Happy birthday, David Bowie: Ranking his 20 best albums
Counting down the finest albums from the Chameleon of Rock
Music Lists David Bowie
Clockwise from bottom left: David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust in London, 1973 (Photo: Express/Getty Images); Bowie performs in 2004 in Newport, UK (Photo: Jo Hale/Getty Images); A color-enhanced image exaggerating Bowie’s ‘Pin Ups’ album (Photo: Justin de Villeneuve/Getty Images); Bowie performs in Paris in 1991 (Photo: Pierre Verdy/AFP via Getty Images); At the 36th Cannes Film Festival in 1983 (Photo: Ralph Gatti/AFP via Getty Images) Graphic: The A.V. Club
During his five-decade career, David Bowie released 26 studio albums as well as seven official live albums plus a host of compilations. His discography has greatly increased in the years since his 2016 death, with archival live sets, box sets, and such scrapped albums as The Gouster and Toy seeing the light of day. It’s a lot to sort through and there are pitfalls: the sparkling swagger of “Blue Jean” continues to convince listeners there may be something else of worth on 1984's terrible Tonight. Here, The A.V. Club has selected 20 records that capture Bowie at his peak, whether he’s honing his craft, striving for a new sound, or mustering the full strength of his artistry.
166 Comments
Let’s Dance at #19? lol…
My personal preference would be Hunky Dory at 1. So many of my favourite songs on the same album – Kooks and Queen Bitch are hard to beat.
My favs are Life on Mars? and Quicksand. Kooks is cute sweet that he wrote it for his son.
I have every album on practically all my listening devices and when I had heard he died, I sat down with a bottle of good stuff, put on my earphones and hit random…..and Life on Mars? was the first to hit out of something like 400 random Bowie songs.I can’t listen to Life on Mars? anymore without tearing up….
When Bowie died, I remember one commentator saying, “Bowie’s death is going to make a lot of grown men cry.” So true.
And any album that begins with “Changes” and ends with “The Bewlay Brothers” is a masterpiece.
So Heathen doesn’t make the list (despite acknowledging the critical hosannahs), but there’s room for David Live and Bowie at the Beeb. 20. Earthling19. Black Tie, White Noise18. Space Oddity17. Reality16. 1. Outside15. Let’s Dance14. Lodger13. Young Americans12. Man Who Sold the World11. The Next Day10. Diamond Dogs9. Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars8. Heathen7. Aladdin Sane6. Low5. Blackstar4. Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)3. “Heroes”2. Hunky Dory1. Station to Station
David Live is a piece of shit. It barely even belongs on a list of David Bowie albums, never mind the top 20.Earthling is perpetually underrated so nice to see it on your list. It would crack my Top Ten (though make of it what you will that I don’t think Hunky Dory would).
I never gave David Live a second thought, but after Bowie died I listened through all his albums, and I was very taken with some of the arrangements on it. It’s interesting to hear the old rock songs played by a band with a bit more funk. Aladdin Sane is a big highlight. The version of All the Young Dudes is the definitive Bowie version for me. I’m much more surprised to see Pinups on there.Also glad to see Earthling. It’s the Young Americans of the 90’s.
David Live is indeed lame. The best Bowie live record is the Reality tour. Band is on top form, Bowie is fully engaged and drug free, adventurous takes on some deep cuts. The version of Loving The Alien is excellent.
I don’t know. Nassau 76 is fantastic. Santa Monica 72 is also amazing.
Stage is my favorite live album, but the remastered Nassau ‘76 is great too. I wrote in another thread that I think the track “Stay” is better on the Nassau live album than Stage. I think his voice was at it’s peak during this period.
I’m probably alone in enjoying “hours…” the most of Bowie’s 90s albums (even if it barely scraped into the 1990s) but Earthling is solid.
I also like Hours. It’s definitely a curve-ball, though. It’s enjoyable but I can see why it doesn’t catch any attention.Earthling is great though, and this list can eat a bag for excluding it.
Fun aside: My Dad actually went to the David Live concert and taped the ticket for the Tower Theater inside the album. Being there, you would think he would be thinking it would have been cosmic for him, but he was like ‘meh…..it had some good songs but Bowie was tanked on something about halfway through and whoever thought to include Knock on Wood in it needed their head examined because even his girlfriend at the time said it was awful.’Even Bowie admits it was terrible. Bowie later commented that “David Live was the final death of Ziggy… And that photo on the cover. My God, it looks like I’ve just stepped out of the grave. That’s actually how I felt. That record should have been called ‘David Bowie Is Alive and Well and Living Only in Theory’FYI, I always consider Low his best album….especially after knowing the stories behind it. You can really hear the heartbreak and withdrawals flowing out of every song. It’s an amazing album
“David Bowie is alive and well and living only in theory.”
Was very shocked that Earthling and The Next Day were not on this list, but Pin Ups and David Live were.
I +think+ you’ve got my top 5, though I’d have Scary Monsters higher, maybe at #2. Certainly in your top 10 is my top 5, great list 🙂
Heathen is so fucking good. that closing run of 4 tracks should be in the conversation for his finest workprops for having Outside too, I love that ridiculous album with all my heart
Heathen is so fucking good. “Slow Burn” is amazing, possibly my favorite of his post-1983 songs.
(But same with “Hallo Spaceboy”.)
I would put Station to Station as my number one as well. It has none of my favorite Bowie songs, but I think it’s his best album. It has everything you need in a Bowie album. Opens with the weird Kraut rock title track, followed by the poppiness of the Golden Years single, followed by the Lou Reed inspired Word on a Wing, followed by TVC15 that could’ve been on “Heroes” or “Lodger”, followed by the funky “Stay” that feels like some of the plastic soul from “Young Americans” and he closes the whole thing with a weapons grade romantic cover of “Wild is the Wind” that Nina Simone made popular back in the late 50’s. An amazing album.
S2S is my favorite too. His best? Who’s to say. Impossible. But I have an emotional attachment to it.
Bowie At The Beeb totally deserves to be included.
I know it doesn’t exactly count, but I’ll always give Bowie at the Beeb a pass because it also came with Bowie at BBC 2000 concert CD. Was always one of my sneaky favorites.
this is a better list for sure kudos. agree with everything on this list, not necessarily the order but much better than the AVs list. Earthing is great some really fun vocals on that. Hard to find on vinyl or was at Bowies passing.
I feel like 20 is too long of a list, but also there’s a long stretch of his output that’s either wall to wall excellent or half incredible. 1. Ziggy Stardust2. Young Americans 3. Heroes 4. Outside5. Aladdin Sane6. Diamond Dogs7. Low8. Station to Station 9. Hunky Dory 10. Black starIt’s both heretical and conservative – the worst combination of all.
Why not just rank them all?
Heroes is way too low on this list. It certainly needs to be near the rest of the Berlin Trilogy.
Lodger above Heroes (or basically any other 70’s album) is ridiculous.
Exactly. Only era of Bowie I could possible consider being above Berlin-era Bowie would be the Ziggy Stardust era (I’d personally wouldn’t do it, but I could understand if it was).
I disagree, but recognize that I’m an outlier.
I’m also a Lodger fan. Personally, I’d have the Berlin trilogy as 1-3 in any order, followed by The Spiders from Mars, Station to Station, and The Man who Sold the World.
I will not stand for this slight against Diamond Dogs. You’ve got the glam rock edge mixed with his early plastic soul, what’s not to love? I also gotta say, pretty strong bias towards his more traditional rock albums. His 80s output may be critically maligned but the more I dig into it the more I’m convinced there’s something there. He was always interesting, even on the misses.
That depends what you consider traditional rock. He really only did straight on rock in the early 70’s, and even then Hunky Dory is a grab bag of styles. Other than Ziggy at #1, the next straight ahead rock album is The Man Who Sold the World at #8.Definitely agree with you on Diamond Dogs, though. top 5 at least.
I know it’s not a common view but that first Tin Machine album is pretty fucking great. Not flawless (lyrically it needs work) but there’s a vast amount to admire on it, and the album makes so much more sense in a post-grunge world. Indeed I suspect it may have been thought of a lot kinder had it been released after Nevermind, rather than before.The second one still sucks though.
I’ve always been a supporter of Tin Machine. It’s scattershot, but it’s fun and refreshing deck-clearing, and you’re absolutely right that it was a few years ahead of its time in terms of the response it could have gotten. You could take both records, eliminate the dross and the lamentable tunes where the drummer sings, and boil it down into one 10-12 song corker of a record. Under The God, Heavens In Here, I Can’t Read, Baby Universal, You Belong In Rock And Roll… all killer.
You got one of the best rock singers and you have a drummer sing lead. Nothing new Queen did this all the time on their albums.
Sure, but Roger Taylor could actually sing.
I’ve always been a supporter of Tin Machine. It’s scattershot, but it’s fun and refreshing deck-clearing, and you’re absolutely right that it was a few years ahead of its timeThe two Tin Machine albums are neglected and under-appreciated. I know at the time I personally dismissed them as a sad gimmick. Everyone wanted to be too cool for David Bowie, so we missed out on what he was actually doing. (Not unlike Bee Gees backlash ten years earlier.)Definitely a few years ahead of their time. (Goodbye Mr Ed)
Like all of his albums it takes a couple of listens to get into. Even my favorite album of his Hunky Dory took a second listen to appreciate. I just bought that Bowie Life on Mars? Barbie. I like I just wish they would of actually used a male body and used a face mold that actually looks like him.
I will not stand for this slight against Diamond Dogs.It took me a long time to realize that I could just give up on Diamond Dogs (album and song). The only songs I enjoy from the album are “Rebel Rebel” and “1984”.Of course, those two songs are fucking awesome.
“David Bowie had strong links to the Baby Groupies of Los Angeles, and famous groupie Lori Maddox (often spelled Mattix) has repeatedly told the story of how she lost her virginity to Bowie when she was just 14. (Bowie was in his mid-20s.) According to her, Bowie pursued her, but she initially rejected him. Then, months later, she and fellow underage groupie Sable Starr ended up in a hotel room with Bowie, and the rock star took Maddox into a bathroom, got in a bath with her, and then had sex with her. The two would later have a threesome with Starr.”Why does The AV Club play favorites when it comes to men victimizing women. Do you think they would write this glowing article about someone they hate like R, Kelly, Woody Allen, or Louis CK? Why does the AV Club have nothing to say about David Bowie’s strong links to the “Baby Groupies of Los Angeles”?
David Bowie is dead, so buying his albums is not going to do him any good.
David Bowie is dead so it doesn’t matter that he raped a bunch of underage girls?
“However, [Sable] Starr gave a conflicting account of the night’s events, claiming that she alone had sex with Bowie and that Mattix was no longer present by the time they were at the hotel.[7]Mattix also gave a different account of her encounter with Bowie to music journalist Paul Trynka, in which she claimed that she and Starr sought out the hotel room Bowie was staying in and snuck inside, uninvited. Mattix claimed that when they found Bowie, he was “tired” and initially reluctant to have sex with them but that they eventually persuaded him.[8]Mattix’s allegations regarding her experience with Bowie have also been called into question due to timeline issues; she may have already been in a relationship with Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page by the time she claims to have met Bowie, as Led Zeppelin’s 1972 North American tour came to Los Angeles in June, several months before Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust Tour arrived for the first time in October 1972.[9][10] Mattix’s account is contradicted by fellow groupie Pamela Des Barres’ memoir I’m with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie,[11] in which Des Barres described Page being in an relationship with Mattix by late 1972 and before February 1973,[12] therefore before March 1973 when Mattix claimed to have lost her virginity to Bowie.[13] Mattix also previously claimed that she had lost her virginity to Page,[14][15] contradicting her own later accounts. Furthermore, unlike the numerous photos of Page and Mattix together, and the “heavily corroborated and well-documented evidence of their relationship”, no photographic evidence of Bowie and Mattix together exists.[9]”See, I can do cursory research too, you fucking concern trolling twat. Crawl back into your primordial ooze of an outrage bubble and let the adults who live in the here and now talk about things we like, you motherfucking cunt.
According to one woman, he committed statutory rape when she was underage. But that woman uses having sex with rock stars when she was a teenager as a claim to fame.
That woman claimed for years that she had lost her virginity to a member of Led Zeppelin and only started saying it was David Bowie in 1999 when she took part in a groupie memoir. Sable Starr dropped out of the book because she said the Bowie story was bullshit. This woman claims that she was basically the third partner in David and Angie Bowie’s relationship throughout the 70’s, but there’s no pictures of her with them (there are many pictures of her with members of Led Zeppelin).
The minor details of her story (from when she met Bowie, what hotel he was staying at, to hanging out with John Lennon and Yoko Ono) don’t line up with historical fact and they change from telling to telling. There’s no less than three different versions of the story you’re telling. In one, they had sex while Starr was passed out, in another they have eventually have a threesome and Bowie is worried Angie will catch them, in another she has a threesome with Bowie and Angie. Even left-wing feminist outlets have said Lori Maddox’s story is questionable at best and should probably be taken with a grain of salt.
lol Whatever you need to tell yourself so you can keep liking a pedophile rapist.
There’s literally a whole generation of 70s musicians who could be accused of statutory rape. Eagles, Led Zeppelin, etc. Not condoning it, but it’s weird to point the finger at just David Bowie.
Why is it weird to point out what a creepy rapist David Bowie is on a glowing article about him?
you’re going to be a very busy man pointing out which 70s musicians were statutory rapists. Literally all of them. Glen Frey and Don Henley just had to play a free concert to get out of it. Maybe next you should go after which 50s country artists were alcoholics who beat their wives.
It’s important to point it out about David Bowie because his fanbase is filled with evil losers like you and The AV Club who do everything they can to ignore and cover up all the children David Bowie raped.
Look Charlie Meadows is pointing out that the sky is blue lol. Every 70s rocker can be accused of the same thing, and law enforcement swept it under the rug.
It was considered a job perk of rock stardom at the time.
And, whether anyone likes it or not, these girls were actively pursuing this kind of action. They weren’t trafficked kids on Epstein Island.
Yep. Anybody who has read “I’m with the Band” by Pamela Des Barres would tell you the same thing
You are such an idiot. Bowie is the exact same as anyone on Epstein’s island. He was a disgusting rich asshole who used his wealth to abuse children and get away with it. Bowie actively pursued troubled young girls and took advantage of them like a predator. You are vile to defend him.
Why do you feel the need to defend David Bowie’s rape of a child? Why is Bowie’s rape ok because other rapists existed?
because it’s funny to see you get all worked up about it. Now let’s see you go after Freddie Mercury. “Bring me another boy, this one’s used up.” Were you complaining about him when the movie came out? You’re stomping your feet about something everybody knows about 70s rock stars
You are a dumb piece of shit.
lol the poor little crybaby has hurt my feelings!
Bruce Springsteen fucked his dentist.
https://www.theonion.com/man-always-gets-little-rush-out-of-telling-people-john-1819578998
Telling people Lennon was a wife beater is stepped-on coke compared to the pure, uncut Bolivian powder rush of telling people Bowie was a pedo. There’s nobody in the world progressive hipsters love more than Bowie and watching their minds melt when they learn that disgusting piece of information is truly a sight to behold.
oh, shut the fuck up
Humans are impossibly complicated and people like to work them down
into one word to make them simpler. There are so many sides to one
person.
“There are so many sides to one person.”What a great way to make excuses for a rich sex predator who targeted children. You fucking idiot.
Okay, that’s enough from you, go away now.
You are such a dumb piece of shit. Go tell all the women in your life how much you love sex predators who target them because “there are so many sides to one person.” Dumb sexist asshole.
Yeah I don’t have to take your shitty verbal abuse. Shoo.
Keep defending Bowie the pedophile because you like his music you incel dork.
Its a consensual adult fingering.
90’s, too. A friend of mine in high school (15 years old) was blowing roadies at Guns N’ Roses concerts for backstage passes. In the 3 dates they played MSG during the Illusion tour, she fucked Axl, Slash, and Duff. To prove it, she had pictures she took on a throwaway camera.
Yeah, not condoning it, but it’s always been part of rock culture. I’m guessing most groupies were underage. And a lot of their parents looked the other way.
I’d counter that discussion of Zep, in particular, is often shadowed by discussions of this stuff (rightly so, given that Jimmy Page “dated” Lori Maddix for several years when she was a young teenager), in my experience, in a way that Bowie’s reputation wasn’t. I wasn’t aware of the allegations against Bowie until a couple of years ago, and didn’t hear any of it during the great international mourning of theater kids after his death; by comparison, when I started getting into Zeppelin in the late 90s I was pretty immediately made aware by passing references in magazine articles and online discussion (newsgroups! AOL message boards!) that Zeppelin were hedonistic creeps.Anyway I like Bowie, but I do run into a lot of people who put him onto a sainted pedestal, and you know, he was a childfucker who got a ton of mileage out of reinventing his image and possibly inventing queer baiting.
And the people who danced on the grave of hair metal because it was filled with bad singing and statutory rape spent the rest of the 90’s listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers. We could “But that guy!” in discussions like this all day, but some of them seem to just have armor on the subject.
This is true, the 70s were a heyday of teen girl rape among rockstars. For those of us who care, it’s a good excuse to just not ever listen to 70s rock by dudes. I wouldn’t tell anyone else that they have to cancel these guys, but for me, I can’t unsee it all.
My Purity!!!!! My Outrage!!!!
“David Bowie had strong links to the Baby Groupies of Los Angeles, and famous groupie Lori Maddox (often spelled Mattix) has repeatedly told the story of how she lost her virginity to Bowie when she was just 14.”Mattix (the correct spelling) also repeatedly told the story of how she lost her virginity to Jimmy Page. Also, she claimed that she and a friend were picked up by Bowie’s bodyguard in a nightclub, but also claimed that they went to his hotel room and convinced him to have sex with them. In one version, she says she said they hung out with John Lennon, whom Bowie hadn’t even met at the time. (She also claims to have had a relationship with Mick Jagger that began at an 1975 recording session with John, Paul, and Ringo, (a session that never happened).https://medium.com/@msullivangates/a-word-on-david-bowie-lori-mattix-and-the-speed-of-information-b38681f24cf4“Do you think they would write this glowing article about someone they hate like R, Kelly, Woody Allen, or Louis CK?”Not great comparisons. R. Kelly is a convicted sex offender and several witnesses testified under oath to having been abused by him. Woody Allen is at best someone who cheated on his longtime girlfriend with her daughter whom he had known since she was in high school and at worst a man who sexually abused his 7-year-old child. Louis C.K. is an odd case; you could make the argument that what he was accused of is less serious than the rest, but even he admits it happened — a lot.
David Bowie is a rapist who raped and got away with it. You are an idiot.
Heathen and Earthling absolutely should’ve been here instead of the two live / session records. Pin-Ups has always seemed a bit of a shaggy dog curiosity to me. I’d swap it out for a low-teens inclusion of Tin Machine II. My top three:1- Scary Monsters2-Blackstar3-Hunky Dory
I agree about Earthling and Heathen and Pin Ups, and also think The Next Day is very underrated and should have a spot on the list as well.
I like The Next Day, but I’m ok with it not making the cut. Some excellent cuts, some more forgettable IMO.
It reminds me of a Morrisey album. Nothing wrong with that since he sang a whole lot better then him.
Reality shouldn’t even be showing its face without Heathen being there.
Totally agreed – it’s the better of the two.
Reality shouldn’t even be showing its face without Heathen being there.Yeah, just for that track “Slip Away” alone. That one still chokes me up.
Blackstar is so perfect, and the videos for it and Lazarus are haunting.
No “Heathen” is a no go for me! It’s the highlight after his terrible late 80’s material and his perfectly fine, but not groundbreaking, 90’s. I’d remove the live, cover, and compilation entries from any top 20 list. Personally, I’ve always found “Black Tie, White Noise” to be middling at best. “Earthling” should be on the list.Out: Live, Beeb, Pin Ups, Black TieIn: Heathen, Scary Monsters, Earthling, The Next Day
AgreedAfter the lackluster Hours, Heathen was a solid, major improvement.
Scary Monsters is there.
It’s unconscionable that this doesn’t have Scary Monsters on it. This is a person who does NOT know Bowie at all.
I find it funny that the blurb on Reality mentions Heathen, but I’ll take Heathen over Reality any day. I’m also embarrassed to admit that Heathen was the first Bowie album I ever bought (I liked him good enough, but was never into buying his albums). I also got as a promo a Heathen button and sticker, which I wish I had held onto (I know where the button went, and maybe my friend still has it…lol). I think I soured on Bowie in the 90’s because of Tin Machine, but luckily my mid-late20’s self came around with Heathen when it came out. The two disc Best Of that came out either right before or right after that album was a constant for me when travelling by car for work.
Heathen is really wonderful, extraordinary. It was actually my gateway to Bowie’s music, after many many years of being intimidated by his vast catalog and dizzying variety. And my adolescence coincided with his popular and crappy 80s output.
Not an album, I know (I’m embarrassingly poorly knowledgeable about them) but I’ve enjoyed so many of his songs but I think I’m quite uncommon in having this one as my favourite.
Considering the sheer number of remixes he released, Bowie himself probably agrees with you.
It’s a great track, and an absolute standout on Black Tie, White Noise
I’ve been a hardcore Bowie fan since I was in grade school, and if I was forced at gunpoint to pick a favorite, this would be mine as well. His vocals on this track are just stunning. Nite Flights is also up there for me, which I guess is weird since Black Tie White Noise probably wouldn’t crack my top five.
i love David Bowie!!!
Let’s Dance is not his only song to top the Billboard Hot 100; Fame also went to number one, in 1975
David Live is a love letter to cocaine.
Are you ready for a brand new beat?
DITS with Jagger is the worst song he has ever done. It is tied with African Night Flight.
I like your list. A thoughtful list with interesting rationale provided. Importantly, you nailed the Top Three!Ranking beyond that is simply a matter of individual preference as Bowie’s body of work is so strong and varied.
Why have David Live there and not even mention Stages, Santa Monica 72 or A Reality Tour , all better live albums? And since everyone else is, top 5:1. Heroes2. Scary Monsters3. Ziggy4. Hunky Dory5. Station to Station
Stage is such a fucking good album.
I have no horses in this race but it is a good excuse to share this little ditty:
Ah, good old weirdo Klaus Nomi.
And thus, The Venture Bros. was born.
Thanks for posting this. It’s one of my favs. Nomi and Arias are sublime and Bowie being Bowie.. *Chef-Kiss*
I remember seeing this when it aired, and going insane (as a huge fan). Thanks for posting!
Thanks for this. I was just reading up on Bowie over the weekend and this performance was mentioned a lot.
I’ve never seen that before, and was a bit taken aback by the censoring of the line “other boys check you out”!
Not remotely surprised to see Ziggy at #1. It’s a great album, but I don’t think it’s his best.My personal favorite, Lodger, isn’t even the highest ranked of the Berlin Trilogy on this list, but with a discography as varied as Bowie’s, it’s hard to find consensus.Even his worst albums have tracks like “Loving the Alien,” and “Time Will Crawl”
Like any recording artist under contractual pressure to produce, most of his albums include uninspired ‘content.’ You could boil his 20 ‘best’ down to 10 ‘flawless.’
I’ve always loved the fact there isn’t a clear, robust consensus over what the best Bowie albums are. Everyone Bowie fan I know, has a different favourite. Even the Stones and Beatles lists will come down to about the same three albums. Bowie made the album he felt like making at the time and over time, appealed to a broader set of tastes.
And peoples favorite change as they get older too. I loved the Outside album when it came out, but I always thought the track “Strangers When We Meet” felt tacked on to the end. I was 25 when Outside came out and now I’m about the age Bowie was when he put out that version of “Strangers When We Meet”. Now the lyrics “All our friends, Now
seem so thin and frail” just gut me. Its my favorite track on the album now.
I’m with you-it’s such a gorgeous song on so many levels. I’ve never understood why it doesn’t get more attention, even among some hardcore Bowie fans.
>> I loved the Outside album when it came out, but I always thought the track “Strangers When We Meet” felt tacked on to the end. It kind of is. It was originally one of two radio-friendly tracks on The Buddha of Suburbia, an odd album that was very poorly promoted. (I consider myself an avid Bowie fan and I’m not sure I even knew it existed until after 1. Outside had already come out.)
1. Station to Station2. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars3. Low4. Heroes5. Scary Monsters6. Young Americans
7. Blackstar8. Lodger9. Outside10. Stage (Live) – (The reissue version)
11. The Next Day12. Heathen13. Live Nassau Coliseum ‘76 – (The reissue version). The of version of “Stay” on the reissue of this album is insane. The band was shot out of a cannon on that track.
14. Earthling15. Reality16. Hunky Dory17. The Man Who Sold the World18. Diamond Dogs19. Pinups20. The Buddha of Suburbia
I remember what a shock it was when Bowie’s death was announced right after Blackstar was released. Then later that year, Leonard Cohen (less shockingly) died less than three weeks after releasing You Want It Darker. 2016 saw two legends finish their lives by releasing masterpieces.(Sadly, we would see this again in 2019 when David Berman took his own life a few weeks after releasing Purple Mountains.)
2016 was, as Chuck Prophet puts it, “A Bad Year for Rock n Roll.”
Point of order on Adrian Belew—he wouldn’t join King Crimson until 1981. He came onto the national scene in Frank Zappa’s band in 1977, and then joined Bowie for a tour. After that tour, Bowie made Lodger, with Belew on guitar. Then Belew worked with the Talking Heads for a couple of years before joining King Crimson. If you’re going to bring up a specific musician, take the time to do a little research. I mean, you’re an editor at AMG, for goodness’ sake.
Instead of a David Bowie list let’s do a list of Peter Gabriel’s 20 best albums. Oh wait a second, he doesn’t have enough albums to qualify. Sorry guys.
to be fair, not many people had a run of putting out an album a year, every year, from 1969 to 1980. A couple of times he put out TWO albums in one year (1973 and 1977). Just insane.
I was too young for anything but MTV-era Bowie and I never really dug into his stuff at all. I would say he’s overrated but I have too much respect for how ardent his fans are and too little understanding of his early 70s output or of glamrock in general. I will say that I think his classics that got a lot of time on AOR format radio are fine but not my favorites. BUT, I was a big solo-Peter Gabriel fan. Maybe Gabriel’s stuff is more accessible to a Gen Xer (as opposed to a late Boomer who was a teen in Bowie’s heyday).
BUT, I was a big solo-Peter Gabriel fan. Maybe Gabriel’s stuff is more
accessible to a Gen Xer (as opposed to a late Boomer who was a teen in
Bowie’s heyday). Huh. I’m surprised that you’re a Gabriel fan, but never got into any Bowie. Depends upon which era of Gabriel you are into maybe? I see some parallels between the two. Especially the first 3 self titled Peter Gabriel Albums albums along with Security and the Berlin trilogy up until Bowie’s Scary Monsters. I was born in ‘70, so I’m a Gen Xer and I remember the “Ashes to Ashes” and “DJ” videos being played all of the time on MTV as well as Gabriel’s “Shock the
Monkey” video when I was a kid. I became
obsessed with both of them. I thought they were so fascinatingly strange and I felt like I found my people in some weird way. Both of those videos still hold up today. Just brilliant.
Gabriel just seemed more timeless for me while 70s Bowie seemed to be firmly rooted in the 70s which was a time period I was always kind of embarrassed about (not for me but for people 10+ years older than me). Maybe it was the gender bending that was hard for me to get used to. Put another way, Gabriel seemed weird but cool while Bowie seemed cool but weird. Also, I really liked Gabriel’s grittiness and screwing around with international beats and such while I thought Bowie pretending to be a spaceman to be kinda silly.
I pretty much agree wholeheartedly with this, although Space Oddity is definitely one of my fave Bowie singles, along with Heroes, I’m Afraid of Americans and Slow Burn.
I’m a big fan of both, but I’d just like to remind you that Peter wore some very, very silly outfits in the ’70s.On a completely different note:
Yeah and I tried really hard to like Gabriel-era Genesis too and couldn’t hack it. I just don’t have the brain chemistry to like prog rock. I liked Marillion for a bit but I’m back to being embarrassed by all of it.
I wish I was alive during that time. Seems like music nirvana. Not to be confused with Nirvana, although I enjoy them as well!
I think Games Without Frontiers is particularly relevant today.
Well, I’m a Millennial (born in ‘92) so I missed both Bowie and Gabriel’s heydays but I agree that I like Bowie’s singles but haven’t dived too deeply into his discography, probably because it’s just too dense, as this list points out. Gabriel’s work is very concise and much briefer compared to Bowie so it’s much less time-consuming to delve into, but I really clicked with Gabriel on a much deeper level than I ever have with Bowie’s music. Peter Gabriel 3, So, Passion and particularly Us are all amazing records to me.
You should check out the soundtrack to Birdy (if you haven’t already) which isn’t original music but tracks from the first four solo albums with the vocals removed. Still, it’s really great. And, yeah, I played Passion to death back in the day and that album along with Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum stuff (book, mostly but also the music) did more than anything else to point me towards my adult career/lifestyle (int’l development work).
Neither do Buffalo Springfield or Velvet Underground.
I have to go with “Aladin Sane.” But that’s just my opinion, man.
Ranked by who? Well maybe whoever did the ranking never heard Bowie Live at Santa Monica Civic (‘72). Its phenomenal for an older recording.
Earthling’s “Johnny is an American,” is prob. The best Bear power fucking song ever. Thank you The Eagle in SF, and the people who just erupted at that song to some serious grinding action. Also, thank you to the older guard who kept it real in the back disco area, who kept it light and chill when shit got real, real quick.
“Bowie released 26 studio albums” – and we get a top twenty? Seems like you might as well just go ahead and do the last 6 too? Especially since only one live album made the list.
I’m glad Outside made the list. A terribly underrated and relatively unknown album.
Shouldn’t rankings of all of the poser David Bowie’s albums begin with a negative number? By the way, Mr. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Cretin, Esq., were you in any way responsible for my challenge to your review of Jonathan Richman’s “Surrender To Jonathan!” album being heavily edited or deleted? Richman is a melodic genius; Bowie was seriously melodically challenged. And tin-earred Erlewine once again proves he’s a dick.
Didn’t learn Luther Vandross sang backing vocals on Young Americans until about 10 years ago. It’s amazing how talent recognizes talent.
This article was written by someone who had to listen to every Bowie album in a week in order to write this article. It whiffs badly on almost all the interpretations and is often flat wrong. AV Club has fallen off a cliff.
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This list lacks Tin Machine – a career and frankly rock and roll highlight of all time greatness.
Can any of his albums be described as thin white dookie?
Not his albums.
I will always like Bowie but my favorite was part of a 10 song set he and Reeves Gabrels did for Nomad Soul. I loved those songs. Still do.
The people naming anything other than Ziggy as his #1 are just being pick me’s.
It’s a goddamn shame that the rule for critics and list makers is to skip Earthling and Heathen. His career was built on re-invention and exploration. Downshifting into mortality and limited time is fascinating. Everyone seems to have to put their number 1 as Ziggy (which is a great pop record but it’s not a great personal record).
You have it a bit backwards – Bowie had axed the Spiders in 73 publicly though Mick Ronson played on Pin Ups.
Again, on Young Americans ‘Fame’ you have it backwards. Bowie/Alomar/Lennon ripped off James Brown’s riff from “Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)“ not the other way around.
Amazing how they ripped off James Brown’s riff a full year before he created it!- Strange Fascination, Buckley
Not to be a pedantic prog nerd, but Adrian Belew wasn’t in King Crimson till *after* Lodger (Belew went Zappa>Bowie>Talking Heads>Crimson, generally speaking).
American hacks rarely get Bowie right. As any true fan knows, if Diamond Dogs isn’t in the top spot or at least runner up, you’re not a true Bowie nut. How do you write about Hunky Dory and not mention the sublime Bewley Brothers? How do you write about TMWSTW and not mention that other chilling ode to his half-brother Terry, All the Madmen. No mention of the Terry-inspired Jump They Say either, from Black Tie…, which resulted in one of Bowie’s — and pop’s — most magnificent music videos. Also, Stephen, Let’s Dance was not Bowie’s only US number 1 hit. Y’know, it’s really not that difficult to find out simple facts like this.
American hacks rarely get Bowie right. As any true fan knows, if Diamond Dogs isn’t in the top spot or at least runner up, you’re not a true Bowie nut. How do you write about Hunky Dory and not mention the sublime Bewley Brothers? How do you write about TMWSTW and not mention that other chilling ode to his half-brother Terry, All the Madmen. No mention of the Terry-inspired Jump They Say either, from Black Tie…, which resulted in one of Bowie’s — and pop’s — most magnificent music videos. Also, Stephen, Let’s Dance was not Bowie’s only US number 1 hit. Y’know, it’s really not that difficult to find out simple facts like this.
American hacks rarely get Bowie right. As any true fan knows, if Diamond Dogs isn’t in the top spot or at least runner up, you’re not a true Bowie nut. How do you write about Hunky Dory and not mention the sublime Bewley Brothers? How do you write about TMWSTW and not mention that other chilling ode to his half-brother Terry, All the Madmen. No mention of the Terry-inspired Jump They Say either, from Black Tie…, which resulted in one of Bowie’s — and pop’s — most magnificent music videos. Also, Stephen, Let’s Dance was not Bowie’s only US number 1 hit. Y’know, it’s really not that difficult to find out simple facts like this.
A list that includes Inside. Well played.
It’s Nile Rodgers.
Adrian Belew, a King Crimson veteran
Belew would not join King Crimson until 1981, two years after Lodger came out.
I always find it a bit odd to wish a dead person a happy birthday.
How could A Reality Tour not be on there when other live albums were? I would have put his 90s albums higher, but none of them were slammed.
I really like his later stuff. Hours is one of my favourites.
You ranked “Let’s Dance” that low? C’mon, it was a good commercial pop record.
I hate to be THAT guy, but sincerely think Ziggy over-rated: 1. Scary Monsters, 2. Low, 3. Hunky Dory, 4. Aladdin Sane, 5. Heroes, 6. Lodger, 7. Man Who Sold the World, 8. Ziggy 9. Station to Station, 10. Diamond Dogs, 11. Young Americans. Don’t care about the rest.