Track Listing

1. Watch That Man
2. Aladdin Sane (1913-1938-197?)
3. Drive-In Saturday
4. Panic in Detroit
5. Cracked Actor
6. Time
7. Prettiest Star
8. Let's Spend the Night Together
9. Jean Genie
10. Lady Grinning Soul

Product Details

• Released on: 1990-07-11
• Formats: Import, Enhanced

From Amazon.co.uk
The second most important moment in Bowie's glam period, Aladdin Sane is full of smart, cutting-edge songs that hold up decades later as classic moments in rock. Standout tracks include "Panic in Detroit", with Mick Ronson's screaming guitars and Mick Woodmansey's urgent drumming; "Watch that Man", a piano-driven, rollicking number perfect for the Bowie strut; the lascivious and sweaty "Cracked Actor"; the punky "Jean Genie"; and a perfectly raucous cover of "Let's Spend the Night Together". "Time" hearkens back to the theatrics of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, while "Drive in Saturday", "The Prettiest Star", and "Lady Grinning Soul" serve as precursors to Bowie's "plastic soul" sounds that came later in the 1970s. Aladdin Sane is even more impressive when considering that the same year this album was made, Bowie was also working with artists like Iggy Pop and Lou Reed, producing some of their most heralded works (the Stooges' Raw Power and Reed's Transformer). --Lorry Fleming

Amazon.com essential recording
The second most important moment in Bowie's glam period, Aladdin Sane is full of smart, cutting-edge songs that hold up decades later as classic moments in rock. Standout tracks include "Panic in Detroit," with Mick Ronson's screaming guitars and Mick Woodmansey's urgent drumming; "Watch that Man," a piano-driven, rollicking number perfect for the Bowie strut; the lascivious and sweaty "Cracked Actor"; the punky "Jean Genie"; and a perfectly raucous cover of "Let's Spend the Night Together." "Time" hearkens back to the theatrics of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, while "Drive in Saturday," "The Prettiest Star," and "Lady Grinning Soul" serve as precursors to Bowie's "plastic soul" sounds that came later in the '70s. Aladdin Sane is even more impressive when considering that the same year this album was made, Bowie was also working with artists like Iggy Pop and Lou Reed, producing some of their most heralded works (the Stooges' Raw Power and Reed's Transformer). --Lorry Fleming

Chronique amazon.fr
Second moment essentiel de la période glam de Bowie, Aladdin Sane est plein de chansons intelligemment novatrices qui restent des classiques de l'histoire du rock. Parmi les titres remarquables de cet album, on trouve "Panic In Detroit" avec les guitares hurlantes de Mick Ronson et la batterie insistante de Mick Woodmansey ; "Watch That Man", un morceau de piano joyeux, parfait pour un numéro de Bowie ; le lascif et humide "Cracked Actor" ; le "Jean Genie" aux accents punk ; et une reprise rauque à souhait de "Let's Spend The Night Together". Sur "Time", on retrouve un peu le côté théâtral de The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust, alors que "Drive In Saturday", "The Prettiest Star" et "Lady Grinning Soul" annoncent l'arrivée des sons "plastic soul" des disques de Bowie de la fin des années 70. Aladdin Sane est encore plus impressionnant quand on pense que pendant la même année, Bowie travaillait également avec des artistes comme Iggy Pop et Lou Reed, produisant certains de leurs chefs-d'oeuvre (Raw Power des Stooges et Transformer de Lou Reed). --Lorry Fleming

Customer Reviews

One of his most solid efforts
For some reason, when I first heard this album I did not think it as strong as "Ziggy Stardust", liking about half of the songs but thinking the other half was unimpressive. However, it has seriously grown on me over the years and now I do see why it is hailed as the final album in the classic three-album setup that began with "Hunky Dory" and "Ziggy". It is very consistent as a whole and still stands as one of his best.

The whole album was his hardest rocking to date, certainly a far cry from "Hunky Dory" and more raucous than "Ziggy". "Watch That Man" kickstarts the album with a revved-up chorus, then the title track mesmerizes with its ghostly vocal and avant piano solo. The #3 UK hit "Drive In Saturday" matches a 50s sound with space-age sound effects and lyrics for a most original
result, while "Panic In Detroit" features an exciting Bo Diddley backbeat and explosive Mick Ronson guitarwork that takes "Moonage Daydream" several steps further. "Cracked Actor" completes a perfect first side with one of the man's finest hard rockers; you will be singing the "crack, baby, crack" chorus for days after.

Side two opens with the popular but somewhat self-indulgently theatrical "Time", which sounds to me more like it belongs on a Queen album (still, it has its supporters). "The Prettiest Star" is a pretty faithful remake of the excellent 1970 single that featured Marc Bolan on guitar (Ronson takes Bolan's place here), although I still slightly prefer the original take. The cover of "Let's Spend The Night Together" is probably the weakest moment on the album; although harder than the original,
it does not have the same drive and ends up sounding like 70s overkill. The album picks itself up from here with the #2 charting "Jean Genie" (one of his most perfect singles, both lyrically and musically) and ends with the spectacular "Lady Grinning Soul", an eerie ballad with classical piano flourishes
that seems to tie the whole thing together. "Aladdin Sane" is both strange and commercial, a heady combination that served Bowie well at the time (it bolted to #1 in the UK and became his highest-charting US album up to that point), and ends the first
peak of his career on a high note. Highly recommended, and most certainly essential.

Oh Honey, Watch That Man!
Squeezed between "Ziggy Stardust" and "Diamond Dogs", Bowie presents himself as his most extreme glam rock self. It's not that the look is outrageous, it's that the songs were immediate classics. Opener "Watch That Man" is a rolling rocker that even mid-tempo artists like 'Lulu' covered. A finger snapping 'Drive In Saturday" is perfectly mixed with Bowie's trademark saxaphone and a smooth melody. "Panic In Detroit" should have been a high charting single with it's multi-bongo banging percussion and Bowies backup singing chorus screaming like banshees - it's a hair raiser! Not to be outdone on stage, Bowie has nearly always performed the nasty, narcissistic "Cracked Actor" on stage and "Let's Spend The Night Together" certainly must have made the 'Rolling Stones' sit up and wonder why they didn't do it like Bowie's hard rockin' version. However, the album is best remembered for it's heavy bass themed thumper, "Jean Genie"; a foreshadowing to Iggy Pop's "China Girl". Ryko never added any songs to this collection as it is such a sure fire seller. Ten stars!

A very different album, but still an excellent one
Aladdin Sane (1973.) David Bowie's sixth album.

After numerous attempts to find a musical sound that suited him well, David Bowie finally found it on his 1972 Ziggy Stardust album. Although the stylings of that album were nothing short of excellent, Bowie was never the kind of person to stay in one place for too long. No matter how good (or how bad) one of his albums was, he was always ready to try new things. If any other musical artist had released an album as popular and successful as Ziggy Stardust was, he would have released a carbon copy immediately thereafter - but not Bowie! His next album was the wildly different Aladdin Sane, released in 1973. Read on for my review.

To put it simply, this is an excellent album, but it is NOT Ziggy Stardust Part Two. This, believe it or not, isn't really much of a rock and roll album - it's more of an alternative music album. These songs are very different from what Bowie had done thusfar, but they prove to be excellent nonetheless. Most of the song featured on the album aren't the sort of pop-rockers that you'd known and loved Bowie for before this album. Nonetheless, there ARE a few tracks like that on here, and rightfully so. Watch That Man, The Prettiest Star, The Jean Genie, and Cracked Actor are all excellent classic rockers that help to add to the overall quality of the album. Combine this with the newer alternative stylings introduced on this album, and you have one hell of an LP.

This album has been released a ton of times over the years. But the three main versions of the album available (as of June 16, 2004) are the standard domestic version, the two-disc deluxe edition, and the foreign Rykodisc reissue. Dont bother with the Rykodisc reissue, it only has a couple of bonus tracks, and it isn't worth the inflated import price. If you're just getting into Bowie, the standard, single-disc edition of the album will do just fine. But if you're a big-time Bowie fan, and you want to experience some lost treasures, shell out the extra cash and get the deluxe version.

Aladdin Sane is an excellent David Bowie LP, however, it is NOT a good place to start if you're new to Bowie's music (new fans should start with a hits compilation or the Ziggy Stardust album.) On the other hand, if you're a tried and true Bowie fan, there's really no way that you wouldn't like this album. It's doubtful any Bowie fan will be disappointed by this LP.