Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17994 in Digital Music Album
• Published on: 2000-07-18
• Released on: 2000-07-18
• Running time: 0 seconds

Customer Reviews

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

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
This is one of David's favorite works of mine. Every song has words that make you think about life and God and what we should and should not be like. 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.
This is David Bowie's first "rock" album, and his second album overall. That first album cast him as a Bob Dylan wannabe, and the less said about it, the better. 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.