When this album was released
in 1972, it was nearly the cause for this
Dog to dye his hair fluorescent orange
and effect blue eye shadow. Fortunately
a stout collar and lead were put in place
before this manifestation took place.
But none the less this album had a profound
effect on the history of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
In soccer parlance, this album took Bowie
from a relegation candidate in Division
Three to Premier League Champions in the
blink of a massacred eye.
When Bowie created Ziggy Stardust, he
created a monster that would take him
on one of the most exciting roller-coaster
rides in the history of the entertainment
industry.
The songs that Bowie wrote for this album
were his strongest so far. Also, by taking
the heavy rock from the previous year’s,
“Man Who Sold The World” and the power
pop of “Hunky Dory”, which was only six
months old, he created the perfect concept
album. With the band standing satin-trousered
beside Bowie, Mick Ronson tore every ounce
of emotion from his guitars. This pushed
Bowie’s songs into another dimension.
Listen to the gut wrenching savagery of
“Moonage Day Dream”, the glittering riffs
in the title track, and the sheer unadulterated,
irresistible boogie of “Suffragette City”.
This makes you realize that Bowie could
never have done this without the platinum
haired spider from Hull.
The lyrics are thrust in your face and
rammed down your throat. Then there are
Bowie’s excursions into the future, such
as the image heavy “Star Man” (he’d like
to come and meet us but he thinks he’d
blow our minds). This is followed by the
album’s final number, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide”,
which also closed the live set, with the
vocalist entreating the audience to ‘hold’
him before he’s taken away.
Nevertheless, Bowie would soon tire of
the Ziggy Persona (splitting up the Spiders
at the peak of their powers). This dramatic
music with its swaggering saxophones,
rough edged guitars, tinkling piano, bombastic
drumming and it’s crisp production cut
a swath through the music industry. It
created its own category of glam rock
and also changed fashion forever.
The concerts were amazing but you had
to have the music and this album was full
of cutting-edge songs that hold up decades
later.
Climb into your platform boots, shake
out your spandex and, as the Leper Messiah
preached, “let your imagination soar”.
Pawed by Mott The Dog
Remastered by Ella Crew
E-mail: review@mott-the-dog.com
