History AwesomeMusic / DavidBowie

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYMCLz5PQVw "Space Oddity"]], his first hit. If that's not enough, how about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo "Space Oddity"]] performed [[UpToEleven in space]]! [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYYRH4apXDo For those who have the video blocked in their country.]]

* The entire Ziggy Stardust era. ''Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars'' is a magnificent album; special mention goes to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWm03wYBTbM "Five Years"]] and the more or less eponymous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXq5VvYAI1Q "Ziggy Stardust"]], while [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jg4ekLG9Zo "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide"]] is phenomenal even by Bowie's standards.
** How can we not mention [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRcPA7Fzebw "Starman"]] from the same album? A cheerful rock tune with a catchy riff and a melody reminiscent of [[Film/TheWizardOfOz "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"]].

** "Suffragette City" is ''loads'' of energetic fun. All together now: ''[[IntercourseWithYou "Awwwww wham bam thank you, ma'am!"]]''

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmLowvnCvRk Cat People (Putting Out the Fire)]] of ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'' fame is an oddly haunting/upbeat track.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4xpdaIZyzs The rerecorded version]] for the ''Let's Dance'' album is no slouch either.

%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v--IqqusnNQ "Life on Mars?"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBQ-S6njQQw "Oh You Pretty Things"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl3vxEudif8 "Changes"]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDetQ18fw5Q "Rebel Rebel"]] all warrant your attention.

%%** How can we not mention [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRcPA7Fzebw "Starman"]] from the same album?

%%** "Suffragette City" is extremely energetic.

* The entire Ziggy Stardust era can be one. ''Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars'' is a magnificent album; special mention goes to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWm03wYBTbM "Five Years"]] and the more or less eponymous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXq5VvYAI1Q "Ziggy Stardust"]], while [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jg4ekLG9Zo "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide"]] is phenomenal even by Bowie's standards.

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* The entire Ziggy Stardust era can be one. ''Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars'' is a magnificent album; special mention goes to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWm03wYBTbM "Five Years"]] and the more or less eponymous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXq5VvYAI1Q "Ziggy Stardust"]].
** And because we couldn't resist, here is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFDj3shXvco "Moonage Daydream"]] of ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' fame.
** How can we not mention [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRcPA7Fzebw "Starman"]] from the same album?
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jg4ekLG9Zo "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide"]] is phenomenal even by Bowie's standards.

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* ''Music/{{Low|DavidBowieAlbum}}'' has a lot of highlights, but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IevwLPV86os "Subterraneans"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gy94N_mcWs "Warszawa"]] stand out. Among the vocal pieces, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoDamvrfUbQ "Sound and Vision"]] is well loved with good reason.

* ''Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum'' has a lot of highlights, but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IevwLPV86os "Subterraneans"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gy94N_mcWs "Warszawa"]] stand out. Among the vocal pieces, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoDamvrfUbQ "Sound and Vision"]] is well loved with good reason.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v--IqqusnNQ "Life on Mars?"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBQ-S6njQQw "Oh You Pretty Things"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl3vxEudif8 "Changes"]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDetQ18fw5Q "Rebel Rebel"]] all warrant your attention.

* ''Music/StationToStation'', from beginning to end. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DanDvAfCcs "Stay"]] shows this perfectly.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v--IqqusnNQ "Life on Mars?"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBQ-S6njQQw "Oh You Pretty Things"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl3vxEudif8 "Changes"]], and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDetQ18fw5Q "Rebel Rebel"]] all warrant your attention.

* ''★'' (aka ''Music/BlackstarAlbum'') was heavily praised before it was even released. The ten-minute title track is an obvious highlight. So is the album closer "I Can't Give Everything Away", which quotes "A New Career in a New Town" from ''Low'' and verges on TearJerker territory, especially in light of his death two days after the release of the album. "Lazarus" also gains new meaning in light of his death and stands out as a highlight of the album. "Girl Loves Me" also stands out as one of the most avant-garde pieces Bowie ever recorded, both lyrically and musically. The whole album is both a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome and a beautiful SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}} as Bowie put it as his GrandFinale, the last album he'd get to release for the fans, as his final parting gift to all. That alone shows awesomeness and love.

* While ''Music/{{Hours}}'' might be the [[LighterAndSofter lightest]] of Bowie's releases in the 90s, it stands with ''Music/{{Outside}}'' and ''Music/{{Earthling}}'' (and [[BrokenBase to a lesser degree]], ''Music/BlackTieWhiteNoise'') as a showcase that, even thirty years on, Bowie was still damn good at what he did. Highlights include the [[SugarWiki/SweetDreamsFuel absolutely beautiful]] and [[EarWorm catchy]] [[https://youtu.be/jTjRMkzxvt8 "Thursday's Child"]] (featuring the gorgeous and backing vocals of Holly Palmer [[SopranoAndGravel providing a perfect contrast to Bowie's lead]]) and the [[EpicRiff rifftastic]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pIyTFynO-8 "The Pretty Things Are Going To hell".]]

* ''★'' (aka ''Music/{{Blackstar}}'') was heavily praised before it was even released. The ten-minute title track is an obvious highlight. So is the album closer "I Can't Give Everything Away", which quotes "A New Career in a New Town" from ''Low'' and verges on TearJerker territory, especially in light of his death two days after the release of the album. "Lazarus" also gains new meaning in light of his death and stands out as a highlight of the album. "Girl Loves Me" also stands out as one of the most avant-garde pieces Bowie ever recorded, both lyrically and musically. The whole album is both a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome and a beautiful SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}} as Bowie put it as his GrandFinale, the last album he'd get to release for the fans, as his final parting gift to all. That alone shows awesomeness and love.

* ''Music/{{Outside}}'' is considered by many to be his best work of the 90s. From songs like the [[{{Industrial}} awesome industrial track]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPToRYG-TcE "The Hearts Filthy Lesson"]], famously used in ''Film/{{Se7en}}'', to the [[DarkerAndEdgier darkest]] (and most CreepyAwesome) entry in the [[Music/SpaceOddity Major]] [[Music/ScaryMonstersAndSuperCreeps Tom]] [[Music/{{Blackstar}} saga]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHSe4N1tRQU "Hallo Spaceboy"]]. Other great songs include the pulse-pounding DespairEventHorizon that is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKz_YJhQtzs "No Control"]] and the LighterAndSofter (and surprisingly funky) [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nArLuubNjKs "I Have Not Been to Oxford Town"]].

** "Hang On To Yourself" isn't considered proto-punk for no reason!
** "Suffragette City" is extremely energetic and noteworthy.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jg4ekLG9Zo "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide"]] is phenomenal even by Bowie's standards.

* While ''Music/{{Hours}}'' might be the [[LighterAndSofter lightest]] of Bowie's releases in the 90s, it stands with ''Music/{{Outside}}'' and ''Music/{{Earthling}}'' (and [[BrokenBase to a lesser degree]], ''Music/BlackTieWhiteNoise'') as a showcase that, even thirty years on, Bowie was still damn good at what he did. Highlights include the [[SweetDreamsFuel absolutely beautiful]] and [[EarWorm catchy]] [[https://youtu.be/jTjRMkzxvt8 "Thursday's Child"]] (featuring the gorgeous and backing vocals of Holly Palmer [[SopranoAndGravel providing a perfect contrast to Bowie's lead]]) and the [[EpicRiff rifftastic]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pIyTFynO-8 "The Pretty Things Are Going To hell".]]

* Much of Bowie's post-''Scary Monsters'' output in TheEighties is dismissed, but there's gorgeous stuff there too. In particular, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTYvjrM6djo "Blue Jean"]] and "Underground" can leave you dizzy with delight. So can [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_8IXx4tsus "China Girl".]]
** The deconstruction of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaGAJ1l3uRU "China Girl"]] that appears on the ''VH1 Storytellers'' album almost seems like a comment on Bowie's eighties, and still manages to be awesome in its own right. Beginning with a pure TearJerker anecdote about life in Berlin in TheSeventies, and then the song itself starts almost like a cover of Music/LouReed's "Music/{{Berlin}}" before morphing into Music/IggyPop's original punky version, building and building until it finally resolves into a fond take on the glitzy eighties version.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYMCLz5PQVw "Space Oddity"]], his first hit. If that's not enough, how about [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo "Space Oddity"]] as performed [[UpToEleven in space]]! [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYYRH4apXDo For those who have the video blocked in their country.]]

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYMCLz5PQVw "Space Oddity"]], his first hit. And if that's not enough, how about [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo "Space Oddity"]] as performed [[UpToEleven in space]]! [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYYRH4apXDo For those who have the video blocked in their country.]]

* "We could be [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kyk7tOiGgZU "Heroes"]]! Just for one day..." While it was ignored when first released as a single, it is now widely recognized and beloved. Its now a candidate for David's SignatureSong, and for good reason.
** To bolster just how awesome this song is, David's live performance of it on June 6, 1987 at the Reichstag in West Berlin has been cited as a catalyst toward the fall of the Berlin Wall just two years later. After David's sudden death in 2016, the German government thanked Bowie for "helping to bring down the Wall", adding "you are now among Heroes". Now ''that'' is awesome.

* ''Music/ScaryMonstersAndSuperCreeps'' is well enough loved that it's become a reviewer cliché to describe Bowie's latest album as "his best since ''Scary Monsters''" (much as Music/BobDylan gets the same treatment with ''Music/BloodOnTheTracks''). Particular highlights from the album, beyond [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF_ESqYuhSQ "Ashes to Ashes"]], include the EpicRocking "Teenage Wildlife", the title track, and both parts of "It's No Game", but it's really difficult to go wrong with any of the album's ten cuts.

** To bolster just how awesome this song is, David's live performance of it on June 6, 1987 at the Reichstag in West Berlin has been cited as a catalyst toward the fall of the Berlin Wall just two years later. After David's sudden death in 2016, the German government thanked Bowie for "helping to bring down the Wall", adding "you are now among Heroes". Now ''that'' is badass.

** To bolster just how awesome this song is, David's live performance of it on June 6, 1987 at the Reichstag in West Berlin has been cited as a catalyst toward the fall of the Berlin Wall just two years later. After David's sudden death in 2016, the German government thanked Bowie for "helping to bring down the Wall", adding "you are now among Heroes". Now ''that'' is {{badass}}.

* "And we can be [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kyk7tOiGgZU "Heroes"]], just for one day..." While it was ignored when first released as a single, it is now considered to be a candidate for David's SignatureSong, and for good reason.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v--IqqusnNQ "Life on Mars?"]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBQ-S6njQQw "Oh You Pretty Things"]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl3vxEudif8 "Changes"]], and "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDetQ18fw5Q "Rebel Rebel"]] all warrant your attention.
* The entire Ziggy Stardust era can be one. ''Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars'' is a magnificent album; special mention goes to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWm03wYBTbM Five Years]] and the more or less eponymous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXq5VvYAI1Q Ziggy Stardust]].

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jg4ekLG9Zo "Rock'n'Roll Suicide"]] is phenomenal even by Bowie's standards.
* This rendition of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unuo-fdhbXs "Ashes to Ashes"]] is made even more awesome by a few things: the absolutely bitchin' guitar solo (one guy on rhythm AND bass simultaneously) that dominates the last half of the song. And the fact that, on a call-in/request concert, this was the song requested by a ''5-year old boy''. Yeah. Get 'em started early.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fHoMw8tCzo "Lady Grinning Soul"]]. Bowie meets [[Film/JamesBond Bond]], complete with epic piano solo intro performed by Mike Garson.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-_30HA7rec "Fame"]]. Funk-tacular. Having Music/JohnLennon on backing vocals certainly helps.
* Bowie isn't particularly well-known for his love songs...but [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgcc5V9Hu3g he has his moments]]. "'Heroes'", while not a huge hit in its day, has gone on to be beloved by many and one his most iconic songs.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4d7Wp9kKjA "Let's Dance"]]. When Bowie gives an order, the world listens. According to the official book chronicling the Serious Moonlight Tour, when the song became a hit women all over Europe bought red shoes, causing shortages in stores, so they could be ready for dancing!
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmLowvnCvRk Cat People (Putting Out The Fire)]] of ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'' fame is an oddly haunting/upbeat track.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoDh_gHDvkk Under Pressure.]] A breathtakingly uplifting collaboration by Bowie with the great Music/{{Queen}}.
* Watch this performance of "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hDbpF4Mvkw Modern Love]]". Bowie's sheer exuberance is electrifying.
* Much of Bowie's post-''Scary Monsters'' output in TheEighties is dismissed, but there's gorgeous stuff there too. In particular, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTYvjrM6djo "Blue Jean"]] and "Underground" can leave you dizzy with delight. So can [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_8IXx4tsus "China Girl".]]
* The smooth, jazzy sound of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6If6J8u9av4 "Bring Me The Disco King"]] is just wonderful.

* ''Music/{{Outside}}'' is considered by many to be his best work of the 90s. From songs like the [[{{Industrial}} awesome industrial track]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPToRYG-TcE "The Hearts Filthy Lesson"]], famously used in ''Film/{{Se7en}}'', to the [[DarkerAndEdgier darkest]] (and [[CreepyAwesome most creepy-awesome]]) entry in the [[Music/SpaceOddity Major]] [[Music/ScaryMonstersAndSuperCreeps Tom]] [[Music/BlackStar saga]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHSe4N1tRQU "Hallo Spaceboy"]]. Other great songs include the pulse-pounding DespairEventHorizon that is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKz_YJhQtzs "No Control"]] and the LighterAndSofter (and surprisingly funky) [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nArLuubNjKs "I Have Not Been To Oxford Town"]].

%%* "And we can be [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3SjCzA71eM "Heroes"]], just for one day..."
%%The above example is a ZeroContextExample. Do not uncomment it without expanding it.

* David Bowie first recorded and wrote "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rajof9Qigos All the Young Dudes]]", which soon became an iconic glam rock anthem after being performed by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKvNtAVZyOc Mott the Hoople]].

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-_30HA7rec "Fame"]]. Funk-tacular.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4xpdaIZyzs Check out the original album version here.]]