sallysassalot said:

Station to Station, Lodger and Heroes would all be in my top 10 also.

GangstaFam said:

almost, yeah. i really liked what he was doing then. he managed to get soul, new wave, and rock n'roll all squeezed in...and he managed it perfectly.

sallysassalot said:

Sacré bleu!!!

sallysassalot said:

It's really hard for me to come up with a Bowie list I'm happy with. I find it next to impossible to compare his 70's stuff with what came later. Those records are just so sacred and perfect to me that it's hard to compare anything to them really. And I LOVE almost everything he's done from '93 on. But my brain goes all trying to relate the 2 eras.

GangstaFam said:

i don't compare them. so long as he continues releasing good work, there's no need to. its not...prince, say...where you see someone who could do it but chooses to be lazy. i'm forever comparing prince's latest to his previous works but only because they are such lesser works. there was a time when bowie was sucking donkey balls. outside brought an end to most of that (excluding hours, but i think thats just me).

Just for the sake of discussion, today my top 10 Bowie albums are...

1. Low
2. Ziggy Stardust
3. "Heroes"
4. Lodger
5. Heathen
6. Station To Station
7. Young Americans
8. Aladdin Sane
9. Scary Monsters
10. Diamond Dogs

See! All 70's nearly.

sallysassalot said:

I don't really think Prince lost anything until Emancipation. And even in the decade that followed, I think he's come up with some really nice albums like "The Truth", "Crystal Ball", "One Nite Alone" and "3121". I even like a lot of the side project stuff like "C-Note".

And I don't think it's just you about "Hours". Lots of folks hate that one. I think it's wonderful though. "Thursday's Child", "Survive", "The Dreamers", "New Angels of Promise" and "Something in the Air" are all top-shelf Bowie cuts.

ok, i can't resist. but just be aware the bottom 3 can change at any moment, lol.

station to station
young americans
low
heroes
lodger
scary monsters
aladdin sane
heathen
diamond dogs
outside

GangstaFam said:

i still think prince can do it...i still think he has it. i just think he's wasting it. 3121 is good. musicology is good. i listen to them. i just prefer creativity along the lines of rainbow children, sign o'the times, lovesexy, the truth, under the cherry moon, around the world...that shit makes most of his newer stuff sound...lazy.

sallysassalot said:

I almost put "Outside" in my list too. And "Hours", "Black Tie White Noise", "Earthling" and "Hunky Dory", and...

Station to Station
Ziggy Stardust
Low
Scary Monsters
Aladdin Sane
Heroes
Diamond Dogs
Outside
Hunky Dory

...and I think I'm going to be the only one that feels this way, but I'd put 'Let's Dance' at #10. And if the single version of 'Cat People' were on it, it'd probably be higher.

sallysassalot said:

I do appreciate that he can make a solid pop record still.

After Emancipation, everything has been so specialized - either a highly conceptual piece (Rainbow Children), jazz musings (NEWS), grab bags (NPGMC, Crystal Ball), specific styles (The Truth, ONA), live, whatever. It's nice to have some colorful, fun, pretension-free, mostly solid pop offerings.

It used to be effortless for him to combine artistry with commercial appeal. Since it isn't anymore, I'm glad to see him using his strengths to the best of his current ability. So when he puts out something radical like Rainbow Children, I try to go with it. When he wants to be a pop slut, I go with that too.

And I've been lucky enough to have some of my best Prince concert experiences in the last few years. He can still own me in a live setting.
[Edited 1/4/07 21:28pm]

Axchi696 said:

Nothing wrong with that. It's not why I love him, but I can definitely appreciate "Let's Dance" as a solid record.

Most of the songs are really good.

Finally ... one of Bowie's (then) boldest and bravest albums, and one of his finest (apart from that fuck awful cover of Across The Universe). Yes, it could have done with a lot more unreleased material - which IS out there in one form, or the other ....

Roll on Sation To Station - in 2004 it was reputed that this would be expanded to include the whole of the Thin White Duke concert from 1976, but, seeing how generous they've been with extra material with Young Americans, I predict the extra material will be "It's Hard To Be A Saint ....", the Ryko live tracks, and one other track from the same gig (TVC15). Grrrr.

Shapeshifter said:

You're probably right. The only one they've really gotten right so far is the Ziggy reissue. The rest are lacking in one way or another.

GangstaFam said:

They did a great job with David Live and Stage, I thought. I can't understand the lack of more bonus tracks on "Young Americans", because they ARE out there. Bowie was supposed to have been releasing a rarities/outtakes anthology, but he's now decided not to, so who knows when we'll get to hear stuff like the flute "Fame" in pristine quality.

Shapeshifter said:

What've you heard about all that?

Shapeshifter said:

i didn't mind the aladdin sane 20th anniversary reissue...there were some desperate choices on it with dodgy sound quality, but overall i was very happy with it. diamond dogs was a little but still excusable. this young americans crap better have PACKAGING OF THE GODS or else i really can't justify buying it.

oh yeah - and i really like what they did with stage and david live, too.

GangstaFam said:

In around 2000 Bowie announced that he was working on an outtakes/rarities 4 CD anthology spanning his entire career. Then a few years later he announced that he wasn't doing it after all and started reissuing his already reissued back catalogue in deluxe editions, starting with Ziggy.

Anx said:

I agree with you about the reissues. Pretty shoddy, outtakes wise. But, you know, I'll be buying all the Japanese mini-lp sleeve reissues and getting those fucking "deluxe reissues" again. Apart from Reality. That's shit.

I think he/Virgin got it right with the reissues of Outside, Earthling and Hours. Ok, so none of it was unreleased, but you got nearly every B side on the bonus disc. The Outside one is particularly good. But then it's a masterpiece.
[Edited 1/7/07 11:56am]