SCARY MONSTERS (AND SUPER CREEPS)

At one point I would have told you that this was probably my all time favourite album. Things have changed. It now rests in my collection of CDs as a decent album, fukll of ambition, tainted by cheesiness, could have been a lot better. Inconsequentially I detest Bowie's clown-like image at this point. Like the album it is way over-the-top. There i9s a plethora of guitarists on this album, but perhaps the most prominent is Robert Fripp (I recognis that name from somewhere...). He adds his angular, odd and rythmics sounds to this flawed menagerie of music.

'It's No Game (part 1)' opens the album strongly, and epitomizes the ethic of this album. Overcrowded with ideas, some successful, soem less so. Fortunately on this opener everything works well, from the amazingly fast Asian female vocals, the satirical lyrics, the catchy hooks, and David's tortured screams at the end. 'Up the Hill Backwards' is not as good. It is a decent song with a catchy chorus, but not much to grab the listener. 'Scary Monster (and Super Creeps)' is a worthy title track. Dark, yet danceable, David puts on a mock cockney acent for the vocals. 'Ashes to Ashes' was a superhit, shooting to number 1 in the British charts. This is the sequel to 'Space Oddity'. Here Major Tom is revealed to be a drug addict. he is still stranded in space with a stash of drugs. The surreal lyrics fit brilliant with the uber-catchy music. 'Fashion' completes this trilogy of hit singles, and is probably the best of the three. Like on much of the album, Bowie's lyrics are scathingly satirical and cynical. The chorus is again extremely catchy. 'Teenage Wildlife', unfortunately, screams AOR. This song, despite some good parts, really drags. The lack of a proper chorus does not help. It is almost as if Bowie could not pull off a six minute plus song anymore, without becoming boring. A shame. 'Scream Like a Baby', however is brilliant. This could have sat comfortably on Heroes. The dark lyics probably reflect Bowie's tumultuous mental state at the time. Synthesizers rule here. 'Kingdom Come' is a cover of a song by post-punk singer Tom Verlaine. It does not sound good. This dip in quality sinks even lower for the totally uninteresting AOR song, 'Because You're Young'. Even a guest appearance by Pete Townsend cannot ressurect this sorry song. In fact, if it was to have one redeeming quality it would be the use of the made up word, psychedelicate, which is wonderful, don't you think? 'It's No Game (part2)', fortunately is an excellent closer, even better than part 1. Poignant lyrics rule here.

There is, I admit, a smattering or two of prog here. It is not overall a totally impressive album though.

It could easily be included in the Crossover Porg genre here. This album has very few average songs on it, most being either terrible or brilliant, in pretty even doses, so three stars is reasonable.