HUNKY DORY

When Hunky Dory was released in late 1971, David Bowie had almost finished recording Ziggy Stardust. Perhaps knowing what was to come, his new record label RCA did little to promote this album, and it initially sold poorly, despite some very positive reviews. But after the breakthrough with Ziggy Stardust, it climbed up to No. 3 on the British album chart, and today it remains one of Bowie's most popular albums with signature songs like "Changes" and "Life on Mars?".

In reality, Hunky Dory is one of his less ambitious works, and in a way it feels like a sort of interplay before the following more spectacular album release. But it nevertheless contains some very strong songs, and it is the first fully mature album from David Bowie as a songwriter. It is also a slightly atypical Bowie album, containing some relatively light songs that are very much held in a singer/songwriter tradition, being based mostly on piano or acoustic guitar. As such, it is probably his most accessible album overall, even though later productions like Let's Dance had a broader commercial appeal.

The best known songs are of course "Changes" and "Life on Mars?". "Changes" is the song with the most pop appeal, being built around a very effective hookline: "Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes, turn and face the strange". But as the the lyrics suggest, it is not just plain pop. The chord changes, especially in the intro, are very delicate, and the cinematic strings fit perfectly here. Lyrically it is a kind of credo for Bowie, looking back at his career up until then: "Every time I thought I got it made, it seemed the taste was not so sweet, so I turned myself to face me". That's exactly what his career would be about: turning and facing the strange.

"Life on Mars?" is probably his most famous song today (unless that title goes to "Space Oddity" or "Heroes"), and it is just on the verge of being over-exposed. However, as opposed to, say, "Smoke on the Water" or "Stairway to Heaven", I think this song can actually bear it. Musically it is much more interesting, especially with its sublime use of key changes that kind of take you out in space, like a journey to Mars would indeed do. Once again the string arrangement fits the song perfectly without becoming too bombastic (except perhaps after the final chorus). Another great moment is the recorders that occur in the second verse. It's an echo of "All the Madmen" from The Man Who Sold the World, but here they are much less aggressive. And of course Rick Wakeman should be praised for his piano which interacts very well with the echoed drums.

There are plenty of other highlights. "Oh You Pretty Things" (previously recorded by Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits) mixes the singer/songwriter elements of the album (verse) with the glam rock sound of the Ziggy period (chorus), and perhaps there is also a bit of Beatles in it - I imagine it would fit well into the White Album for instance. Again there are some great chord changes in the piano - especially in the intro. Lyrically I am a bit unsure of what to think of its theme of superhumans - it's kind of creepy actually. "Oh You Pretty Things" mutates into "Eight Line Poem", a slightly overlooked gem: It is thoughtful, kind of impressionistic and speaks to my curiosity. Also, the laid-back piano chords underline the living-room feel of the lyrics perfectly.

"Quicksand" is one of the more deep songs with some very striking lyrics that mention both Heinrich Himmler, Winston Churchill, Greta Garbo and Brigitte Bardot! I'm pretty confused by them in fact, but that's just the great thing about it: It gives you something to think about, and it is very much open for interpretation. The music is laid back and thoughtful, yet also kind of hypnotic, and even the "Eurovision key change" (one note up) that comes with the second verse is very effective. Another confusing song in a similar vein the the closing track "The Bewlay Brothers" with some - at least to me - totally incomprehensible lyrics, and another very interesting composition. My favourite part is probably the varispeed vocals in the outro which lead my thoughts to his later Berlin period - for instance "Beauty and the Beast" from Heroes.

"Andy Warhol" is probably the quirkiest song on the album, especially with that weird intro ("It's War-hole actually... as in holes..." etc.) and with the cacophonic guitar notes towards the end. Lyrically it is quite humorous: "He think about paint, and he think about glue, what a jolly boring thing to do". "Song to Bob Dylan" is another slightly humorous nod to another great master, and musically it even contains some vocal phrasings not entirely unlike Dylan himself. "Queen Bitch" is a nod to one of Bowie's biggest influences, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground. It is clearly the most pure glam rock song on the album, foreshadowing both Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane. Mick Ronson's trademark guitar sound is the highlight for me here.

Only two songs can not entirely live up to the high standard. The first is "Kooks" - a song written to his then newborn son Zowie. It most of all resembles the more lightweight corners of the 70's glam rock (and there's another instant of the previously mentioned key change). However, on a different album it would shine as a great song, and the piano playing in the verse is great. The last one is the cover song "Fill Your Heart", the closest the album gets to a filler. It is very lightweight, but fortunately Bowie adds some distance to it, almost parodying its happy-go-lucky feel, for instance with his vocal phrasing on the last "makes you FREE!". And of course the delayed sax at the end crossfades perfectly into "Andy Warhol".

Still, despite not being as strong as the other songs, "Kooks" and "Fill Your Heart" do their job well in making the album hang together as a whole, and I couldn't imagine it without them.

Hunky Dory is not a grand production. It is not particularly ambitious. Nor is it a concept album in any way. It's just a collection of damn good songs. The result is Bowie's first masterpiece album. More were to come...