You mentioned Bowie working with Iggy Pop. Bowie produced and mixed The Stooges Raw Power. Though there's been a few different mixes and releases of it over the years. Just wanted to add that. Great show btw. I always enjoy new episodes of The Contrarians.
I love weird Bowie too. Outside was like ahhhhhh, he's back! Blackstar is in my top 3 Bowie albums, just brilliant but, I'm with dude in my top left. Diamond Dogs is my go to, return to.
One of the panel said that Mike Garson played keyboards on Hunky Dory. Mr.Garson joined the Spiders for the USA tour of Ziggy Stardust in 1972. Rick Wakeman prior to joining Yes played keyboards on Space Oddity and Hunky Dory
Absolutely, its Rick Wakeman on Hunky Dory. Bowie asked him to join the Spiders from Mars but he declined and replaced Tony Kaye in Yes for Fragile instead. Wakeman also played mellotron/organ on Space Oddity.
I was 7 years old when I discovered Bowie. I saw the Ashes to Ashes video and it scared the living daylights out of me. Something about those priestesses walking towards the camera. I was an instant Bowie fan. Great show guys. Cheers!
my favorite is also Scary Monsters. it's his avant-garde coda for sure. it also was him blending his electronic experiments with his art rock tendencies. it's a solid and often overlooked record. I think highly of the Berlin records, Station to Station, Man Who Sold the World, Hunky Dory, and indeed Black Star. I wonder if the thing Marco read about Bowie initially recording under the name Ziggy Stardust, refers to the sessions he did with (what became) The Spiders from Mars (Ronson, Bolder, Woodmansey) under the name Arnold Corns. the band workshopped different versions of songs that would make it onto Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust.
Bowie is my all time favorite performer. I have been a fan for nearly 50 years. I appreciate this conversation. Opinions are well thought out, reasonable, and well-presented. Nice job, guys. My favorites were all represented here: 1. Scary Monsters 2. Station to Station 3. Ziggy Stardust 4. Blackstar These four are all masterpieces. Most artists would be fortunate to have one album on this tier. 5. Aladdin Sane 6. Diamond Dogs 7. The Next Day 8. Heroes 9. Low This tier is near-masterpieces. Better than excellent, but a step below the top tier. 10. Reality 11. Heathen 12. Outside 13. Hunky Dory 14. Lodger These are all solid albums. I can listen to any of them at any time and not be disappointed. Bowie's later catalog is vastly underrated by most casual fans.
Awesome list man, nice to see Blackstar and The Next Day getting top spots. My fave is Young Americans which won't end up in many top lists. It is dark, sensual, extremely funky and i like to think his first real personal album. Bowie called it plastic Soul, i think its Soul from the Twillight Zone and the first real proof of his visionary sense. All which came before sounds alien to YA while even his last album retained echoes of Young Americans
My introduction to David Bowie’s music other than a few songs here and there was actually Blackstar, about a year after he passed away. I was going to school at the time and had a dorm room with no stereo, so after I bought the album (on a whim) I went to a thrift store and picked up a CD Walkman. I indulged in a little herbal mind enhancement, put my headphones on and just laid on my bed, staring at the ceiling, listening to the album. It absolutely blew my mind and I was hooked after that. I still haven’t heard all of his albums but there was no going back after I dove into his ‘70s catalog. I’m in a similar boat to Reed, I simply can’t choose a single favourite album because there are so many that I love for different reasons. Really enjoyed this episode and everyone’s input was very interesting. Thanks everybody! 🤘🤘
Hunky Dory for me. I was 17 when it dropped,I came from London so knew all about Bowie already,but that album was so different to all the wondrous sounds around us at that time,but I loved it. Queen Bitch on the old grey whistle test is a blast of sweet acidity.
Not real familiar with all all of them but...... I listened to Alladen Sane Era I believe his face is painted 1/2 ,with my oldest brother (62) and I noticed his influence on Robin Zander it was honestly great! I love the Drumming on it too. Peace amigos
Cool show! My introduction to Bowie was Ziggy Stardust, but my favorite is "Station to Station", closely followed by Aladdin Sane. Totally agree with what is said about "Honky Dory".
Great show. Nice choices from Reed. I don't have a favourite album. However, earlier this year I relistened to all the Bowie albums (including ones he worked on - Lou Reed, Iggy) in reverse chronological order and was pleasantly surprised to find he had not made a truely bad album. Although he had several albums that were spoilt by production or one track that I did not quite like. So, 21st century aside, the five that did fall into this position are The Man Who Sold the World, Low, Station to Station, Outside and Earthling (as in no tracks I dislike) . Diamonds Dogs is a great album spoilt by the (in my opinion) the inclusion of the Ziggy/Sane leftover Rebel Rebel. It Ain't Easy on Ziggy, Andy Warhol on Hunky Dory, Teenage Wildlife on Scary Monsters. .
Not saying it's the "best", but 1. Outside is my personal favorite. My feeling is that his potential and range as an actor is actually realized on a music record, because he does a wide variety of characters and voices. Even to the level of nailing accents and little nuances in many of the characters' voices (including the segues which drive some people nuts) . It's seems as if the murderer, the investigator and the victim all get their chance to be the protagonist in the story. The whole thing is very bizarre, long and experimental - but it becomes a grower, and for something so weird it actually has moments where it is quite emotional and poignant (particularly The Motel).
Testament to Bowie range seeing the variety of his albums chosen as his best. Can't say Black Star is his best but the song Black Star is a top 20 Bowie song for me.
I was just watching some ZooTV last night. 90s U2 is best U2 for me. As for Bowie, probably Low… but my favorite era is definitely STS to Scary Monsters. Kinda irritating to hear people not “get” why Low is highly rated. Nothing ironic about it, just difference of opinion. ☺️ It has a unique vibe.
Absolutely Jeff, good point, its pretty amazing though like one of our contributors commented, you could probably ask 10 different Bowie fans their favorite album and get many different responses
I'm a U2 fan and a minor Bowie fan. I'll have to listen to Bowie's 70s albums because he and Deep Purple are artists I don't know much about but would like to learn more about. Oh, by the way, the 90s U2 albums you're thinking of are Achtung Baby, Zooropa and Pop.
As for Bowie covers...Shaun Cassidy's version of Rebel Rebel (produced by Todd Rundgren) from his Wasp album from '80 is fantastic New Wave Rundgren style...also Bay City Rollers version of Rebel Rebel ( produced by Harry Maslin ) from their lp Its A Game from '77...is pretty heavy guitar driven with gritty vocals...
My first exposure was china girl etc watching mtv at a friends house, no one around me listened to him. I graduated high school and coworkers all were going to see the changes tour. As a metalhead / Alternative croud kid. Did the hey why not and went.He was awsome live. I was surprised how many instruments David played live. As the vocalist he's best known for being. Love all the choices and opinions. Andy's comment about 30 chords covering at a birthday. Ha ha! He broke the mold and there is no replacement of this legend. Most agreed with the topic wide ranged infulencer etc.🤘
Zappa comes to mind as another legend.That the mainstreamers misunderstood who changed music forever.After" the MUTHERS" my dad would say all bets were off the table. He had the mark of artist 🎨 in the musician. This term Artist applys to Bowie.
When I discovered the magic powers of Bowie back in 1991 I would’ve leaned toward the Man who sold the world with no doubt. While still a favorite nowadays I lean towards Lodger and Diamond Dogs when I reach for Bowie to listen to. Space Oddity oddly enough after all these years is creeping up as one of his unsungs deserving of more praise than it gets. I stopped buying his albums after the 1995 album. Black Tie White Noise before that was awful too. Never cared for his eighties stuff sold those albums off long ago. Basically Space Oddity-Scary Monsters is all worth owning. The rest of it I would never recommend.
Blackstar, Outside, Buddha of Suburbia, Heathen all very good and Blackstar is online with anything he ever did. The NLMD and Tonight era, yep own don't listen
@@thecontrarians2438 I did bail a few minutes later. I'm a huge Bowie fan with really strong opinions and said going in that if a certain album got mentioned, I'm out. ..and that album got mentioned a short time after that. Everyone is entitled to an opinion though so it's all good. I'm sure the next vid will be better for me. FWIW the correct answer was Station To Station :) And it was good to see Scary Monsters and Blackstar getting some love too.
What's your favorite David Bowie album!?
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You mentioned Bowie working with Iggy Pop. Bowie produced and mixed The Stooges Raw Power. Though there's been a few different mixes and releases of it over the years. Just wanted to add that. Great show btw. I always enjoy new episodes of The Contrarians.
My favorite is Station to Station and the first brother who picked that did a great job in describing it.
Thanks Brandon! These contributors are very knowledgeable!
1.Station to Station
2.Alladin Sane
3.Hunky Dory
4.Ziggy
5.Lodger
6.Man Who Sold the World
7.Scary Monsters
8.Low
9.Diamond Dogs
10.Heroes
I love weird Bowie too. Outside was like ahhhhhh, he's back! Blackstar is in my top 3 Bowie albums, just brilliant but, I'm with dude in my top left. Diamond Dogs is my go to, return to.
One of the panel said that Mike Garson played keyboards on Hunky Dory. Mr.Garson joined the Spiders for the USA tour of Ziggy Stardust in 1972. Rick Wakeman prior to joining Yes played keyboards on Space Oddity and Hunky Dory
Thanks for that, all this time I thought it was Mike Garson. Beautiful playing on that album.
Absolutely, its Rick Wakeman on Hunky Dory. Bowie asked him to join the Spiders from Mars but he declined and replaced Tony Kaye in Yes for Fragile instead. Wakeman also played mellotron/organ on Space Oddity.
I was 7 years old when I discovered Bowie. I saw the Ashes to Ashes video and it scared the living daylights out of me. Something about those priestesses walking towards the camera. I was an instant Bowie fan.
Great show guys. Cheers!
Favorite Bowie? Scary Monsters. Love every minute of it.
Yep!
my favorite is also Scary Monsters. it's his avant-garde coda for sure. it also was him blending his electronic experiments with his art rock tendencies. it's a solid and often overlooked record. I think highly of the Berlin records, Station to Station, Man Who Sold the World, Hunky Dory, and indeed Black Star. I wonder if the thing Marco read about Bowie initially recording under the name Ziggy Stardust, refers to the sessions he did with (what became) The Spiders from Mars (Ronson, Bolder, Woodmansey) under the name Arnold Corns. the band workshopped different versions of songs that would make it onto Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust.
I never thought of the Bowie influence on 90s U2. It’s so obvious now that I think about it.
Bowie is my all time favorite performer. I have been a fan for nearly 50 years. I appreciate this conversation. Opinions are well thought out, reasonable, and well-presented. Nice job, guys. My favorites were all represented here:
1. Scary Monsters
2. Station to Station
3. Ziggy Stardust
4. Blackstar
These four are all masterpieces. Most artists would be fortunate to have one album on this tier.
5. Aladdin Sane
6. Diamond Dogs
7. The Next Day
8. Heroes
9. Low
This tier is near-masterpieces. Better than excellent, but a step below the top tier.
10. Reality
11. Heathen
12. Outside
13. Hunky Dory
14. Lodger
These are all solid albums. I can listen to any of them at any time and not be disappointed. Bowie's later catalog is vastly underrated by most casual fans.
Awesome list man, nice to see Blackstar and The Next Day getting top spots. My fave is Young Americans which won't end up in many top lists. It is dark, sensual, extremely funky and i like to think his first real personal album. Bowie called it plastic Soul, i think its Soul from the Twillight Zone and the first real proof of his visionary sense. All which came before sounds alien to YA while even his last album retained echoes of Young Americans
I'm a big Bowie fan. My favorite album is Diamond Dogs with Station To Station being a VERY close 2nd.
Exactly the same for me!
My introduction to David Bowie’s music other than a few songs here and there was actually Blackstar, about a year after he passed away. I was going to school at the time and had a dorm room with no stereo, so after I bought the album (on a whim) I went to a thrift store and picked up a CD Walkman. I indulged in a little herbal mind enhancement, put my headphones on and just laid on my bed, staring at the ceiling, listening to the album. It absolutely blew my mind and I was hooked after that.
I still haven’t heard all of his albums but there was no going back after I dove into his ‘70s catalog. I’m in a similar boat to Reed, I simply can’t choose a single favourite album because there are so many that I love for different reasons.
Really enjoyed this episode and everyone’s input was very interesting.
Thanks everybody! 🤘🤘
For me, it´s Earthling. Great production. An excellent and complex mix between rock and electronic!. Absolutely love it.
My favorite David Bowie album is "Low"
Hunky Dory for me.
I was 17 when it dropped,I came from London so knew all about Bowie already,but that album was so different to all the wondrous sounds around us at that time,but I loved it.
Queen Bitch on the old grey whistle test is a blast of sweet acidity.
Not real familiar with all all of them but...... I listened to Alladen Sane Era I believe his face is painted 1/2 ,with my oldest brother (62) and I noticed his influence on Robin Zander it was honestly great! I love the Drumming on it too. Peace amigos
Cool show! My introduction to Bowie was Ziggy Stardust, but my favorite is "Station to Station", closely followed by Aladdin Sane.
Totally agree with what is said about "Honky Dory".
David Bowie shared that "silent video", the parody of Dancing In The Streets with all his friends when he discovered, he really loved that video.
Loved Scary Monsters. After watching Ashes to Ashes video on Mtv for first time in early 80s I was hooked.
Great show. Nice choices from Reed. I don't have a favourite album. However, earlier this year I relistened to all the Bowie albums (including ones he worked on -
Lou Reed, Iggy) in reverse chronological order and was pleasantly surprised to find he had not made a truely bad album. Although he had several albums that were spoilt by production or one track that I did not quite like. So, 21st century aside, the five that did fall into this position are The Man Who Sold the World, Low, Station to Station, Outside and Earthling (as in no tracks I dislike) . Diamonds Dogs is a great album spoilt by the (in my opinion) the inclusion of the Ziggy/Sane leftover Rebel Rebel. It Ain't Easy on Ziggy, Andy Warhol on Hunky Dory, Teenage Wildlife on Scary Monsters. .
Great and intelligent commentary
Thanks Michael! You sound like a great and intelligent viewer!!
Not saying it's the "best", but 1. Outside is my personal favorite. My feeling is that his potential and range as an actor is actually realized on a music record, because he does a wide variety of characters and voices. Even to the level of nailing accents and little nuances in many of the characters' voices (including the segues which drive some people nuts) . It's seems as if the murderer, the investigator and the victim all get their chance to be the protagonist in the story. The whole thing is very bizarre, long and experimental - but it becomes a grower, and for something so weird it actually has moments where it is quite emotional and poignant (particularly The Motel).
Testament to Bowie range seeing the variety of his albums chosen as his best. Can't say Black Star is his best but the song Black Star is a top 20 Bowie song for me.
Excellent discussion fellows
Always lean towards Ziggy…..I enjoy many of his offerings, Aladdin Sane and Heathens honourable mentions….
Personally, my favorites are "Ziggy Stardust" and "Man Who Sold the World" but there is no wrong answer here.
Fascinating discussion. x
I was just watching some ZooTV last night. 90s U2 is best U2 for me.
As for Bowie, probably Low… but my favorite era is definitely STS to Scary Monsters. Kinda irritating to hear people not “get” why Low is highly rated. Nothing ironic about it, just difference of opinion. ☺️ It has a unique vibe.
Absolutely Jeff, good point, its pretty amazing though like one of our contributors commented, you could probably ask 10 different Bowie fans their favorite album and get many different responses
I'm a U2 fan and a minor Bowie fan. I'll have to listen to Bowie's 70s albums because he and Deep Purple are artists I don't know much about but would like to learn more about.
Oh, by the way, the 90s U2 albums you're thinking of are Achtung Baby, Zooropa and Pop.
Bowie is one of my favorite artists, and my favorite Bowie album is Low. That album is weird, minimalist, reflective and ahead of it’s time.
As for Bowie covers...Shaun Cassidy's version of Rebel Rebel (produced by Todd Rundgren) from his Wasp album from '80 is fantastic New Wave Rundgren style...also Bay City Rollers version of Rebel Rebel ( produced by Harry Maslin ) from their lp Its A Game from '77...is pretty heavy guitar driven with gritty vocals...
Favorite Bowie songs:
Bewlay Brothers
Conversation Piece
Sweet Thing
Moonage Daydream
Blackstar
Drive-in Saturday
Sound and Vision
My first exposure was china girl etc watching mtv at a friends house, no one around me listened to him. I graduated high school and coworkers all were going to see the changes tour. As a metalhead / Alternative croud kid. Did the hey why not and went.He was awsome live. I was surprised how many instruments David played live. As the vocalist he's best known for being. Love all the choices and opinions. Andy's comment about 30 chords covering at a birthday. Ha ha! He broke the mold and there is no replacement of this legend. Most agreed with the topic wide ranged infulencer etc.🤘
Zappa comes to mind as another legend.That the mainstreamers misunderstood who changed music forever.After" the MUTHERS" my dad would say all bets were off the table. He had the mark of artist 🎨 in the musician. This term Artist applys to Bowie.
Favorite: Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps). Most underrated: 1. Outside
Rick Wakeman played piano on Hunky Dory
Along with Ronson and Bowie himself of course
I Like Pinups the best.
Contrarian choice: Lodger.
When I discovered the magic powers of Bowie back in 1991 I would’ve leaned toward the Man who sold the world with no doubt. While still a favorite nowadays I lean towards Lodger and Diamond Dogs when I reach for Bowie to listen to. Space Oddity oddly enough after all these years is creeping up as one of his unsungs deserving of more praise than it gets. I stopped buying his albums after the 1995 album. Black Tie White Noise before that was awful too. Never cared for his eighties stuff sold those albums off long ago. Basically Space Oddity-Scary Monsters is all worth owning. The rest of it I would never recommend.
Blackstar, Outside, Buddha of Suburbia, Heathen all very good and Blackstar is online with anything he ever did. The NLMD and Tonight era, yep own don't listen
Should have bailed as soon as the bono lovefest started
haha so you didnt bail?
@@thecontrarians2438 I did bail a few minutes later. I'm a huge Bowie fan with really strong opinions and said going in that if a certain album got mentioned, I'm out. ..and that album got mentioned a short time after that. Everyone is entitled to an opinion though so it's all good. I'm sure the next vid will be better for me. FWIW the correct answer was Station To Station :) And it was good to see Scary Monsters and Blackstar getting some love too.