This sounds like it can be a good album..so I just added all the songs from www.lastfm.com on my loved list so that I will have the chance to hear the tracks in my random list.

Then I see his fans do not like this album. It has a very soulful element to it. "Young Ameicans" and "Right" are damn good tracks so far. Is this the only album he made like this? He kinda getting funky on this album.

you know what, some bowie fans LOVE it and some bowie fans hate it.

personally, i don't think it's a bad album. it's taken me years to get into it, and even these days there are a few songs that i'm kinda about.

it's definitely a funky album. "win" and "fascination" are favorites of mine from YA.

You ever watched Cracked Actor?

Cinnie said:

oooooh yes. the creepiest part of that doc (and there are MANY creepy parts) is when he enters some kind of aftershow party and it's dark and it literally looks like the frankenstein monster is walking in the room, but it's david bowie.

Check Big Lutha in the BG

Harlepolis said:

Harlepolis said:

Big Lutha, arranged those background vocals...

shorttrini said:

Sure did. Lutha was the reason David's work on that album was different from what he usually did.

Oh, the funk doesn't stop here check this out....



"Fame" is a bad ass groove. Who would've thought John Lennon could funk like that?
[Edited 5/26/09 19:26pm]

i always thought "stay" from station to station was pretty funky, especially the bit at the end. oh, and that bass.

diamondpearl1 said:

I would credit that more to Carlos Alomir (one of the co-writers). Didn't he play bass on "Fame"?

Timmy84 said:

They say that Bowie gave John Lennon the co-writing credit, 'cause the song was born out of conversations they had about celebrity and fame.This is the songs band lineup.

John Lennon-Vocals,Guitar
Carlos Alomar-Vocals,Guitar
Emir Kassan-Bass
Dennis Davis-Drums
Ralph Mc Donald-Percussion

diamondpearl1 said:

Ah so he played guitar, yeah John did sing in the background.

Cinnie said:

i don't like watching that.
bowie has problems on that.


but i have to confess to something..
cocaine did help him make good music.

baroque said:

I never seen Cracked Actor. i seen some of Ziggy Stardust but didnt "get it"....back when Vh1 was good and actually played good quality music of the time and of the past.

I have to check him out more.


Plus...Lets Dance is one of my fav's of all time. I didnt really GET in2 that song either until 1999

to me it was an easy one to love right away. he's trying on disco/r&b/soul/funk, etc. but with time, it's sort of fallen aside for me in favor of Station To Station (big time) where he gelled those things into something a little fresher and more of his style while still using those colors to paint a more original and interesting picture.

paisleypark4 said:

Check this...With young Luther Vandross on backing vocals
http://www.youtube.com/wa...ed-pnf6oGY

Bowie did write Fame?
what about that James Brown version?

Willie Weeks is playing bass on Young Americans, he played on Donny Hathaway's Live album, soul goodness indeed.

It's an OK album, but it's nowhere near his best, in my opinion. For funk/soul, I'd rather jump on Station to Station. That said, I agree that "Fascination" and "Win" are awesome.

How do Bowie fans feel about Labyrinth?

This is where Bowie turned down a road I couldn't follow.

That cheap and nasty white boy soul just reeked of him reaching ...

Every album up to that point was fantastic,

....after; very hit and miss.

paisleypark4 said:

have you heard the let's dance album? you've heard all the hit singles, so you've heard at least half of it.

there's some good stuff on there: putting out fire with gasoline, criminal world, ricochet...it's a pretty tight little album, though i think saying that is supposed to make me a bad bowie fan.

TyphoonTip said:

i don't think he was reaching. if anything, i think YA was a very indulgent album for him to make. i think he took a screeching turn from glam rock to philly soul simply because it was what he wanted to do. if you look at this album in the big picture, it's the transitional album between his ziggy stardust phase and his experimental "eno/berlin" phase, so clearly there was something important going on there.

and if you can't follow albums like "station to station", "low" or "heroes", i'd urge you to go back and give them another chance. they're classics.

coolcat said:

meh. i like a couple of songs off the soundtrack, but i always thought the movie was typical 80s cheese. there are very few bowie movies that i'm all that crazy about. 'the hunger' and 'basquiat' come to mind as two favorites...

David has a song called, "Golden Years", this a funky track that he had written for of all people, Elvis. I think Elvis did get around to hearing the track and liked it. But, it did not fit the album that he was working on at the time. If you listen to it, it DOES sound like something Elvis would do.

The three bonus tracks on the Rykodisc release are better than most anything on the actual record. Sure, "Fame" and the title track are classics on their own, and add "Win" and "Fascination" there too and you've already got a pretty good collection of songs. His version of "Across The Universe" is definitely not bad either.

novabrkr said:

those bonus tracks are good stuff.

Young Americans is one of my favourite Bowie albums, but it is true that it has the fans devided.
If you're gonna get this, get the 30th. anniversery edition with a DVD of his appearance on the Dick Cavett show, with a coked out and über weird Bowie.





And after Young Americans (if you like that album) you should give Station To Station a try, a bit less soul and more Bowie-like.

I like this thread. But I think I'm in the minority here cuz to these ears, this is a record.

TRON said:

i think it's quality work. it's not 'never let me down', by any means.

it's kind of jarring to me, even still, to hear this album sandwiched between diamond dogs and station to station. after all these years, i can map out the transition, but it's still kinda hard work to connect those dots.