“The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars” by David Bowie - album review

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TJR says

“Hunky Dory” had given David Bowie a wide-eyed fan-base, dead-keen on the next episode – the hazy cosmic jive of “Ziggy Stardust” didn’t disappoint. Bowie was on a creative roll here, and with his trusty producer Ken Scott and the Spiders from Mars – Mick Ronson (electric guitar, backing vocals, keyboards, piano); Trevor Bolder (bass, trumpet) and Mick Woodmansey (drums) – they were out of sight maaaan. Like some sort of modern-day Flash Gordon, Ziggy, a struggling Rock n Roll star played by Bowie, is out to save our souls; the Earth only has 5 years left apparently, and our Zig has been chosen by black-hole jumping extra-terrestrials to communicate news. The album tells of Ziggy’s rise and fall – a thrilling journey without a happy ending. On “Starman” Ziggy sings: “There's a starman waiting in the sky, he'd like to come and meet us, but he thinks he'd blow our minds, There's a starman waiting in the sky, he's told us not to blow it, cause he knows it's all worthwhile, he told me: ‘Let the children lose it, let the children use it, let all the children boogie’” Starman sounds alright to me. By the end of the album Ziggy begins to believe his own hype and that's the undoing of him as the tale unfolds with a classic end-trilogy of “Ziggy Stardust”, “Suffragette City” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide”. I don’t usually approve of “rock opera” – but for Ziggy's Pop I’m prepared to make an exception. Let all the children boogie indeed…

The Jukebox Rebel
08–Sep–2005

Tracklist
A1 [04:42] 9.0.png David Bowie - Five Years (David Robert Jones) Cerebral Pop
A2 [03:34] 7.7.png David Bowie - Soul Love (David Robert Jones) Cerebral Pop
A3 [04:40] 7.6.png David Bowie - Moonage Daydream (David Robert Jones) Soft Rock / A.O.R.
A4 [04:10] 10.0.png David Bowie - Starman (David Robert Jones) Cerebral Pop
A5 [02:58] 7.6.png David Bowie - It Ain’t Easy (Ron Davies) Soft Rock / A.O.R.
B1 [03:22] 5.8.png David Bowie - Lady Stardust (David Robert Jones) Pop Ballad
B2 [02:47] 5.5.png David Bowie - Star (David Robert Jones) Pop
B3 [02:40] 6.3.png David Bowie - Hang On To Yourself (David Robert Jones) Cerebral Pop
B4 [03:13] 9.6.png David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust (David Robert Jones) Rock
B5 [03:25] 9.7.png David Bowie - Suffragette City (David Robert Jones) New Wave
B6 [02:58] 9.2.png David Bowie - Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide (David Robert Jones) Rock n Roll Ballad

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