What album would you get first?

I'll just hangaround till the Bowie Brigade gets here.

endorphin74 said:

You could start with the (now 3CD) Bowie Greatest Hits: part one ranges from 69-74, then 75-79, and a third one covers the 80s.

My favourite albums are Low and Station To Station...

i'd get something really early and something fairly recent...for example, i'd start with "ziggy stardust" and "heathen", then i'd work my way forward from ziggy...that way, the more you get into bowie's music, the more you can appreciate how he went from the glam-era style to where he is now.

of course, there are great bowie albums pre-ziggy, but i wouldn't start out with them just yet.

This thread reminded me theat Blender magazine is currently reviewing every Bowie CD ever. Part 1: The 60s & 70s is this month (Fall Out Boy cover). 80s and beyond is next month's issue.

You can't go wrong with Ziggy, Station, Heathen, Outside, Low, or Scary Monsters. Reality isn't bad, nor is Earthling, but the former is Bowie trying to revitalize himself by creating a hybrid today's indie (read: strokes) sound and his own, and hte latter is Bowie completely going in a new direction- jungle and drum'n'bass. they're not slouches, but a bit weirder.

Any of his 70s output.

SenseOfDoubt said:

Didn't know he had a new compilation. I'll have to investigate this.

Ziggy Stardust & Hunky Dory are my two favorites.

kidelrich said:

I didnt find that compilation at amazon

bublebath said:

I think it's a British compilation, but I could be wrong. Allmusic.com has it listed.

best you start with a best of to get into his music slowly.
Then prepare yourself for Ziggy Stardust, and slowly follow the path of albums that followed -> Aladin Sane, Diamond Dogs, Young Americans, Station to Station should get you fired up for the Berlin trilogy that is Low, heroes and Lodger

enjoy!!

Hunky Dory is the one and only correct answer

thebige said:

i love hunky dory...it's one of my top faves...but it took a while to warm up to, and other albums caught my ear much faster. i completely recommend HD, but not as a starter.

Anx said:

Are we all meeting back here at rougly the same time next month to continue the neverending Bowie discussion?

Anx said:

See, I'm the other way... It was the first Bowie album I owned and it had me right away. If I had heard Ziggy first or Aladin Sane I wouldn't have gotten into Bowie so much when I did. Hunky Dory made me go "What the fuck? Where did this record come from?" and then I had to get the other albums to see what else was going on. It's just such a grand, deep, excellent record. It provides a cross section of everything he had done and would go on to do, all on one album. It blew me away immediately. But so many of his albums are not quite up to that level, so maybe it's good to stay away from Hunky Dory for a while at first, it'll ruin ya for the rest!

Aladdin Sane is a great place to start. It's the best of the glam-era Bowie, in my opinion. In fact, it might be my favorite of his entire career

Listen to any Jobriath album..

weepingwall said:

the whu??

kidelrich said:

funny how some people dont get it.

I'd say Station to Station. But really, you can't go wrong with ANY of his 70s albums (except maybe for Pin Ups) or Heathen. Better yet, get 15 CD players and buy all his 70s albums and the best 90s/2000s and put them on all at once. Considering that it's Bowie it might actually work.

sextonseven said:

Ooh, I need this.

Anx said:

This is what I usually tell people too. Good call.

NorthernLad said:

i think aladdin sane is a 'richer' album than his other glam-era stuff, especially because of mike garson's presence. but i'm a stubborn bastard - i still think it's cool to hear ziggy first, because it puts 'aladdin sane' into perspective on several levels.


of course, my "gateway" bowie album was "stage", so take my advice as you will...

Ziggy Stardust is one of my least favorite of his great cds. I'd take Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane, and Scary Monsters over it in a second.

kidelrich said:

Me too. Ziggy is a curious in-between-stages product to be honest. It hasn't even quite properly transformed into a glam rock record yet. I'm not even sure whether it is a candid rock record at all, it still has one-foot firmly in that folk-cabaret thing. However, the production on Aladdin Sane is far much more like it.

GangstaFam said:

I'm allergic to Fall Out Boy but I guess I'll check this out.

Anx said:

Mine was "Black Tie, White Noise", so I guess the same thing applies.

But we are the resident superfans.

CinisterCee said:

I like the "every album reviewed" feature. A few months ago (last year?), every Cure album was reviewed which was interesting. The very first issue five years ago, it was every Prince album.

sextonseven said:

Ooh, I need those too! Got a transcript anywhere?