I really liked this album. I’m under no illusions about it being a timeless rock classic, a musical mile stone or among Bowie’s best work. But still, I like it. Some how it’s got a naive charm all of it’s own. It’s not quite like any other record I’ve heard.
The best moments: ‘There is a Happy Land’ is my favorite song. The melancholy brass and piano put me in mind of Dog Man Star (the classic 1994 album by Suede). The vocal performance is brilliant, especially the gear change between the chorus and the verse. I like the lyrics and the feel of the song which is about longing for a happy place where kids can get on with being kids and are left alone to enjoy themselves. I’m a Christian and this song put me in mind of the deep inner yearning for a better place to be, which the Psalmists express so perfectly, so I found it quite an inspirational song.
‘She’s got Medals’ and ‘Uncle Arthur’ are great little numbers, full of wit and charm and from the same lyrical camp as Pink Floyds ‘Arnold Layne’ and ‘I’ve got a Bike’ (also released in 1967).
‘Come and Buy My Toys’ and ‘Maid of Bond Street’ are my other favorites. These are breezy little songs that whip by in seconds and leave me skipping back to hear them again.
The worst moments:
‘We are Hungry Men’ just stinks. I hate the way the ‘humorous’ spoken monolog comes in immediately after ‘There is a Happy Land’ and totally destroys the feeling the album had built up over the last 5 songs. The problem with this song is that it’s a short joke about saving the world from over population via infanticide and cannibalism, which ain’t that funny Dave. Maybe it could have worked if the tune was something you could hum, no such luck sadly.
‘Join the Gang’ suffers a similar fate. It’s an overlong joke about being part of ‘the scene’. Again it’s not that funny in the first place, the tune isn’t strong enough to carry it and the arrangement (including a mental sitar) is U.G.L.Y!
On the evidence here it seems the Bow-Dowg was still figuring out the craft of lyric writing back in ‘67. The words seem to be the focus of the album but he drops some terrible clangers. ‘The Little Bombardier’ has a good tune and a nice little story at it’s heart but is killed stone dead by the rhyme
“We’ve had blokes like you in the station before,
The hand of authority said “no more”,
To the Little Bombardier.”
A talking hand? Talk about mixing your metaphors more like!
A cappella closing track ‘Please Mr Grave Digger’ has equally forced rhymns. Early on it sounds like it could be something interesting with an rain sound effects accompanying Dave-o’s vocal. But it folds under the weight of the repeated terrible rhymes (locket/pocket, etc) and the story doesn’t really go anyway. The song ends before we understand what the protagonist is trying to say. (He’s killed a little girl, he’s about to kill a grave-digger. I assume Dave-o couldn’t find an easy rhyme for his motives coz he doesn’t bother with ‘em).
How many good songs? 9 out of 14
How many terrible songs? only 2 or 3, depends how I feel
Bowie-o-meter: 70 Ziggys
It may be cheesy, but I like it.
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