The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars is one that I have a better knowledge of in his discography. It wasn't until ten years or so ago that I actually obtained it and listened to it in full, rather than the snatches of pieces I had heard through the ages. I had listened to the album plenty of times before I was informed that it is a concept album, loosely telling the story of Ziggy Stardust himself. OK, so I had sort of pieced together that it was a little like that, but I never really went looking for that in the lyric and the music. I approached it from the start as any album, and while the songs do tend to segue seamlessly into each other with a modicum of ease, the 'story' never really stuck with me.
I love the way that the opening track "Five Years" builds its way to a peak, letting the listener come into the album with the band, slowly but surely increasing the urgency of the message to everyone. "Soul Love" does a similar thing, building to a high point in the middle of the song before fading back out towards the end. "Moonage Daydream" delivers an unbelievable solo section at the back end of the song, combining guitar, synth and keyboards to give off that impression of being in space. This then moves into the excellent "Starman" which again combines that amazing "Bowie" sound of both acoustic and electric guitar with synth through the background that he uses so well, along with his perfect vocal. Awesome. "It Ain't Easy" is a cover of the Ron Davies song, and which is wonderfully "Bowiefied" from the country rock song it is to a glam rock hybrid to close out side one.
Side two starts off with "Lady Stardust" which to me is just an average run of the mill song, but this then moves into "Star", a more upbeat song, driven by the piano chords and background "oohs" and "aaaahs" as Bowie does his thing over the top. Wistfully wonderful. "Hang On to Yourself" has never really worked for me. It's just a bit off the beaten track, a bit too repetitive and has never grabbed me. "Ziggy Stardust" is similar but different, and quite possibly just for the way Bowie sings it. There is again nothing too special about the song, except it is Bowie's vocals that are absolute centre stage, and they make it what it is.
My favourite Bowie song of all time is still probably "Suffragette City", with that great opening riff, the sax through the song with the piano backing, with Bowie singing at himself. It is spectacular, just one of those songs that grabs you from the first time you hear it and it never leaves you. That is "Suffragette City" for me. The album concludes with "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide", which details the final demise of Ziggy Stardust, ending the album in much the way it started, as a musical show more than an album itself.
Even now this is an album that almost demands you are in a mellow frame of mind in order to listen to it and get the most out of it. The ebbs and flows of the music - but it's not the kind of album you put on at a rousing party, it's the kind of album you put on when everyone has left, and you just want to sit down and relax for a bit and enjoy the relative serenity. This is the atmosphere where you can derive the most from what the album delivers.
This is rightly held up as an all time classic. If I was a music historian over all genres of music I would give this full marks. On a personal preference level, I lean much more towards the heavier side of music, and as such rate it here in a way that distinguishes it from all of the other albums I love. So while I may not give it five stars here, you can be assured that I still think it is an album that everyone should experience, just for the genius of David Bowie.
Rating: "Wham bam thank you ma'am!". 4/5
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