David Bowie Aladdin Sane Poll. Pick Your Favourites & Discuss.

I think "Panic In Detroit" is the standout track here but it's mostly a strong set with only a couple of disappointments.

 

I've always liked "Let's Spend The Night Together"!
I like the purposefully dissonant banging piano intro and the breathless vocal.

"Panic In Detroit" is my favorite. Timeless.
Never really liked "Drive In Saturday" much.

 

I remember--you'd think they could've thrown the studio cut of "All The Young Dudes" on the Ryko as a bonus track.

Come to think of it, "ATYD" would've been a good choice to have put in place of "LSTNT" on Aladdin.

 

Love the artwork, Watch That Man and Panic in Detroit.
Ok album but I like other Bowie better.

 

I love the whole album. Every song, even the Stones cover.

 

I voted for everything except "The Prettiest Star" and "Let's Spend The Night Together". Oddly enough, the latter is the only song from the album I remember hearing on our local Top 40 station at the time.
I wish I still had the Circus magazine with the article about the songs on the album...I haven't read it in decades, but the explanations of the songs made them quite powerful.
I was never thrilled with the mix of "Watch That Man"...but it is still a great song. Mick Garson's piano initially seemed over the top, but I soon grew to appreciate it.
The cover is classic...gave locals rednecks plenty to mock. (Anyone remember ad for the Guess Who that had their manager in the makeup?)

 

Some great singles in the Top 50 too...................................

Nice One Cyril

 

And mine.

 

So I’m just discovering Bowie myself. I’m on a concept album kick and listened to Ziggy for the first time ever a few weeks ago. Needless to say I was beyond floored on how good that album is/was. So my next step was to explore Aladdin Sane and Hunky Dory...neither were even close to Ziggy for me and both were removed from my Apple Music playlist. That being said, Panic in Detroit was redownloaded as a single, because it is a GREAT rock n roll tune.

 

Watch That Man. Half ‘Brown Sugar’, half Lou Reed’s ‘Wild Child’ (“…no one took their eyes off Lorraine”), everything’s up front on this track except Bowie’s vocal which ends up buried deep in the mix, ‘Exile’ vintage. .

 

Definitely on my Mt. Rushmore of Bowie ( along with Hunky, Ziggy, and Station2Station. What people forget this wasn't just great music, it was a movement. Glam Rock, Glitter Rock. I was an 18yo in '73 and we would be as decadent as possible. My parents thought I was gay because I sprinkled glitter on my face. The bands leading the charge besides David were Hall of Fame types such as Lou Reed, Mott the Hoople, Roxy Music and countless other outstanding acts. It produced one offs like Jobriath. Existing acts like Elton John and the Stones. It still influences todays artists. After a couple years I retired my glitter and went back to tie died until I had to grow up. Now that I'm retired I can go back to tie died. I am still moved by "All the Young Dudes". What a movement and this disc was leading the charge!

 

"Aladdin Sane" is my favorite of Bowie's many excellent albums. A lot of that may be my personal history with it. I was a wild fanatic about all the preceding albums, and after the amazing Ziggy, my anticipation for the release of Aladdin was at an all time high. My expectations were met and exceeded. The Bowie & The Spiders show in support of the album that I saw in Long Beach Calif. remains one of my most cherished concert experiences.

I love the entire album. I loved Ziggy, too, but AS is brighter, punchier, more colorful, more dramatic, and it rocks like a moogerfooger. The Spiders and Mick Ronson are at the height of their powers. My favorites are "Watch That Man", "Panic in Detroit", "Drive In Saturday", "Time", "Let's Spend the Night Together" (yes, really!), and "Lady Grinning Soul". "The Prettiest Star" is the weakest cut, but Ronson's guitar mostly redeems it.

 

It is the kind of album you get when an artist is so full of creativity and adrenalin that everything they do just works. Other examples are Goodbye Yelllow Brick Road by Elton John and Band on the Run by Paul McCartney and Wings. Or Dylan's Blonde on Blonde.

The artwork is also hugely important. The front cover is the Bowie pic everyone reaches for.

The piano part in the title track is magnificent. Rock, jazz, otherworldly, everything.

The vocal in Lady Grinning Soul is extraordinary (was there some technical trickery?)

The riff in Jean Genie is fantastic (was it stolen from somewhere?). Bowie pretty much does rock on this album.

Having said all that, overall it is a bit lightweight. The lyrics are not the equal of those on the three preceding albums. Bowie also uses an old song (Prettiest Star) and a cover (Let's spend...) to save a bit of time. There is nothing as thoughtful as The Bewlay Brothers, nothing as sophisticated as Life on Mars.

The concept - Ziggy in America - is weak compared to the Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

It's still wonderful.

Tim

 

I wish I had been more aware of Bowie in 1973. I was 10 and liked his singles, but never considered listening to his albums. Well, I was 10. I couldn’t have afforded them anyway! Must have been great to have been onto Aladdin Sane from the start. I do recall the press made a big deal of it.

1973 was a fantastic singles year in the UK for Bowie. The Jean Genie, Drive-In Saturday, Life On Mars?, The Laughing Gnome and Sorrow were all top 10 hits. Top 5 in most cases..

 

The awful EMI remix that Simply Vinyl used. Sounds like a different album compared to the original (that applies to the other titles as well). EMI also did the best vinyl pressing of this from analogue - Millennium series (180 grm).

 

In just about every DB interview from '76 up until 2004 I've seen you wish people actually did forget about that, the Ziggy persona and the makeup

 

What about the extras from the extended edition?
John I'm only Dancing & All the Young Dudes would have each got my vote.
Brilliant album, second only to Ziggy.

 

The great ones are as great as anything, but as a whole Ziggy is better.

I rank Ziggy as the best, and Station to Station number 2. The race for third is more or less between the rest of the seventies output

 

The only track I'd take out is Let's Spend the Night Together, which adds nothing to the album.

 

One of my favourite Bowie albums and one of the few where he sounds like he's enjoying himself. Before the fear and paranoia set in....

 

Near the bottom of his 1970's output imo. At least a half-dozen albums are better from Bowie in that decade.

The only songs that do it for me here are: "Aladdin Sane," "Panic In Detroit," and the lovely "Lady Grinning Soul."

 

Ziggy is my personal fave but give the other two another chance and they will grow on you. They are classics for sure. Many feel Hunky Dory in particular is his best album.

 

My first ‘real’ album.....such memories. My sister bought it when released and played it endlessly on a small one-box player we had. The lyrics caught my ear so much that I soaked them in and to this day can probably recite them like poetry learned at school. I bought the record off her for one pound a couple of years later when she wanted cash and I’ve hauled it round the world with me. It’s bashed, super bendy, thin vinyl, and I’ve replaced it with cleaner copies over the years but I still sometimes give that old scratchy copy a spin for fun. For me, this album opened up a world where music was a serious art form and I’ve never been the same since. A definite highlight of the Bowie catalog for me.

 

Drive In Saturday is beautiful, but sad science fiction. Young couples go to the drive-in not to make out, but to watch video films about how people used to make love "before."

 

You are forgetting Blackstar which is his best

Tim