what album would u recommend for a bowie newbie? Any particular album which is the best place to start?

When I'm first getting into an artist, I get a greatest hits album. Then, after listening to it a bit I figure out which songs I *really* like, then find out what albums those song were originally on, and get those albums next.

That's a tough one, all his albums are so different.

I guess you could start with his most mainstream albums (Hunky Dory, Young Americans and Let's Dance) and work your way through his albums from there.

noepie said:

That's a tough one, all his albums are so different.

I guess you could start with his most mainstream albums (Hunky Dory, Young Americans and Let's Dance) and work your way through his albums from there.

thanks, i'll try and start with hunky dory

In my opinion, the 3-disc Platinum Collection has most of the important stuff, I'm not really a big fan of most of his album tracks (or his post-80s output in fact). I guess Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane and Station to Station have the highest ratio of "good" songs for me, but I really can't pick any of them as a recommendation. The Low album is the only essential one for me but half of the album is instrumental so you certainly don't want to start with that one. You can't go wrong with the 'Ziggy' album though, songs like "Starman" or "Sufragette City" are amazing but as a whole, I find it overrated, some songs are downright filler to me.

yeaaaah, anotha thread about Mr Ziggy Stardust...

Well, personnally I'd recommend "The Best Of Bowie", which sums up his career pretty well...

But suggesting a single album is hard since the guy has sung in soooo many genres, so I'll class my recommendations by category... So if the Newbie is mainly interested in :

- Art-rock (glam) : "The Rise and Fall Of Ziggy Stardust"

- Straight 1980s pop : "Scary Monsters" (yeah, fuck "Let's Dance" )

- Soul/R&B : "Station To Station"

- Experimental weird music: "Heroes" (further, "Low")

... Since I am a soul music fan my favourite album of his remains "Station To Station"...

LiveToTell86 said:

In my opinion, the 3-disc Platinum Collection has most of the important stuff, I'm not really a big fan of most of his album tracks (or his post-80s output in fact). I guess Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane and Station to Station have the highest ratio of "good" songs for me, but I really can't pick any of them as a recommendation. The Low album is the only essential one for me but half of the album is instrumental so you certainly don't want to start with that one. You can't go wrong with the 'Ziggy' album though, songs like "Starman" or "Sufragette City" are amazing but as a whole, I find it overrated, some songs are downright filler to me.

youre missing some of his best work. his last two albums were great IMO. the late 80's-early 90's were very so-so, but by Earthling i feel he'd started to get his mojo back.

[Edited 12/15/10 19:30pm]

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[Edited 12/15/10 19:27pm]

lezama said:

youre missing some of his best work. his last two albums were great IMO. the late 80's-early 90's were very so-so, but by Earthling i feel he'd started to get his mojo back.

Heathen is decent, I give you that, but it doesn't make me go back and play it. I actually gave a lot of time to Earthling to grow on me but it didn't happen, the production is painfully dated and drowns out the melodies and his vocals, by that time he was just trying to record different music only for the sake of it. The rest of post-80s stuff are a drag though, Black Tie White Noise is almost like listening to the same song for 70 minutes!

I like the Best of Bowie DVD.It covers the bases, plus get to see some great videos along the way.

Maybe Tin Machine was so-so, but it shouldn't be passed over.

Start with "The Best Of David Bowie 1969/1974" and then "1974/1979"

I don't know if either of these is still in print anywhere, but I know that they're still available as part of "The Platiunum Collection" which also includes "1980/1987"

After that, I'd go for Hunky Dory, Ziggy, Aladdin, Station To Station and Young Americans. The other 70's albums are great too, brilliant even, but Diamond Dogs, Low and Heroes might not be good starting places for a newbie.

Bowie has such a great discography that it´s hard to choose where to start,

I´d go with

Ziggy Stardust

or

Let´s dance (commercial interest)

or

Low / Station to station (for experimental interest)

if you want modern Bowie

go with

heathen

or

Outside (experimental)

have a great time discovering his legacy!! I know I did

errant said:

Start with "The Best Of David Bowie 1969/1974" and then "1974/1979"

I don't know if either of these is still in print anywhere, but I know that they're still available as part of "The Platiunum Collection" which also includes "1980/1987"

After that, I'd go for Hunky Dory, Ziggy, Aladdin, Station To Station and Young Americans. The other 70's albums are great too, brilliant even, but Diamond Dogs, Low and Heroes might not be good starting places for a newbie.

"1980/1987" is just as great, the singles of the 4 80s albums are all good to me, "Time Will Crawl" and "Day-In Day-Out" are cool, but the gem is the final track "Underground" from Labyrinth, without it, Madonna's "Like A Prayer" wouldn't exist!

Indeed Diamond Dogs is not a good starting place, but the title track is a classic!

hhhhdmt said:

noepie said:

That's a tough one, all his albums are so different.

I guess you could start with his most mainstream albums (Hunky Dory, Young Americans and Let's Dance) and work your way through his albums from there.

thanks, i'll try and start with hunky dory

definitely a good starting point.

Don't bother with the greatest hits, if you move on to explore the albums it'll soon be rendered redundent. Whichever style of his works most fits your tastes make your starting point, if you must insist on an overview of hits, then get The Reality Tour, Santa Monica, or see if you can track down his Live BBC 2000 concert, which is sublime.

Tonight or Never Let Me Down

you can't go wrong with those albums...

The Man Who Sold The World

I'd direct them 2 the BEST song he ever made: the 12" of "I'm Afraid of Americans"

elmer said:

Don't bother with the greatest hits, if you move on to explore the albums it'll soon be rendered redundent.

For a casual fan, a studio album is not that easy to get into. And most of the time the singles are the most accessible songs so there's no guarantee AT ALL that they will get into full albums. Take Diamond Dogs for example, title track and "Rebel Rebel" are catchy but the rest of the album sounds nothing like them, personally I have no desire to hear Diamond Dogs when I can hear the 2 songs I like on the GHs, alongside a lot of other great songs from other albums. Not to mention that in the digital era it's quite redundant to only listen to 8-9 track albums when you can make playlists of the songs you like.

JoeTyler said:

Tonight or Never Let Me Down

you can't go wrong with those albums...

You're just being awkward ain't ya.

LiveToTell86 said:

elmer said:

Don't bother with the greatest hits, if you move on to explore the albums it'll soon be rendered redundent.

For a casual fan, a studio album is not that easy to get into. And most of the time the singles are the most accessible songs so there's no guarantee AT ALL that they will get into full albums. Take Diamond Dogs for example, title track and "Rebel Rebel" are catchy but the rest of the album sounds nothing like them, personally I have no desire to hear Diamond Dogs when I can hear the 2 songs I like on the GHs, alongside a lot of other great songs from other albums. Not to mention that in the digital era it's quite redundant to only listen to 8-9 track albums when you can make playlists of the songs you like.

The OP said he was new to Bowie, not a casual fan. I think Diamond Dogs is a great album: We Are The Dead, Will You Rock & Roll With Me, Sweet Thing, e.t.c. It hasn't moved that far from Aladdin Sane, yet Candidate and 1984 seem to point in the direction of Young Americans.

elmer said:

JoeTyler said:

Tonight or Never Let Me Down

you can't go wrong with those albums...

You're just being awkward ain't ya.

and Pin-Ups is probably his third best album ...

[Edited 12/21/10 6:47am]

JoeTyler said:

elmer said:

You're just being awkward ain't ya.

and Pin-Ups is probably his third best album ...

[Edited 12/21/10 6:47am]

I like Pin Ups, and there're some good ones on the NLMD, plus my Tonight cd has the three bonus tracks which make it essential; but they are what they are. And I don't recall you ranking them so highly on your album lists.

elmer said:

JoeTyler said:

and Pin-Ups is probably his third best album ...

[Edited 12/21/10 6:47am]

I like Pin Ups, and there're some good ones on the NLMD, plus my Tonight cd has the three bonus tracks which make it essential; but they are what they are. And I don't recall you ranking them so highly on your album lists.

I WAS being awkward LOL