The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars

Whether Bowie has any idea what he was doing is beside the point. The album rocks. Some say that no albums rocks more (Q (the magazine)), and everyone seems to concede that no album rocks in the same way. Each song has it's own style and charm, but also gracefully flows into the next. My favorite tracks are the first five, mostly because I prefer the softer ones, but when you want to rock, 'Suffragete City' takes you there.

And what Bowie did with his alter ego Ziggy Stardust was brilliant. He presented the alien as becoming an established rock legend - making Bowie appear like one too, even though, then, he was the fledging artist. Later, Bowie would say that he so engrossed with his creation that he couldn't tell where Ziggy began and he stopped `He's a monster and I'm Dr Frankenstein. He's my brother, and God, I love him.' - Bowie (1976) Bono is to have said of Ziggy that he `was the nicest fella from Mars I ever met...' I think Bowie knew there is something Godlike about a rock star, about what such a person represents to his audience, some impression of superhuman ability, of control, power. He knew about the need confused, young, passionate people had to worship something/somebody, and he cultivated/exploited that need.

Interesting Lyric: `Keep your mouth shut/Your squaking like a pink monkey bird!'
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The Second British Asault   September 18, 2000
Bruce Kendall (Southern Pines, NC)
31 out of 46 found this review helpful

This album brings back a lot of fond memories. Being in the audience at Winterland and seeing the creme-de-la creme of San Francisco rock artistes sitting in special "boxes" above the dance floor. An entirely new creative energy emerging on the stage, but not before a tantalizingly slow set change from the band before (whoever they were? Slade, maybe?) Then the main event, the arrival of Ziggy stardust, Bowie in his most outageous and purest persona. It seemed that if you were in the audience and you blinked one or two times he had on a different costume. Orange hair way before punk was even a term. Lipstick, eye-shadow, who is this guy? It really was as if he were the man who fell to earth. Mick Ronson blowing our young, impressionable minds with his keyboard playing. This CD definitely captures an era, before glam-rock had become a cliche and the whole androgynous rock-star motif had lapsed into self-parody. Bowie really did represent something entirely new and fresh at that moment in rock-history.


Forget the "glam rock" label for this record   December 3, 1999
James McDonnell (NJ)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful

If "Ziggy" were Bowie's only release, his place in Rock's pantheon would still be assured. This album pretty much established Bowie as major artist in the U.S. Just a couple of observations; this album is unusually "Beatle-esque". Note the layered/textured harmonies, the insistent lead guitar (Mick Ronson's guitar style lends itself beautifully to this material), the almost omni-present acoustic rhythm guitar, and last but not least, the uncanny resemblance of "Five years" to John Lennon's "The dream is over" (Lennon and Bowie apparently were close friends - John is featured on "Fame"). I personally enjoy the many moods of this album; brooding - "Five Years", whimsy - "Starman"/"Moonage Daydream", defiance - "Suffragette City", urgency - "Hang on to yourself", this track being perhaps the least appreciated and most musically inventive of the CD, again beatle-esque, especially the chorus. Bowie's facility with melody still astonishes me after 25 years. If you need somewhere to start with Bowie, this has to be the place.


Bowie's triumph!   November 26, 1999
Marc-David Jacobs (Claremont, California, United States of America)
14 out of 23 found this review helpful

Buy this CD! I only gave it 5 stars because there's no more left to give. I have listened to glam rock before (mostly by Queen), and this is definately the best of the best. I've heard people (some of the other reviews, as well) chide this CD beacuse it does not include the bonus tracks from the RykoDisc rereleases (5 of them, starting right from the very end, they included unreleased demos, etc.). Let me say that this was a concept album from the very beginning, and that it told a story. A little bit on this album's plot: it starts off with "Five Years." This is one of the top three from the album. It's got the folky leftovers from "Hunky Dory" (his previous album), making it even MORE like a continuous story. This little apocalyptic number would probably make a good single even today. It then moves onto "Soul Love," a profound song about unspoken love between mother and son, boy and girl. Then, onto another of the top 3, "Moonage Daydream." It's about the character himself, Ziggy Stardust. The spaceman arrives in Earth's orbit, ready to distract humanity from it's problems. However, (and this is just MY opinion on the story, which was never truly explained in full by Bowie) while adults fear him, children (particularly teens) are compelled to listen to him, as heard in "Starman," another folky song. Then, to a song which (according to polls) is the least favorite of fans (probably because it's the only on the album not written by Bowie, himself, it's by Ron Davies [not Ray Davies of the Kinks, by the way]). However, I like it. It's a bit like "The Man Who Fell To Earth" (Bowie's 1976 film debut), in that Ziggy gets tempted by the evils of man. "Lady Stardust" is the epitome of the androgynous. Written about Marc Bolan (of T. Rex), this is a song about Ziggy's mockery and how he tries to succeed, carrying into "Star." Ziggy feels that he can be content only as a rock 'n' roll star, and as nothing but. This leads right into the best song of the album: "Hang On To Yourself." For anyone who's ever wondered what Ziggy & The Spiders sounded like, this had to be it! The shortest track, only because it's so fast-paced. Then, the great triad of songs: "Ziggy Stardust," "Suffragette City" & "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide." When you put them together like David did, they pack a marvelous 1-2-3 punch. "Ziggy Stardust" is the Rise & Fall of Ziggy, the story of how the leper messiah falls from grace, into the dirt of "Suffragette City," where he is haunted by his past, trying to go back to an "average" life. But, then, he just can't do it, and he becomes the "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide." Stumbling along the roads of a dark, grim, harsh city, he finally gives up...but, then, out of the darkness, a hand reaches out to him as the curtain closes on "The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars." Now, returning to my original point, I ask, how can you then follow all of that up with anything else? But, the Rykodisc release leapt into a song called "John, I'm Only Dancing" (found in a different version on "The Best Of David Bowie 1969/1974"), then "Velvet Goldmine," "Sweet Head" & demos of "Ziggy Stardust" & "Lady Stardust." This is why I commend the EMI rereleases! They leave these CDs as Bowie intended (not including that little screw-up on "Never Let Me Down" [they cut out the 10th track: "Too Dizzy"]), and you've gotta love that. Plus, they have remastered them at world-famous Abbey Road Studios. So, I tell you again, buy this CD, and never look back.


David Bowie through the eyes of Ziggy Stardust   April 11, 2000
S. R Robertson (Oh Henry?)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful

Or is it vice versa? This was Bowie's first concept album, which helped tell of the trials & tribulations that an extraterrestrial rock star has to go through. Bowie, being the prime example himself, did it perfectly with creativity and precision. The beautiful angst of "Five Years" starts it all off, where Ziggy's world slowly fades away into nothing. Next, we see him telling what he thinks love really is, hiding behind the pop music of "Soul Love". "Moonage Daydream" is the first alien rock song, mingling with a violent space-faced alien. "Starman" wonderfully expresses how humans wouldn't be able to accept something different, say a spiritual alien, into their society. "It Ain't Easy" and the mellow piano tune of "Lady Stardust" are further dwelling into not being accepted. "Star" and "Hang On To Yourself" showcase the gradual rise Ziggy's glam carreer, but then we see what happens when he starts to fall with "Ziggy Stardust". It's hard to tell what "Suffragette City" is about, but it is an awesome song. The final farewell of Ziggy concludes in the aptly titled "Rock N'Roll Suicide". Through it all, we hear raging electric guitar, acoustics, strings, and piano. Brilliant. Another congratualtion on behalf of Bowie.