release date: Nov. 4, 1969
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,96]
producer: Tony Visconti
label: EMI Japan - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Space Oddity" (5 / 5) - 2. "Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed" - 4. "Letter to Hermione" - 7. "An Occasional Dream" - 10. "Memory of a Free Festival"
2nd studio album by David Bowie and the first to be produced by Tony Visconti. The album was originally released on Philips Records as David Bowie. In 1972, after Bowie had signed with RCA Records, RCA reissued the album as Space Oddity (leaving out track #3, "Don't Sit Down").
Now with Visconti as producer the sound appears tighter, more energetic, and Bowie has moved away from the Britishness of baroque pop, which was quite typical for the period, and instead he has fused the album with blues rock elements and more straight-forward compositions founded on more traditional rock & roll instrumentation - perhaps influenced by a more American traditional style, also delivered by The Rolling Stones. Fleetwood Mac and The Who. The obvious hit on the album is "Space Oddity", which was Bowie's first hit song making it to number #5 on the national singles chart list, however, the remaining songs are somewhat distanced from that single, and the album comes out as a bit unfocused without a clear style or direction. Some tracks are pure blues rock compositions with what appears as a distinct The Doors inspiration, whereas other tracks are more subdued psychedelic pop songs completely without the rock tension.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]
