Music Banter - View Single Post - Review Thread: The Chameleon: David Bowie Reviewed

Bulldog · 06-12-2009, 12:26 PM

David Bowie - Space Oddity (1969)

1. Space Oddity
2. Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed
3. (Don't Sit Down)
4. Letter to Hermione
5. Cygnet Committee
6. Janine
7. An Occasional Dream
8. Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud
9. God Knows I'm Good
10. Memory of a Free Festival

As you might be able to tell from the two record sleeve covers, David Bowie's second album has a strange history. Well, kind of. Following the spectacular commercial damp squib that was his debut, David Bowie and his manager Ken Pitt sought after the American market with a slightly more ambitious sophomore effort. Rather confusingly, this album was originally released as David Bowie in the UK and as Man Of Words/Man Of Music in the US (this album being his debut LP to the American market). It was only upon its re-release in 1972, to capitalise on Bowie's becoming a household name, that it was re-titled Space Oddity, and even then it had two alternate covers (as pictured above).

Whatever the case, Space Oddity is what the album's officially known as now and the left-hand cover is the one we all know and poke fun at for being as corny as it is. Anyway, as I may or may not have said earlier, as the followup to a very unsuccessful debut, Space Oddity (as I'm gonna call it) is the sound of Bowie aiming for a mass audience but on top of that also spreading his wings a little as an artist. It's lyrical lamentations of lost love, elaborations on disenchantment and yarn-spinning fantasy tales see Bowie opting for a much more sombre and focused sound than on his debut as the production methods of one Tony Visconti shape a fittingly ashen-faced folk-rock sound to dominate the album and compliment this.

The standout from this would be the title track, which is the odd one out here in many respects. First off, upon Bowie's telling him he wanted it on the album, Visconti dismissed it as a throwaway novelty which wouldn't fit on the album at all and perhaps tried too hard to pander to the masses (what with all that moon landing hysteria in the media at the time). After arguing for some time about it, a comprimise was reached whereby Visconti would have nothing to do with the song, whereupon Bowie called on his old mate Gus Dudgeon to do the dirty work. While the result of that session would give Bowie his first hit single and thus put him on the musical map, I'm personally not such a huge fan of the song to the point that I'd call it quite possibly Bowie's most overrated piece. The vocal harmonies during the chorus are very nice, but Dudgeon's production is far too cluttered for my tastes - all those guitar solos, vocal overdubs and string arrangements threaten to drown the song. Below is a little box of four videos. The top two are both of Space Oddity, but two very different versions. On the left is the version released as a single in 1969 and re-released in 1972, while on the right is an acoustic version recorded as released as a B-side in 1979 and is in my opinion how it should have been done in the first place.

Such is the bone I have to pick when it comes to this album. If some of the songs simply aren't very good others are totally over-produced and thus sound a bit on the dated side. The bottom two videos of that little box above this paragraph gives you another example of how this album should have been done. Overall, the album's hit and miss, as there are some great tunes on show here. Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed is a jovial, rollicking knees-up of a song and Memory Of a Free Festival is a very quaint and emotional album-closer, while Cygnet Committee is easily the first masterpiece Bowie would record (even if it is a teeny bit overlong). There are a few decent yet not truly spectacular moments as well such as the pensive Janine and the yearning slow-burner Letter To Hermione. On the other hand though, there are plenty of the said over-produced moments and mediocre numbers (God Knows I'm Good and An Occasional Dream for example) to weigh the overall quality down.

It's not a popular view from my experience, but while it's a vast improvement on his debut, Space Oddity is very very far from my favourite Bowie album. It's not mediocre, seeing as there are a few terrific songs on there, but much much better was to come.

6.5/10

06-12-2009, 12:26 PM	#8 (permalink)
Bulldog why bother? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: UK Posts: 4,840	David Bowie - Space Oddity (1969) 1. Space Oddity 2. Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed 3. (Don't Sit Down) 4. Letter to Hermione 5. Cygnet Committee 6. Janine 7. An Occasional Dream 8. Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud 9. God Knows I'm Good 10. Memory of a Free Festival As you might be able to tell from the two record sleeve covers, David Bowie's second album has a strange history. Well, kind of. Following the spectacular commercial damp squib that was his debut, David Bowie and his manager Ken Pitt sought after the American market with a slightly more ambitious sophomore effort. Rather confusingly, this album was originally released as David Bowie in the UK and as Man Of Words/Man Of Music in the US (this album being his debut LP to the American market). It was only upon its re-release in 1972, to capitalise on Bowie's becoming a household name, that it was re-titled Space Oddity, and even then it had two alternate covers (as pictured above). Whatever the case, Space Oddity is what the album's officially known as now and the left-hand cover is the one we all know and poke fun at for being as corny as it is. Anyway, as I may or may not have said earlier, as the followup to a very unsuccessful debut, Space Oddity (as I'm gonna call it) is the sound of Bowie aiming for a mass audience but on top of that also spreading his wings a little as an artist. It's lyrical lamentations of lost love, elaborations on disenchantment and yarn-spinning fantasy tales see Bowie opting for a much more sombre and focused sound than on his debut as the production methods of one Tony Visconti shape a fittingly ashen-faced folk-rock sound to dominate the album and compliment this. The standout from this would be the title track, which is the odd one out here in many respects. First off, upon Bowie's telling him he wanted it on the album, Visconti dismissed it as a throwaway novelty which wouldn't fit on the album at all and perhaps tried too hard to pander to the masses (what with all that moon landing hysteria in the media at the time). After arguing for some time about it, a comprimise was reached whereby Visconti would have nothing to do with the song, whereupon Bowie called on his old mate Gus Dudgeon to do the dirty work. While the result of that session would give Bowie his first hit single and thus put him on the musical map, I'm personally not such a huge fan of the song to the point that I'd call it quite possibly Bowie's most overrated piece. The vocal harmonies during the chorus are very nice, but Dudgeon's production is far too cluttered for my tastes - all those guitar solos, vocal overdubs and string arrangements threaten to drown the song. Below is a little box of four videos. The top two are both of Space Oddity, but two very different versions. On the left is the version released as a single in 1969 and re-released in 1972, while on the right is an acoustic version recorded as released as a B-side in 1979 and is in my opinion how it should have been done in the first place. Such is the bone I have to pick when it comes to this album. If some of the songs simply aren't very good others are totally over-produced and thus sound a bit on the dated side. The bottom two videos of that little box above this paragraph gives you another example of how this album should have been done. Overall, the album's hit and miss, as there are some great tunes on show here. Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed is a jovial, rollicking knees-up of a song and Memory Of a Free Festival is a very quaint and emotional album-closer, while Cygnet Committee is easily the first masterpiece Bowie would record (even if it is a teeny bit overlong). There are a few decent yet not truly spectacular moments as well such as the pensive Janine and the yearning slow-burner Letter To Hermione. On the other hand though, there are plenty of the said over-produced moments and mediocre numbers (God Knows I'm Good and An Occasional Dream for example) to weigh the overall quality down. It's not a popular view from my experience, but while it's a vast improvement on his debut, Space Oddity is very very far from my favourite Bowie album. It's not mediocre, seeing as there are a few terrific songs on there, but much much better was to come. 6.5/10 Last edited by Bulldog; 06-12-2009 at 12:32 PM.