David Bowie
The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
1972, RCA
Alright, there's no denying that I am a man who loves his concept albums. I can't help it. But there's not enough great things to say about this album.
When I was a child, David Bowie was just that dude with the weird bulge in Labyrinth. But when I hit puberty the mighty distorted guitar of the title track one day reached out of the radio and slammed my face into a wall to wake me the fuck up one day. It was amazing to me to hear this guy who assumed was some washed up weirdo that my parents used to like singing about Kurdt. Or was it Jimmy? Ah, well you get the idea.
I immediately seeked the record out and found that every single track was brilliant. From the skit-skat drums that fade in slowly on "Five Years" (that's all we've got! what a heart-wrenching way to open a record), to the slick cofffee house coolness of "Starman," or the uplifting ballad of the sexually confused "Lady Stardust" and the balls to the walls rawk of "Suffrogate City" this was a record not to be fucked with.
It's so sweaty. So sexy. So rocking. So well told a story... that I still don't want my parents listening to it.