Comments

Bowie was still “working on America” in early ’73 when he went into Trident Studios to record his follow up to “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.” Although the US tour had been anti-climatic, several switched-on American cities had been captivated by Bowie and, as he pondered the direction of the next record, America dominated his thoughts. Resisting the obvious temptation for a ‘Ziggy 2’ styled album, the commercial benefits were impossible to ignore so in compromise the theme of Ziggy in America framed ‘Aladdin Sane.’

This American influence would saturate the album, with several tracks rooted lyrically in Bowie’s American experiences as the bus groaned across the vast wastelands of the land of the free. This is evident on ‘Panic In Detroit,’ which channels into the anxieties plighting the streets of Detroit in a Motown-esque call-to-arms.

The title track was one of several to incorporate the piano playing of avant-garde jazz pianist Mick Garson, who weaved his idiosyncratic playing into a two-minute piano solo that elevated Bowie above his peers. This sense of the otherworld is recaptured on a sleeve depicting Bowie gazing vacantly from an expanse of white nothingness while a lightning bolt slashes his face in two to conjure the schizophrenic symbolism of some faraway planet. It’s an iconic sleeve, and one I was privately commissioned recently to recreate.

One of the best albums from one of the greatest recording artists of all time, “Aladdin Sane” is now available on a 180g Audiophile vinyl breakout from the David Bowie ‘Five Years: 1969-1973’ box set. Invest in a new cartridge, dust your turntable down and listen to this masterpiece as it was always meant to be heard. It has a dynamic range only the warm grooves of a long player will capture.