I never thought that this would happen but i am just discovering the true artistic genius of David Bowies back catalogue and have to say that i am floored. I have just bought 2 remastered cds here in the UK at £5.99 each!! , the two being Diamond Dogs and Aladdin Sane. All i can say is that i have not listened to anything else all week, these cds actually got me more excited than when i first started buying Prince stuff. Lets just hope that i chose well and the rest is crap. SAVE ME.
How about you guys, anyone else here a Bowie head, any recommends?. If not go out and discover a genius and buy Diamond Dogs now.

Bowie is awesome. Don't be sad about discovering the diversity and genious of Bowie. He's been putting out records since 1969 and has reinvented himself and his image countless times. He is a rock and roll chameleon.

Might I suggest that you check out the Bowie-Eno period. That would be "Low", "Heroes", and "Lodger". Very cool stuff. I also like "Scary Monsters" alot.

SpaceCity said:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Don't forget what's usually considered his MASTERPIECE: "The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars". The album's been just re-released as a 2CD set, the second disc containing extra material, alternate mixes and B-Sides.

I'd also like to suggest some of his work in the 90's. "Earthling" is a wonderful album, for instance. And I've just purchased his latest CD, "Heathen", which is very VERY nice.

Do I have to say I love Bowie too ?

U can't go wrong with anything before "Let's Dance". After that one, and the Tin Machine, I checked out. In some ways, DB begat Prince, at least in terms of style. Before Bowie, only the New York Dolls and, to a lesser extent, the Stones, had explored androgony like that...

well, I guess Elton John and, of course, Little Richard.

Yes, you can't be better than David Bowie .
"Aladdin Sane" is a masterpiece, but imho, "Diamond Dogs" is just ok .
As mentionned above, The Berlin trilogy ( especially "Low" ), "Scary Monsters" and "Ziggy Stardust" are great .
But don't forget "The Man Who Sold The World", "Hunky Dory", "Young Americans" and The fabulous "Station To Station" .
He issued some very interesting lives too, like "Santa Monica'72", "David Live At The Tower Of Philadelphia", "Stage" ( fabulous gig from the Low/Heroes era ) or "Live At The BBC 2000" .
His 80's albums were disapointing ( even if I like the 1st Tin Machine ) but in the 90's, he issued some of his best albums, as good as "Low" or "Station To Station" .
I'm thinking about :
-"Black Tie, White Noise" in 93 which contains some brilliant songs like "You've Been Around", "The Wedding", "Pallas Athena" or "Nite Flights", a mesmerising cover of a Scott Walker song .
-"Outside" in 95 . Imho, simply the best album he has ever recorded . I own some bootlegs of this era, they are fabulous . Especially those of the American leg of the tour when he was touring with Nine Inch Nails .
NIN concluded their set with the dark and hyptnotic instrumental "Subterraneans" from "Low" when Bowie appeared on stage and played with some of NIN and some of his own musicians supersonics versions of "Scary Monsters", "Reptile" ( NIN ), "Hallo Spaceboy" and "Hurt" ( NIN ) . It was unbelievable !
Then NIN were leaving the stage and Bowie was proceeding with his own incredible show, superior to any Prince tours, even to the Sign O' The Times Shows .
-"Earthling" in 97 . One of his best too .
-"Hours" in 99 . An ok album .
-"Heathen" in 2002 . The more I listen to it, the more I think it is one of his best too .
I attended to the Olympia show, in Paris, on july 1st ( Bowie is on tour since the end of june . He will reach the USA soon for you American people ) .
It was a GREAT concert ! And David, even if he's 55, is in peak form . And his band is sooo great !
The set-list was :
Stay-I've been waiting for you-Breaking glass-Cactus-Slip away-China girl-5.15:The angels have gone-Fashion-Be my wife-Ashes to ashes-Afraid-Changes-Fame-Heroes-Heathen ( the rays )-Everyone says hi'-Hallo spaceboy-Let's dance-I'm afraid of americans-Ziggy stardust
During some other shows, he played most of the songs/instrumentals of ... Low !

did u guys listen to his new album???
please give ur review of it and why u think i should tyr this album. what can i learn from the music,lyrics,vocals,etc.??? thanks.

subyduby said:

...Well, I just listened to it some 4 or 5 times, which is probably not enough times to have a real perspective of the thing ... but I already think is all good. Kinda pleasant, it evokes nice feelings... Hard to explain. Is a bit remaining of his latest, previous discs -but it says something else too.

I don't know dude, it depends on how much money you spend on CDs. You can't certainly go wrong with "Heathen", but then you should ask yourself how selective you are and whether you are a casual listener or not.

goldenpath: You made me mouth-watering with that set list from Paris !! ... Oh, lucky you who got to be there! I wish Bowie would play somewhere near here. Last time (and fist one!) I saw him was in 1997 -LOVED IT!. Believe me, I can relate to your enthusiastic thoughts of Bowie!

I like Bowie too, though I only have Hours and Heathen. I heard so much about him (especially here on this site), I'm going to get some of his back catalogue soon.
But I must say that I saw a concert lately on a german music tv station called onyx and that was rather boring. Don't know then that was from, I think he had rather short blonde/red hair, must be mid-90s, right?

...BTW, he's just been on the german "Harald Schmidt Show" (equal to Letterman or O'Brian, Prince was there in 1999) and he performed "Everybody says 'Hi'", oen of the weaker tracks from Heathen, IMO.

of course bowie's more interestin than p, man!! when'd u wake up? i love me some bowie.

lickerdipper said:

thanks!


well, right now i am listening to celine sing in French.

Yes ,Bowie was and is great. This guy is re-inventing himself more as once. Bowie for that is certainly more diverse as prince is/was. Yes i am a prince fan.

Want another shock? Queen with Freddie M. also has made more relevant albums as prince has.

"Heathen" is FANTASTIC, but a word of warning: chances are, it'll take a while for you to warm up to it. It creeps up on you, as do most of Bowie's albums upon the first few listens. It took me years to finally break down and proclaim my love for the "Diamond Dogs" album, believe it or not, and there are other Bowie songs and albums that I've had in my collection for years, and I'm just recently starting to truly appreciate. "Heathen" is no exception to Bowie's "time release" appeal. I wasn't crazy about it the first week or two, but now I listen to it at least once a day...not even close to my burn-out point with the album, though I'm getting a little tired of "Cactus", believe it or not.

Live Bowie is hit or miss - he's always fantastic to listen to, but sometimes on video he seems to be going through the motions and phoning in his performances. Sometimes, like on the A&E "By Request" show or his 50th Birthday concert, he can set the damn place on fire. All his live albums are fantastic. The "Ziggy Stardust" movie soundtrack, "David Live" and the recent "Bowie at the Beeb" 2000 concert are all great. My favorite of favorites, however, is "Stage", featuring one of his best bands and some great live versions of songs not often performed by Bowie in concert (though I hear that recently, Bowie's been doing a LOT of songs from the 1977 "Low" album...sigh...).

Bowie's my absolute favorite musician/artist/songwriter/performer, period. I was a Prince freak for most of my youth, and I still have a great loyalty to the little guy, but Bowie has managed to keep his work consistently high-quality, challenging and interesting. Gotta love that.

And for a man pushing 60, the man is HOT.

Anxiety,
I totally agree with you .
When I was younger, I was a Prince freak too, then I discovered Bowie with "Black Tie White Noise" ( and after that his back catalogue of course ) in 93 .
Even if I'm still loyal to Prince too ( I'm a npgmc member ), I realised how childish his work can be sometimes, on the contrary of Bowie's .
So I got a little bored of Prince's music and really got into Bowie with "Outside" .
Like you, it took me time to appreciate some of his albums ( I'm just beginning to really appreciate "Young Americans" and "The Man Who Sold The World" and I still never really got into "Diamond Dogs" ) .
When I heard "Heathen" for the fist time, I was not as enthusiastic as I was for "Outside" or "Earthling" .
But now, I can't listen to anything else except some older Bowie stuff : "Low", "Hunky Dory", "Stage" or "Live At The BBC 2000" . Four albums which really fit with the atmosphere of "Heathen" and of Bowie's recent's concerts .
[This message was edited Tue Jul 23 9:50:09 PDT 2002 by goldenpath]

Bowie is great, but if you already listened to Aladdin Sane you won't be floored anymore. His other albums are defenitely NOT crap, but they just don't reach the level of A.S.

If I have to recommand 2 more albums, listen to 'The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars' and 'Space Oddity'.

javed said:

Bowie is Prince's 60's/70's equivalent

My left nut is more interesting than Prince.

EvilWhiteMale said:

Obviously not, since no one but you comes to Prince.org to post about your left nut.

I said it was more interesting, not more well known. I think it's bigger than him too.

Bowie's pathetic. He can't sing, he's ugly, he can't decide if he wants men or women, one eye is a different color than the other, he has bad teeth. He is hopeless.

Spats said:

Aw bless... do they only let u out at weekends?

Love Bowie, but as far as I'm concerned you can't compare people like Bowie and Prince (or Dylan amongst others). they are such masters at what they do it is just a matter of taste. Personally Prince does a lot more for me than Bowie, but Bowie would defintely be second on any spurious list were I obliged to make one.

U have heard some recommendations, now here is a list of Bowie albums u should avoid:

Tonight
Never let me down
Tin Machine
Tin Machine 2
Pin-ups
David Bowie
hours..
Any live album (with the exception of Ziggy Stardust The Motion Picture, but even then.. its not essential)
[This message was edited Mon Jul 29 14:20:22 PDT 2002 by TheSkinMechanic]

Why the fuck should you avoid "hours..."?

It's one of the best.

Bowie is one of the better musicians of our day
but I have seen him in concert twice and Prince has
him beat in this respect by ten miles.

i love bowie. full stop.

i love prince more. FULL FUCKIN STOP.

sojourner said:

I discovered Bowie's catalog after watching Vh1 Legends documentary. His back catalog is extremely diverse and they way he immerses himself into the whole God vs. Alienation of Man notion makes for some real classic sounds. I have the Best of Bowie (imports Singles compilation) and a couple of other compilation albums. Which is the best album of Bowie's to start with?

Regarding Queen, they were truly an underrated group, with a very interesting catalog. Although I don't agree totally with what you stated, they are a real close match. As Prince continues his trip into the world of the JW, I find myself definetly regaining interests in Queen (particularly their 1970's output).

Peace,

I'm going to see Bowie this Saturday!!! Wooo hooo!!!

herbthe4 said:

I Agree, Although everything by Bowie is not
as listenable as Prince. I still would agree
with you.
Favorite Bowie?
I like Blue jean
and Young American
and a bit more.

Big fan of lots of music, so I figured, well- since Bowie seems to be all the rage with the rest of the world, I should check his stuff out. I listened to several of his seventies albums, as well as a best of CD. Some of the songs on the best of CD are cool, but damn, if I don't find Bowie to be plain boring. Sorry, his stuff just does nothing for me.

Well that is a matter of opinion, there are three or four good songs on it, but the rest, to my ears, sounds forced and embarrassing.
I really dont think '..hours' would excite someone new to Bowies music, thats why I included it on the list.