I'm not a huge bowie fan, but I've jacked a number of his albums from my library (I just haven't digested all of them yet). anyway I was wondering if there's an undisputed masterpiece/s among bowie fans the way all or most prince fans agree that Sign O' the Times and Purple Rain are his best.

I'd say that the general consensus is probably on Low or "Heroes". They are two incredible albums that spawned countless imitators. Listen to 'Always Crashing in the Same Car' and realize where Trent Reznor got his sound/image from.

Along with those two, I'd also consider Station to Station and Scary Monsters(and Super Creeps) as Bowie's best albums.

jacktheimprovident said:

Jack those albums back and go down to the shops and buy the following:

Young Americans
Station to Station
Low
Scary Monsters
Outside
Diamond Dogs
Aladdin Sane
Ziggy Stardust
Heroes
Stage

Also worth tracking down are Iggy Pop's The Idiot and Lust For Life.

When you're done I recommend you get into The Ramones.

Aladdin Sane, in my opinion. Although Low is right up there... and Station to STation.

But if i had to pick one, Aladdin Sane would be it.

i think an easier question to answer is, what bowie albums should you NOT start out with...because in my opinion, whichever of his classic albums you dig into first is going to color the way you appreciate all the rest of his music.

that said, hold off on 'never let me down', 'tin machine II', 'oy vey baby' and the 'labyrinth' motion picture soundtrack.

and find yourself anything that he did in the '70s, on up to 'let's dance', or anything he did in the '90s after 'black tie white noise' - you'll be in good shape.

JonSnow said:

I agree with these...all higly addictive albums..
i really like don't like 'Heroes' that much..
I'd pick the underrated 'Lodger' over that one...
'Scary Monster' is very overrated imo..

& the modern Bowie classics, according 2 moi r:

1.Outside
Earthling
Heathen

there are three albums that the music critics and myself would say are his greatest, they would be hunky dory, ziggy stardust and low. all three have moments of genuis but if someone was looking to buy their first bowie album then i would recommend ziggy.

Low is his best. Ziggy is his greatest. Analogous to SOTT and Purple Rain with Prince.

If you're getting serious about collecting him, I always tell people to start with Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust and work your way forward through his 70's albums. You can see Bowie's (and rock music in general) evolve from year to year. It's really quite breathtaking.

Yea, You should start with .....Ziggy Stardust....., I'm one of those who rocks Let's Dance all the time, so what do I know.(takes me to the church on time ) You should also cross reference your Bowie with Iggy produced Bowie and do a china girl double dip like I often do.

lilgish said:

i was groovin' hard to 'criminal world' the other day...

Anxiety said:

Where the boys are like baby-faced girls

GangstaFam said:

that song's creepy. it sounds like what my memories of the early 80s feel like, if that makes sense. kind of vivid but kind of murky at the same time, cheery and dark at the same time.

Anxiety said:

Yeah, I know what you mean. Like how could a song like "Lady Cab Driver" be so fucking cool and fun but so evil at the same time?

S2S

I think it's generally viewed as the ugly duckling of the Eno albums, but my favourite Bowie is Lodger - Look Back In Anger and Fantastic Voyage in particular.

damosuzuki said:

i love all three of those albums, and lodger definitely gets love from me. i have a poster of the cover art in my kitchen! (very appetizing, no? )

Anxiety said:

From Station to Station through Scary Monsters, he could do no wrong. I'm actually not a huge Bowie fan (I don't even own a copy of Ziggy anymore), but that era is just...I dunno, radiant.

I am a massive Eno fan. I love the Bowie collabs as a slightly more user-friendly adjunct to Eno's albums from that era.

damosuzuki said:

i love eno's stuff with bowie and eno's stuff with david byrne and the talking heads, taken all as a whole. i think there are songs from the eno-bowie albums that sound at home on 'fear of music', and vice versa with some of the eno-heads work. i ADORE 'my life in the bush of ghosts' - i've had that album for years, and i'm still digesting it.

as for his solo stuff, i like his ambient albums, but i have a hard time with his 'pop' solo stuff. it's a little too...i dunno...twee?...for me. though there are songs from those albums i do really dig on.

i think there are songs from the eno-bowie albums that sound at home on 'fear of music', and vice versa with some of the eno-heads work.

Yeah - you can almost think of those albums as being part of a whole.

i ADORE 'my life in the bush of ghosts' - i've had that album for years, and i'm still digesting it.

I picked that up...errr...maybe four months ago? Oddly, I haven't really paid too much attention to it - I like it well enough when it's on, but nothing from it has really stuck with me yet. I'm sure it'll happen one of these times.

as for his solo stuff, i like his ambient albums, but i have a hard time with his 'pop' solo stuff. it's a little too...i dunno...twee?...for me. though there are songs from those albums i do really dig on.

I really love everything he did up until 79 or so, ambient and pop. Though I do think all of the pop albums are flawed, they have some incredible material on them. The True Wheel from Taking Tiger Mountain is one of my favourite songs. I'm not even going to attempt to explain why, cuz I know it's just a dopey little throw-away track, but I find that song endlessly entertaining.

damosuzuki said:

you should share a list of the eno songs you really like from the recently-reissued solo pop albums...i'm making a point to get them, just because i kinda feel like i oughtta have 'em and that i'll appreciate them someday...but i just get lost listening to them, except for like 'third uncle', just because of the bauhaus connection.

Anxiety said:

I really view Lodger and Fear of Music as different sides of the same coin. I think I remember reading that Byrne tried to sing some of the songs on Fear of Music as Bowie would've.

It's a shame that they didn't all get together and release something; there was definitely something in the water. It could've been incredible.

damosuzuki said:

Spoken like a true Fall-fan. Go for the oblique one, the one no one likes. Very surprised Mark E Smith hasn't done a cover of "African Nite Flights" or "Yassassin" yet.

"Lodger" is ok, some great moments (did you know Fantastic Voyage isd All the Young dudes played backwards? - you did? ok), but it also has some lukewarm tosh to balance it out.

damosuzuki said:

I love Eno's vocal albums, but a lot of those "ambient" albums are the sort of thing you could make up and record in the bath.

Shapeshifter said:

have you done that? if so, i'd love to hear your work!

All of Bowie's album are incredible and have identity (something that doesn't happen with those hip-hop albums these days!)...The Best has to be LOW

Anxiety said:

Bring the bubble bath, baby ... Ur, you are female, right?

BeatsPerMinute said:

Agree with you there. They all have at least one great song on them too, even outright stinkers like "Tonight", "Never Let Me Down" and "Reality".

Low & Hunky Dory are my faves.

For me it's a tie between "Low" and "1.Outside".
Probably "Low" is the best but "1.Outside" is simply amazing!

This is so hard...
...but here we go.

at the moment my top 5 would be:

1 Hunky Dory
2 Scary Monsters (and super creeps)
3 David live
4 Young Americans
5 Lodger