[tintin47]

I already bought it. I haven't had a chance to listen yet, though, as I had to go to work.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Another vote for Ziggy Stardust.

I have the SACD version and love it, though I'll probabl grab another copy on vinyl one of these days.

 

[RonMiller1]

I vote Space Oddity It's what got me into Bowie, and is still my favorite.

 

[DLeeWebb]

Bowie's whole approach in his musical career has been to play the chameleon. He has various persona's in his music and eras in his career. Unless you have determined which of these eras that you like and have a preference for that persona or era, I don't see how you could do anything else but start with a compilation. I have loved Bowie throughout his many "ch-ch-changes." I have seen him live seven times from the "David Live" Tower Theater concert to his "Reality Tour." (God, when I saw him do "Station To Station" (the song), and an Iggy Pop song called "Sister Midnight" live on the Station To Station-tour I felt like I had reached some kind of musical nirvana...) I personally think that the "Ziggy Stardust" (which is great) is overemphasized. I began with Bowie with the "Diamond Dogs"/"Aladdin Sane" albums and went backwards from there, and followed him from that point. I think "The Best Of Bowie" is a good overview ( David Bowie Best Of Bowie CD ) My top five studio albums, more or less in order, would probably be "Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars," (I guess, if I had to pick just one...) "Young Americans," "Diamond Dogs," "Hunky Dory", and "Outside" (his nine inch nails-influenced\Trent Reznor collaboration). "Let's Dance" is a very underrated album, and "Pin-Ups" his collection of covers, is an awesome album as well. (Both "David Live," and "Stage" are great live albums...) I didn't get into the instrumental stuff on "Low" or "Heroes" (though I absolutely love the song "Heroes"...) I know that there are many Bowie fans that consider that stuff among his best. It's all about WHICH Bowie you like...good luck!

 

[steviebee]

Can I put a vote in for a wonderful Bowie album before Ziggy,,,, 'The Man Who Sold The World'.

Classic songs from just before the wave broke....Bowie does metal. Ish. There's more adrenaline & raw sexuality in the first track than I can easily describe...+ 'Running Gun Blues, 'All The Madmen' - su-bloody-perb.

I'd go Space Oddity too, because it was the first and for the beautiful 'Wide Eyed Boy...' and 'Janine'. I remember having only enough scrimped-for pocket money for either Space Oddity or The Soft Parade (just released that week), standing in the record shop with both sleeves in my hand (that beautiful blue original SO sleeve, not the post-Ziggy reissue). Agh, what a dilemma. Of course, I had to buy The Doors, but it took some doing I can tell ya...

 

[Jubei]

Ziggy Stardust without a doubt.

 

[tintin47]

I got the SACD/CD version, which is nice, even if I don't have a player right now. After one listen, it was fantastic. I am really happy that I finally made myself do this. Also, the recording quality is fantastic. Just terribly enjoyable all around.

 

[spacemanspliff]

Anyone ever hear his rap album?

It's called Bowie Beatboxer.

Yeehaw!

Yeah to Ziggy Stardust. I recently saw his last concert with his original cast. Damn was he skinny! Did he change clothes for each song? Seemed like it. Good stuff though. Saw him with NiN too. That was interesting.

 

[priest]

I'm going to buck the trend and recommend you start with Hunky Dory. My favorite Bowie by a very wide margin.

 

[soozieq]

Ziggy and Hunky are 2 great places to start.

 

[Signal2Noise]

I'm a Bowie fan from way back. In fact, one of me favorite concerts so far was his Serious Moonlight tour way back in...'83.

When I first got into Bowie's music these are the records/cassettes that I listend to and loved:

Ziggy Stardust
Low
Stage (despite Allmusic's rating

)
Station to Station
Scary Monsters (Ashes to Ashes blew me away)

 

[Qonmus]

I agree with Priest. Hunky Dory is by far my favorite Bowie album.

I also like Low very much, though it probably helps to be an Eno fan.

 

[bong]

As demonstrated, most people will suggest Ziggy and Hunky... I give another vote for Low.

 

[catachresis]

I'm with DeeLeeWeb on the fact that Bowie practically originated the idea of the musician's recurring self-reinvention. And it's not a gob of fluff for Bowie, because his Ch-ch-ch-changes actually created substantive differences in the kinds of songs he authored.

I'm concur with the other fans of the Eno collaboration trilogy: Low and Heroes *are* great, though I'm not overwhelmed by Lodger. These albums aren't packed with classic rock hits, but they're stupendously artful (as are the earlier Man Who Sold the World and Hunky Dory). To listen to Low is to hear the sound of post-punk music made ten years later.

I'd just add that the concept-rocker Diamond Dogs is pretty compelling, and I'm surprised that nobody I've seen has mentioned Bowie's last solid and viciously cynical art album, Scary Monsters. For anybody who's ever bridled at the quality of Let's Dance, Scary Monsters is a terrific example of what Bowie might have been making if he hadn't decided that he missed the Top 40.

 

[DavidMahler]

Wow, good thread because Bowie has so many distinct styles. If you skip ahead 3 or 4 years you land up getting a very different sounding artist than before

I guess the ideal way to start would be the album Ziggy Stardust, because it's his most famous album and has some of his most beloved material, but it's not his best in my opinion.

If you really really like Ziggy, check out Hunky Dory which was the album just before Ziggy and I think it's actually a more fun listen.

But I also think Low is a very important record to own.

Once you have these 3 essential albums check out Aladdin Sane, Station To Station and Heroes.

Ultimately you 'll want to get Space Oddity even if just for the title track which is probably Bowie's most well known song.

After that you have a very fine Bowie collection, but I would eventually get Diamond Dogs, Young Americans, Lodger, The Man Who Sold The World, Scary Monsters and even Let's Dance which has some of Bowie's most blatantly commercial material.

But definitely Ziggy, Hunky and Low are the three you should invest in first.