Hey City Zen!

My ranking of Bowie's albums is always mutating, but some clusters are largely stable. Though the man never made a bad album, a rank and thoughts in free association are still possible and beautifully subjective, if not arbitrary. Fascination is not so much for the man, as for the art. But can they be separated? Anyone who can produce such moving art is fascinating, and there are not many at all who did.

1. Discovery/Rediscovery/Rebirth/Resurrection of Fascination
• Scary Monsters. The first time. Punk with subtlety. My brother. Japan. Silhouettes and shadows,watch the revolution.
• Young Americans. Pivot. Disco before disco. Vandross. Not a myth left from the ghetto.
• Outside. Genius can be packaged. The future. The clutch of life and the fist of love. 
• Blackstar. Requiem. Jazz. You know I'll be free.
2. The beat, myth and fuel for alien Fascination
• Station to Station. Funk the autobahn. Better than Jazz. My love is like the wind.
• Diamond Dogs. Sublime misery. Orwell. It's a sweet thing.
• Ziggy Stardust. Theater. Glam. Kabuki. Death. You're not alone.
• Let's Dance. 80's. Life. Race. Dance. Iggy Pop. A plague I call a heartbeat.
3. Changes, and the best selling show. One of these would make another's artist's whole career .
• Alladin Sane. Outrageous. Duality. Knocking me dead.
• Heroes. Intimate. Europe. Rebirth. We can beat them, forever and ever.
• Hunky Dory. Strange Fascination. Change. Sailors fighting in the dance hall.
4. The underdogs and the surprise and comfort of maturity.
• Tonight. Reggae. Pop. Health. God Only Knows.
• Black tie white noise. Love. Marriage. Black Music. They say jump.
• Earthling. Exploration. Industrial Aggression. Piano. Now I'm older than movies.
• Hours. Looking back. Summary.  The pretty things are going to hell.
• Reality. Maturity. Bring me the disco king.
5. Retreat and Experimentalism to love.
• Low. Europe. Eno. Electro Darkness. Blue, blue, electric blue.
• Lodger. There is a World outside.  Klaus Nomi. It's time we should be going.
6. Confused, it's only Bowie and there's nothing we can do.
• The Next Day. Rock. Reminiscing.  The darkest hour and your voice is new.
• Heathen. 9/11. Melancholy.  And nothing has changed, And everything has changed.
• Never Let me Down. Glass Spiders. Hair Bands.  And he never came down, He just flew till he burst.
• The Man who sold the World. Glam. Rock.  Who knows? not me, We never lost control.
• Space Oddity. Folk. Prog Rock.  Planet Earth is blue, And there's nothing I can do.
• Pin Ups.  You're out there playing your high class games of sorrow.
• David Bowie. Theater.  Don't be afraid of the man in the moon, because it's only me.

Labels: #DavidBowie, #Music