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David Bowie - Space Oddity Audio CD

A fair review of the David Bowie "Space Oddity" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all David Bowie reviews here, or go back to the David Bowie tabs.

David Bowie Band: David Bowie
Title: Space Oddity
Rating:
Release Date: 1999-09-28
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Space Oddity 2: Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed 3: (Don't Sit Down) [Instrumental] 4: Letter to Hermione 5: Cygnet Committee 6: Janine 7: Occasional Dream 8: Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud 9: God Knows I'm Good 10: Memory of a Free Festival

Space Oddity
Other fine tracks is the angry and impassioned "Letter to Herminone". Space Oddity being Bowie's 1969 release and his 2nd studio album contains one of his famous tracks "Space Oddity". The booklet has some very fine photographs of a very young looking Bowie. All the lyrics are included and we also get a list of whom plays what on the album. 4/5.


why is this album not considered a classic?
I guess for most people, this album only shows signs of what Bowie would soon become in the future- a creative, glammy songwriting genius. Space Oddity is probably my favorite David Bowie album.

For me however, it shows a really melodic and exciting side of Bowie that we've never really had again. It's mellow without the spooky edge, which is really exciting to me.

I love the entire second half of the album. Every single song on the second half reminds me of either the Nashville Skyline-era of Bob Dylan, or the classic period of the Moody Blues with all the pretty orchestrations and flutes. The songwriting is top notch as well. The lyrics are definitely some of Bowie's most interesting, and I'm curious what some of the songs are even about.

The first half is quite fascinating as well. We all know the mysterious title song, with its eerie countdown in the beginning, and the floating-in-outer space atmosphere. A classic.

"Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed" features a very sad vocal melody in the beginning, and a nice unexpected harmonica jam a few minutes later. It's a shame "Don't Sit Down" is so short, because that melody certainty had the potential to carry on for a few more minutes.

I don't understand how so many people think "Cygnet Committee" sounds like a Bob Dylan rip-off. To me, it sounds more like something from Van Morrison's Astral Weeks. I love the way the song continues to build into different themes and emotions. "Janine" is brilliant. It's a pop song that sounds like -and I'm honestly not joking- Italian country pop (if such a thing exists!) That guitar playing is really splendid on this track and reminds me of CCR or the Band. "Memory of a Free Festival" is bizarre in the quiet Midwest country fair-like build-up and the "Hey Jude" like chorus that keeps repeating over and over.

Overall, the vocal melodies on this album really grab me every time. A masterpiece that more people should consider purchasing and placing on the same level as other Bowie classics such as Hunky Dory and Aladdin Sane. Really solid songwriting overall.


Joan's Review of Space Oddity
Every song has words that make you think about life and God and what we should and should not be like. This is one of David's favorite works of mine. The music is inspiring and lifts you up. The songs start out calm and then lift you up.


The Sun Machine is coming down, and we're gonna have a party.
That first album cast him as a Bob Dylan wannabe, and the less said about it, the better. This is David Bowie's first "rock" album, and his second album overall. Recorded several years before the title track became a hit in the U. S. , Space Oddity marks the emergence of a different beast, a slippery rock & roll chameleon. Aside from the alien resonance of "Space Oddity", the album flounders amid indistinct writing and playing. The album does have it's moments, especially on "Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed", "Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud" and "Memory of a Free Festival"; but Bowie is still trying too hard to emulate Dylan, rather then developing his own style. A decent album, but better things came later from Bowie.


The Sun Machine is coming down...
Bowie's sophomore effort is a lot better than most people give credit. Mr. Although there are a couple of lame songs (mostly the soft acoustic stuff), a glimpse of greatness can be seen and in some slight cases, that greatness is realized. "Space Oddity" the song has been called out-of-place and may have been better served as a non-lp single, but the song is so great that as an album opener it's a no-brainer. His first real classic, this tale of a lost spaceman may seem to foreshadow Ziggy, but I don't believe that is accurate due to the latter being sci-fi in nature as opposed to the science fact (by 1969 anyway) of "Oddity". Other favorites include "Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed", a great acoustic tinged rocker (phallus in pigtails??); "Cygnet Committee", a long number that doesn't really seem that way as the anger in David's voice continues to build to a crescendo; "Janine" a catchy rocker with a great singalong chorus; and last but not least "Memory of a Free Festival" (did Oasis know this song before they did "Champagne Supernova", they are very similar). "Wild-Eyed Boy" I think is slightly overrated being not as memorable as some of the aforementioned tunes, but maybe that's me. I don't get the glam rock references in the other reviews, this has NO GLAM ROCK!(at least in how I would define the term. ) As stylistically different from his debut as it would be from succeeding records, 'Space Oddity' is a decided step away from his greatest albums(the next one being his first true masterwork), but it is still an essential piece of work and definitely his first truly serious record. .


You can see a complete list of all David Bowie discography, or go back to the David Bowie tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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