You might all know, I love Bowie and I love rating shit, Someone started Janet Jackson albums, but shes not my cup of tea, so I decided to rank my favourite Bowie studio albums (There are several Hits albums that would get instant A's but have left them out. I see Bowie a lot like I see Prince, androgynous at times, quirky and reinventing himself with each album, whereas Prince's golden age was 1980 -88, Bowies was 1970 to 1980, each album kind of out ranked the last in weirdness (With a few exceptions) and we got a new Bowie look with every new album, Ziggy, Aladdin, Young Americans, the thin white duke, the Berlin Recluse and of course Pierrot.

Rank as many albums as you like (I haven't ranked them all as I have only heard about half of them, please no Hits collections or bootlegs, Live albums are fine and so is Tin Machine.

1. Low 10/10 Just because of its stark ness, the instrumental the disjointed vocals and electronica, every song is a masterpiece

2. Station to Station, 10/10 Okay he was coked out of his head, but wow, this is fine stuff, the music is haunting. That cover is quite trippy too really.

3. Hunky Dory 10/10, his first classic with so many pre Ziggy highlights, Oh you pretty things, changes, Kooks, Life on Mars I mean absolutely wow!!!

4. Heroes 10/10 Read comments for Low and also listen to Iggy Pop's 2 1977 albums the Idiot and Lust for life and you have a night in.

5. Ziggy Stardust 9/10

6. Scary Monsters and Supercreeps 9/10, also a great album, disjointed vocals, his last truly innovative record before the decline

7. The man who sold the world 9/10, his first truly rock record, the music is a classic mix of hippy rock and pure pre ziggy madness. Plus theres the unforgettable cover, Mr Fish's 'man dress'

8. Aladdin Sane 8/10

9. Young Americans 8/10

10. Lodger 8/10 All of these albums have some good material and a bit of filler on them

11. Diamond Dogs, 7/10 Its alright but he has done better

12. Lets Dance 7/10 Its awright, but the songs are strong, but its Pop Fluff for Bowie, this like his take on Diamonds and Pearls, hes a bit older, his career is long in the tooth and he needs a hit.

13. Black Tie, White Noise 6/10

14. Space Oddity 6/10 Hippy weirdness, but bearable, plus it has Space Oddity a brilliant song.

15. Pin Ups 5/10 Not as bad as some may think

16. The labyrinth soundtrack, 5/10 okay he has 3 songs, but they are enjoyable, plus you have to love the mullet.

17. Stage 4/10

18. 1.Outside 4/10

19. David Bowie (1967) 3/10 Campy but forgettable piece of psychedelia, some weird vocals, but really has limited novelty value only

20. Tin Machine, Tin Machine 2, Tonight 2/10 all just unlistenable, Tin Machine!!! what was he thinking

21. Never let me down, 1/10 Day in day out and glass spider are bearable, but the rest is tosh, and the mullet was just dreadful.

Thats all the albums I have heard.

1. Low 10/10...one of the best albums of 70s

2. Lets Dance 9/10

3. Heroes 9/10

4. The man who sold the world 9/10

5. Diamond Dogs 8/10

6. Station to Station 8/10

7. Scary Monster 8/10

8. Aladdin Sane 8/10

9. Hunky Dory 8/10

10. Lodger 8/10

11. Young Americans 7/10

---------------------------

Ok, these are the albums that I really like: more or less. I'm not very interested in others, to be honest.
10 points, got only one album, but that's because I'm very greedy.
10 points can get an album that I was simply amazed and deeply impressed. I think that in the world no more than 50-60 albums that I would have appreciated the 10/10.

[Edited 6/4/12 6:21am]

Don't feel like doin an entire list but all I kno is Low is #1 and always will be

This is a really hard thing to do lol. I really LOVE his albums . I don't have all of his albums yet, so it could change. I need to get Earthling, Outside, Never Let Me Down, Tonight, Hours, and Hethen.

1.) Young Americans- My absolute favorite Bowie album (and my second favorite album of ANYONE). I love the concept of it too, the 'Plastic soul' idea. I really love his vocals on this album as well, IMO he does his best vocals on this album. His vocals are powerful on it, but you can kinda hear a kind of weakness in them... (i'm not good at explaining that lol). I also love how you can "feel" the presence of the Thin White Duke even though he isn't 'fully matured' yet. Not one song I don't love . The only thing that could have made this album better is the addition of the outtake After Today. 10/10

2.) Station to Station- Legendary album, the Thin White Duke at his best. I love how he sings beautiful and meaningful songs yet doesn't have ANY emotion or mean any of it (to me at least). He let the Cocaine take over and becomes somewhat cold or cynical. Every song on here is perfect too, nothing wrong at all with anything. "Making sure white stains"... Love this album. 10/10

3.) Diamond Dogs- I LOVE THIS ALBUM! I love the 1984 theme he had in this era. I really think he could have pulled off a great musical (like he was supposed to) had the Orwell estate allowed him to. I love every song on the album, but Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet thing is the best. Dodo should have been on the album tho. 9.5/10

4.) Berlin Trilogy- Love these albums, pure art! I usually don't like instrumentals (unless it is Prince or Bowie), but the ones on these albums are top notch. The vocals on the first 2 albums are really cool and, to me, act as a window to Bowie's fragile state in these times (trying to get off of coke). My fave is 'Heroes'. Low: 9/10 "Heroes": 9.5/10 Lodger: 8/10

5.) Scary Monsters- Great album . I love the atmosphere of the whole album. The synths are amazing and vocals are 100% great. My faves on this are: Up the Hill Backwards, Ashes to Ashes, and Because You're Young. 9/10

6.) Hunky Dory- Love the feel of this album, I don't know whether to say it is folk or pop. Either way it is one amazing album lol. He sings the songs with pure emotion, and his writing on the album is amazing. I really love Queen Bitch. 9/10

7.) Aladdin Sane- ZIGGY IN AMERICA!!!! lol. I like this way better than Ziggy Stardust. The songs have more mystery than Ziggy as well. Love every song on this but Time is the best on here. 9/10

8.) Ziggy Stardust- Very influential album. Love it. 8/10

9.) The Man Who Sold the World- 7/10

10.) Reality- 7/10

11.) Let's Dance- 6.5/10

12.) Space Oddity- 6.5/10

13.) Pinups- 6/10

of course, his 70-80 albums are the best

studio albums only:

1-Low (77): 10 enter the 80s, 3 years before the actual decade. Eno was the ultimate Bowie collaborator/right hand

2-Ziggy Stardust (72): 10 Truly innovative rock sound that left 60s rock behind. And though the postmodernist concept of the alter ego was already popularized by the Beatles 6 years before, Bowie kind of resurrected it, during an era dominated by macho rock bands, bland folk/pop and painfully down-to-earth country-rock...not surprisingly, the album was not a big hit in the USA...which is ironic considering that Mick Ronson was a HUGE influence for any guitar-hero of 80s glam-metal...

3-Scary Monsters (80): 10 His last masterpiece. It influenced a lot of pop/electronic british acts, at least until the mid-80s

4-Heroes (77): 10 even weirder and harder than Low, but flawless. And the album was probably the seed of industrial rock. Of course, like Low, this album owes a lot to Eno and Robert Fripp.

5-Station to Station (76) 10 an hallucinatory, excessive, cocaine-induced album, the apex of his pop/soul/funk years,...the title-track is out of this world...

6-Hunky Dory (71): 10 I know Bowie had released albums/singles before this, but Dory actually sounds like a debut. At that time his best album (better than The Man Who Sold the World in my opinion). Mainstream pop/rock for the early 70s, but with a freaky edge, pure Bowie. The influence of Elton is clear here...

7-Aladdin Sane (73): 9'5 Great album, I love Garson's piano, but some of the songs sound like leftovers of Ziggy Stardust. Of course, who cares when the album has songs like Drive-In Saturday, the title-track or Panic in Detroit...

8-Lodger (79): 9'5 an often maligned final album with Eno, but like Scary Monsters, this album was a huge influence for the electro bands of the 80s...and all the songs are good...filler? no, more like normal vs freaky songs...

9-Diamond Dogs (74): 9'5 Partially based on Orwell's 1984, it's an album that many critics hate, due to the excessive production, and the often incredibly cheesy lyrics, but hey, I think the album is fantastic. The perfect epic final chapter of the 72-74 glam trilogy...

10-The Man Who Sold the World (70): 9'5 I still don't know if Bowie was mocking hard-rock or what, but this album still floors me. Hard-rock? early-70s proto-metal? really? Then again, who cares?: the 9 songs are pure gold, Ronson is great, the first step towards Ziggy...

11-Heathen (02) 9 underrated late-career album. Very good. Weird but satisfying sound that had nothing to do with the 00-03 sound. Very good songs. Many new classics (Slow Burn, Sunday, Afraid, title-track, etc)

12-Young Americans (75): 8'5 too short, and Bowie sounds a bit lost, but this is the best blue eyed soul album of all time. Really. The production is AMAZING. And the title-track is one of my fav songs of all time

13-Outside (95): 8'5 underrated experimental album. Quality comeback, but the album is TOO long. Strangers When We Meet, one of his best ballads...and Oxford Town, his most underrated pop song eva...

14-Reality (03): 8 Direct sequel of Heathen. I kind of hate this album now because, probably, it will be his last studio album, and it doesn't sound like one, it's a good album, but not an epic farewell album. Some songs fall flat, but the best songs are neo-classics, specially New Killer Star and Bring Me the Disco King...

15-Black Tie White Noise (93): 7,5 I don't care what people say. I enjoy this album a lot. It sure sounds dated as hell now (early-90s dance/pop/balladry), but the album was a return to form after the 80s and the dull Tin Machine project...

16-Let's Dance (83): 7 three xtremely popular pop hits, the rest of the album is ok, but completely irrelevant, Bowie releasing irrelevant songs for the first time, lol, not a good sign...

17-Hours (99): 7 too many ballads and slow numbers, the album is a bit irrelevant, but it has four of his very best songs of the 90s, really: Something in the Air, Survive, Seven, and Brilliant Adventure, and the rest of the album doesn't suck at all...

18-Space Oddity (69): 7 this early album always sounded half-cocked to me. The folkie songs and ballads are boring, but the more elaborated/freaky songs showed potential. And the title-track is awesome, of course

19-Earthling (97): 6'5 Bowie jumping on the bandwagon of late-90s jungle/techno/drum&bass music, with mixed results. Some songs are neo-classics, the rest are laughable, but entertaining. I can understand why Björk mocked him, though: Bowie sounds desperate here...

20-Tonight (84): 5'5 a poppy sellout album, but surprisingly entertaining and consistent. Enjoyable organic sound full of horns and clean guitars. The majestic Loving the Alien, the true highlight, sounds out of place here, but still one of his best 80s songs...

21-Tin Machine I (88): 6 some songs are intriguing, and Gabrels is an interesting guitar player, but this sounds like Bowie tryin' to sell a new version of himself as an alternative rocker. Sorry, it didn't work. Tonight may be the lesser album, but I pretty much prefer it than Tin Machine...

22-The Buddha of Suburbia soundtrack: 6 a lot of fans consider this album as the real gem of 90s Bowie, but I can't see what's so great about it. It's a decent album of rock, instrumentals and ballads, nothing more...

23-Pin Ups (73): 5'5 enjoyable but irrelevant covers album. Back when people couldn't get enough of Ziggy and his red mullet. Sorrow is a classic though...

24-Labyrinth soundtrack (86): 5 not a real Bowie album, but I just wanted to say that I love Underground, Magic Dance and As the World Falls Down. Good movie for children and pre-teen girls. The single of the other Bowie film of 1986, Absolute Beginners, is my fav song of the entire 83-87 commercial era...

25-David Bowie (67) 5 the real Bowie debut, it's a wacko album, a pure novelty. Comedy pop with some freaky twists and very strange shit. Laughable, but some songs show potential. The only song I take seriously is Let Me Sleep Beside You.

26-Toy (01): 5 this album finally leaked in 2011 (or was it 2010?) and I gotta say that I hate it. The reworkings of old 66-69 songs are bland and without the hilarious freakishness of the originals, and the album sports a very bland and safe production. Disappointing leak...

27-Tin Machine II (91): 5 unnecessary sequel. Some good songs ruined by the predictable alt rock production...boring overall

28-Baal soundtrack EP (82) 5: weird as hell, a bunch of covers of Bertolt Brecht that sound like medieval folk; wow, worth a listen but boring at the same time. The Drowned Girl is a classic though

29-Never Let Me Down (87): 4'5 no Bowie album is dreadful, but this one comes close. Maligned due to the infamous world tour that supported it, but the first 6 songs are surprisingly fine (dated, overblown production anyway); the bad news is that the other 4 songs are the WORST songs of his career, including an horrendous version of Iggy Pop's Bang Bang, and a rap duet with Mickey Rourke. W-O-W..."hitting an all time low" indeed ...lol, and the B-Sides/leftovers are equally bad...

quick note about the live albums: forget about them, buy the DVDs instead...Bowie is sound AND vision, lol

yep, I'm a Bowie nut, lol

[Edited 6/4/12 17:28pm]

1. Station to Station 10

2. The Man Who Sold the World 10

3. Low 10

4. Lodger 9.5 Not as keen on Repitition as the rest, so -0.5.

5. Scary Monsters 9 This album needs deluxe reissue treatment, with all the Vampires of Human Flesh demos included. Fashion still causes some trouser-swellage.

6. Heroes 9 The closer should be Neukoln, but Secret Life of Arabia is as marvellous as anything else here.

7. Diamond Dogs 9

8. Ziggy Stardust 9

9. Young Americans 8.5 This would be amongst my top 5 but for Somebody Up There Likes Me completely ruining the momentum.

10. Heathen 8.5 Somber and haunting, methinks this is by far Bowies best tracks since Scary Monsters. Tracks 1-9 are flawless, sound like almost a modern take on the Berlin trilogy.

11. Space Oddity 8 The title track along with Cygnet Committee and Letter to Hermione are some of his most touching songs.

12. Alladin Sane 9 Is it sacilege to suggest Let's Spend the Night Together might be its best song? That's how I've always felt.

13. Hunky Dory 8.5 I need to reappraise this one. Some tracks like Bob Dylan pass me by.

14. Pin Ups 7.5

15. Lets Dance 7.5

16. Outside 7.5 Lynchianism.

17. Black Tie, White Noise 7.5 Kind of a curate's egg....Pallas Athena and Looking for Lester are just awful instrumentals. The rest is catchy jazzy dance-pop. The cover of I Feel Free is vastly superior to anything Cream, and Nite Flights suits him perfectly.

18. Hours 7.5 Thursday's Child, Seven, The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell, If I'm Dreaming My Life.

19. Earthling 7 I'm Afraid of Americans is friggin' amazing.

Can't rank every single of them because some of them I haven't really bothered with (the first 3 albums, Pin Ups, Young Americans) or didn't play them enough to form a proper opinion (Tonight, Never Let Me Down, Black Tie White Noise, Hours, Reality...):

...Ziggy Stardust 9/10 - probably his best, one of the few albums I go beyond the singles/usuals because "Soul Love" & "Moonage Daydream" are simply amazing!

Aladdin Sane 8/10 - a couple of clunkers like "The Prettiest Star" but otherwise another strong one with "Cracked Actor" and of course "The Jean Genie", one of my all time favs by him.

Diamond Dogs - 6/10 - unfortunately the 3 famous songs ("Rebel Rebel", "1984", title track) overshadow everything, those 3 are fantastic but they are on his compilations too...

Station To Station - 9/10 - obviously another great one, not all 6 songs are perfect but the title track alone makes it one of his best.

Low 10/10 - a whole different level for not only Bowie himself but any pop star. So simple but elaborate at the same time, so catchy but experimental.

Heroes 6/10 - the title track is one of his best songs but the other "singing" tracks are nothing to be excited about. The instrumentals are great here too though.

Lodger 7/10 - very underrated, at first it sounds like a mess but after a few listens I found it catchy. "Red Sails" deserves more attention.

Scary Monsters 6/10 - kinda overrated, I can't even recall the last couple of songs but of course "Fashion" and "Ashes To Ashes" lift the record anyway.

Let's Dance 6/10 - only 8 songs but 4 of them are pop gems.

Outside 7/10 - WAY too long and difficult to get into but it's still well-produced and is probably his only great album of the last 30 years.

Earthling 5/10 - I appreciate the concept and "I'm Afraid Of Americans" is a cool one but otherwise it gets all too samey and sometimes simply "noise-like".

Heathen 6/10 - not bad, just it's Bowie-by-the-numbers and it doesn't have anything that stands out that would make me go back to listen to it more.

David Bowie

Space Oddity

The Man Who Sold The World

Hunky Dory

Ziggy Stardust

Aladdin Sane

Pinups

Diamond Dogs

Young Americans

Station To Station

Low

"Heroes"

Lodger

Scary Monsters

Let's Dance

Tonight

Never Let Me Down

Black Tie White Noise

The Buddha Of Suburbia

Outside

Earthling

'hours...'

Heathen

Reality