Track Listing

1. Watch That Man
2. Aladdin Sane
3. Drive-in Saturday
4. Panic in Detroit
5. Cracked Actor
6. Time
7. The Prettiest Star
8. Let's Spend the Night Together
9. The Jean Genie
10. Lady Grinning Soul

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2952 in Music
• Released on: 1999-09-28
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Enhanced, Original recording reissued
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.com essential recording
The second most important moment in Bowie's glam period, Aladdin Sane is full of smart, cutting-edge songs that hold up decades later as classic moments in rock. Standout tracks include "Panic in Detroit," with Mick Ronson's screaming guitars and Mick Woodmansey's urgent drumming; "Watch that Man," a piano-driven, rollicking number perfect for the Bowie strut; the lascivious and sweaty "Cracked Actor"; the punky "Jean Genie"; and a perfectly raucous cover of "Let's Spend the Night Together." "Time" hearkens back to the theatrics of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, while "Drive in Saturday," "The Prettiest Star," and "Lady Grinning Soul" serve as precursors to Bowie's "plastic soul" sounds that came later in the '70s. Aladdin Sane is even more impressive when considering that the same year this album was made, Bowie was also working with artists like Iggy Pop and Lou Reed, producing some of their most heralded works (the Stooges' Raw Power and Reed's Transformer). --Lorry Fleming

Customer Reviews

Best of Bowie's glam rock years
His earlier albums, Hunky Dory and the Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, inexplicably receive more acclaimed, but Aladdin Sane is the peak of David Bowie's heavily influential glam rock phase. With a fantastic back-up band, a keen knowledge of many pop structures (doo-wop, jazz, blues and rock all play integral parts in the album) and a sleek, sexy sound, the androgynous, charismatic, make-up clad singer struts through the glam rock's world of raucous partying ("Watch That Man" "Drive-In Saturday"), trashy decadence ("Cracked Actor," "Time") and champagne-scented romance ("Lady Grinning Soul," the title track) as if he owned it all. The album is one of Bowie's best, as well as a practical bible for all the young dudes whom would follow him into the weird, wonderful world of glitzy artrock.

Classic Bowie album
The differences between this version of AS and the earlier issue on Rykodisc are mostly cosmetic. The use of the Sonic Solutions No Noise program and 24 bit mastering has sweeted the sound giving it a bit more depth and warmth. Since this one of the few reissues that didn't have bonus tracks to begin with little is lost in the transition to EMI.

I'd much rather have commentary from Bowie about the making of the album (much as Elvis Costello did with his reissued catalog)to give the listener a sense of what went on during the recording of this classic album. Always regarded as a poor cousin to Ziggy by most critics, what this album lacks in "concept" it more than makes up for in ambitious song writing and lyrical depth. In many respects, this is a step forward from that classic album showing further development in Bowie's songwriting.

One Of Bowie's Best
I have listened to this album and liked it since I was a teen. It is a world class effort with some wicked guitar and sexy nasty vocals. My favorite tracks are "Panic In Detroit" and "Cracked Actor". All of the songs are good and a must for anyone into Bowie.