I keep up with today’s indie music. I try to, at least. I’ll be the first to admit though, that my knowledge on music that was made before the nineties is insufficient. That’s why I’ll be letting my dad pick an album for me to listen to once a week. He’s the type of guy who says “I have that on vinyl.” to pretty much every old song that we hear on the radio, so I believe he’s more than qualified for this.
For this first week, mi padre picked Ziggy Stardust by Bowie. The only song by Bowie that I really knew before this was Suffragette City, due to the countless hours that I used to spend playing Rock Band. That had to change.
I understand why the album has remained so popular over the years–it’s really fun to listen to! It’s pretty much your standard rock music, with a few unexpected instruments thrown in now and then (sax, harpsichord) and a singer with a great, distinct, unique voice.
The thing that sticks out the most about this album is definitely Bowie’s voice. I listen to so many bands with awful singers, that it’s nice to hear someone with pipes every now and then. You don’t need a good voice to make good music, but it can’t hurt.
Apparently, there’s some kind of story attached with this album. I think it’s about aliens teaching humans about peace and love and then getting killed or something…obviously, I wasn’t able to pick up on the plot of this album too well. If it really is there, it’s nothing like…let’s say Hospice by the Antlers, where you get slapped in the face numerous times with the story line. You don’t really need to understand a story or theme to enjoy this album, fortunately. It’s just all-around solid rock music, which is better without a plot.
Wham bam thank you mam.
Swole Ear 
Look at the album cover, standing under a sign that foretells the coming of musical messiah Kanye West. I’m glad you like his voice, but give him his due as a musical prophet of the first degree. Maybe you need to go back and figure out the message of the album, not just get lost in the lovely vocals.
I am a fan of this album and a bunch of the glam era of rock, including some T-Rex, Mott the Hoople, Alice Cooper and – especially – Mr. Bowie’s idol- Iggy Pop. These bands set the stage for punk and New Wave more than most would acknowledge. They were loud but they knew how to write a tune. I would like to recommend the following for your further listening pleasure:
Iggy Pop’s Lust For Life which you have heard on ads for cruises, etc. You can’t imagine what a shock this is to guys like me who were the only ones in their high school classes to listen to Iggy. Thank God for kids who had musical taste and got jobs in advertising. You would never know how much bigger Styx and Rush were than Iggy back in the day.
Mott the Hoople’s album The Hoople. Underrated. Loud. Fun. Love Ian Hunter’s voice.
Alice Cooper – Billion Dollar Babies – Bob Ezrin takes a mediocre band, a vocalist with some attitude and lyrical aptitude and put them on top of the rock charts – a trick he would later repeat with Kiss and (gulp) Pink Floyd as well as Peter Gabriel.
T-Rex, Electric Warrior: Rivaled Bowie for the top of the Brit charts in the early 1970s. Out there. Fun.
Finally, the soundtrack album from the movie The Life Aquatic which features Seu Jorge singing solo acoustic versions of songs from Ziggy Stardust in Portuguese. Very funny.
Bowie toured as Ziggy for a bit. One of his many faces that has made him interesting over the years. He was the nazz.
As usual, Jacob, your take on some of these “classics” is entertaining.