Rock, Metal

David Bowie & Stevie Ray Vaughan – Dallas Moonlight 1983

2010-11-02T14:03:03Z

David Bowie & Stevie Ray Vaughan – Dallas Moonlight 1983

CD 1
01. Star
02. Heroes
03. What In The World
04. Look Back In Anger
05. Joe The Lion
06. Wild Is The Wind
07. Golden Years
08. Fashion
09. Lets Dance
10. Red Sails
11. Breaking Glass
12. Life On Mars
13. Sorrow                       play
14. Cat People (Putting Out Fire)
15. China Girl
16. Scary Monsters (Super Creeps)
17. Rebel Rebel                  play
18. I Can’t Explain
19. White Light White Heat

CD 2
01. Station To Station
02. Cracked Actor
03. Ashes To Ashes
04. Space Oddity
05. Young Americans
06. Soul Love                   play
07. Hang Onto Yourself
08. Fame
09. TVC15
10. Stay
11. Jean Genie
12. Modern Love

Band :

    Backing Vocals – Frank Simms, George Simms
    Bass Guitar – Carmine Rojas
    Drums, percussion – Tony Thompson
    Guitar – Carlos Alomar, David Bowie, Earl Slick, Stevie Ray Vaughan
    Keyboards, synthesizers – Dave Lebolt
    Saxaphone – David Bowie
    Saxaphones – Steve Elson
    Saxaphones, woodwinds – Lenny Pickett
    Vocals – David Bowie

In January 1983, David Bowie invited Stevie Ray Vaughan to record guitar for six new tracks he’d written for his upcoming release, Let’s Dance.

Vaughan’s powerful and unique guitar work brought a fresh sound to Bowie’s music, most famously on songs like “China Girl” and the album’s title track.

With the album a success, Bowie was keen for SRV to join his group for the subsequent Serious Moonlight Tour. However, with Vaughan reluctant to leave Double Trouble (who had just finished recording their debut album, Texas Flood), Bowie’s management offered to let the group open the show on select tour dates; but just four days before the tour began, Bowie's management reneged, telling Vaughan’s manager, Chesley Millikin, that the band would not be included and, furthermore, Vaughan wasn't allowed to talk about the group or its new record in interviews.

With the offer pulled, Vaughan’s manager took him off the tour.

Although both artists still achieved huge amounts of critical and commercial success during their respective careers, what they might've gone on to do together remains one of rock's great "What If's."

No video footage of Bowie and Vaughan performing together is known to exist; however, several taped rehearsal performances do, including these excellent versions (in the clips below) of "Let's Dance," "Cat People (Putting Out the Fire)" and "China Girl," recorded at the Las Colinas Soundstage in Dallas April 26, 1983. ---Jonathan Graham, guitarworld.com

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David Bowie - Diamond Dogs (1974)

2016-01-14T16:52:09Z

David Bowie - Diamond Dogs (1974)


1 	Future Legend 	1:07
2 	Diamond Dogs 	5:56
3 	Sweet Thing 	3:38
4 	Candidate 	2:40
5 	Sweet Thing (Reprise) 	2:32
6 	Rebel Rebel 	4:30
7 	Rock'n' Roll With Me	4:02
8 	We Are The Dead 	4:54
9 	1984		3:27
10 	Big Brother 	3:20
11 	Chant Of The Ever Circling Skeletal Familiy 	2:04

David Bowie - Guitar, Mellotron, Moog Synthesizer, Saxophones, Vocals
Aynsley Dunbar - Drums
Herbie Flowers - Bass
Mike Garson - Keyboards, Piano
Tony Newman - Drums
Alan Parker - Guitar
Tony Visconti – Strings

David Bowie fired the Spiders From Mars shortly after the release of Pin Ups, but he didn't completely leave the Ziggy Stardust persona behind. Diamond Dogs suffers precisely because of this -- he doesn't know how to move forward. Originally conceived as a concept album based on George Orwell's 1984, Diamond Dogs evolved into another one of Bowie's paranoid future nightmares. Throughout the album, there are hints that he's tired with the Ziggy formula, particularly in the disco underpinning of "Candidate" and his cut-and-paste lyrics. However, it's not enough to make Diamond Dogs a step forward, and without Mick Ronson to lead the band, the rockers are too stiff to make an impact. Ironically, the one exception is one of Bowie's very best songs -- the tight, sexy "Rebel Rebel." The song doesn't have much to do with the theme, and the ones he does throw in to further the story usually fall flat. Diamond Dogs isn't a total waste, with "1984," "Candidate," and "Diamond Dogs" all offering some sort of pleasure, but it is the first record since Space Oddity where Bowie's reach exceeds his grasp. ---Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

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David Bowie - Hunky Dory (1971/1990)

2016-01-12T17:02:34Z

David Bowie - Hunky Dory (1971/1990)


1 	Changes 	3:33
2 	Oh! You Pretty Things 	3:12
3 	Eight Line Poem 	2:53
4 	Life On Mars? 	3:48
5 	Kooks 	2:49
6 	Quicksand 	5:03
7 	Fill Your Heart		3:07
8 	Andy Warhol 	3:53
9 	Song For Bob Dylan 	4:12
10 	Queen Bitch 	3:13
11 	The Bewlay Brothers 	5:21
12 	Bombers (Previously Unreleased)	2:38
13 	The Supermen (Alternate Version)	2:41
14 	Quicksand (Demo Version)	4:43
15 	The Bewlay Brothers (Alternate Mix)	5:19

David Bowie – Vocals, Guitar, Saxophone, Piano
Mick Ronson – Guitar
Trevor Bolder – Bass
Rick Wakeman – Piano
Mick Woodmansey – Drums

After the freakish hard rock of The Man Who Sold the World, David Bowie returned to singer/songwriter territory on Hunky Dory. Not only did the album boast more folky songs ("Song for Bob Dylan," "The Bewlay Brothers"), but he again flirted with Anthony Newley-esque dancehall music ("Kooks," "Fill Your Heart"), seemingly leaving heavy metal behind. As a result, Hunky Dory is a kaleidoscopic array of pop styles, tied together only by Bowie's sense of vision: a sweeping, cinematic mélange of high and low art, ambiguous sexuality, kitsch, and class. Mick Ronson's guitar is pushed to the back, leaving Rick Wakeman's cabaret piano to dominate the sound of the album. The subdued support accentuates the depth of Bowie's material, whether it's the revamped Tin Pan Alley of "Changes," the Neil Young homage "Quicksand," the soaring "Life on Mars?," the rolling, vaguely homosexual anthem "Oh! You Pretty Things," or the dark acoustic rocker "Andy Warhol." On the surface, such a wide range of styles and sounds would make an album incoherent, but Bowie's improved songwriting and determined sense of style instead made Hunky Dory a touchstone for reinterpreting pop's traditions into fresh, postmodern pop music. --- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic.comi

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David Bowie - Lodger (1979)

2016-01-18T16:54:45Z

David Bowie - Lodger (1979)


1 	Fantastic Voyage 	2:58
2 	African Night Flight 	2:58
3 	Move On 	3:21
4 	Yassassin (Turkish For: Long Live) 	4:13
5 	Red Sails 	3:47
6 	D.J. 	4:02
7 	Look Back In Anger 	3:10
8 	Boys Keep Swinging 	3:20
9 	Repetition 	3:01
10 	Red Money 	4:20
11 	I Pray, Olé 	3:56
12 	Look Back In Anger (New Version) 	6:58

David Bowie - Chamberlin, Guitar, Piano, Saxophone, Synthesizer, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Carlos Alomar - Drums, Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm),
Adrian Belew - Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Mandolin
Dennis Davis - Bass, Drums, Percussion
Brian Eno - Ambience, Guitar, Horn, Piano, Synthesizer, Trumpet, Unknown Instrument
Reeves Gabrels 	- Guitar
Simon House - Mandolin, Violin
Erdal Kizilcay - Bass, Drums
Sean Mayes - Keyboards, Piano
George Murray 	- Bass, Guitar (Bass)
Roger Powell - Synthesizer
Tony Visconti - Bass, Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Mandolin, Vocals (Background)

On the surface, Lodger is the most accessible of the three Berlin-era records David Bowie made with Brian Eno, simply because there are no instrumentals and there are a handful of concise pop songs. Nevertheless, Lodger is still gnarled and twisted avant pop; what makes it different is how it incorporates such experimental tendencies into genuine songs, something that Low and Heroes purposely avoided. "D.J.," "Look Back in Anger," and "Boys Keep Swinging" have strong melodic hooks that are subverted and strengthened by the layered, dissonant productions, while the remainder of the record is divided between similarly effective avant pop and ambient instrumentals. Lodger has an edgier, more minimalistic bent than its two predecessors, which makes it more accessible for rock fans, as well as giving it a more immediate, emotional impact. It might not stretch the boundaries of rock like Low and Heroes, but it arguably utilizes those ideas in a more effective fashion. --- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic.com

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David Bowie - Low (1977/1991)

2016-01-13T17:05:31Z

David Bowie - Low (1977/1991)


1. 	"Speed of Life"   	2:46
2. 	"Breaking Glass" (Bowie, Dennis Davis, George Murray) 	1:52
3. 	"What in the World"   	2:23
4. 	"Sound and Vision"   	3:05
5. 	"Always Crashing in the Same Car"   	3:33
6. 	"Be My Wife"   	2:58
7. 	"A New Career in a New Town"   	2:53
8. 	"Warszawa" (Bowie, Brian Eno) 	6:23
9. 	"Art Decade"   	3:46
10. 	"Weeping Wall"   	3:28
11. 	"Subterraneans"   	5:39
12. 	"Some Are" (previously unreleased) 	3:24
13. 	"All Saints" (previously unreleased) 	3:25
14. 	"Sound and Vision (1991 remix by David Richards) 	4:43

David Bowie – vocals (2-6, 8, 10-12, 14), saxophones (4, 11), guitar (6, 9-11), pump bass (6),
 harmonica (7), vibraphone (9-10), xylophone (10), pre-arranged percussion (10),
 keyboards: ARP synthesiser (1, 10-11), Chamberlin: Credited on the album sleeve notes as "tape 
 horn and brass" (1), "synthetic strings" (1, 4, 9-10), "tape cellos" (5) and "tape sax section" (7),
 piano (7, 9-11), "instruments" (13)
Brian Eno – keyboards: Minimoog (2, 8-9), ARP (3, 11), E.M.I. (3, 5), piano (7-9, 11),
 Chamberlin (8-9), other synthesisers, vocals (4, 14), guitar treatments (5),
 synthetics (7), "instruments" (12-13)
Carlos Alomar – rhythm guitars (1, 3-7, 14), guitar (2)
Dennis Davis – percussion (1-7, 14)
George Murray – bass (1-7, 11, 14)
Ricky Gardiner – rhythm guitar (2), guitar (3-7, 14)
Roy Young – pianos (1, 3-7, 14), Farfisa organ (3, 5)
+
Iggy Pop – backing vocals (3)
Mary Visconti – backing vocals (4, 14)
Eduard Meyer – cellos (9)
Peter and Paul (Brian Eno under a gag pseudonym) – pianos and ARP

Following through with the avant-garde inclinations of Station to Station, yet explicitly breaking with David Bowie's past, Low is a dense, challenging album that confirmed his place at rock's cutting edge. Driven by dissonant synthesizers and electronics, Low is divided between brief, angular songs and atmospheric instrumentals. Throughout the record's first half, the guitars are jagged and the synthesizers drone with a menacing robotic pulse, while Bowie's vocals are unnaturally layered and overdubbed. During the instrumental half, the electronics turn cool, which is a relief after the intensity of the preceding avant pop. Half the credit for Low's success goes to Brian Eno, who explored similar ambient territory on his own releases. Eno functioned as a conduit for Bowie's ideas, and in turn Bowie made the experimentalism of not only Eno but of the German synth group Kraftwerk and the post-punk group Wire respectable, if not quite mainstream. Though a handful of the vocal pieces on Low are accessible -- "Sound and Vision" has a shimmering guitar hook, and "Be My Wife" subverts soul structure in a surprisingly catchy fashion -- the record is defiantly experimental and dense with detail, providing a new direction for the avant-garde in rock & roll. ---Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

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David Bowie - Space Oddity (1969)

2015-10-02T15:51:17Z

David Bowie - Space Oddity (1969)


A1 	Space Oddity	5:13
A2 	Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed 	6:09
A3 	Letter To Hermione 	2:30
A4 	Cygnet Committee 	9:22
B1 	Janine 	3:22
B2 	An Occasional Dream 	2:54
B3 	The Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud 	4:46
B4 	God Knows I'm Good 	3:17
B5 	Memory Of A Free Festival 	7:06

    David Bowie – vocals, 12-string guitar, acoustic guitar, Stylophone, Kalimba
    Rick Wakeman – mellotron, electric harpsichord, keyboards
    Terry Cox – drums
    Tim Renwick – electric guitar
    Keith Christmas – acoustic guitar
    Mick Wayne – guitar
    Tony Visconti – bass guitar, flute, recorder
    Herbie Flowers – bass guitar
    Benny Marshall and friends – harmonica
    Paul Buckmaster – cello

Originally released as Man of Words/Man of Music, Space Oddity was David Bowie's first successful reinvention of himself. Abandoning both the mod and Anthony Newley fascinations that marked his earlier recordings, Bowie delves into a lightly psychedelic folk-rock, exemplified by the album's soaring title track. Bowie actually attempts a variety of styles on Space Oddity, as if he were trying to find the ones that suited him best. As such, the record isn't very cohesive, but it is charming, especially in light of his later records. Nevertheless, only "Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud" and "Memory of a Free Festival" rank as Bowie classics, and even those lack the hooks or purpose of "Space Oddity." --- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic.com

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David Bowie - The Man Who Sold the World (1970)

2015-10-07T15:43:01Z

David Bowie - The Man Who Sold the World (1970)


A1 	The Width Of A Circle 	8:07
A2 	All The Madmen 	5:38
A3 	Black Country Rock 	3:33
A4 	After All 	3:52

B1 	Running Gun Blues 	3:12
B2 	Saviour Machine 	4:27
B3 	She Shook Me Cold 	4:13
B4 	The Man Who Sold The World 	3:58
B5 	The Supermen 	3:39

David Bowie – vocals, guitar
Mick Ronson – guitar
Ralph Mace – synthesizer
Tony Visconti – bass
Mick Woodmansey – drums

Even though it contained no hits, The Man Who Sold the World, for most intents and purposes, is the beginning of David Bowie's classic period. Working with guitarist Mick Ronson and producer Tony Visconti for the first time, Bowie developed a tight, twisted heavy guitar rock that appears simple on the surface but sounds more gnarled upon each listen. The mix is off-center, with the fuzz-bass dominating the compressed, razor-thin guitars and Bowie's strangled, affected voice. The sound of The Man Who Sold the World is odd, but the music is bizarre itself, with Bowie's bizarre, paranoid futuristic tales melded to Ronson's riffing and the band's relentless attack. Musically, there isn't much innovation on The Man Who Sold the World -- it is almost all hard blues-rock or psychedelic folk-rock -- but there's an unsettling edge to the band's performance, which makes the record one of Bowie's best albums. [Rykodisc's 1990 CD reissue includes four bonus tracks, including the previously unreleased "Lightning Frightening," and the single "Holy Holy," and both sides of the 1971 "Arnold Corns" single, "Moonage Daydream" and "Hang On to Yourself," which are early and inferior versions of songs that would later appear on Ziggy Stardust.] --- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic.com

Album, początkowo zatytułowany David Bowie a ostatecznie Man of Words, Man of Music jest hołdem złożonym wszystkim Londyńskim inspiracjom muzyka. Objawia już zalążki talentu kompozytorskiego swojego autora, talentu z którym świat tak naprawdę oswoi się dopiero w ciągu kilku następnych lat. Pierwsza płyta długogrająca Bowiego, "The Man Who Sold The World", od razu nagrywana była jako całość i stała się jednocześnie pierwszym prawdziwym wyzwaniem dla poszukiwaczy nowych przestrzeni dźwiękowych. Słyszane są na niej gitary Micka Robinsona często uznawane są za pierwsze w historii gitary heavymetalowe, a cały album określa się jako początek ery glam-rocka. Wydany przez wytwórnię Mercury w 1971 roku album jeszcze tego samego roku David promował podczas specjalnej trasy po Stanach Zjednoczonych. --- muzyka.onet.pl

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David Bowie - The Next Day (2013)

2013-03-10T17:16:37Z

David Bowie - The Next Day (2013)


01 – The Next Day [00:03:26]
02 – Dirty Boys [00:02:58]
03 – The Stars (Are Out Tonight) [00:03:57]
04 – Love Is Lost [00:03:57]
05 – Where Are We Now [00:04:09]
06 – Valentine’s Day [00:03:02]
07 – If You Can See Me [00:03:12]
08 – I’d Rather Be High [00:03:45]
09 – Boss Of Me [00:04:09]
10 – Dancing Out In Space [00:03:21]
11 – How Does The Grass Grow [00:04:34]
12 – (You Will) Set the World On Fire [00:03:32]
13 – You Feel So Lonely You Could Die [00:04:37]
14 – Heat [00:04:25]

Personnel:
    David Bowie - Vocals and Acoustic Guitar
    Gerry Leonard - Guitar
    David Torn - Guitar
    Tony Visconti – Guitar
    Earl Slick - Guitar
    Gail Ann Dorsey – Bass
    Tony Levin - Bass
    Zachary Alford – Drums
    Sterling Campbell - Drums & Tambourine
    Henry Hey – Piano
    Steve Elson - Baritone Sax and Contrabass Clarinet
    Antoine Silverman, Maxim Moston, Hiroko Taguchi, Anja Wood - Strings
    Tony Visconti - String Arrangement
    Gail Ann Dorsey and Janice Pendarvis - Backing Vocals

Even after 10 years away from the spotlight, David Bowie – pop’s most important post-Beatles innovator – still commands unrivalled levels of fascination. Just when it seemed that he had quietly slipped into a dignified retirement, which no-one would have begrudged, the world awoke one morning in January to the remarkable news of not only a single, Where Are We Now?, available immediately, but also this album. In the context of the album, Where Are We Now? – a moving, backwards glance at The Berlin Years – seems a slight red herring. Bowie does consider the past, ageing, mortality: on the title track’s chant of “My body left to rot in a hollow tree” and I’d Rather Be High’s stumbling “to the graveyard”.

How Does the Grass Grow? poses the question, “Would you still love me if the clocks could go backwards?” (You Will) Set the World on Fire seemingly addresses his pre-stardom self, a You Really Got Me riff and slick confidence reminding us that he’s always had “what it takes”. This elegiac nostalgia is matched by the beautiful You Feel So Lonely You Could Die. A complex mood pervades elsewhere, a sense of things gone awry. The nicely sinister Dirty Boys’ expressive, serious vocal depicts a skewed Englishness of cricket bats, “Finchley Fair” and running “with dirty boys”. The Stars (Are Out Tonight) sees those stars (a recurring theme) anthropomorphised: “sexless and unaroused”, unsettlingly “beaming like blackened sunshine”. The most experimental cut, If You Can See Me, proclaims – amidst spacey, tumbling rhythms and scattered jumbles of notes and words – “I will slaughter your kind”. Love Is Lost makes youth seem ominous – newness abounds but still “your fear is old”. Clearly this is no elder statesman simply wistfully gazing into a dappled, romanticised past. Valentine’s Day and I’d Rather Be High are further standouts – the former is a mid-paced depiction of a character with a “tiny face” and “scrawny hands”; the latter, a furious anti-war song. Closer Heat is a brilliant exemplar of what makes our finest, bravest musician of the past 40 years so irreplaceable. It’s full of spaced-out vocals, ominous noises and bangs, keening strings and disturbing, impressionistic poetry.

With the opacity and lack of easy answers that you would hope for from this most stylish and creative of artists, this is a triumphant, almost defiant, return. Innovative, dark, bold and creative, it’s an album only David Bowie could make. ---Jude Clarke, BBC Review

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David Bowie - Toy (2011)

2016-01-30T16:51:20Z

David Bowie - Toy (2011)


1 	Uncle Floyd 	6:15
2 	Afraid 	3:29
3 	Baby Loves That Way 	4:38
4 	I Dig Everything 	4:53
5 	Conversation Piece 	3:55
6 	Let Me Sleep Beside You 	3:14
7 	Toy (Your Turn To Drive) 	4:45
8 	Hole In The Ground 	3:32
9 	Shadow Man 	4:40
10 	In The Heat Of The Morning 	3:51
11 	You've Got A Habit Of Leaving 	4:51
12 	Silly Boy Blue 	5:34
13 	Liza Jane 	4:49
14 	London Boys 	3:50

Backing Vocals – Emm Gryner, Holly Palmer
Bass – Gail Ann Dorsey, Mark Plati
Drums – Sterling Campbell
Guitar – Earl Slick, Gerry Leonard, Mark Plati
Keyboards – David Bowie
Mandolin – David Bowie
Piano – Mike Garson
Violin – Lisa Germano
Vocals – David Bowie

A decade after it was shelved by his label, David Bowie's 23rd studio album has been leaked on the internet. Toy, conceived as a reimagining of Bowie's early work, appeared on file-sharing websites this week, with Bowie's reps refusing to comment.

Toy was originally scheduled to be released in 2002. Together with long-time producer Tony Visconti and Bowie's touring band from 1999's Hours ..., the singer had laid down sessions at New York's Sear Sound studios, recording new versions of some of his earliest works. These included 1968's In The Heat of the Morning – with the strings taken out – and 1971 demo Shadow Man – with strings put in. Bowie also recorded a new version of his very first single, 1964's Liza Jane, first released under the name Davie Jones and the King Bees.

But Virgin Records did not release Toy. There were reports of rights issues, royalty disputes, and shortly thereafter Bowie set up his own label, ISO, licensed through Columbia. Five of Toy's tracks have since seen release, appearing on 2002's Heathen and as B-sides, although the bulk of Toy remained a mystery.

Toy's unveiling will be of considerable interest to music-starved Bowie fans, who haven't had a new album since 2003. Outside of a handful of cameos – including work with Arcade Fire, Scarlett Johansson and David Gilmour – the Thin White Duke has been on an apparent musical hiatus since heart surgery in 2004. --- Sean Michaels, theguardian.com

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David Bowie - Young Americans (1975/1991)

2016-01-15T16:44:30Z

David Bowie - Young Americans (1975/1991)


1 	Young Americans 	5:10
2 	Win 	4:44
3 	Fascination 	5:43
4 	Right 	4:13
5 	Somebody Up There Likes Me 	6:30
6 	Across The Universe 	4:30
7 	Can You Hear Me 	5:04
8 	Fame 	4:12
9 	Who Can I Be Now? 	4:36
10 	It's Gonna Be Me 	6:27
11 	John, I'm Only Dancing Again 	6:57

David Bowie - Guitar, Keyboards, Piano, Saxophone, Vocals
Carlos Alomar - Guitar
Ava Cherry - Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Robin Clark - Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Dennis Davis - Drums, Percussion
Jeanie Fineberg - Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Mike Garson - Keyboards, Piano
Anthony Hinton - Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Emir Kassan - Bass
John Lennon - Guitar, Vocals
Ralph MacDonald - Percussion
Jean Millington 	Vocals (Background)
Andy Newmark - Drums
Warren Peace - Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Pablo Rosario - Percussion
David Sanborn - Saxophone
Earl Slick - Guitar
Diane Sumler - Vocals (Background)
G. Diane Sumler - Vocals
Luther Vandross - Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Larry Washington - Congas, Percussion
Willie Weeks - Bass, Guitar (Bass)

David Bowie had dropped hints during the Diamond Dogs tour that he was moving toward R&B, but the full-blown blue-eyed soul of Young Americans came as a shock. Surrounding himself with first-rate sessionmen, Bowie comes up with a set of songs that approximate the sound of Philly soul and disco, yet remain detached from their inspirations; even at his most passionate, Bowie sounds like a commentator, as if the entire album was a genre exercise. Nevertheless, the distance doesn't hurt the album -- it gives the record its own distinctive flavor, and its plastic, robotic soul helped inform generations of synthetic British soul. What does hurt the record is a lack of strong songwriting. "Young Americans" is a masterpiece, and "Fame" has a beat funky enough that James Brown ripped it off, but only a handful of cuts ("Win," "Fascination," "Somebody up There Likes Me") comes close to matching their quality. As a result, Young Americans is more enjoyable as a stylistic adventure than as a substantive record. --- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

The title song of David Bowie's Young Americans is one of his handful of classics, a bizarre mixture of social comment, run-on lyric style, English pop and American soul. The band plays great and Tony Visconti's production is flawless — just a touch of old-fashioned slap-back echo to give the tracks some added mystery. The rest of the album works best when Bowie combines his renewed interest in soul with his knowledge of English pop, rather than opting entirely for one or the other. Thus, "Win," one of his best pop ballads, makes great use of an R&B chorus; it works much better than the straight James Brown impersonation "Right." He does a plaintive version of John Lennon's "Across the Universe," while "Fame" and "Fascination," besides being complementary titles, continue his merger of styles on a positive note.

As for Bowie's growth as an artist, the highlight of the album comes when he stops the band and asks, "Isn't there one damn song that can make me break down and cry?" With any other pop singer in the world, you'd know that he or she wanted to be taken seriously. With Bowie, you believe that he half does and half just says what he thinks he's supposed to. Which isn't bad, but only the way he is.---Jon Landau, rollingstone.com

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