David Bowie | Space Oddity | The Man Who Sold the World | Hunky Dory
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars | Aladdin Sane | Pin Ups | Diamond Dogs | Young Americans
Station to Station | Low | "Heroes" | Lodger | Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) | Let's Dance | Tonight | Never Let Me Down
Tin Machine | Black Tie White Noise | The Buddha of Suburbia | Outside | Earthling | 'hours...' | The Next Day | ★
Changesonebowie
- Covered Up: Bowie's version of "Kingdom Come" is much better-known than the original rendition by Tom Verlaine, if only because Verlaine's solo career never took off to the same extent as his stint with Television.
- Even Better Sequel: Often considered this compared to Lodger; while the latter is already considered a fantastic album in Bowie's repertoire, Scary Monsters is generally thought to more adeptly blend together Bowie's artistry with commercial accessibility, and is often considered the culmination of the Berlin Trilogy's work.
- Hilarious in Hindsight: The combination of the album cover's clown motif, the lyrics' themes of sociopolitical protest, and the sarcastic mention of "learning to be a part of society" in "Scream Like a Baby" are somewhat more amusing to look back on in the wake of the "Gamer Joker" meme and the general content and themes in Joker (2019).
- Tough Act to Follow: Given its high level of acclaim and success, it seemed inevitable that it would become a measuring stick against which Bowie's later albums would be compared. This eventually became so pervasive that it became a Reviewer Stock Phrase to consider each new Bowie album his "best since Scary Monsters," something the man himself noted.
- Values Dissonance:
- Bowie utters the word "faggots" on "Scream Like a Baby"; granted, it's in a sense that's critical of homophobia, but the seemingly casual use of it in a song definitely wouldn't occur without controversy nowadays, especially given Bowie's claim three years after the song's release that he was "always a closet heterosexual."
- "Ashes To Ashes" uses the term "jap" in a verse; the word is considered relatively tame among Britons, but among Americans, it's considered a slur.
- Values Resonance: Despite the aforementioned casual usage of slurs, "Scream Like a Baby" still stands as a powerful and relevant condemnation of homophobia in general and conversion therapy in particular.
