The Hunky Dory Backlash (Mahbenja's 2p's worth)

So Hunky Dory;
“a sweeping, cinematic mélange of high and low art, ambiguous sexuality, kitsch, and class" (All Music Guide)?

Or, Hunky Dory;
“reminds me of how naff he was when he started.” (Rueb’s over at The Line of Best Fit)?

Let's give it a bash:

Stuff to note:
This is D’boys 3rd record company and his 4th album. But despite John Peel rinsin’ oot the crackin’ single (‘Changes’) the album still failed to chart (although the single reached no’ 66 in the USA). Exactly how does a person manage to release 4 commercially dismal albums off the back of one novelty hit record about lonely space men?
From looking around the internet (and spending a regrettable portion of my life reading the UK music press) it’s safe say to that Hunky Dory is David Bowie’s most critically acclaimed album. But the world is hungry to know how this “stylistic kaleidoscope” (All Music Guide again) coloured the last 2 weeks of my life.

Here goes:

The good stuff:
Stroof where did all the rock pomp from MWSTW go?
‘Kooks’ really did “remind me of how naff he was when he started.” But as fans of this blog know, I kinda liked a lot of that cockney stick-it-up-ya-jumper stuff, so I liked this song from the first play.
‘Andy Warhol’ struck a cord with me too, I like the chord progression a lot. Both Mick Ronson and Rick Wakeman do a brilliant job on this album and everything sounds great, especially on ‘Queen Bitch’.
And of course ‘Changes’, ‘Oh You Pretty Things’ and ‘Life on Mars’ belong in every single persons music collection. Fortunately they are on a million compilation, because….

The not so good:
The rest of this album is ruddy aweful.
Some of the lyrics…. oh dear. I thought 1967's ‘We are Hungry Men’ was bad until I heard Davo sing the following in album closer ‘The Brewley Brother’:
“Now my Brother lays upon the Rocks
He could be dead, He could be not
He could be You
He's Camelian, Comedian, Corinthian and Caricature”

Is he now? I think you can get a cream for that.

Having sold not that much of anything ol’ D.B. has a fair amount of nerve in ‘Song for Bob Dylan’.
A more honest title would have been ‘I liked you better when you sang those acoustic protest songs, and so did everybody else’. Aspiring rock stars take note: when righting a song about how a mulit million selling performer isn't as good as they used to be, please make sure that said song compares well with their work. Otherwise your kinda asking for it.

Oh and ‘8 line poem’ is a waste of space.

In conclusion:
How many good songs: a respectable 6. 3 of which are amazing.
How many bad songs: an extremely regrettable 5.

Bowie-oh-meter: 65 Ziggys.
10 for every good song and an extra 5 because ‘Life on Mars’ is just incredible. But this is my least favourite Bowie album so far (bang goes my credibility among the hobbyist music journos!).

PS. The amazing thing about Hunky Dory is how confident Dave’oh sounds, despite the failure of his previous albums. He sings like he’s really to take on the world, even during the weakest songs on the album. I guess confidence is something you need if you plan on dressing up silly and telling people you’re the androgynous rock n roll chosen one from outer space.

P.P.S. Next review will be shorter I promise.