Review: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

David Bowie

Review: It's not all that often that an album comes around that completely changes the type of music I like. The first three times I listened to "Ziggy Stardust" I wasn't all that impressed. I didn't think it was bad, I just wasn't really all that fond of the sound coming from it and didn't really understand why the artist was so beloved. This is in fact David Bowie's most famous album that I believe is super representative of the most famous era in his musical career, so I figured it just wasn't for me - thought I would give it a three and move on. Well luckily I gave this album some more time time to grow on me and upon listen number four something just clicked for me. At the time of writing this review I have listened to this album over a dozen times and it's got to be one of the most addicting albums I have ever listened to. It's to the point that when I listen to other albums and feel a bit lukewarm on them, I will pause them to play this album front to back. I am going to attempt to describe how much ass I think this album kicks below, hopefully I am able to do a good enough job to convince you to give this one a few listens as well.

         I think one of the things that I didn't realise the first few times I listened to this album is that David Bowie is a not a singer, he's a performer. So much of my listening experience throughout my whole life has just been so incredibly passive. Especially since I listen to so much music with either no lyrics or lyrics in other languages, it's so easy for me to stop listening to what and how people are saying what they are saying and just default to taking in the overall atmosphere of what I'm listening to. I just listen to it passively. David Bowie's music though (at least on this and other albums I have listened to) doesn't hit the same way if you listen to it passively. It's like watching a musical blindfolded. This performance in addition to The Spiders from Mars' backing instrumentation and Bowie's individual loosely linked stories on his character Ziggy Stardust and the impending doom of the end of the world just come together to create something so fucking amazing. This album is just so fucking fantastic. The showy, hilarious lyrics and performances from Bowie, the kickass guitar riffs and occasional jazzy, orchestral wind instrument backing all come together to create one of the best albums I have ever listened to.

Standout Tracks:

Moonage Daydream: I'M AN ALLIGATOR, I'M A MAMA PAPA COMIN FOR YOUUU. One of the most recognizable intros to any David Bowie song, this track is just an absolute killer. The performance on this track from Bowie is probably my favorite on the entire album (maybe tied with that on Starman), the wind melody halfway through the track always gets me to act like a fool tooting along, and the outro minute long guitar riff with screeching electronic sounds is just so fucking sick. Certified. Slap.

Starman: Actually one of my least favorites on my first listen through of the album - Starman grew on me so much when I actually took a minute to listen to and digest the lyrics. I love how this track really just pulls all the themes of the album together. The performance is musical-esque with a clear story from start to finish, and it's overall quite a bit groovier than most of the other tracks on the album. It really just highlights many of my favorite aspects of the album so well: it's got a fun story and performance, super catchy lyrics (Let the children loose it! Let the children use it, Let all the children booogey), great guitar riffs, and an awesome mystical orchestral backing. Fucking godlike track.

Lady Stardust: Even on my first listen of "Ziggy Stardust" I loved this track. It's just got such a great piano performance and chord progression with some of the catchiest lyrics on the entire album "Yes it was alllllright... The band was altogether!" It's also one of the most melancholic tracks on the album in my opinion and you guys know how much I love moody music 😁. This is one of my personal favorite tracks in Bowie's discography that will always hold a special place in my heart as one of the first tracks that captured me.

Recommendation: How do I properly and in good taste recommend an album that completely changed how I think about music? I don't know if it's possible but I will try anyways. If you are a fan of classic rock (The Beatles, AC/DC, Queen) then you absolutely need to get on listening to this album (and many others from David Bowie). If you are a fan of musicals, I would have a hard time thinking you wouldn't like this as well (and would probably like some of his other albums like Aladdin Sane even more)! In general I think if you consider yourself a fan of rock in any way you will take to this album very positively after a couple of listens. Just don't make the mistake of listening to it passively like I did the first few times. Play it out loud through a speaker if you can, turn it up as much as you feel comfortable doing, and realize you're listening to something that's supposed to be fun and at times pretty comical with its lyrics and performances. If you're in doubt whether or not you'll like it or you're just starting to get into rock, give it a try! It's lead to the discovery of one of my favorite artists, and at the very least you will have heard one of the most famous classic rock albums of all time and be just a little bit more musically cultured! 😉


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And that was my review of Ziggy Stardust! I've had more to say about this album than any before it so hopefully you enjoyed it. Next is 2001 a Space Odyssey, looking forward to it. Until then!