(originally posted on Facebook)
David Bowie is one of those artists everyone seems to love and admire. I wonder if most of those people have even heard a significant chunk of his music or just the hits that make it onto classic rock radio. Or maybe those people have only seen pictures of him performing in elaborate makeup and just assume he must be great. I say that not to disparage David Bowie, who really is an amazing artist. That's more just my pessimism about how much most people know about David Bowie.
Well that's how I feel after listening to Aladdin Sane. I'm pretty sure I've never heard any of these songs in my life. Maybe I just don't listen to the radio all that much, but I doubt these songs are in classic rock circulation. That's a real shame, because the music is beautiful, captivating, and challenging.
Bowie mostly stays away from familiar progressions and beats. His songs are extravagently arranged like barouque pieces but played much harder, firmly planted in rock. The music is challenging because most of the songs don't have a definite hook. A few songs almost do, then Bowie plays a different note than you were expecting and throws it off. I like that kind of challenge.
Despite the wild nature of the arrangements the songs are still pretty tight with a few exceptions. The discordance in the title track's piano solo gets pretty heavy after a while, and a couple songs favor the saxophone a bit much. Overall I love the theatricality and the risks taken, and I'll be sure to listen again to make sure I didn't miss anything the first time. 4 stars.
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