ladyislingering

Produced by Tony Visconti (who has also worked with T. Rex, Queen, Sparks, Morrissey, and the Moody Blues - just to name a few), this is David Bowie's 9th studio album - in which he takes a stab at Philly soul.

Track listing:

1. Young Americans
2. Win
3. Fascination
4. Right
5. Somebody Up There Likes Me
6. Across the Universe
7. Can You Hear Me?
8. Fame

Young Americans is introduced with a song almost everyone in the world has heard: its title track.



This pop staple features solid vocals, brass, bass, and clever lyrics about young people figuring out the whole falling in love thing. It's easily the catchiest track from the album.

"Win" starts out with many of the same elements as the previous track, but the atmosphere is substantially moodier. David's vocals are sultry in some areas, weak in others, but the lyrics remain beautiful. This is definitely a perfect song to accompany a nighttime listening session.



"Fascination", co-written by Luther Vandross, has a funky, soulful vibe to it. It's one of my favorite tracks on the album. It's all about the brass. In my opinion, the song goes on about a minute too long, which sort of dilutes the quality of the groove. Take a listen.



"Right" is one of the better examples of Young Americans's funky style. While the lyrics are droll, repetitive, and essentially boring, the sound is smooth and bass-heavy.



"Somebody Up There Likes Me" kind of takes a break from the sound you've been hearing throughout the album, favoring similarity to the title track. Even the production quality is different - it's what I would call the classic Visconti touch.

The saxophone, delivered beautifully by David Sanborn (who has worked with a slew of famous faces, such as Elton John, Carly Simon, James Brown, Steely Dan, James Taylor, and Bryan Ferry) is perfect in this song.



David's rendition of the Beatles' "Across the Universe" is something I still have mixed feelings about. I love David dearly, but I don't have a strong like or dislike for his cover. Perhaps I'd always expected every cover of a Beatles song to feature a beautiful voice. David's vocals, while quirky and pleasant, aren't necessarily pretty enough for this song in particular. Even the melody is weak.



"Can You Hear Me" really has that 2am, slightly rippling cassette tape sound to it. That's really the best way I can describe this song. It's not the best part of the album but it's a necessary piece, and in the right setting it's just right.



Young Americans concludes itself with another song that just about everyone on earth has heard before: "Fame". It's very much unlike the rest of the album, even in terms of lyrical content. I've always loved this song, perhaps if only for my personal cynicism about people and appearances.



Young Americans isn't the best of Bowie's albums, but it's a good nighttime listen.

Final rating (as a Bowie album): 7/10

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