Ashamed as I am to admit it here, and with a very close friend who is a HUGE David Bowie fan who has been trying to convert me for a decade or more, I've never really been into David Bowie.

I know there is a lot of respect for him on this board, though, so I ask humbly - suggest 1 or 2 releases (and ONLY 1 or 2 at this stage) that I should pick up as an introduction. I have the UK double CD hits set that came out 3-4 years ago, and I'm familiar with all his big-name singles.

By way of my own tastes, I listen to a lot of Prince (obviously) - preferring his funk and guitar to his ballads, as well as The Beatles, Paul Simon, U2 (Achtung Baby being a favorite, and I know this and Zooropa were Bowie-influenced), Lennon, McCartney, George Michael...

hmmm, this will probably be argued by my fellow bowiephiles, but i'm going to make a couple of recommendations based on what you say you like:

'station to station' is a good cross between his 'plastic soul' period and his experimental 'berlin' phase - you have the best of his crooning, and the best of his cold, futuristic sounds. (if you want to bypass the new wave half of it, then go with 'young americans', which is a soul album all the way). but for my money, you can't find a funkier bowie track than 'stay', which is on the 'station to station' album.

for something more modern, try 'earthling', which is a LITTLE dated because he was tinkering with drum'n'bass, but the songwriting is strong enough to stand on its own beyond the novelty of the dance music styles of the album. i still listen to this one quite often because of songs like 'seven years in tibet' and 'i'm afraid of americans'. to me, this album is kinda like 'let's dance' without the need to be a mainstream pop smash.

of course, my eternal faves are 'hunky dory', 'ziggy stardust' and 'low', but try the stuff i listed above and see if it hooks you.

booyah said:

I'm Afraid of Americans 12 inch.

Graycap23 said:

which mix? the NIN mix is pretty bad-ass, though the version mixed for the showgirls soundtrack is pretty cool, too. sadly.

Anxiety said:

I like them all.....especially the one with Ice Cube.

Low, Heroes and Lodger....the Berlin-Trilogy

Start with Hunky Dory.

Don't start with Tin Machine.

Anxiety said:

The Trent mix is my joint.

start with the artists he ripped off

Anxiety said:

Great Bowie Breakdown Anx. You didn't miss a phase.

Dance said:

at least he fesses up to it.

and if you get more pleasure from a scott walker album than from 'diamond dogs' or 'scary monsters', more power to you.

SquirrelMeat said:

End with Tin Machine!

I started with the later stuff and love it all. Ihave all the later stuff except "Buddha of Suburbia" which I might buy soon. I still have to catch up on caught a few of the seventies albums. There are so many specail editions it makes my damn head spin, though.

I think "Heathen" is one of the best albums of the decade and would strongly recommend that soon.
[Edited 3/27/08 12:39pm]

Anxiety said:

Unlike some artists but we don't want to start naming names do we.

VinnyM27 said:

don't pass up 'buddha of suburbia'! it's a criminally underrated and surprisingly challenging album. one of my faves of his from the 90s.

Anxiety said:

No doubt.

Young Americans

young americans is incredible accessible so i would start with that. if not that, maybe aladdin sane wold be a good place. they would be my two rec's for starters.

Nooooo! Young Americans should b done somewhere in betweeen..it's quite irrelevant in the grand scheme of bowie things *ducks*


U either start with Ziggy followed by Aladdin go Station 2 Station 2 Berlin

Or

U start in Berlin & then go 2 Outside/Earthling/Heathen
& come back 2 the early 70's via Station 2 Station.

That's how u do the Dame.

booyah said:

I would gather that if you like U2's artsy dabbling with Hansa studios and a more Euro-centric sound then you'd probably appreciate the same aesthetic in Bowie's music. I'd say go for Low and "Heroes" first and work your way backward and forward from there.

For me though, when I'm getting into an artist with a large body of work, I like to start somewhere near the beginning and discover their evolution chronologically - the way it originally unfolded. There's something really rewarding about that. And even if their early work doesn't grab me as much as their mid or later period stuff (Miles Davis), it's more rewarding somehow to know where they came from to get to where they ended up.

That said, I think it's best to start with Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust. If those albums don't rattle you to your foundation, then I have no further advice to give you.