I am so addicted to this record, I had heard Space Oddity like a thousand times but I never expected this!

I think David has steared clear of the mythical territory that sub-culture represented in late sixties Britain.

Plain speaking seems to be the order of the day and we can hear David weaving together a beautiful love story.

Mostly he supplies an appealing stillness in reaction to change.

David is squirming yet relaxed at the same time!

I adore 'Letter To Hermoine' It's almost an inventive physical performance that conveys a sense that his body was just a mechanical frame..He felt used...He felt shackled...He was at the mercy of wayward sexual urgings.

I feel that the record is a sketchy,often poignant,meditation on growing up in an era where change was specific and rapid.

I really do like this record.





"Crouching on his chair as he raves"

It's interesting to hear your cold-ear reactions to this material. I'm so close to DB's work , my objectivity is gone.

Keep'em coming.

Geo.

http://www.georgewolstenholme.com

You have a terrific way with words, Sebastian, along with wonderful insight. I agree with the rest of the board, keep your impressions coming. Your writing does take me back to the early '90s when I was collecting all this stuff for the first time.

Are you listening to the b-sides or extra tracks from each period as well? I find they help fill in the picture, sometimes in radical ways. If you can find the Rykodisc version of this album (check Amazon, it must be there) you can hear the lovely "Conversation Piece" and along with the cuts from the Sound + Vision box (the original versions of "The Prettiest Star," "The Wild-Eyed Boy From Freecloud" and the "Space Oddity" demo).

Listening to some of this extra stuff (maybe the contemporary BBC sessions as well, as found on Bowie At The Beeb), the influences behind David's songwriting decisions at this point become very clear. You can hear him reaching for something greater than himself, sometimes failing to be sure, but quickly laying the foundation for what was to come.

Enjoy the ride, Sebastian.

Now, of course, I have to pull out my copy of Space Oddity.

Awrrrr. sunrise stream; slit the Catholic throats (like so much FISH) and corner of the bed, Surely god Isn't looking THIs time. Letter to HER...Broque on the wall....slides down your front- eats through yer beely------ electric tomatoes...
I was whole, then I heard spice odditty and my heart was stilled.
I owe to that supurbly crafted albumum my every fuckup: my every success and those yet to come.
Sorry to DO THIS to your nice (beautiful really) thread.
I too, like your expressionssssssssssss- please don't hit me- but IF you do. FUCK YOU TOO!
Love:
but-not-much

"Ohhh!!, that's hot stuff all-right!!!

The main revelation with this album for me was the guitar playing. They got a great sound.

Thanks, Young American.

That's possibly the most accurate and insightful review I've ever read of Space Oddity (the album).

in the old days of taping music off of each other, my brother taped this for me, but he left the room and my other brothers came in, unknown to them the tape picked up things that they were saying and thier inane utterances were all throught the c90!

l had waited for a bout a week for my brother to do this for me and l was raging when l got the tape and played it back!

but an excellent record all the same!

How can you go wrong with "Memory Of A Free Festival", "Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud", "God Knows I'm Good", "Cygnet Committee" or -yes, indeed- "Letter To Hermione"? What's such a trip is that he went from the relative innocence of 'Man Of Words/Man Of Music' ('Space Oddity', 'David Bowie (1969)' ,et. al.) to the rather psychotic, heavy maelstrom that is the wickedly-killer 'The Man Who Sold The World' album the following year..

To think he then came up with an album full of piano-based, acoustic-ish classic pop-rock tunes with 'Hunky Dory'!

That's what always brings me back to Bowie's work: the variety and the chances he takes. Well alright! LOL



gge

-"Since I'm going to Hell, bet ya $20.00 it looks like a Rob Zombie production ."

I Love it!

Yeah, but would you have stuck around AT THE TIME if his new album was totally different from the last?

I don't understand...

They mix it up!

A prime example: When I was 17 and 'Never Let Me Down' came out, I loved it. I was beginning to get acclimated to how much terrain Bowie has covered through a best-of at the time, as well ('Fame + Fashion'; 1984 RCA).

In '89, when Bowie put together 'Tin Machine', I thought it was the ballsiest, coolest, most unexpected move after the more r & b-ish vibe of 'NLMD'.

I just thought it was bad-ass that Bowie decided to become a member of a band under a band name recording tunes that rocked majorly. I remember thinking, "that's f***ing cool ".

So, it was prolly then: from going from 'NLMD' to 'Tin Machine (I)' that I began to really appreciate Bowie's eclectic moves musically. It primed me well for the day some years later when I began collecting and absorbing his whole catalog proper.

He's never boring. He does what he wants. That's what reels me in and keeps me hooked. So, there LOL.

Peace ,

gge



-"Since I'm going to Hell, bet ya $20.00 it looks like a Rob Zombie production ."

I agree with you, hang man, the acoustic guitar work on this album is incredibly complex and layered. This could be one of the great acoustic guitar albums of all time.

I meant the electric guitar really, but I agree.

greengrassend - that's fair enough, but what if Bowie was just starting out with no previous form of being a 'Pop Chamelion'? Just another ex-mod who had gone all hippy and now was getting into proto metal.

of all his work (except 80s stuff) i actually like this the least. the man who sold the world was the first great album as far as i'm concerned. i can't really get into tracks about women stealing stewing beef. letter to hermonine is good though.

You gotta love the single version of Memory Of A Free festival (available on the 1990 Ryko/ EMi reissue).

Memory Of A Free Festival Part 1

Yes, but would've made more sense on the MWSTW disc.

I consider it to be a bridging song, a song that connects the 2 albums. A reworked track from Space Oddity that points towards TMWSTW.

A bit like how Dead Man Walking (acoustic) connects Earthling with Hours

True. Line up wise and sound - TMWSTW

But I think all the ryko sequencing was questionable, love them as I do.

A bit like how Dead Man Walking (acoustic) connects Earthling with Hours...

Hmmm... That's a bit of a stretch to me. I'd nominate "Trying To Get Into Heaven" for that role. David and his Earthling band in January of 1998 with the same producer (Mark Plati) recording a lush track that sounds something akin to "Seven" or "Thursday's Child." The '97 version of "I Can't Read," which almost made the album, also points in that direction.

"Walking," in my opinion, sounds just as aggressive on wood as it does on Pro-Tools.

I still think it would be awesome; if he went from stuff like "Sell Me A Coat" and "The London Boys", and the next thing you know he's whipping up "Width Of A Circle","Saviour Machine" or "The Supermen"..

To be honest with you? I'm not too down with the Decca years so much. There's some fun listening there, but it's very rarely stuff I would listen to nowadays.

I have always held Bowie's stuff close to me because his rulebook is that there is no rulebook: kind of a thing like "unpredictability is the predictability".

For me, it's much less about genres or whatnot than great songs: that's what the majority of his output is to me. Plus, ya gotta admit, it's still a hoot to see how he just went for it after doing an album like 'The Man Who Sold The World' and then doing 'Hunky Dory'.

I suppose it's his chosen limitlessness of what he does that is the ultimate hook for me still. If some bands and artists were specific flowers, Bowie would be a big chunk of the garden . That's what hit me full-on about ten years ago when I finally decided to go for it and get every studio album and live album and taking it all in as one big picture. What hasn't he covered, you know? He takes chances and does what he likes, and -at the end of the day- that's what has always maintained my interest in Bowie's work. To think he sings that great, looks awesome and wrote some mean tunes with a stellar roster of musicians and foils over the years. Even if he should never record or tour again, man; what a catalog of greatness with more than enough risks taken along the way to make it all that much cooler.



Peace hm/HM.



gge

-"Since I'm going to Hell, bet ya $20.00 it looks like a Rob Zombie production ."

Nicely put.

It was definitely murder - but was it art?

Indeed. To be honest - I don't know why more artists haven't done that.

Peace,
gge

-"Since I'm going to Hell, bet ya $20.00 it looks like a Rob Zombie production ."

Thank you everyone, for the great reading, writing and intelligent discourse.

I've got to say, the board has been a real pleasure lately. Hope that's a long trend.

The venom was getting so boring.

This is the kind of discussion Ive been looking for.


Thanks guys

Geo.

http://www.georgewolstenholme.com

I agree 1000% with you, Geo.

When I first stumbled upon BWW, it was barely a little over a year old, and Bowie was about to release ''hours...'' in the autumn of '99.

I found this site in the most innocent, natural way. I was reading about Reeves Gabrels' exit from the Bowie fold just shortly after their 'VH1 Storytellers' appearance. In fact, I recall that the newspaper I read actually cited Bowiewonderworld.com as being the news source (Well Done Once Mo', Me Cool Lad/Mssr. Paul Kinder !) .

Automatically, I decided to check this site out and I was -and still am- heartened and humbled by how cool, friendly, insightful and warm the community in here was, and now apparently, is again.

The feuding stuff is just nonsense. That's why I stuck to here rather than hanging around too much at, say, Teenage Wildlife.

This board here is a respite from the negativity and b.s. of other sites. We have a really cool group of people amongst all of us, and I can honestly say I enjoy all of this, and all of you. Coming to know any one of you through your posts continues to make me proud for being a Bowie fan. You're all a great lot of people, so Thank You, you know?

This site is just so rare; the comraderie that exists in here. Plus, it's much better and easier on the nervous system (and the karma! lol) to just be civil, bright and possessing respect for others' angles. People have cool things to share and say in here, and I'm proud to have been frequenting this place this long. You all make it worthwhile for someone like me, so, at the expense of coming off mushy or anything, Thanks.



Peace Vibe ,

gge



-"Since I'm going to Hell, bet ya $20.00 it looks like a Rob Zombie production ."

I've got quite a soft spot for this album, it being one of the first of Bowie's that I picked up after the greatest hits.

I still find that the Gus Dudgeon produced 'Space Oddity' stands out a little too much from the rest. Partly perhaps just due to its over familiarity.

Love Cygnet Comittee for its stream of consciousness lyrics and Janine is a great track that wouldn't sound out of place on "Man Who Sold The World'

Also I remember hearing 'Letter To Hermione' on Jonathon Ross' radio show. Heard out of context like this it just sounded beautiful, the acoustic guitars, the dreamy vocals. So I'd have to say that's probably now one of my favs off the album too.

http://www.scottfullermusic.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/scottfullermusic

I love this on vinyl and the sound is so unique.

I agree...it is a very special album.



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