Aladdin Sane

by David Bowie

Overview

Ziggy Stardust wrote the blueprint for David Bowie's hard-rocking glam, and Aladdin Sane essentially follows the pattern, for both better and worse. A lighter affair than Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane is actually a stranger album than its predecessor, buoyed by bizarre lounge-jazz flourishes from pianist Mick Garson and a handful of winding, vaguely experimental songs. Bowie abandons his futuristic obsessions to concentrate on the detached cool of New York and London hipsters, as on the compressed rockers "Watch That Man," "Cracked Actor," and "The Jean Genie." Bowie follows the hard stuff with the jazzy, dissonant sprawls of "Lady Grinning Soul," "Aladdin Sane," and "Time," all of which manage to be both campy and avant-garde simultaneously, while the sweepingly cinematic "Drive-In Saturday" is a soaring fusion of sci-fi doo wop and melodramatic teenage glam. He lets his paranoia slip through in the clenched rhythms of "Panic in Detroit," as well as on his oddly clueless cover of "Let's Spend the Night Together." For all the pleasures on Aladdin Sane, there's no distinctive sound or theme to make the album cohesive; it's Bowie riding the wake of Ziggy Stardust, which means there's a wealth of classic material here, but not enough focus to make the album itself a classic. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	09/25/2015
Label:	Atlantic / Elektra / Parlophone / Rhino / Warner Music
UPC:	0825646283392
Rank:	188486

Tracks

1. Watch That Man
2. Aladdin Sane [1913-1938-197?]
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

Album Credits

Performance Credits

David Bowie   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Harmonica,Saxophone,Moog Synthesizer
Mike Garson   Guest Artist,Piano
Mick Ronson   Guest Artist,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Guitar (Acoustic)
Mac Cormack   Percussion,Vocals (Background)
Brian Wilshaw   Flute,Sax (Tenor)
G A MacCormack   Vocals (Background),Percussion
Ken Fordham   Flute,Saxophone
Linda Lewis   Vocals (Background)
Mick "Woody" Woodmansey   Drums
Juanita "Honey" Franklin   Vocals (Background)
Trevor Bolder   Bass

Technical Credits

Scott Minshall   Design
Celia Philo   Cover Design
Pierre LaRoche   Make-Up
Brian Duffy   Cover Design
Jo Blair   Project Producer
Mike Moran   Engineer
Nigel Reeve   Project Producer
Mick Ronson   Mixing,Arranger
David Bowie   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Ray Staff   Mastering,Transfers,Remastering Engineer
Aisha Cohen   Associate Project Coordinator
Ken Scott   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Mick Jagger   Composer
Keith Richards   Composer