Ground Control to Major Tom, "You're recording in a most unusual way!" (Space Oddity - David Bowie)

Member Name: DanielKemp

Product:	Space Oddity - David Bowie
Date:	24/06/09 (92 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The title-track still sounds great, if you like acoustic records you'll dig this!

Disadvantages: Far from Bowie's strongest body of work, inconsistent song-writing

David Bowie - Space Oddity (1969)

Producer: Tony Visconti, Gus Dudgeon

Space Oddity
Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed
(Don't Sit Down)
Letter to Hermione
Cygnet Committee
Janine
An Occasional Dream
Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud
God Knows I'm Good
Memory of a Free Festival

Following a flurry of novelty singles (The Laughing Gnome, anyone?) and a mediocre debut album, mainstream success was still capably evading Mr David Jones. No doubt feeling weary and ever so slightly frustrated, he retired into the studio to start work on his second album proper, Space Oddity (the album was entitled David Bowie in the UK until its 1972 reissue, at which time it took on the name Space Oddity).

Well, the title-track gave Bowie his first hit, reaching the top 5 in the UK singles chart. David has always been a firm favourite to jump on bandwagons and to take advantage of Britain's interests; in this case the release of Space Oddity tied in with the Apollo 11 moon landings. But who can blame him? I'd have wanted a hit by now too! Producer, Tony Visconti, refused to have anything to do with the song, as he deemed it yet another throwaway recording which would unfairly pigeonhole Bowie as just another novelty act. It's a very acoustic affair, improved upon by joyous stylophone backing. But let us not forget the string section, which truly makes it a rousing piece of music, and 40 years later it still sounds fantastic.

Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed is probably as close as Bowie ever got to becoming Bob Dylan. It starts pretty calm and chilled out, with Bowie merely strumming his 12-string guitar, but before long he lets his hair down and the harmonicas and electric guitars come into the fray, taking no prisoners. Psychedelica was obviously fresh in Bowie's mind as he lets rip the lyric, "I got eyes in my backside!" But what tops it off are the fabulous harmonica blasts, which turn it into one of the album's standout moments.

Always a highlight, Letter to Hermione shows a very rare and honest side to Bowie. Written for an ex-girlfriend, Bowie writes in his letter, "They say your life is going very well, they say you sparkle like a different girl!" I like it when his voice starts cracking in the second half of the song; it illustrates a real human emotion within the song and it's always nice to hear a recording which is relatively simple in design, but is overwhelming in its poignancy.

The ambitious Cygnet Committee is one of Bowie's longest recordings, but in my opinion it bites off more than it can chew. At well over 9 minutes, it is your pretty standard progressive folk rock song, and does very little to hold your attention. It does everything you'd expect it to - it starts quiet, gets a little multi-layered and complex... oh hang on, quiet again... wait for it, wait for it, IT'S LOUD NOW! You get the idea, right?

Bowie admits to having multiple personalities in Janine, so it should have been no surprise when he whopped out Ziggy and even less of a surprise when he started crooning in a mustard yellow suit circa 1974 (over-indulgent use of Brylcreem included). Janine is another acoustic recording, featuring a very bouncy and lively feel to it. It breaks down no barriers, but it is damn good fun, so I'm not going to complain. Plus, the chorus rocks, "Janine you'd like to know me well, but I have things in my head that even I can't face... But if you took an axe to me, you'd kill another man and not me at all!"

Bowie even brings out an un-credited Mick Ronson and a full orchestral arrangement for the first time on Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud. It's all very professionally written and arranged, but it does nothing in encouraging me to recommend it to you, it kind of just waddles towards the end of its running time in an uninspiring fashion. True, it isn't offensively bad, but it's perhaps just a little too middle of the road for its own good. You follow?

The album is brought to a close with Memory of a Free Festival. It would later be split into two separate tracks, given a re-recording and released as a single. Seriously, the record label big shots at Mercury Records should have been shot - I've never heard a song less suited to a single release! The album version isn't all that bad and it slowly builds up on the atmospheric side of things. Before long you have a whole crowd of people chanting, "The sun machine is coming down and we're gonna have a party!" Personally, I think it's great, and it encompasses what Bowie was trying to achieve throughout this often 'hippy' and psychedelic recording.

Usually considered to be Bowie's first LP of any worth, Space Oddity is a good, but not great album; as it lacks the consistently good song-writing which would later go on to be the trademark of many of his best recordings.

Under no circumstances should you make it your first stop on the Bowie train, but confirmed fans of David should definitely give it a spin!

6.5/10

Daniel Kemp

Read more of my reviews at www.danielkempreviews.co.uk

Summary: One to check out after you have bought some of his classic albums!