4: April 20th — Aladdin Sane and Killing Ziggy
Listen to Aladdin Sane. Also, listen to:
- “Future Legend,” “Diamond Dogs,” “Rebel Rebel,” “1984” from Diamond Dogs.
- Velvet Underground, “White Light / White Heat”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4AkDt_JRqk
Blog question: Aladdin Sane is often thought of as “Ziggy goes to America.” Is there a noticeable difference between the tone of the two records?
As Bowie mentioned, his character of Ziggy Stardust was now evolved into a new chapter with Aladdin Sane, which through some research I found that the songs from this album were written when on the road during one of Bowie's US tours. Thus, as many of Bowie's characters seemed to parody a reality, Aladdin Sane could come to make light of American ideals. We see this explored in the multitude of locations traveled and sung about in the album, from
ReplyDeleteTone-wise, Aladdin Sane does seem to carry on the glam rock ideals of its predecessor. Both are heavily glam rock with some other more experimental notes and styles and even the occasional hard rock as well. But where as Ziggy Stardust... was an album that had launched Bowie truly headfirst into stardom, Aladdin Sane was all about the consequences of fame and his experiences during it It was a lot more gritty, harsher glam rock than before, with songs like "Panic in Detroit" talking about dark topics like suicide in the lyrics, "Found him slumped across the table/A gun and me alone." Plus, "Panic in Detroit" was inspired by the Detroit riots of '67, stories from the singer Iggy Pop, and more surrounding it. It is a truly whirlwind of a song able to tackle a real-life issue.
The American influence on Aladdin Sane is definitely discernible. In addition to the more obvious references to American locales, Bowie seemed to be more interested in exposing the dark underbelly of his newfound fame (which he does against the backdrop of his experiences while touring the U.S.). Songs like Panic in Detroit, Cracked Actor and Drive-In Saturday explore a myriad of themes ranging from social unrest to drug abuse/prostitution and even post apocalyptic dystopia. At the same time, the album is underpinned by pleasant, romantic melodies (the most notable one being Lady Grinning Soul). Diamond Dogs was thematically in line with some of the songs on Aladdin Sane, but the melodies seemed a bit more garbled at times. I didn’t notice too many overt differences, so I’m looking forward to learning more about the trajectory of Bowie’s artistic development between the two albums.
ReplyDelete^Didn't add my name to the entry; Oksana
DeleteThe first obvious sign of American influence to me was “Aladdin Sane” due to the jazz piano and saxophone. The harmonica in “The Jean Genie” takes influence from country music. Throughout the album, Bowie uses rock piano chords that remind me of Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis.
ReplyDeleteHe also references a lot of events that he saw or experienced in the U.S. (drive ins, washed up actors, drugs, etc.) as Aladdin Sane, a continuation of Ziggy. However, this persona in the album comes off as less concrete than Ziggy. The song in Aladdin Sane don’t quite flow together, and it seems that they were written separately without regard for the track listing. By sheer luck, the track listing works anyway.
While Ziggy Stardust maintains a mystical, fantastical tone of an otherworldly superstar, Aladdin Sane highlights the star’s disillusionment of life on Earth, reflecting Bowie’s experiences of touring around America. While both are considered glam rock albums, Ziggy Stardust seemed refreshingly unique in its lyricism, characterization of Ziggy, and sound, whereas Aladdin Sane is much more produced and seems to unnecessarily drag out Ziggy’s story. I believe Bowie’s target audiences for each album are different as well; Ziggy Stardust is full of distinctly British references “Tony went to fight in Belfast” (Star) and British-focused publicity, like his Top of the Pops performance. In contrast, Aladdin Sane is marketed toward a more international, and specifically American, audience, with song titles like “Panic in Detroit” regarding the Detroit riots and lyrics like “I’ve come a few years from my Hollywood highs” (Cracked Actor) referencing the drugs and prostitution Bowie saw in Los Angeles. While listening to Aladdin Sane, I could imagine many of the songs playing in the background of a movie montage or credits, but not necessarily being sung live. Overall, this album had some high points, but it was easy to sense Bowie’s inner conflict regarding the success of his Ziggy persona and not wanting to be solely known for that, resulting in a sort of half-reinvention where Ziggy has somewhat assimilated into his earthly persona (in the same way that Bowie had somewhat become comfortable with his international commercial success).
ReplyDeleteThroughout Bowie’s glam rock era, he prominently features themes of darkness, but they are evoked differently in each album. In Ziggy Stardust, the darkness comes from the mysticism of Ziggy and the Spiders, as well as a sense of urgency that he has “Five Years” before Ziggy must commit “Rock n’ Roll Suicide”. In Aladdin Sane, the darkness is reflected in Bowie’s visions of drugs, prostitution, and violence in America. But Diamond Dogs is the first album where Bowie chooses to center his music directly around motifs of death, destruction, and a dystopian future. The album begins with gruesome imagery “And in the death/ As the last few corpses lay rotting […] This isn’t Rock n’ Roll/ This is Genocide” and alludes to the famously dystopian novel 1984 throughout, with titles like “1984” and “Big Brother”, which all contribute to recurring ideas like a loss of hope and a premonition for a worse future. The only pause in this haunting narrative seems to be “Rebel, Rebel” which feels very reminiscent of Ziggy’s androgynous qualities, “You've got your mother in a whirl/ She's not sure if you're a boy or a girl”.
Tanvi Gaitonde
I can definitely hear the American influences people allude to regarding the “Aladdin Sane” album, and as someone who has grown up listening to primarily American music, it was very interesting to listen to Bowie-fied interpretations of classic genres! I’m not well-versed in distinguishing genres from one another, but I feel that there’s an overarching bluesy tone in “Aladdin Sane,” with much of this being because of how piano was used throughout the album! I felt that the lyrical storytelling aspect typical of Bowie songs (like in “Ziggy Stardust”) takes a bit of a back seat as he leans more heavily into emphasizing the backing instrumentals. The piano is very, very prominent in songs like “Time”, “Lady Grinning Soul'' and the titular “Aladdin Sane” in this album. Of course, Bowie still added some spice with the discordant piano flourishes in the instrumental break. This aids in adding that foreign, alien pizzazz that’s so specific to Bowie’s music -- and it definitely added that Bowie flavor to a song that otherwise sounds like a fairly conventional American blues tune (that signature cosmic theme Bowie focuses on with these foreign flares circles back to the character and story of Ziggy Stardust). Bowie also implements other classic American genres in this album like R&B and rock n’ roll; specifically in “Drive-in Saturday” & “The Prettiest Star,” there are surprising doo-wop elements -- to me, some of these songs even sounded a bit parodical. “Drive-in Saturday” sounded like Bowie’s attempt at evoking the doo-wop songs that accompany that classic American image seen in pop culture of the cliché drive-ins American teenagers went to during doo-wop’s heyday. Bowie of course continues with his cosmic touch with lines like “Neither hands nor limbs would burst / It's hard enough to keep formation with this fall out saturation / cursing at the astronette.” This album feels like an amalgamation of Bowie’s unique spins on various American genres, and I think that it’s very accurate to say that “Aladdin Sane” was VERY “Ziggy goes to America” -- especially with all the otherworldly touches that revitalize these genres, making the songs uniquely Bowie!
ReplyDelete-Mila Daniel
I think the first thing that stood out as distinctly American was the choice of genres in Aladdin Sane. While the songs in Ziggy Stardust were primarily glam rock, the songs in Aladdin Sane include hard rock, blues and some elements of jazz. For example, the hard riff in The Jean Genie reminded me of the hard rock style of the Rolling Stones and other popular bands that were popular in America at the time. The fact that Bowie even covered ‘Lets spend the night together’ by the Rolling Stones is very telling of their influence on him during his time in America.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to these changes in genre, the themes and motifs of the songs in Aladdin Sane seem much darker and lewder than those from Ziggy Stardust. Since several songs from Aladdin Sane were written during Bowie’s time touring around in America, a lot of the songs reflect his interpretation of fame and the potential downfalls for those with it. For example, Cracked Actor depicts an actor past his prime who now has to resort to prostitution and other “evils”, possibly representing an alternate future had Bowie decided to stick with Ziggy Stardust and not transform his work by creating Aladdin Sane.
- Natasha Mubeen
I think both musically and lyrically this album reflects more American elements and themes. Even just from some of the song titles it’s clear that he’s talking about America and specifically his perception of the country. another noticeable difference in this record compared to Ziggy Stardust is that it is more focused on real life as opposed to the more otherworldly themes presented in Ziggy Stardust. It seems like he is ditching his old persona and changing with the new environment around him, but at the same time, Aladdin Sane seems to be less of a concrete persona/world than Ziggy. Lyrically, it seems like he is stuck between the successes of becoming a big rock star while simultaneously recognizing the parts of it that he doesn’t enjoy very much.
ReplyDeleteMia Sparks
“Ziggy goes to America” is a pretty great way to describe Aladdin Sane, as the album is infused with references to American cities and ideals delivered in a glam rock package influenced by a number of American musical genres such as blues, jazz, and doo wop. More specifically, while both Ziggy and Aladdin Sane are largely glam rock, the latter is somewhat grittier and darker, which goes well with the serious subject matter that explores topics like drug addiction, urban decay, suicide, etc. Being considered the first Bowie album to be written and released after Bowie’s reaching stardom, it somewhat continues on the path of criticizing and exploring fame that Ziggy was on, but expands upon these ideas further. Something pretty interesting regarding this album, as mentioned earlier, is the inclusion of a lot of influences from American music genres such as avant-garde jazz elements in the piano and brass instruments of “Aladdin Sane,” or doo-wop elements in “Drive-In Saturday,” as these heighten the American aspect of the album. I really enjoyed the prominence of the piano in a few of the songs, like “Aladdin Sane,” “Time,” and “Lady Grinning Soul,” and the way that it was used in conjunction with these other musical elements, all of which added to the glam rock foundation to create a very interesting, experimental sort of feel for the album. This heightened sense of experimentation is further carried on in Diamond Dogs, leading into new musical possibilities for the future.
ReplyDeleteLillian Gabrelian
Obviously Bowie carries on with the glam rock that he mastered in Ziggy Stardust with Aladdin Sane. While Ziggy Stardust was such an important character in Bowie’s career, the creation of Aladdin Sane allowed him to be so transformative. He was never held to any expectations and was able to adapt however he liked during his career, in order to not become tired of his work.
ReplyDeleteThe album itself seemed to be more intense and darker than Ziggy Stardust. “Cracked Actor” especially stood out to me with its strong electric guitar and harmonica influence. Perhaps this was because Bowie was introduced to the rough American music industry.
-Sydney Beale
I definitely noticed a difference in the tone from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars to Aladdin Sane. In the first Ziggy Stardust album, Bowie really spent time playing with and perfecting his new persona while embodying the glam rock era. As soon as Ziggy sets foot in America, his songs transform and take on different elements employing jazz, piano, heavy guitar and classic American Rock&Roll sounds. Bowie relies less on Ziggy for inspiration in his songs and relies more on references to US pop culture or famous cities. In his song "Cracked Actor", Bowie starts off with lyrics "I've come on a few years from my Hollywood Highs/The best of the last, the cleanest star they ever had," a clear reference to drugs and rock and roll in places like Hollywood. Then in "The Jean Genie", Bowie sings "A small Jean Genie snuck off to the city/Strung out on lasers and slash back plazas/And ate all your razors while pullin' the waiters/Talking bout Monroe and walkin' on snow white/New York's a go-go and everything tastes right" which includes many US pop culture references to Marylin Monroe, Snow White, and New York's vibrant night life. Another one of my favorite songs, "Drive In Saturday", was a clear connection to the drive-in movie theater culture that took over the US. In a couple other songs, Bowie mentions famous streets like Sunset and Vine. In Bowie's Diamond Dogs album, I absolutely LOVED his intro "Future Legend" and his song "1984." They both felt extremely unique and especially with "1984," it was really interesting to have a callback to the 1960s disco era. I think Bowie was rebelling from the glam rock era that Ziggy was born in and saw the US as a perfect place to take on a new form of Ziggy, one that felt up-beat and "Americanized." Overall, I loved these two albums and how much Bowie transformed in such a short period of time.
ReplyDelete-Amanda Cohen
I can definitely see why this album was viewed as "Ziggy goes to America." In contrast the androgynous, sci-fi, high concept album that was The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Aladdin Sane is more down-to-earth with its constant references to Americana. However, these albums have do have the fantastical nature of Ziggy as a character in common, mostly seen in Bowie's lyrics and perspective on a variety of issues. Like many others noted in their posts, Aladdin Sane not only takes inspiration from America in its references but with its instrumentation as well. I noticed the heavy presence of horns and piano in many songs which reminded me of early blues and jazz. These are distinctly American genres and Bowie's sampling of them really furthered the "Ziggy goes to America" theme. Additionally, many of the songs evoke identifiable American imagery or places in their lyrics: drive-in movies and doo-wop music in "Drive-In Saturday", Detroit in "Panic in Detroit", life in Hollywood in "Cracked Actor", Marilyn Monroe and New York in "The Jean Genie", etc...
ReplyDelete"Cracked Actor" stood out as one of my favorites from the album. It reminded me of "Ziggy Stardust" as it explored the darker side of the entertainment industry as well as "Moonage Daydream" with its erotic themes. The commanding chorus of "Crack, baby, crack.../Smack, baby, smack.../Suck, baby, suck..." paired with the heavy electric guitar is addicting to listen to. The tune is also more hard rock in my opinion, rather than glam rock, which also adds to the more American vibe. I also really enjoyed "Drive-In Saturday" and "The Prettiest Star" which are definitely on the softer side of the songs featured on Aladdin Sane. They reminded me of doo-wop and love songs from the 50s/60s which, again, pushes the Ziggy in American album. I thought it was super interesting how Bowie incorporated themes, issues, and genres from different points in America throughout Aladdin Sane. Instead of the sort of "contained" world that Ziggy Stardust inhabited on the "The Rise of Fall of Ziggy Stardust...", this album feels more expansive in exploring America as a whole.
- Addison Harms
Bowie goes out of his way to evoke classic Americana on this album. The first really explicit reference to American culture is the sort of jarring end of the title track "Aladdin Sane," when Bowie sings "they say the lights are oh so bright on Broadway," in a stark contrast to the rest of the content of that song, which references combat and "passionate bright young things" going away to war. The most interesting part of the final line of "Aladdin Sane" (the song) for me is that it's a misquote of the original line, which is "they say the neon lights are bright on Broadway" (from the song "On Broadway" by The Drifters). Maybe Bowie just felt this fit better in the song, or maybe, if we're going with a Vietnam War theme given the context of the song and the time frame in which it was released, it's a way to signal the contrast between Americans creating devastation in other countries in wartime and the way foreigners might romanticize the United States, since someone foreign would be more likely to slightly misquote the lyrics (and to wistfully sing the song in the first place). I don't know, that's probably a stretch.
ReplyDeleteAnother way that Bowie evokes Americana is by the instrumentation of some of his songs. "Drive-In Saturday" has very doo-wop-y backup singers and a rhythm that's reminiscent of fifties pop. "The Prettiest Star" uses a very similar strategy, with fifties style backup singers and an overall style that reminds me of the fifties. I think part of the fifties feel also comes from the brass instruments that can be heard in the background. I'm sure someone with a more formal music knowledge could articulate better what exactly I'm referring to. "The Jean Genie" also brings out a harmonica, which for me immediately reminds me of blues, another hallmark of American music.
The most notable way in which Aladdin Sane differs from Ziggy Stardust for me is that Ziggy Stardust strikes me as being primarily focused on the development of the character of Ziggy, with secondary commentary on the music industry, while Aladdin Sane is more primarily focused on social commentary and American cultural references, with the character being secondary.
Sofia Potter
When listening to Aladdin Sane I can definitely understand the “Ziggy goes to America.” sound that people were implying. It sounds very rock and roll and very American Rock and Roll during the 60s and 70s. It is also interesting to learn that he wrote this album while on the road in the US, so America had a great influence on this album and it shows. The songs are very fast pace and truly reflect the true glam rock that Bowie was going for. The album definitely reminds me of bands like The Rolling Stones due to its raw and edgy voice he uses here. It is very fun to see his shift through style and into this new persona, Aladdin Sane. I feel like songs like “The Prettiest Star” truly reflect the glam rock Bowie was going for due to the intense use of guitar and nostalgic references. Overall, it is apparent that in Aladdin Sane, Bowie is truly finding his style and way in the world with his music.
ReplyDelete- Ella Barnes
From the moment that Aladdin Sane began, I could tell that it was different from previous David Bowie albums. Some of the tracks reminded me of hard rock from the 1970s, while also some of the tracks really felt as though they utilized some jazz-style sounds. Aladdin Sane, specifically songs like “Panic in Detroit,” noticeably features more hard rock-style guitar sounds to back up the lyrics than previous Bowie albums. Although Bowie retains his signature musical voice, the tracks on this album that lean more toward hard rock definitely have a darker tone than some of Bowie’s earlier tracks, such as “Changes,” for example. Regarding the jazz sounds that I felt that I heard during some of the songs, the piano was used as a base for some of the tracks, including “Aladdin Sane” and the instruments used in these songs continued to create the more elegant atmosphere that accompanies many of Bowie’s songs. The song “The Prettiest Star” combined the two musical styles, with strong guitar sounds at the start, but also some nice piano and trumpet-type sounds throughout the majority of the song. The combination is very interesting and cool to hear. “Drive-In Saturday” was very cool to me because it very much reminded me of 1950s American bebop style music with the voices in the background. The title and lyrics are also reminiscent of America. Overall, Aladdin Sane is definitely different from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Aladdin Sane is more upbeat, while Bowie’s previous album seemed more melancholy and sophisticated. Some of these differences of Aladdin Sane from previous Bowie albums definitely remind me of musical techniques that were being used or had been used in America by the time of the release of Aladdin Sane in 1973.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
As soon as I heard the intro to the very first song "Watch That Man" I said okay... he was right... this is totally Ziggy goes to America. After putting that thought in my head, I really read the whole vibe of the album to be true to that. Overall the album is more pop-y. It seems like Aladdin Sane differs from Ziggy in that Ziggy had more of that poetic, British tortured artist from the cold up north, but the vibes of this album with Sane are much more sunny and poppy and he seems to embrace his Rock star stage presence ("The Prettiest Star") more than Ziggy did, who seemed to be pained by his self-awareness of his rock star gimmick. The guitar line in Watch that Man reminded me of some old White American rock, like Bruce Springsteen, which was an unlikely connection (and probably not accurate, but the tone of the song is just so American land to me). There was also the jazziness and discordonant keys of the piano solo during "Aladdin Sane" which I loved, and the jazz of it also felt distinctly American given Bowie's context. "Time" was a fantastic song that sounded kinda like the band Queen to me, which was interesting since Freddie and Bowie certainly come from that same queer rock / glam rock kind of genre and are from the same time period. Overall the tone of the album might come off as more superficial than Ziggy Stardust, following that less of the "tortured artist" thing. I noticed this when listening to "Lets Spend the Night Together," I just feel like it was so simple and the lyrics were not as poetic or grandiose as I know Ziggy Stardust to be. This was probably my favorite album to listen to so far, though! I really enjoyed it and the American vs. British thing was a fun lens :-)
ReplyDeleteThere is definitely a noticeable difference between the tone of Aladdin Sane and Bowie’s previous work. Aladdin Sane continues this glam rock genre, if not intensifies it, and Bowie begins singing about even more provocative and explicit subjects. He expands this avant-garde persona by advancing the Ziggy Stardust character. I think some of the most raunchy songs from this album are “Cracked Actor” and “Drive-In Saturday.” A lot of this album reminds me of The Rolling Stones; however, it is very obvious that Bowie drew inspiration from American culture and music combined with his experience while touring in this country. The biggest indicator of this is how quickly paced the songs are as well as all of the different instruments and sounds used. Bowie successfully combines jazz and rock and roll to make this album. The biggest thing to note is that Ziggy Stardust is an outsider that comes to earth while Aladdin Sane is just commentary on Ziggy’s experience in America, but with a new name. Bowie expresses more of his musical style while inviting a more erotic theme. With every record Bowie makes, he puts out music that represents him more as a person while expressing big topics of discussion of that time.
ReplyDeleteSofia Sabra
Aladdin Zane begins immediately differently than the albums preceding it. “Watch That Man” kicks off with heavy electric guitar, fast tempo, backing vocals with somewhat of a gospel influence apparent, keys thumping out some fun licks, and heavy drums. This instrumentation is in stark contrast with “Five Years,” which began and ended with a meandering, stripped down percussion backing, and continued with light piano and harp accompaniment, before adding acoustic an acoustic guitar part and orchestra backing. Bowie seems to go on a tour of American music - he definitely spends a lot of time paying homage to R&B sounds and rock. Yet he also seems to borrow from everything from 40s doowop (“Drive in”) to Sinatra-style commercial jazz (“The Prettiest Star”) to early 40s big bands (the sometimes walking baseline in “Panic in Detroit”). But not only does bowie explore American musical themes, he also riffs on some of the ideas and values typically associated with the nation. “Prettiest Star” felt like it was trying to encapsulate American ideals of stardom and overcoming obstacles with lyrics like “You and I will rise up all the way/All because of what you are/ The prettiest star.”
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, Bowie explores a lot of components and genres of American music in both of the assigned albums this week. Though the sound of Diamond Dogs varies significantly from what American jazz musicians were releasing at the time the album was released (and before), Bowie does make clear he knows the basics. By quoting “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” on the electric guitar in the first track on Diamond Dogs, amidst a deeply strange acoustic environment of sound effects, Bowie sets up his album as an extrapolation on past musical tradition in order to build a new future. Accordingly, Diamond Dogs seems centered in the US as well.
-Elizabeth Gulli
While Ziggy Stardust is a persona, in their own right, they are a pop star, and at the time of Ziggy’s conception, the only natural progression for a pop star was to go to the United States. I think this expectation still rings true today, as it is vital to capitalize on the American market if one’s ultimate goal is stardom. Thus, it is very understandable for the music on Aladdin Sane, the album following The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, to feature such a prominent American influence. Through my first listen to this album, one song that really stood out to me as an encapsulation of this American influence is “Aladdin Sane.” Looking at the music in the piece alone, “Aladdin Sane” captures, through the competing instruments, a battle between the sound of the former Ziggy Stardust and this newer, more famous Ziggy, looking to appease a greater audience. The piano in this work evokes the mystical and experimental elements of Ziggy that catapulted him to stardom, suggesting the sounds of space. The guitar and the saxophone that switch off with the piano to dominate the song reflect a more commercial American sound. Therefore, as the song progresses and both of these instruments start to play as if they are performing their own pieces, it is almost like the identities themselves are in disagreement and attempting to overtake the other. Musically, America’s influence is also apparent in “Drive-In Saturday” and “Watch That Man.” “Drive-In Saturday” immediately struck me as a song calling back to the 50s and the fantasy surrounding the decade captured in films like Grease. “Watch That Man” similarly evoked feelings of the American fantasy for me, but more so of a rock song meant to be played on a road trip through the country. Overall, this was a fascinating album and reflects another interesting stage in Bowie’s career, where he is, yet again, evolving alongside the Ziggy Stardust character.
ReplyDelete-Devin Bosley
I can definitely agree that this album could be thought of as “Ziggy Goes to America.” The differences between this album and ‘Ziggy Stardust’ were immediately apparent. First off, the instrumentation and performance of the musicians felt as though they had adopted many tropes and aesthetics of American popular music in the time period. Additionally, the lyrics of the album seem to have captured many aspects of American culture, both popular and otherwise.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I really enjoyed this album and I think the kind-of mashup between Bowie’s sound and aesthetics and American culture was very pleasant. The album is undoubtedly very Bowie-esque, however, refined in a very certain way. My favorite track, personally, was ‘Let’s Spend the Night Together,’ because I honestly just really enjoyed the way the music flowed and the energy expressed in the performance. I think it’s kind-of funny that on a record so influenced by Americana, there is a cover of a prominent British band. Maybe this is a bit of irony on Bowie’s part.
- Charlie Whitcomb
Ziggy Stardust seems like an alien from another world while Aladdin Sane just seems like an eccentric crazy person (dare I say a lad... insane) Bowie seems more human than before and I really appreciate his leaning into a more American sound for this record. It's really interesting to hear his interpretation of life in America as someone obviously very British and definitely encapsulates the glam rock being heard in 1973 America with the themes of the album touching on the issues going on at the time ("Panic in Detroit" "Cracked Actor") sort of a wake up from the swinging sixties. It's pretty cool that he attached a city to each song it inspired (LA with "Cracked Actor" Seattle-Phoenix with "Drive in Saturday" etc). I love when artists record covers and think Bowie's "Let's Spend the Night Together" is a perfect addition to the rest of the album and he did a good job of making it modern and Bowie-esque, though I still hear a lot of the Stones influence in the rest of the album like at the end of "Panic in Detroit." Overall, I'd argue that this album is pretty perfect and is Bowie at the top of his game. Also, "he looked a lot like Che Guevara" is maybe the best opening line to a song I've ever heard.
ReplyDelete-Sabrina Stoddard
The sound of Aladdin Sane compared to The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars can illustrate the distinct cultures of British and American music. It's undeniable that he wanted to engage the American audience after spending his time touring there for his. It's much heavier and had a familiar sound to the market he was trying to impress. For example, Bowie covers the Rolling Stone's Let's Spend the Night Together while keeping his glam style. Bowie's version is more intense as the instruments are louder. With powerful electric guitars, up-tempo drums, and fierce vocals, David Bowie's band reimagined that song in spending the night together with his character in this adventuresome world.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, his first track, Watch That Man, had the darker, grimy kind of sound likely to ensnare his listeners into this character's experience full of trauma and life as an outsider looking in the world of American rock music. Unlike the preceding album, Ziggy Stardust holds innovative songs and a better understanding of what the character's story is. It gives the listener a clear beginning and what the character's intentions are. The music in Aladdin Sane is not quite as innovative, although his use of important classical American genres such as jazz makes his music was something of pure genius. The introduction of Aladdin Sane's character just immediately pulls the audience into his world of drugs and sex - hanging in with the cool crowd far away from home.
Also, what is different from Ziggy Stardust was that Aladdin Sane seemed to have empathy for the problems occurring in the world. The track Aladdin Sane uses its title as a pun for a lad insane. The song discusses how American propaganda encouraged men to enlist themselves in the military during the Vietnam War.
The men left for war promised these enjoyable adventures. Bowie sings, "Sake and strange divine / Uh-h-h-uh-h-uh you'll make it / Passionate bright young things takes him away to war." However, the reality of the war was hell when some expected to end up in a country full of endeavors, but they ended up embittered, "Paris or maybe hell." Near the end, the dissonance between the saxophone and the piano creates a tone of distress and agony.