Hi All,

I am looking for some suggestions as to which Bowie albums you would consider to be essential, apart from Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.


Give me the top 5 discs by David Bowie I should consider purchasing...



Thanks


slashdot87

Low
Heathen
Diamond Dogs
Station to Station
Hunky Dory

1. Hunky Dory
2. Diamond Dogs
3. Alladin Sane
4. Christiane F. or Station to Station
5. Let's Dance

1. Hunky Dory
2. Hours
3. Earthling
4. Station to Station
5. Diamond Dogs

1. Hunky Dory (my favorite Bowie album)
2. Low
3. Diamond Dogs
4. Lodger
5. Scary Monsters

There is the sell-out album (Let's Dance) there is not bad-track in this one it's all-good.

And I love the Tin Machine period to.

Alladin Sane
Hunky Dory
Bowie at the Beeb
Diamond dogs
Low

The clips I played sound really good. I have ordered so far: Low and Diamond Dogs. I plan to get some of the others that you guys have suggested.

Any of the albums that I should either avoid or get at a later date?

The great thing about Bowie is he has so many "musical eras". You can find something great in all his eras so don't limit yourself to the 70's. The "Sound and Vision" boxset has a decent range of music.

Scary Monsters...(personal fave)

More recent:
Heathen...great cd

Diamond Dogs
Space Oddity
Scary Monsters
Low
"Heroes"

Ziggy Stardust - Motion Picture Sountrack (live album - the best release in his catalog)
Station To Station
Heathn
Reality
Young Americans

I second GiantRobo's comment. Bowie has such a fantastic and vast catalog that no two fans have the identical rankings for his albums. Personally, I love the mid to late 70's best, so my top 5 is

1. Station To Station
2. The Man Who Sold The World (ok, I lied, this one's from 1970)
3. Lodger
4. Scary Monsters
5. Low

apart from Tonight, Never Let Me Down and Tin Machine, every albums a winner in it's way IMO.

1. Hunky Dory
2. Ziggy Stardust (not live)
2a. Live in Santa Monica
3. Scary Monsters
4. Low
5. Heathen

I would stay away from the 80s Bowie, and as a newcomer would approach the 90s Bowie with caution.

My recommendations for the five introductory Bowie albums, in chronological order:

- Hunky Dory (1971)
- Aladdin Sane (1973)
- Station to Station (1976)
- Low (1977)
- Reality (2003) or: Black Tie, White Noise (1993)

I'd go ALL 70's before even moving on to other years.

In all honesty, Bowie's run of albums from 1971 to 1983 is so impressive and influential that you really owe it to yourself to hear them all in order (Bowie tends to jump genres, but you do get a sense of progression by hearing the albums in order):

1. Hunky Dory
2. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
3. Aladdin Sane
4. Ziggy Stardust (live album)
5. Pin-Ups
6. Diamond Dogs
7. Young Americans
8. Station To Station
9. Low
10. "Heroes"
11. Lodger
12. Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)
13. Let's Dance

Once you fall in love with those albums, then we can talk about the rest of his body of work. There are two other live albums from the 70's, but the live Ziggy Stardust is the most listenable.

And I know you may think that's a bit of a hefty investment for someone who's just getting into an artist, but I can promise you that they're the among the best musical purchases you'll ever make. I've personally bought these albums two or three times over in various configurations.

Another thing that came to mind as a piece of advice: do stay away from the 60s Bowie at first. You may be tempted to buy some of those really cheap early compilations, and while there is some quite interesting material in there, I would still say that songs like "The Laughing Gnome" are not necessarily the best introduction to Bowie's body of work. So, my advice is: no 60s, no 80s, and approach 90s with a caution (the 90s albums are not bad but they are not such great gateway albums, except perhaps for Black Tie White Noise).

Also, while I agree that much of the best of Bowie's work can be found from his 1970s albums, I wouldn't concentrate on just those. Reality, Heathen, Black Tie White Noise, possibly even 'Hours' all nicely compliment the rest of his career, and I would pick at least one of those.

Aladdin Sane for sure. To me, it is the equal of Ziggy.

Then I would have Diamond Dogs, Low, Station To Station, Scary Monsters, and Tonight (from the 80's just for his hidden gem, "Don't Look Down").

These would be my favorites (Ronson era) although I do like Santa Monica '72 for a live album.

start in this order and you'll be good to go

The Man Who Sold The World
Hunky Dory
Alladin Sane
Pin-Ups
Diamond Dogs

Young Americans is my all-time favorite of his.

-—-~!@#$ I Agree $#@!~-—-

I would personally avoid Young Americans.

Can't go wrong with these though:

Hunky Dory
Ziggy Stardust
Aladdin Sane
Station to Station
Low
"Heroes"
Lodger
Scary Monsters...

And get the old-school Ryko versions if you can. They sound really good and have bonus tracks on all of them except Aladdin Sane.

I was surprised that an album with John Lennon's involvement was so....mediocre. the intro to Fame is hot shit, though. I had that as my ringtone for a while.