Urbans Classic Albums No 4 David Bowie - Aladdin Sane (jazz, rock)

Urban Hat€monger ? · 08-03-2006, 10:39 AM

Ain`t done one of these in a while ...........

DAVID BOWIE - ALADDIN SANE

Ziggy Stardust wrote the blueprint for David Bowie's hard-rocking glam, and Aladdin Sane essentially follows the pattern, for both better and worse. A lighter affair than Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane is actually a stranger album than its predecessor, buoyed by bizarre lounge-jazz flourishes from pianist Mick Garson and a handful of winding, vaguely experimental songs. Bowie abandons his futuristic obsessions to concentrate on the detached cool of New York and London hipsters, as on the compressed rockers "Watch That Man," "Cracked Actor," and "The Jean Genie." Bowie follows the hard stuff with the jazzy, dissonant sprawls of "Lady Grinning Soul," "Aladdin Sane," and "Time," all of which manage to be both campy and avant-garde simultaneously, while the sweepingly cinematic "Drive-In Saturday" is a soaring fusion of sci-fi doo wop and melodramatic teenage glam. He lets his paranoia slip through in the clenched rhythms of "Panic in Detroit," as well as on his oddly clueless cover of "Let's Spend the Night Together." For all the pleasures on Aladdin Sane, there's no distinctive sound or theme to make the album cohesive; it's Bowie riding the wake of Ziggy Stardust, which means there's a wealth of classic material here, but not enough focus to make the album itself a classic.

Urban Hat€monger ? · 08-03-2006, 10:44 AM

I disagree with the review, It might not be one of his best albums but it`s one of my favourites.
You can see that this is him putting aside the Ziggy thing and broadening his horizons.It`s true doesn`t have an overriding theme but I think it works better for that. It`s a much better album than Diamond Dogs , Young Americans or Station To Station which did have themes that followed it.
To me this is Bowie writing great songs experimenting in loads of different genres , it might be haphazard but I think it works.

I`m voting good

coffeeshop · 08-06-2006, 07:10 AM

I agree. It may not be as good as Ziggy but it is still a great album. Cracked Actor, Panic in Detroit, the title song and The Jean Genie are some of his best material imo. His cover of Let's Spend the Night Together though.

swim · 08-06-2006, 08:57 AM

I recently gave my first listen first listen and it's a very good album.

View Poll Results: Rate Aladdin Sane
Excellent	3	37.50%
Good	5	62.50%
Average	0	0%
Poor	0	0%
Awful	0	0%
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08-03-2006, 10:39 AM	#1 (permalink)
Urban Hat€monger ? The Sexual Intellectual Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Somewhere cooler than you Posts: 18,605	Urbans Classic Albums No 4 David Bowie - Aladdin Sane Ain`t done one of these in a while ........... DAVID BOWIE - ALADDIN SANE Ziggy Stardust wrote the blueprint for David Bowie's hard-rocking glam, and Aladdin Sane essentially follows the pattern, for both better and worse. A lighter affair than Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane is actually a stranger album than its predecessor, buoyed by bizarre lounge-jazz flourishes from pianist Mick Garson and a handful of winding, vaguely experimental songs. Bowie abandons his futuristic obsessions to concentrate on the detached cool of New York and London hipsters, as on the compressed rockers "Watch That Man," "Cracked Actor," and "The Jean Genie." Bowie follows the hard stuff with the jazzy, dissonant sprawls of "Lady Grinning Soul," "Aladdin Sane," and "Time," all of which manage to be both campy and avant-garde simultaneously, while the sweepingly cinematic "Drive-In Saturday" is a soaring fusion of sci-fi doo wop and melodramatic teenage glam. He lets his paranoia slip through in the clenched rhythms of "Panic in Detroit," as well as on his oddly clueless cover of "Let's Spend the Night Together." For all the pleasures on Aladdin Sane, there's no distinctive sound or theme to make the album cohesive; it's Bowie riding the wake of Ziggy Stardust, which means there's a wealth of classic material here, but not enough focus to make the album itself a classic. __________________ Urb's RYM Stuff Most people sell their soul to the devil, but the devil sells his soul to Nick Cave.

08-03-2006, 10:44 AM	#2 (permalink)
Urban Hat€monger ? The Sexual Intellectual Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Somewhere cooler than you Posts: 18,605	I disagree with the review, It might not be one of his best albums but it`s one of my favourites. You can see that this is him putting aside the Ziggy thing and broadening his horizons.It`s true doesn`t have an overriding theme but I think it works better for that. It`s a much better album than Diamond Dogs , Young Americans or Station To Station which did have themes that followed it. To me this is Bowie writing great songs experimenting in loads of different genres , it might be haphazard but I think it works. I`m voting good __________________ Urb's RYM Stuff Most people sell their soul to the devil, but the devil sells his soul to Nick Cave.

08-06-2006, 07:10 AM	#3 (permalink)
coffeeshop From beyond the grave Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Merseyside, UK Posts: 480	I agree. It may not be as good as Ziggy but it is still a great album. Cracked Actor, Panic in Detroit, the title song and The Jean Genie are some of his best material imo. His cover of Let's Spend the Night Together though. __________________ "In this Catholic Club they never had the **ing TV on and I was going, 'That Big Brother, it won't catch on. British people won't watch that .' And then they went, at nine o' clock, 'Shh!' and turned the telly on! It was, like, people asleep in bed. To me, I can't understand that. The encouraging thing is, 'You were right all along, Smith: people are stupid." - Mark E Smith**

08-06-2006, 08:57 AM	#4 (permalink)
swim dontcareaboutyou Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: North Carolina Posts: 5,188	I recently gave my first listen first listen and it's a very good album. __________________ http://nakednaps.bandcamp.com/