Rating: 9/10

Top Track: ‘Changes’

How did it take me so long to get to Bowie? I mean, c’mon dude. Maybe it’s because I love almost every David Bowie album from his first in 1967 up through 1983. That’s not to say I don’t like his later stuff, I do. It’s just hard to beat Bowie from the 70s. How did I eventually land on “Hunky Dory”? I have no idea. To give a bit of a peek behind the curtain, I picked this album out over a month ago. I don’t remember what my process was. Maybe I ran my finger up and down my dad’s Bowie collection and stopped on a random album. Maybe “Hunky Dory” was the first Bowie album I found. Who knows. Who cares. The point is it’s a fantastic album and there’s a reason I gave it a 9/10. Granted, I’ve been pretty liberal with my ratings, but this album really earns it. Is it my favorite Bowie album? Maybe. Truth is, I don’t really have a favorite Bowie album. It’s almost being asked which of my children I love the most; if had kids or if I made amazing music like this. All I’m saying that I really this album. This was Bowie’s fourth studio album and his last pre-Ziggy Stardust phase one. I think this album is a great snapshot of Bowie just hitting his stride. He had shown some obvious signs of genius and greatness before this album, but I think this is the one where he really started coming into his own. It came to fruition after he took some time off after finishing his third album, “The Man Who Sold The World”, which is why I think he changed his heavier rock sound from that album to this one. Bowie also had a change in managers in between albums, so I like to view this album as a sort of rebirth of Bowie . In this rebirth of album, he gives nods to other artists he admires, Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan, and The Velvet Underground. Bowie was such a visionary and a personal hero of mine, it’s crazy to think about how he had personal muses of his own. That being said, let’s move onto the top track.

Yet another album where choosing the top track was somewhat difficult. ‘Changes’ seemed like the obvious choice, but that’s not why I went with it. ‘Life On Mars?’, ‘Oh! You Pretty Things’, and ‘Queen Bitch’ would have all been excellent choices as well. I went with ‘Changes’ not because of how obvious of a choice it is, but because of how iconic it is. It’s one of Bowie’s most well-known songs, it’s the opening track of the album and it’s been an icon in pop culture since the album was released; the opening scene of The Breakfast Club (1985) contains a quote from this song. While ‘Life On Mars?’ further cements Bowie’s genius in grand songs about etherial life, ‘Changes’ is a simple-ish pop song, but Bowie-fied. This song also gives more credence to my theory that this album was sort of a rebirth for Bowie. He was going through lots of changes in his life, the firing of his previous manager, his wife was pregnant with their first child; Bowie was beginning a new chapter in his life and he recognized that. This song also spoke to me during my angsty, hormone-filled teenage years when I thought my parents didn’t understand me and I felt somewhat alone. This song served as a sort of anthem for my first couple years of high school. I believe that a great song doesn’t force a message on the listener. A great song lets the listener decide for themselves what the song means to them. This song is a great song. I think that it could serve as an anthem for anyone going through any type of development in their lives. It’s upbeat and empowering. The piano is so elegant, the lyrics are moving, and Bowie’s saxophone playing at the end is just the cherry on top. I have also always thought that was John Lennon’s voice in the chorus. I’ve looked it up and he’s not credited. No one really knows who it is. It might be guitarist Mark Ronson’s voice in all honesty, but I think I’ll stick with my story. This song can make my day, this song can make me cry. That’s why I chose it as the top track of this album.

I just want to say that no one can write a song like David Bowie. I have no idea where he gets the ideas for his songs from. But man, I’m grateful that man thought the way he did. His lyrics change my world view for the better. He makes me see things with such an enlightened lens. I can only name only a handful of other songwriters that make me feel that way. I know I’m not the only one who feels that why either. I think that says a lot about a songwriter when that can effect the way people see the world. He’s also one of the few artists I’ve notice to cross across not only musical genre divides, but generational divides as well. Metal heads in the 80s love Bowie, classic rock hippies love Bowie, even modern pop millennials love Bowie. Everybody loves Bowie! How can one artist be so beloved even posthumously? No seriously, I’m asking. I mean, he’s mainstream without feeling like a mainstream artist. He stayed true to himself even when people criticized him for his imagine or rumors about his sexuality. I think that’s the reason so many people can identify with him. What’s more relatable than being yourself.

Okay, not everyone loves Bowie. I contradicted myself in that paragraph when I said everybody loved him, and yet he received criticism about his image and whatnot. That’s the thing about Bowie, he’s controversial and isn’t afraid to break some rules. Some people don’t like that, but more people do like it. Anyways, I want to move on from what people think about Bowie to what Bowie thinks about other people, sort of. I stated in my first paragraph what he gives nods to Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan, and The Velvet Underground. The first two are obvious nods. the songs ‘Andy Warhol’ and ‘Song for Bob Dylan’ kind of give it away. Both are pretty good tracks in their own rights. Both are kinds of odes to the artists and how much Bowie admire’s their work. The third nod to The Velvet Underground is a little less obvious than the title of a track. The track is ‘Queen Bitch’. Bowie doesn’t explicitly mention the band, but listen closely to the style of the song, Bowie pays homage to The Velvet Underground with the music itself. The chord progression and the neo-punk style of the chorus and the song itself was meant to sort of copy the style of The Velvet Underground. That means all three songs that honor other artists are consecutive on the album as tracks 8, 9, and 10 respectively. I don’t know why I decided to include that, I just thought it was interesting.

So that’s it. That’s “Hunky Dory”. An absolutely fantastic album. I highly recommend anyone who has not listened to it before to listen to it; and for people do not have much knowledge about Bowie, it’s a great starting point. Bowie’s death shocked me to my core in 2016 and it’s been a great honor writing about one of his best albums. A masterpiece.