So as you may know, last week I became Mario's 168th fan no more and changed my name to MoonAge, nothing too deep but I just got a bit of inspiration from one of my favorite artists. Then I found out how others interpreted my name, and the results were...a bit amusing to say the least:





So then I decided: you all need to be educated as much as I need an excuse to not do statistics homework. Over a sporadic as fuck length of time, I'm going to give my thoughts on all 26 of David Bowie's studio albums, both as a sort of retrospective and also to break back into the reviewing mold. I normally wouldn't do this with most other musical acts, but I feel that if Bowie doesn't deserve it, no one else does. He was able to pump out album after album for the majority of his 50 year-long career until 2 days before his death, never staying in one style for too long as he made his mark on everything from art rock to industrial rock to jazz/blues to everything in between, and even if he didn't always Hit those marks, god bless him for trying anyway. He's been one of my hugest inspirations ever since I started seriously listening to music, and this is the best way I can pay tribute to him I know how. also i haven't listened to any of his post-70s albums so this is as good of an excuse as any

David Bowie (1967)

bowie's debut album is what recordheads describe as "not very good"

this sounds like the biggest fucking anti-climax after how much of a rock god i praised him as but bear with me, it will get good Soon

This isn't to suggest that this album is anything abhorrent, there's far worse you can go with in fact, but if this album can't be summed up as "quaint", then nothing can. To me, it gives off the vibes of a drawer starting out by tracing or copying others' artwork; Bowie was very clearly eager to get his foot in the door, but this release reeks of a lack of confidence to go too far beyond his musical influences. Which is A-OK; it's truly exceptional for an artist to have their first work be an absolute banger, no matter the medium. But everything here is a far cry from the transcendent style he’d go on to hone throughout the rest of his run. Kitschiness is pretty much the common theme here, with the sort of chirpy piano sounds and quirky small-town stories that aren’t far off from other British Invasion acts like the Beatles and the Kinks, and while some of the songs certainly carry a nice sound, I can hardly say they go much deeper than that. If I wanted to be a prick, there are certain parts like "There Is A Happy Land" and "Come And Buy My Toys" where I could call this a children's album, and that hurts to say.

There are distinct parallels between when Bowie’s music gets insanely good and when he starts taking influence from the boatload of areas he was passionate about, from sci-fi to fantasy to occultism, but these early songs have a distinct normality to them that makes them Fine Enough for their era. But I know Bowie better than that, damn it, with his best albums there are always people trying to be as good as him. Is there much reason to listen to this album besides to see where it all began? To be frank, not in the slightest. But everyone can have their chance to dip their toes in the water, and this release dog-paddled so that the entire rest of his 50 year career could fucking swim.

NOTABLE SONGS (RE: ONLY TRACKS WORTH SALVAGING):

idk i just feel a song about bowie wistfully looking towards the future he's not yet able to achieve sums this album up to a t

(sorry for the rest being just links, mw's 1 video per post limit is evil)

"Please Mr. Gravedigger"
kind of sad that this song with storm sounds instead of instrumentals is the most experimental song on this disc yet still isn't my thing, cute novelty though

"Sell Me A Coat"

David Bowie more like David Bowlcut