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Aladdin Sane (i.e. "A Lad Insane") is a 1973 album by British glam rocker David Bowie. The follow-up to his breakthrough The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, it was the first album Bowie wrote and released from a position of stardom. Whilst most critics agree that it contains some of his best material, opinion as to its overall quality has always been divided. Nevertheless it was one of six Bowie entries in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time (at #277).

Although technically a new Bowie 'character', Aladdin Sane was essentially an extension of Ziggy Stardust in his manner, clothing and hairstyle, as evidenced on the famous cover and in Bowie’s live performances throughout 1973 that culminated in Ziggy’s ‘retirement’ at the Hammersmith Odeon in July of that year. As such there was not the conceptual flow on this album that was present on its predecessor. Bowie himself described Aladdin Sane as simply "Ziggy goes to America", most of the tracks being observations he composed on the US leg of his 1972 tour - the reason for the place names following each song title on the record sleeve.

A desire to rush release the record has been blamed for poor mixing on the Rolling Stones influenced "Watch That Man" and "Cracked Actor", which buried vocals and harmonica, respectively. However Aladdin Sane was praised for its tougher rock sound on tracks like "Panic in Detroit" (built around a Bo Diddley beat) and Bowie’s breakneck version of the Stones' "Let’s Spend the Night Together". The album was also notable for its exploration of unusual styles such as avant-garde jazz in the title track and Brechtian cabaret in "Time", the latter being famous for the line "Time falls wanking to the floor". Both numbers were dominated by Mike Garson’s acclaimed piano work, which also featured heavily in the James Bond flavoured ballad "Lady Grinning Soul".

The album's release was preceded by two hit singles, "The Jean Genie" and "Drive-In Saturday", the former a heavy R&B chug with lyrics loosely based on Iggy Pop and the latter a futuristic doo wop number describing a time when the population has to relearn sex by watching old porn movies. "Time" was later issued as a single in the US and Japan, and "Let's Spend the Night Together" in the US and Europe. In 1974, Lulu released a version of "Watch That Man" as the B-side to her single "The Man Who Sold The World", produced by Bowie and Mick Ronson.

Aladdin Sane debuted at the top of the UK charts and reached #17 in the US, making it Bowie's most successful album commercially in both countries to that date.

Bowie performed all the tracks, except "Lady Grinning Soul", on his 1972-73 tours and many of them on the 1974 Diamond Dogs tour. Live versions of all but "The Prettiest Star" and "Lady Grinning Soul" have been released on various discs including Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture, David Live and Aladdin Sane - 30th Anniversary. "The Jean Genie" is the only song on the album that Bowie has played in concert throughout his career. However "Panic In Detroit" has also appeared regularly in recent years, a remake of which was cut in 1979 but not released until added as a bonus track to the Rykodisc CD of Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps).

Track listing

All tracks written by David Bowie except where noted.
  1. "Watch That Man" New York – 4:25
  2. "Aladdin Sane (1913-1938-197?)" RHMS Ellinis – 5:06
  3. "Drive-In Saturday" Seattle–Phoenix – 4:29
  4. "Panic in Detroit" Detroit – 4:25
  5. "Cracked Actor" Los Angeles – 2:56
  6. "Time" New Orleans – 5:09
  7. "The Prettiest Star" Gloucester Road – 3:26
  8. "Let's Spend the Night Together" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 3:03
  9. "The Jean Genie" Detroit and New York – 4:02
  10. "Lady Grinning Soul" London – 3:46

Rereleases

Aladdin Sane has been remastered thrice; the first time in 1990 by Rykodisc/EMI, again in 96 kHz/24bit by Virgin Records in 1999 and in a 30th Anniversary Edition with two CDs and extensive liner notes in 2003 by Virgin. The first CD contained the original album, while the second contained ten additional tracks.

2003 rerelease bonus disc

  1. "John, I'm Only Dancing (Sax version)" – 2:45
  2. "The Jean Genie (Original single mix)" – 4:07
  3. "Time (Single edit)" – 3:43
  4. "All the Young Dudes" (monaural) – 4:12
  5. "Changes" Live at Boston Music Hall, October 1 1972 – 3:20
  6. "The Supermen" Live at Boston Music Hall, October 1 1972 – 2:42
  7. "Life on Mars?" Live at Boston Music Hall, October 1 1972 – 3:25
  8. "John, I'm Only Dancing" Live at Boston Music Hall, October 1 1972 – 2:40
  9. "The Jean Genie" Live at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium October 20 1972 – 4:10
  10. "Drive-In Saturday" Live at Cleveland Public Auditorium, November 25 1972 – 4:53

Personnel

References

  • Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Bowie: An Illustrated Record: 52-56
  • David Buckley (1999). Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story: 182-189

External links

Charts

Album
Year Chart Position
1973 U.S. Billboard Pop Albums 17
Single
Year Single Chart Position
1972 "The Jean Genie" UK Singles Charts 2
1972 "The Jean Genie" U.S. Billboard Pop Singles 71
1973 "The Jean Genie" UK Singles Charts 2
1973 "Drive-In Saturday" UK Singles Charts 3

Certifications

Organization Level Date
RIAA – USA Gold August 8 1983

David Bowie albums | 1973 albums

Aladdin Sane | アラジン・セイン | Aladdin Sane (album) | Aladdin Sane

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Aladdin Sane".

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