ALBUM REVIEW: David Bowie - Hunky Dory

    Unfortunately by late 1971, Bowie still had very little in the way of commercial success. Despite now having three albums under his belt, including the incredibly good, hard rock-tinged The Man Who Sold the World, the only real taste of success that Bowie had had up to this point was "Space Oddity," which became a big hit off the back of the moon landing that same year and also captured the wonder of an entire generation. After this, though? Nada. In '71, though, Bowie went on a publicity tour of the US in hopes to dredge up some publicity for the aforementioned Man Who Sold the World album - on the trip, Bowie became obsessed with American culture, which led to a massive batch of songs emerging, as well as a character forming in Bowie's head - by 1972, the character would fall to Earth. When he returned to the UK, he began recording a collection of this new material, resulting in the stylistically diverse Hunky Dory. Shifting towards a singer-songwriter approach and mostly focusing on piano, Hunky Dory showcases Bowie trying all kinds of musical outfits on - pop rock, glam, even a Velvet Underground pastiche. Bowie's focus, or perhaps his lack thereof, make for an incredibly creative album in which nearly everything Bowie tries sticks the landing. Easily his freshest album yet at this point in his career.

    It's only fitting that the opening track is named "Changes," as David's undergone plenty in between this album and his previous endeavor. With his previous album, Bowie ditched the whole folk thing, seeing that it didn't really work sales-wise for his first two albums (I'd also argue that, in the case of his debut, it didn't really work out quality-wise either). The difference between Hunky Dory and Man Who Sold the World, however, is that the former has a more defined style and sound throughout, mainly focusing on hard rock and even tinges of pure metal. On Hunky Dory, Bowie is all too content to switch it up throughout the album - this is probably where Bowie's reputation for being a musical chameleon originates from, because he dips his toes into just about every little style on this album, and he seemingly never misses his shot. Piano is the instrument of choice for most of this album, and Bowie welds this skill like a master on baroque-leaning songs like the iconic "Life on Mars?" the Biff Rose cover "Fill Your Heart." At other times, he wears a bit of his folk leanings on his sleeve with moments like "Andy Warhol," a tribute to the artist of the same name. One of my favorite numbers is a Velvet Underground pastiche, almost certainly inspired by Bowie's growing obsession with Lou Reed, "Queen Bitch," a punching and entertaining rock number with a simple-but-catchy guitar riff to boot.

    Bowie's charm on this record is also seeping through his voice, mainly in the more gentle songs. The pinnacle of this is "Kooks," an already lovely song that becomes even more lovely and charming when you learn that it was written for his then newborn son. This same charm is found is the aforementioned "Fill Your Heart," which also brilliantly follows the more pessimistic and miserable "Quicksand" that caps off the first half of the album. Some of Bowie's lyrics, despite the often whimsical nature of the album, still ventures onto a more occult side, mainly with his strange fascination with Nietzschean philosophy, apparent on songs like the admittedly catchy "Oh! You Pretty Things." Some darker elements of Bowie still remain, particularly on the closer "The Bewlay Brothers," although the darkness mainly lies in the sound and production style leaning far more into Man Who Sold the World territory. Many different sides of Bowie show their face throughout this record, and not just musically - perhaps that's part of its eternal appeal.

    Hunky Dory did little to help his commercial success, and RCA is probably to blame for this a little - with the stylistic diversity on the record, they had no idea how to promote it or even what Bowie would do next. Even still, Hunky Dory easily shows Bowie at his best creatively, trying on all different shades of styles and sounds throughout, while also wearing every emotion from whimsical joy to occult darkness. From rock to pop to proto-punk, from adoration to assimilation, nothing Bowie tries misses on this record, and it set the stage for his bold creativity for the rest of his massive career. A bold and confident album through and through. 

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to Hunky Dory.