
		10

David Bowie

Space Oddity

Virgin | 2006 | Album

This release is a Kevchino Pick! Click here to see more Kevchino Picks...

Biography

Comments (1)

Read Full Page

Digg Review

Add del.icio.us

David Bowie may be the greatest chameleon or purveyor of trends the music world has ever seen. From his days as the androgynous Ziggy Stardust to his rebirth as the Thin White Duke and on to today’s modern musical maverick who champions new bands like Arcade Fire, the singer/songwriter, born in Brixton, England, is more an international man of mystery than Austin Powers could ever hope to be. In recognition and celebration of Bowie’s contribution to the music world, his catalogue has been digitally re-mastered (at none other than Abbey Road studios) so if you’re a Bowie fan, it’s time to update, especially when it comes to Space Oddity.

The album was originally released under the title Man of Words, Man of Music and featured the wildly popular song “Space Oddity”. This was also the album that convinced Bowie to give the whole music thing a serious go. After the album’s release Bowie soon took on the Ziggy Stardust personality which along with the success of the single “Space Oddity” catapulted him onto the U.S. music scene and lead to the album’s being re-released and renamed after the successful song.

The Bowie of Space Oddity though is a curious character – part golden rock god and part dark intellectual muse. He would get better at writing radio-friendly singles, but this glimpse of the artist as a hippie poet troubadour is, as Mastercard would say, “priceless”. Just listen to the shaggy-haired (at the time) Bowie bounce back and forth from the cool detachment of the title track to the funky jam of “Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed”.

The swings back and forth in style are one thing, but the it’s the risks Bowie takes with story songs like the 9:31 track “Cygnet Committee” and the soaring “Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud” that make him truly and gloriously of his time and also timeless. This is never clearer than in the closing romp “Memory of a Free Festival”. It may be an ode to the hippie fests of the day, but it, like the album as a whole, stands the test of time and will always be a testament to a day when a true music artist could go on to be a mega star. Long live David Bowie!

Amy Wagner