David Bowie Ranked
I finished up Bowies discography awhile ago but only now collecting my thoughts on it as a whole. Worst to best ranking. (Does not include the movie soundtracks). |
| 25 |  | David Bowie
Never Let Me Down
The undisputed low point for Bowie. There are 2 major problems with this record. First is that David Bowie clearly didn't want to make this record. He was burned out from grueling tours and was already seeing a large decline in critical reception from Tonight. Second, even by 1980s standards, not only is the production dated, its grating to listen to. What is it with bad albums and terrible snare drum decisions? |
| 24 |  | David Bowie
David Bowie
I don't know if there's a better example out there of an amazing artist starting off with arguably their worst record. The only saving grace is that David Bowies self-titled debut falls into the 'so bad, its good.' category. Only listen if you're going for the full discography run cause there's pretty much nothing here that Bowie would build on. |
| 23 |  | David Bowie
Tonight
After the smash hit success of Let's Dance, Bowie went further into the commercially viable pop rock rabbit hole with Tonight. Despite starting off strong with Loving the Alien, Tonight quickly devolves into half baked covers and boring musical arraignments. In particular, the less said about the God Only Knows cover, the better. |
| 22 |  | David Bowie
Pin Ups
Its a covers album so bad default its not expected to be all that good but even then Bowie just doesn't do much with any of these songs. If the goal was to expose some lesser known British hits to his new found American audience, I'm pretty sure this did the opposite. |
| 21 |  | David Bowie
Hours
My pick for Bowie's most boring album goes to this one. Released as the soundtrack to Omikron: The Nomad Soul. This album has all the issues that most game soundtracks from the 90s, have which is maybe 1-2 good tracks with a whole lot of nothing/filler in between. Nothing here truly awful but nothing that excites me either. In fact, the worse sin this album commits is being partially responsible for David Cage having a career in games. |
| 20 |  | David Bowie
Black Tie White Noise
6 years after Never Let Me Down let every one down and a few side projects, Bowie returned with just an ok record. It attempts to draw from a number of genres but lacks cohesion to make it work. It also just doesn't have many fun songs outside of You've Been Around, Jump They Say, and The Wedding Song. A good attempt at a comeback but overall missing the mark. |
| 19 |  | David Bowie
Reality
First off, the obvious, dear God that cover is awful. Despite the great bookends, the rest of Reality doesn't really stand out much to me. The middle portion of the album really starts to blend in with each other after awhile and also the albums concept doesn't add much to the listening experience. |
| 18 |  | David Bowie
Lodger
Yeah I know I'm gonna get some weird looks for this one being so low. The final release from Bowie's Berlin Trilogy and his final collaboration with Brian Eno, Lodger has never clicked with me, particularly the first half. It picks up on side two with D.J and Look Back in Anger but overall, Lodger misses the mark for me and gives the Berlin Trilogy a disappointing conclusion. Maybe in a few years it'll click for me but for now its one of his weaker records. |
| 17 |  | David Bowie
Space Oddity
Bowie's second album is a massive step up from his debut, starting off with his first truly amazing track in Space Oddity. Seriously the difference between that song and his debut record is astounding. Slightly Dazed and Cygnet Committee are also pretty good. Everything else...ehhhhh. Its obvious Bowie was still trying to find his footing as a musician still, resulting in the rest of the album being pretty forgettable folk music. It wouldn't be long before Bowie started putting out great albums. |
| 16 |  | David Bowie
Heathen
This one is kind of a mixed bag for me. I like the experimentation Bowie does on this record but like Lodger, alot of it doesn't click with me. Slow Burn and 5.15 are great and I like Sunday, Afraid, and the title track but I really struggle with remembering much else from the record. The best thing to come from this record is reuniting Bowie and Tony Visconti which would pay off big time much later. |
| 15 |  | David Bowie
Let's Dance
David Bowie's "sell out" record. Yes this was the beginning of Bowie's decline in the 80s in terms of artistic and critical reception but despite that, it still has a few fun and good tracks. The title track is one Bowie's best and I really enjoyed Cat People and China Girl as well. However the rest of the album is pretty average and personally, I really do not like Modern Love. That song just gets on my nerves for some reason. |
| 14 |  | David Bowie
Earthling
I really want to like this record more than I do. I've tried a couple of times and while I think its an alright listen, only a few tracks stand out. I'm Afraid of Americans is probably the best track here with other strong tracks being Dead Man Walking, Little Wonder, and Seven Years in Tibet. It is interesting to hear Bowie take from industrial and drum and bass and give those genres his own spin. |
| 13 |  | David Bowie
The Next Day
Released 10 years after Reality and his health scare while on tour for that album, Bowie gave us his best record since the early 80s. While I don't think there's a single miss on the record, I also don't really think there's a track that stands over the rest or pushes this album to true greatness. Not like what we would hear just 3 years later. |
| 12 |  | David Bowie
Outside
The best Bowie album from the 90s is so close to being great. Arguably his most ambitious work, Outside is the most fleshed out concept Bowie ever put to tape with a full narrative to go along with the music. Unfortunately despite it having some great material like The Hearts Filthy Lesson and Stangers When We Meet, this album suffers from the same issue Pink Floyd's The Wall does. There's a lot here. Way too much in fact. The 2nd half has a significant amount of filler tracks that don't add much to the narrative or musically to the album leading it to feel over bloated. |
| 11 |  | David Bowie
Diamond Dogs
Diamond Dogs sits in a weird place in Bowie's Discography. It comes from a time when Bowie was looking to move away from the Glam Rock that had shot him into fame but still has a lot of Solid material on it. Like The Next Day however, its mostly just good-very good material with the exception of Rebel Rebel. Definitely worth checking out but not quite the classics he made before and after. |
| 10 |  | David Bowie
Young Americans
Ok, is this album a shameless copy of American Soul? Yes, Bowie even admitted as much. Despite that, it says so much about Bowie during the 70s that even with that caveat, Young Americans still holds up really well. The bookends are the obvious stand outs with Fame being a personal top 5 Bowie track for me. But I also really enjoyed some of its lesser known deep cuts like Fascination and Right. Not the greatest Soul album ever obviously but I think its better than most give it credit for (Although the Across the Universe cover is questionable at best). |
| 9 |  | David Bowie
The Man Who Sold the World
Bowie's first great album to most. While personally I think he still had some growing to do, its clear he's finally finding the sound that would push him to stardom a few years later. The Man Who Sold the World has his most consistent song writing up to this point with The Width of a Circle and the title track being the biggest stand outs. The second half actually brings it down somewhat for me though as the album loses steam with the exception of the title track. |
| 8 |  | David Bowie
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
Arguably the last great Bowie album until the 2010s, Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) sees Bowie shifting back to more commercial material but still holding much of the art rock tendencies of his Berlin Trilogy. Overall its a pretty good record with great cuts like Ashes to Ashes and Teenage Wildlife but is missing that "it" factor to truly push it above his previous material. |
| 7 |  | David Bowie
Hunky Dory
Bowie's first great album. Hunky Dory holds some of Bowies best early material like with Changes, Queen Bitch, Quicksand, and The Bewlay Brothers. It also features Life on Mars? which I will always hold as better than Space Oddity. If you want somewhere to start in Bowie's discography, this is where I would. |
| 6 |  | David Bowie
"Heroes"
Despite not being a fan of the opening track, "Heroes" is still an excellent album. The second album in Bowie's Berlin Trilogy continues the art-rock and post-rock experimentation of Low. While holding of one Bowie's best tracks in The Secret Life of Arabia, the true stand out is the title track. Not only is it arguably one of Bowie's best songs, its arguably one of the greatest songs ever written period. I could honestly write all day about that song. |
| 5 |  | David Bowie
Station to Station
The introduction of The Thin White Duke. Written during probably the darkest period of David Bowie's life, Station to Station is a mishmash of genres and styles from the times and his previous works. Despite that, it works. In fact, it works really well. This album has some of Bowie's best vocal performances like on the title track and Wild Is the Wind. An excellent listen from start to finish. |
| 4 |  | David Bowie
Aladdin Sane
Following up Ziggy Stardust, Bowie decided "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." And you know what, I agree with him. Bowie was arguably at his peak in song writing during this time period and didn't need to reinvent the wheel. While leaning a little more to the hard rock side of his sound, Aladdin Sane keeps with the Glam rock sound he perfected on Ziggy Stardust with some of his most enduring tracks like Time and the title track. It also features one of my personal favorite deep cuts in the opener, Watch That Man. |
| 3 |  | David Bowie
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
What is there I can say about this record that hasn't already been said a million times? Its an absolute classic and projected David Bowie into the stratosphere. Perfecting the Glam rock sound from his previous records, Bowie places himself into the person of Ziggy Stardust and follows his life and rise in fame through the album. Quite apt considering how much his life would eventually mirror the concept of this album. If you haven't listened to this album yet, do yourself a favor and change that right now. |
| 2 |  | David Bowie
Blackstar
Its hard to talk about this album without bringing up the obvious. Hell, its hard to evaluate this album both subjectively and objectively considering David Bowie's death only 2 days after it released. Ten years later though, I think I can safely say that not only does this record hold up, it stands as arguably his best work. From the Title track to I Can't Give Everything Away, Bowie gives the album everything he has left as he comes to term with his imminent death. A haunting but truly unforgettable experience. |
| 1 |  | David Bowie
Low
In my opinion, David Bowie's crowning achievement. A little bit of a confession. Before doing this discography run, I really never cared for Bowie growing up. I remember hearing Under Pressure and Changes as a kid and hating both songs to the point I didn't even bother with his full length materials. Boy am I glad I grew up from that. Low immediately catapulted itself into being one of my favorite albums ever after listening. So much so I think I relistened to the whole thing somewhere around 5 or 6 times in a row. Side A features some of Bowie's best songs like Speed of Life, Be My Wife, and Sound and Vision. But for me, Side B is where this album truly shines. Despite barely featuring his vocals, the run from Warszawa to Subterraneans is an amazing experience with Subterraneans being my personal favorite song from his discography. Great know I want to go listen to this album again. Time to pull out the vinyl. |
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