Aladdin Zane

How exactly do you follow a massive commercial and critical success?
Seems like the Beatles didn’t have a clue after Sgt Pepper and put out everything and anything they had (‘the White album’). Radiohead got fed up with guitars for a bit after Ok Computer (Kid A). Marc Bolan tried to do Electric Warrior over again but with louder backing vocals (Slider).
And so we come to 1973’s Aladdin Sane, or ‘Ziggy goes to America’ as David Bowie himself is quoted as saying some where. We find Dave’oh in ‘Search for Spock’ territory as he attempts to follow his personal ‘Wrath of Khan’ that was ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust’. I can only imagine that it was the first in a planned series of albums in which Ziggy would be found in different locations:
‘Ziggy gets to the shops and finds he’s forgotten his purse’
‘Ziggy takes a leak on his computer’
Finishing with ‘Ziggy chokes on his own elbows’, the last in the series (hello Boosh fans).

But sadly it was not to be and this is Ziggy’s last official appearance on a long player.

What’s Good?
Things get off to a cracking start with ‘Watch that Man’. It’s all whaling black lady backing singers and dirty guitar licks, as if Bowie and Mick Ronson are on stage in Vegas. ‘Panic in Detroit’ is more of the same, but a little more laid back.
‘Cracked Actor’ is am infectious and darkly cynical rock and roll romp about fading stardom. But is Ziggy the withered old has been or has he encountered some kind of Hollywood vampire? Who cares when you can hum the tune?
‘Let’s spend the night together’ is everything a foot stomping rock n roll record should be and way better then the Rolling Stones ever sounded.
‘Gene Jeanie’ is the perfect slice of 70’s glam pop.

What’s Bad?
The title tracks starts out as one of the most haunting songs that the B-boy has written and makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. But it ends up as jazz piano freak out - NEXT!
I’ve always hated ‘Drive in Saturday’. I’ve got nothing against Doo Whop music, but this is a boring song with some unpleasant lyrical content about watching dirty films after a nuclear holocaust. Why would anybody choose to put this out as a single? You can file this one in the same box as ‘John I’m only Dancing’ from the previous year.
‘Time’ is another dull slow number in the same self mythologizing vain as ‘Quicksand’ from 1971’s ‘Hunky Dory’ album. And it’s got some nasty lyrics that fill your mind with unhelpful images of David Bowie being rude all by himself. Most unwelcome!

How many good songs?
6 out of 10

Bowie-o-meter: 65 Ziggys.

Aladdin Sane has a much dirtier rock sound then ‘The Rise and Fall…’ and some air punching high points. But the weaker songs really let things down making it at best a very average album.