold is. As far as later albums go, I thought 'The Next Day' was a return-to-form and his best album since 'Low'. 'Reality' was pretty strong, 'Heathens' not so much. 'Outside' (too dark) and 'Never Let Me Down' (too pop) are the worst of the lot even though they each have at least a few worthy songs. 'Black Tie, White Noise' and 'Hours' are mostly good and enjoyable efforts if you're a fan. He's always worth a listen for me.

The two Bowie albums I play the most are Man Who Sold The World and Hunky Dory (1970-1971) but he has had an unusual career full of many highlights. Berlin era would be my second pick with Station To Station included as a prelude.

Outside and Heathen are brilliant.

The Ziggy Stardust years, Young Americans, and Let's Dance

Do you know that's a slight misquote? It's "I know when to go out, I know when to stay in..."

Someone please explain this  ???
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcKrr0s2yuY

Labyrinth soundtrack! 







...just kidding  :lol :lol

I don't understand all the hate "Never Let Me Down" receives. It's full of catchy pop tunes.
It has some quirky bowie moments in there too.

Glass Spider, if that's one of the "quirky moments", is nothing for Bowie to be proud of.

That's the worst song on the album.  :-X

Station To Station is also one of my favorites, bought the super deluxe boxset a couple of years ago. Well worth the money. Besides that I love the Heathen - Reality - Next Day material, as well as Hunky/Ziggy and Low/Heroes-albums. Don't really care for the 80's output except for SMSC.

I enjoyed all the albums you just listed except for Reality. You actually enjoy that album or were you just kidding?  ???
If so, why? lol

Probably because tastes differ "lol"

Early Bowies does little for me, stuff like Gene Genie is so overplayed. I really like Station to Station and Scarey Monsters. Low is pretty good too, I need to check out the other two Berlin records and Young Americans at some point. Just bought Best of Bowie 80-87 and Labyrinth soundtrack as I really fancy a fix of 80's Bowie cheese.

Berlin era + Station to Station