David Bowie review

David Bowie's debut album, which has little in common with the type of music he would become famous for. Still, seeing a future musical legend finding their voice is always interesting.

Tracks:

1. Uncle Arthur: 7/10 musically fairly generic, but this fine piece of song-writing will take you by surprise and improves as it progresses.

2. Sell Me a Coat: 6/10 it's fine, but you're hugely unlikely to remember it.

3. Rubber Band: 5/10 well.... that was a bit random.

4. Love You Till Tuesday: 7/10 a perfectly competent and sweet love song.

5. There is a Happy Land: 4/10 this song belongs on some nauseatingly sugary kids programme, not in the discography of an acclaimed musician.

6. We Are Hungry Men: 7/10 bonkers and thought provoking, if slightly nonsensical, this feels like the Bowie we know.

7. When I Live My Dream: 5/10 some inventive imagery here, but kids are always told too much sugar is bad for you. Bowie clearly forgot that when he did this song.

8. Little Bombardier: 6/10 some interesting stuff pops up here and there, but it's mostly boring.

9. Silly Boy Blue: 4/10 yawn.

10. Come and Buy Me Toys: 5/10 it's kind of sweet but I don't know whether this is a song or whether a toy company tried to sneak a commercial into the album.

11. Join the Gang: 5/10 it's got some good lyrics, but it's still not very compelling.

12. She's Got Medals: 5/10 once again, a few good bits here and there, but try listening to this without zoning out. It's a challenge.

13. Maid of Bond Street: 6/10 interesting enough but what it's about isn't truly clear.

14. Please Mr Grave Digger: 6/10 this one definitely grabs your attention, but its ambiguity just makes it frustrating.

Best song: We Are Hungry Men
Worst song: There is a Happy Land

Summary: I'm sorry. I really liked the Ziggy Stardust album and I like what I've heard from David Bowie, but this really isn't very good. In fact, it's the worst album I've reviewed on this blog so far. A lot of occasionally intriguing but often overly sweet and bland lyrics are sung against a painfully generic guitar backing track. It's not really worth your time. You can't feel the later Bowie stuff in this at all. Overall, with many galleons of syrup and lots of dumb kiddy stuff which often feels like one extended toy commercial, David Bowie's debut album could have been sponsored by Toys R Us.


Final rating: 4/10