How would you rate "Hunky Dory" (1971) by David Bowie?

"Hunky Dory" is the fourth studio album by David Bowie. Released on December 17, 1971, it is considered one of his most critically acclaimed albums, but it remained somewhat unknown until 1972 when Bowie released the breakthrough album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars".


Track listing:
-Changes
-Oh! You Pretty Things
-Eight Line Poem
-Life on Mars?
-Kooks
-Quicksand

-Fill Your Heart
-Andy Warhol
-Song for Bob Dylan
-Queen Bitch
-The Bewlay Brothers
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Here is a recap of the series so far:
"Heroes" poll Rating: 4.28/5
"Let's Dance" poll Rating: 3.58/5

 

It's pretty great, but I rank it behind Ziggy, Aladdin Sane, StationToStation, and probably Young Americans among his 70s albums.

 

The first option, natch.

Sadly the CDs I have of it just don't sound that good. Tape damage, I hear.

 

Its probably his best album...

 

Highly - I would put it in the top 3 (along with Low and maybe Station). It's more unassuming and unpretentious than what was to follow, and highly accessible. It took me a while to love it because people played it so frequently when I was at school and the songs became earworms.

 

It is unbelievably good, not from this world.

I like the Parlophone CD the best, German RCA comes close second, the Ryko ain't bad (cool bonus songs, how could he omit Bombers from the original track list?), the 99 Virgin 24bit-or-what is meh.

 

In my opinion everything from Space Oddity through Scary Monsters should be essential listening for anyone with even a casual interest in rock (and who wants to be at all educated about the genre).

 

At that I'm not sure it would be in my Bowie top 10, but it would be close to it at any rate. He has a lot of excellent albums.

 

Essential.
Quicksand and Bewlay Bros are still incredible after all these years. Never tire of those two. I even love 'It Ain't Easy' that was 'relegated' to Ziggy. For me, this album is a very close 2nd after Diamond Dogs, as his best from 67-74.

 

Essential for sure. It took me a while to get into this one, but now that I have, I love it.

 

David Bowie is in my top 3 favorite artists, but Hunky Dory continues to elude me after all these years. I like the album a lot, but have never ranked it as highly as most people do.

 

It's a gas, a lovely work. So creative and unique.
"Fill your heart" with it, and you'll be FAAAAARRRRREEEEE!

 

Truly essential.
Top 5 Bowie. At least.

 

One of his very best albums. In the top 5.

 

A classic certainly. Really fine album. If there was a category between "essential" and "pretty great," I would have voted for that. But "essential" will do. Personally, I've kind of lost my taste for Bowie, and for '70s British rock for the most part -- it's music I grew up with but not music I find I like much anymore, but this is an album I still occasionally return to. I think "Life on Mars" may be Bowie's finest song.

 

One of Bowies best albums. I like Station To Staton and Low a bit more, but thats about it! A true classic!

 

His best in my opinion, heartfelt, moving, I can put it on any time and fall in love with it all over again.

 

It's a masterpiece--certainly one of his top 3 records in my opinion.

The lyrics, the wildly diverse song moods, somehow it all works together.

Ronson's arrangements and guitar playing are as brilliant as ever here, though his role was much less prominent on this record than in the Spiders years.

 

Well, that was close...

 

I think that's it....a lot of his stuff after this became much more theatrical and full of kind of performance artifice (at least until the last three or so albums he made), trying on different guises, flitting from style to style....but Hunky Dory as a personal, lyrical quality to it.

 

First option,of course. Classic Bowie stuff.

 

Amazing to see how much Bowie came into his own on songwriting here. He very nearly picked up the torch that the Beatles had dropped in my opinion.

Songs like "Oh You Pretty Things", "Life On Mars" and "Quicksand" are simply stunning. It's a weird record that seems to encompass the past, present and future of pop music styles all at once.

Also, for some weird reason, this has become the record I play while I wrap X-Mas presents for about 3 years running now, not sure how that started.

 

Essential. The first Bowie album I bought and fell in love with, at age 15. Love it just as much now 35 years later. It's an album that flows simply and directly, and IMO with an apparent ease in the songwriting that signalled a new artistic level for Bowie.

 

Definitely in the Top 1