A Sense of Doubt blog post #3257 - All the Bowie Albums and my TOP TEN

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3257 - All the Bowie Albums and my TOP TEN

Here's a graphic collection of all the David Bowie studio albums plus a few compilations, Live albums, and even some inserts from some.

I decided NOT to put them in order or re-size them.

I am more interested in making my top ten list of favorite Bowie albums, just the studio ones, no live ones or compilations, or even cover albums, so Pinups doesn't really qualify.

My list may change, but this is what it is today with some explanation.

TOP TEN FAVORITE ALBUMS BY DAVID BOWIE

1. Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

2. Low

3. Buddha of Suburbia

4. 1. Outside: The Nathan Adler Diaries-A Hyper Cycle

5. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

6. Diamond Dogs

7. ...Hours

8. Heathen

9. Station to Station

10. Blackstar

Definitely, the next five would feature Hunky Dory, Lodger, Heroes, and The Next Day. In fact, that is the next five, though I would have to think about the order. Oh, I forgot Black Tie White Noise. I would have to dislodge one of the 11-15 picks for that album. Not sure which one. I am less crazy about the song "Heroes" than every one else, including David Bowie. But the ambient side gave me the name of this blog -- "Sense of Doubt" -- and so I feel I have to rank that album fairly highly. Looking at the others, I would probably bump The Next Day to 16th to get Black Tie White Noise in 11-15 somewhere.

I would have ranked it #10 before Blackstar.

Songs are not albums. Though songs like "Young Americans," "Jean Genie," "I'm Afraid of Americans," "Modern Love," and "Fall Dog Bombs the Moon" would all rank highly as well as songs not on studio albums, like "Cat People," "Under Pressure," "John, I'm Only Dancing," and "Absolute Beginners," none of these songs sustain a love for an entire album.

For me, a favorite album is one to which I listen often and over long periods of time not just during a phase. 

Also, there's a nostalgia factor. 

Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) was the first Bowie album I bought and listened to, and so it has to be first. I do adore it, though I didn't when I first placed it on my turntable. It has had a profound effect on me over the entire span of my life. I actually wrote an essay for American Literature on that album and songs from Lodger as a preface to my Moby Dick essay.

Over the years, Low has emerged as the album I listen to most often. If I just went with number of plays, it has surely dwarfed Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps).

Combining number of plays and adoration, both Buddha of Suburbia and Outside have vaulted over all but Low to sit squarely in the top five of most loved Bowie albums. 

There was a time when I listened to The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars all the time, maybe not daily, but nearly. But that was more of a phase that lasted for my undergraduate years. I still listen to it and love it, so it sits in the top five, but the other albums have vaulted it.

The second five of the top ten proved difficult to choose. After much consideration, combining listens and love, Diamond Dogs has to be sixth. But both ...Hours and Heathen have vaulted over other albums that would be 11-15 as listed above. Blackstar also has to make my top ten, not just because it's great, but it's his last words to all of us.

I am a champion for ...Hours and Heathen, which are very underrated, though I feel, very excellent. The same could be true of  Buddha of Suburbia and 1. Outside The Nathan Adler Diaries-A Hyper Cycle. I have found that I have been listening to these albums a lot in last 5-10 years. I often skip the narrative bits on Outside, but I adore the album.

There are fewer comprehensive Bowie fans than those who have deeply invested like I have in his entire catalog. I am even coming around on the soundtrack to Labyrinth and "Under Pressure," neither of which I liked at that time. Kind of like how I felt let down by Let's Dance after Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps). But in hindsight, I applaud all of these choices by Mr. Bowie.

And in the image set below, there are some things I do not own, so I probably cannot claim to be a completist, a totally comprehensive fan. In fact, before I did this download of images, mainly to update my broken iTunes Bowie file, I had forgotten about Baal and Peter and the Wolf.

I am happy with my top ten list.

I have been listening to all the Bowie albums this month as it is DAVID BOWIE MONTH.

I am so grateful for everything he gave to us artistically. So meaningful.

Thank you, Mr. Bowie.

And thank you dear reader for tuning in and reading my explanation, if you did.

ALL IMAGES FOUND AT:

https://www.discogs.com/lists/David-Bowie-Albums-In-Chronological-Order/1013468

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2401.18 - 10:10

- Days ago = 3122 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.