The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars

From the last 4 albums that i heard by David Bowie, I never would have expected The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars would be one of my favorites by him but here we are. I am somewhat aware of some songs from this album, especially Starman since i have heard John Dolmayan and Serj Tankian's cover of it. I still was not expecting the album to be this good as it had an absolutely perfect mix of punk rock with acoustic rock and a nice amount of orchestral elements too. David Bowie's songwriting was very enjoyable here as well. It is an all around great album that i definitely think is one of Bowie's best.
Best Song: Suffragette City
Worst Song: It Ain't Easy

I'll be surprised if there is a better album on this list.

Ich tu mich weiterhin schwer mit David Bowie, aber dies hier war wenigstens durchgehend angenehm zu hören.

Habe mir das Album tatsächlich 2x angehört und beim zweiten Mal die Story des Concept Albums durchgelesen und die Songtexte durchgelesen. Macht danach mehr Sinn und eine spannende Sache. Allerdings reicht es vom "Feeling" bei mir niemals für 5 Sterne.
Starman ist aber ein absoluter Banger

This is the easiest 5 I've given yet, and I'm not sure that there's an easier one on the list. I do believe that the classics need to be interrogated a little bit before being handed the perfect score, but I've danced that dance with The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (as it is christened in full) long ago and all that's left for me to do is gush about it for as long as I deem necessary. Ziggy Stardust has earned its reputation in so many ways. The songs are all *at least* great, and most are much better even than that. The concept is innovative and transformed how the idea of "persona" can be handled in a rock context. The performances are legendary, Bowie brings this album to life in a way that no one else could have. Additionally, this is almost certainly the greatest glam rock album ever recorded. Bowie pushed the gaudiness of the genre into genuine grandiosity by mastering an alchemical process which seemingly converts style directly into substance in a way that has not been equaled by any other album prior to, or since the release of Ziggy Stardust. During the first four songs here, from 5 Years through Starman, this is quite possibly the best album ever recorded, and the "drop off" after this point only exists in relative terms (everything else is still great, and the last three tracks just about reach the same highs again). 5 Years is just incredible: Only Bowie could have so successfully captured the weight and existential vastness of the realization of the inevitable, premature end of everything through the medium of a glam rock song. It's really sold by Bowie's vocal performance on the song, which is among the best ever. Soul Love took some time to grow on me, but the smoothness, grooviness and subtle beauty of it is nearly as good. Moonage Daydream is pure Bowie, big and catchy and kind of quirky. And Starman is in the competition for best song here. It is truly quintessential glam. The song's writing serves its hugeness, and there is something subtly sour about it that just makes it sound so bold and interesting. It Ain't Easy is technically the closest we have to a low point here, but like I said, it's all relative, it is still a really great rock song, with just a little more blues influence that feels slightly distinct from everything else here. It is also a cover of a Ron Davies song, which explains why it feels a little different from most of the content here. But it isn't really distracting, Bowie makes it his own here, and frankly, it would be a highlight on most any other album. The pattern continues from here, every song is truly essential and completely distinct. I don't want to just review this track by track, but it is hard not to when everything is *this* good. Lady Stardust is rich and beautiful, Star is a fantastic, driving, piano centric rock song, and Hang On To Yourself pulls from somewhere almost a little punky. After this, the album is just solid gold again. Ziggy Stardust is the closest we have to a title track (I don't think a song toting the album's full name would get quite the airplay) and it is effectively the theme song for Bowie's titular character here. The writing is incredible, it's damn near a character study contained within an album that already has such a strong sense of concept. This is as natural a point I can find to discuss the lyrics across this album, which are consistently fantastic. Bowie has such a strong, consistent voice in his writing, and every song has real stand-out lines. As we close the album out we get Suffragette City, which may be the most fun song here, in the right setting I think the chorus could compel spontaneous dance. And we stick the landing at the end, Rock 'n' Roll Suicide is one of the best album closers of all time. It carries immense gravity, and very neatly ties up all the ideas on the album in a bold way that isn't afraid to explore the subtle sadness of the ideas at the core of Ziggy Stardust, while leaving room for hope and joy at the very end. In a world where I think the idea of a "perfect album" has lost a lot of its meaning and power, Ziggy Stardust is very nearly *truly* perfect. It is nearly perfect as a whole, as a collection of songs, and even on a moment to moment basis. David Bowie was truly one of a kind, and he pulls off a truly generational achievement here.

Iconic reputation, but the reality of the matter is the music is great, but even for the time not especially innovative. Still, it is a great album

4.0/5.0: Great

classic bowie

maestralno!

This wasn't as bad as I'd feared, but not as good as I had hoped

⭐⭐⭐

A well known Bowie album and a seismic departure in concept but, aside from a few tracks, it feels like a drone to me.

Zero notes. The creativity of this in '72 cannot be overstated.

Undoubtedly iconic in every way. Even though a centrepiece, I am not particularly crazy about the It Ain’t Easy cover or Mooanage Daydream. The latter has got a great feeling to it and was probably an amazing live show staple, but I am slightly underwhelmed from a songwriting perspective given Bowie’s generational talent. It will probably grow on me… However, that’s nitpicking and the highs of this record (basically every other song), elevate this project to the top of Bowie’s - and mostly everyone else’s - oeuvre.

Ashamed to say that was my first time giving this album a full listen

This was very good. The opening and ending tracks were great, Starman is a certified banger, and some of the guitar work on this is really good, especially at the end of Moonage Daydream

Perhaps overrated, especially with the "greatest album of all time" remarks, but still very good

Clearly a top 20 album of all time on almost any list...

It speaks to the influence and importance of this album that despite never actually listening to it in full I knew most of the songs. It’s one that I don’t think anyone can not like. Also Five Years is a criminally underrated song.

Funny how not random true-random feels. Got Bowie's Heroes yesterday, and today Ziggy Stardust.

Anyways, went into this expecting a very easy 5/5 and while it's still a classic, surprised at myself for not liking it quite as much as I was expecting. Still a fantastic album with no bad songs, but mostly I just enjoy the big hits like Moonage Daydream, Ziggy Stardust, and Suffragette City. But this album has the classic Bowie acoustic guitar sound, so it's great.

Well. I am not a David Bowie fan. And everytime I see one of his albums pop up, they fill me with dread. This is my 5th Bowie album

This is the first one that I've actually enjoyed! My usual complaint is I don't like his voice
But he actually sang on this one and it wasnt bad at all. The songs were much better too

Wouldn't go as far as calling myself a fan now, but this was an enjoyable album. I see why this one is one of his best

4 ⭐️

This is my final 70s Bowie album on this journey, and it feels like a homecoming to me. I first listened to The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust three years ago and enjoyed it then. Now, after listening to more albums from this era of Bowie's career, I better understand what came before and after. In this case, Ziggy Stardust the album follows the success of Hunky Dory, when David Bowie found his songwriting identity and sought to write more songs for live performances, inspired by the diverse musical scenes of America.

In conjunction with this writing, Bowie created a new persona for himself - the alien rock star Ziggy Stardust, sent to Earth to save the people from an apocalyptic disaster with his music. As he wins over the hearts of many fans, he succumbs to his ego, taking a literal fall from grace and dying on stage in a glorious display. It's a rather loose concept but executed such that the album can be enjoyed regardless of how vested one is in the story.

That's because David Bowie focused first on the songwriting to make these tunes anthemic, with catchy guitar hooks and choruses that are fun to sing along to and revel in. "Ziggy Stardust", "Moonage Daydream", "Suffragette City", "Starman", even lesser cuts like "Star", "Hang On to Yourself" and the closer "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" were written with such a poetic elegance yet maintaining the high-level rocking energy that helped define what glam rock was.

There's a reason that Ziggy Stardust the album continues to be praised as a classic in Bowie's catalog. The man would continue to experiment and find further success. But for the first time in his career, David Bowie found himself in the center of the cultural zeitgeist, a rather ideal place for a starman.

Never heard this as a whole, this is exciting! A journey and I imagine very ahead of its time when it came out. 5*
Highlights: starman, moonage daydream, ziggy stardust

ZIGGY PLAYED GUITAR!!!

Favourite songs: Ziggy Stardust, Suffragette City, Starman, Moonage Daydream, Star, Lady Stardust, It Ain't Easy, Five Years

Least favourite songs: Soul Love

5/5

The album has been showered with praise time and time again. I like David Bowie's music. I also think this album is very good. Somehow I feel a bit strange with it, but that seems to be the case with many David Bowie albums. 4/5