David Bowie's 12 best albums
Where to start with one of music's most varied back catalogues?
A career spread over 50 fifty years, 25 studios albums to his name... David Bowie’s back catalogue can seem a little overwhelming as much to the novice as the aficionado. Renowned for his great spread of material and change of imagery – glam rocker, soul boy, pop star and more - it can become difficult to know where to start with his discography.
After his devastating and sudden passing on 10th January 2016, allow us to guide you though his 12 most essential albums, which you can then supplement by having all the fun of joining the dots between them...
David Bowie's albums: 12 of his essential records
'The Man Who Sold The World', 1970
Nirvana brought 'The Man Who Sold The World' album title track to a wider audience when they famously covered it for their MTV Unplugged performance in 1993, however there are many more musical gems to be found within Bowie's third studio record.
Previous self-titled album 'David Bowie' from 1969 contains many great tracks including Bowie's breakthrough smash 'Space Oddity' and the sprawling dystopian nightmare of 'Cygnet Committee', yet 'The Man Who Sold The World' is undoubtedly Bowie's first complete record and arguably the heaviest of his entire career.
From the moment the bassline kicks in on eight-minute opener 'The Width of a Circle' through to closing refrain of "so softly a supergod dies!" on closer 'The Superman', 'The Man Who Sold The World' never wanes in magnificence. Rich in musical depth throughout, 'She Shook Me Cold' is a stone cold hard rock classic, 'Black Country Rock' sees Bowie delve into almost Tyrannosaurus Rex territory, and 'All The Madmen' affectingly deals with the theme of insanity and was inspired by Terry Burns, Bowie's half-brother who was a schizophrenic inmate at Cane Hill Hospital. A truly outstanding record.
'Hunky Dory', 1971
Despite scoring a hit with 'Space Oddity' is 1969, it seemed as if David Bowie was destined to remain a one-hit wonder. His first three albums – 'David Bowie' (1967), 'David Bowie' (aka 'Space Oddity') (1969) and 'The Man Who Sold The World' – found Bowie flirting with a variety of styles including hippy folk and hard rock, but none really seemed to gel.
Hunky Dory is where it all comes to together. Joined by future Spiders From Mars Mick Ronson (guitar), Trevor Boulder (bass) and Woody Woodmansey (drums) – as well as cape-wearing prog rock keyboard wiz Rick Wakeman – this is the album where Bowie the songwriter emerges to craft an album packed with classics.
'Changes', 'Oh! You Pretty Things' and 'Life On Mars are all present and correct, and the immediate future in glimpsed on The Velvet Undergound-inspired 'Queen Bitch'.
'The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars', 1972
David Bowie's fifth album was his breakthrough record. A concept album of sorts, it concerns itself with the androgynous and bisexual alien Ziggy Stardust who arrives on earth to become a rock star just as the earth is facing the apocalypse.
Influenced by the rising glam rock movement, Bowie and Ziggy came to define the era. Bowie lost himself in the character of the flame-haired Ziggy Stardust, who he later "killed" onstage at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1973. Containing the songs 'Ziggy Stardust', 'Suffragette City' and the hit 'Starman', this is the glam-era album you need.
'Aladdin Sane', 1973
Released just ten months after David Bowie's seminal masterpiece 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars', 'Aladdin Sane' very much kept up the ante is yet another magnum opus from the rock n' roll chameleon.
Largely written on the road in-between shows on the US leg of Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust Tour' in 1972, the overt American influence permeates through almost every track on 'Aladdin Sane' – especially on the swooning musical tour-de-force 'Drive-In Saturday' and the more urgent 'Panic In Detroit', which details Bowie's friend and musical collaborator Iggy Pop's experiences during the 1967 Detroit riots.
Breath-taking in scope and without a single dud song – even the cover of The Rolling Stones' 'Let's Spend The Night Together' is sublime - 'Aladdin Sane' is rightfully regarded as one of Bowie's finest works and one of the greatest albums of the 1970s.
'Station To Station', 1976
Having moved to the US to tour 'Diamond Dogs' (1974) and record the plastic soul of 'Young Americans' (1975), the skeletal figure of David Bowie was holed up in Los Angeles and existing on a miniscule diet and an unhealthy obsession with the occult. Indeed, so blitzed was Bowie during this period that he later claimed to have no memory recording 'Station To Station'.
A stepping stone between his soul influences and the lure of European music, this six-track album contains some of David Bowie's most enduring and dynamic music; the epic title track that introduces us to his latest creation, The Thin White Duke, the funky 'Golden Years' and his dramatic cover of Johnny Mathis' 'Wild Is The Wind'.
'Low', 1977
The first album of David Bowie's so-called 'Berlin Trilogy' was actually recorded mainly at the Château d'Hérouville studios in France, though the celebrated Hansa studios in Berlin were also used.
Having moved to Berlin with Iggy Pop and recorded 'The Idiot' – arguably a dry run for 'Low' – with the erstwhile Stooges frontman, here Bowie teams up with ambient pioneer Brian Eno and producer Tony Visconti to create one of most intriguing albums his career.
Influenced by German bands such as Neu!, Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream, Side 1 is made up of largely short, experimental pop numbers including the hit 'Sound And Vision', while Side 2 features longer and more experimental instrumental music.
'Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)', 1980
David Bowie's first album of the new decade was the perfect synthesis of his instinctive pop smarts and more esoteric, experimental urges. So while The Berlin Trilogy saw Bowie pushing musical boundaries, he hadn't matched the commercial success of his earlier work. That would end here.
Featuring astonishing contributions from King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp and Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band's piano player Roy Bittan, as well as The Who's Pete Townshend – 'Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)' topped the UK album charts.
Containing the hits 'Ashes To Ashes', 'Fashion', 'Up The Hill Backwards' and the title track, this is considered to be one of David Bowie's very best albums.
'Let's Dance', 1983
'Let's Dance' tends to get a retrospective short shrift, which is a little unfair on what still remains David Bowie's most commercially successful album. And while it does jettison much of the other-worldly mystery of his earlier work, taken on its own terms, this is still a fine pop album.
Produced by Chic maestro Nile Rodgers and featuring the nimble-fingered guitar work of blues supremo Stevie Ray Vaughan, the album houses the global smash-hits 'Let's Dance', 'Modern Love' and Bowie's distinct cover of Iggy Pop's 'China Girl'. And the re-recording of 'Cat People (Putting Out The Fire)' is pretty ace, too!
'The Buddha Of Suburbia', 1993
Probably David Bowie's most obscure album, it also happens to be one his best. Having spent the best part of the 80s in a creative cul-de-sac, David Bowie wrote and recorded this album in just six days after author Hanif Kureishi cheekily asked him to the soundtrack for the BBC's dramatisation of his award-winning novel, 'The Buddha Of Suburbia'.
Combining Bowie's pop nous (see the title track and 'Strangers When We Meet') with his more experimental urges ('Sex And The Church'), this is a varied album that merits exploration.
Indeed, Bowie rated it so highly that he was reportedly planning on playing it in full in the mid-noughties until ill health stopped him performing.
'Heathen', 2002
Reuniting with producer Tony Visconti, 'Heathen' is an album that no longer finds Bowie chasing trends in the way that he did with, say, the industrial rock-influenced '1. Outside', or the attempts at drum'n'bass on 'Earthling'. Here, he does what he does best – write great songs
Sounding remarkably relaxed and comfortable, 'Heathen' contains some wonderful numbers in the shape of 'Everyone Says "Hi"' and the beautiful 'Slip Away', as well as covers by Pixies ('Cactus') and Neil Young ('I've Been Waiting For You').
'The Next Day', 2013
Having long retired from the public eye, David Bowie caused a media frenzy and revived interest in his work by suddenly releasing new material seemingly out of nowhere.
Presaged by the haunting single, 'Where Are We Now?', 'The Next Day' is an album packed with quality material and proved that David Bowie still had something to say. Be it school shootings ('Valentine's Day'), celebrity culture ('The Stars Are Out Tonight') or the horrors of war ('I'd Rather Be High'), David Bowie was still on the button with hook-laden music to match.
'Blackstar', 2016
Written and recorded in secret after David Bowie had been diagnosed with liver cancer, 'Blackstar' is up there with the very best of his material. Dying two days after the album's release, closer inspection of the album's lyrics revealed plenty of clues about his imminent demise.
But this is far from a maudlin release. Working with New York jazz musician Donny McCaslin and his band, 'Blackstar' is an album that's full of life despite its subject matter. And there even some excellent in-jokes – see the reference to 'A New Career In A New Town' on the album's closer, 'I Can't Give Everything Away'.
Producer Tony Visconti called this David Bowie's "parting gift", and it's one that keeps on giving.
You can hear David Bowie's songs on the Absolute Radio playlist.
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