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Hunky Dory

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Hunky Dory (1971.), David Bowie's fourth studio album

David Bowie is arguably one of the greatest solo artists of all time and his unique alternative style (notice the omission of the word 'pop') is timeless and has deservedly won him loads of fans from generation to generation. Bowie has changed his style from album to album and has produced music in loads of different styles whilst still maintaining his distinctive sound. 'Hunky Dory', Bowie's fourth studio album, released in 1971 is one of the greatest chapters in his career and is definitely one of his most powerful releases.

'Hunky Dory' is the second album in what I would describe as Bowie's classic run of five albums from 'Man Who Sold the World' to 'Diamond Dogs' when he was at his very best. 'Hunky Dory' though is one of his most unique releases. Bowie was not yet into his famous Ziggy Stardust glam rock period but neither is this album as strongly guitar based as its predecessor 'Man Who Sold the World'. 'Hunky Dory' instead is much more acoustic based with lots of piano thrown in but most of all is an album of unbelievable songwriting - songs don't come much better than those on this album. The album is really well structured as well - each side of the original LP has happy/upbeat songs for the most part but finishes off with a darker, emotive and more powerful song ('Quicksand' and 'Bewlay Brothers'). Bowie's backing group are also excellent on this album. Rick Wakeman's jazzy piano playing is there practically throughout and really characterises the album. Mick Ronson plays some great guitar solos on the album especially in 'Life on Mars'. Bowie's accomplished and often overlooked saxophone playing is also top notch on this album.

David Bowie's album collection has undergone a number of remasters since CD's became commonplace about 20 years ago. Recently an enhanced CD version of 'Hunky Dory' was released. Obviously the sound quality is great but the version lacks any bonus tracks, which incidentally can be found on the 1991 remaster. The latter is the version I would recommend. It still has excellent sound quality and also has demo versions of 'Quicksand' and 'Bewlay Brothers' as well as an album outtake 'Bombers' and an alternative version of 'The Supermen' from 'The Man Who Sold the World' album.

Eventhough this masterpiece yielded a fair-share of singles, this album is not pop in my opinion but instead is a great serving of alternative, extremely listenable music. 'Changes', one of Bowie's well known songs starts the album. An excellent song, its got a classic chorus with loads of piano play. 'oh You Pretty Things' is a great follow up - brilliant for a sing along with another catchy chorus. It runs very cleverly into 'Eight Line Poem' which is a more reflective songs with somem rather bluesy guitar playing from Mick Ronson. 'Life On Mars?' is next up and this one truly one of Bowie's great songs. The lyrics are some of the best I've heard and Mick Ronson's closing solo is out of this world - listen out for the phone ringing at the end of the track! 'Kooks' is an upbeat acoustic track which Bowie wrote for his son, Zowy Bowie. Then we come to 'Quicksand', in my opinion the best track on the album. Its got an amazingly calming start before building into a powerful, heartfelt song - the chorus is really moving. A song about losing direction in life, this is one of Bowie's greatest songs.

What was side two of the LP kicks off with a happy sing along 'Fill Your Heart', a great track, although it is the weakest track on this great album - ironically Bowie didn't write this one! 'Andy Warhol' follows this; this strong acoustic jam is excellent. The goofing around in the studio at the start is a hillarious, where Bowie keeps correcting the sound engineer's pronunciation of 'Warhol'. 'Song For Bob Dylan' is a tribute to one of Bowie's great influences and is followed by 'Queen Bitch', the most rocking track on the album, Ronson's guitar work on this track is first rate. 'The Bewlay Brothers' is an unbelievably potent finish to the album. I'm amazed how many reviewers of this album overlook the greatness of this track. I've never heard a track like it. It's mostly acoustic based and is Bowie's telling story of his own brother's lifelong mental troubles. The warped sounding voice at the end of the album is really freaky and it makes your blood run cold but its a remarkable finish to an amazing album.

The 'Hunky Dory' album captures David Bowie on one of the high points of his career. I'm not sure if I'd call it his best album but its up there with his finest efforts and this album is sure to stand the test of time. I'd recommend this album to anyone who likes a unique alternative style of music or to any fan of David Bowie, although there isn't such such a thing as a Bowie fan who doesn't own this masterpiece!

As I delved deeper and deeper into Bowie's back catalogue I found this excellent album. I have never been a big fan of the hit single "Changes", which is admittedly a great song, perhaps a little overplayed, but there is so much more here. "Life on Mars" is perhaps Bowie's best song ever ( and check out the Mick Rock directed video of this song if you get a chance - it is just stunning, a wonderful visual compliment to an incredible song.)"Andy Warhol" is gentle folk rocker with twisted lyrics and a hilarious spoken intro. "Queen Bitch" is a great glam rocker, its lyrics a pointed barb at those who try too hard to dress up but totally miss the point of doing it. ( " God, I could do better than that!!" Bowie sings ... great lyrics on this one!) Overall this one covers many bases, from folk to rock to string enhanced ballads. ( Rick Wakeman, soon to join British prog rockers Yes, plays piano on a few songs on this album, and Bowie's guitarist, the criminally under-rated and incredibly versatile Mick Ronson, had a hand in the string arrangements.) If all you know of Bowie is his 80's hits like "Let's Dance" this album might come as a bit of a shock to you. But it's a great place to start digging into David.

This was where David Bowie's legend started to grow, and while the upbeat pop textures of HUNKY DORY would pale in comparison to the trashy glam rock of ZIGGY STARDUST, this album still rewrote the rules of pop music. "Changes" is quite possibly the most sophisticated pop song ever created, and even though it didn't make the top 40 in America, it's still one of Bowie's most memorable songs. And that's the way HUNKY DORY can be described: unapologetically pop. Songs like "Kooks", "Life On Mars", "Oh! You Pretty Things" are well-crafted jewels of keyboard-and-string-laden pop music that, in spite of the Bowie-ishness, are fine examples of what pop music should sound like. I guess before Bowie turned the amps up to 11 with ZIGGY STARDUST, he kept them low for HUNKY DORY. And that was a good idea, because can you imagine a song like "Changes" drenched in feedback? I don't think so. Even so, HUNKY DORY was basically the calm before the storm that was ZIGGY STARDUST.

Hunky Dory was Bowie's last album as a wannabe, just before he found fame with Ziggy Stardust. It's a fascinating work on many levels, displaying lyrical depth, wit and great musical variety, from the music hall pop of Changes, through the sixties pop of Oh You Pretty Things to the cinematic lyricism of Life On Mars, a soaring masterpiece. Another of my favorites is Fill Your Heart, a quirky number with his somersaulting voice over lively piano and cheeky sax. Elements of the folk singer/songwriter are evident on numbers like Song For Bob Dylan while The Supermen reminds me of his later science fiction work. Bowie also salutes Lou Reed and Andy Warhol here, in fact the whole album makes references to his musical influences. It is a bridge between his earlier music hall style and the glamrock that was to follow, and this was just the right mixture to ensure a timeless classic.

"Hunky Dory" is the album where it really came together for David Bowie. Having tried his hand at psychedelic folk and bizarre proto-metal, Bowie found a way to put all these pieces together, backed by the soon-to-be-Spiders from Mars (guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist Trevor Bolder and drummer Mick Woodmansey) with keyboardist Rick Wakeman along. Thet album is a curious mix of folky whimsy, distorted guitar leads, and pop genius.

One thing that's certain is that the album is a lot more relaxed then its predecessor ("The Man Who Sold the World"), from the opening strains of piano-driven "Changes", it's clear this is something entirely different then the last record. But one thing that's consistent is enormously high quality of song writing, whether it is balladry ("Life on Mars?", one of Bowie's early greats), folkish (the lyrically brilliant "Quicksand") or proto-punk (Velvet Underground-inspired "Queen Bitch"). Along the way, tributes to Andy Warhol ("Andy Warhol"), Bob Dylan ("Song for Bob Dylan") and raising children ("Kooks") provide a stunning sense of diversity, mood and playfulness to the material.

Bottom line-- this album is pretty much essential listening. Fantastic from start to finish. Highly recommended.

Before he was Ziggy Stardust or the Thin White Duke, David Bowie was "Bowie: the singer-songwriter" and "Hunky Dory" is Bowie at the height of this particular phase in his career. The album is quite diverse in terms of both musical and lyrical content. One song can be a bouncy piano-driven pop song, while the next could be a sombre reflective guitar piece. All the songs are excellent, unlike these one-hit wonder albums that just seem to be cropping up nowadays.

The album kicks off with "Changes" - a fantastic piano ballad in which Bowie urges "you Rock 'n' rollers" to turn and face the strange changes that one has to go through in life. "Oh! You Pretty Things" is another piano-based song, and quite an upbeat and poppy one despite its dark lyrical content - reflecting Bowie's early obsession with the philosophy of Nietzsche ("Homo Sapiens have outgrown their use.....You gotta make way for the Homo Superior"). "Eight Line Poem" is pure poetic beauty, and could happily be read as a poem on its own. "Life On Mars" is, in many people's belief, Bowie's best song. While I don't think it's his very best, it's still a great track, with a sweeping string arrangement courtesy of Mick Ronson (who also plays guitar on the album). "Kooks" is an irresistible acoustic-pop song that Bowie wrote for his (then) baby son Zowie, and it features some memorable lines, in particular "Don't pick fights with the bullies or the cads/ 'Cause I'm not much cop at punching other people's Dads". "Quicksand" is a break from the wit and wackiness of the previous few songs. Bowie picks up his acoustic guitar and goes into reflective mode, telling us that he's "sinking in the quicksand of [his] thoughts". As well as thought-provoking lyrics, the song boasts a lovely melody, making it one offavourite songs on the album. Things get happy again with "Fill Your Heart", a jazzy music-hall number with saxophone by Bowie himself and trumpet by Trevor Bolder (who also plays bass on the album). "Andy Warhol" is a dark, Spanish-sounding folk song about, you guessed it - Andy Warhol. The lyrics are truly bizarre, but it's a great song nevertheless."Song For Bob Dylan" is another song about an important cult figure of the 60's/70's. It's also quite a good folk-rock tune. "Queen Bitch", the album's lone hard-rocker is another winner, with some particularly funny (and biting) lyrics. Musically, this is one of the songs that paved the way for Bowie's next album. The album's sombre closer, the "The Bewlay Brothers", is a musically sparse and eerily moving track, with some rather dark lyrics concerning mental illness, bisexuality and drug abuse. It's another good piece of poetry - the imagery is just striking. Its sinister "Lay me place and bake me Pie" coda sung in both low and high-pitched cockney voices is strangely almost tear-jerking.

Well, there you have it folks. The mature, intelligent lyrics and catchy tunes are bound to get any serious lover of good music hooked. These are the my exact qualities that make "Hunky Dory" one of my favourite albums and truly one of Bowie's best.

David Bowie's 1970 release The Man Who Sold the World announced the coming of a great new rock artist. The release of 1972's Hunky Dory announced its arrival. Interestingly, Hunky Dory sounded much different than its predecessor. While the former record was heavy and dominated by Mick Ronson's always tasteful electric guitar, the dominant instrument on Hunky Dory is Rick Wakeman's piano, which takes the lead on several songs (and bears no resemblance to Wakeman's keyboards in Yes). When the guitar takes over, it is more often than not acoustic, on tracks such as "Quicksand," the dark "Andy Warhol," and the extra-ordinary closer "The Bewlay Brothers." The electric guitar does almost all of its work on two songs: it is loud and raunchy on hard-rocking "Queen Bitch" and slower and more colorful on the plaintive "Song for Bob Dylan."

Clearly, this is a record of great variety, even though rarely moves beyond mid-tempo. "Changes," the disc's now all-too-familiar opener, is similar in structure to many of Hunky Dory's other songs: slower-tempo verses, mid-tempo choruses, and piano leads. Following this song - which probably sounded better in 1972 than it does now - the tempo remains in the slow-to-mid mode, picking up slightly on the string-adorned "Life On Mars?" and the Kinksy "Kooks," a sincere and ever-so-slightly touching comment on Bowie's recent fatherhood. It then backs up again for "Quicksand," an acoustic, lyrically-cryptic lament sung from the perspective of a would-be - or wannabe - Nietzschean Superman who "ain't got the power anymore" to harness his alleged greatness. (Lyrical references to Nietzsche also pop up in "Oh! You Pretty Things.") This is probably the strongest song so far on the disc, and demonstrates that Bowie was just as effective with his voice and acoustic guitar as he was with his may experimental gestures.

The slightly quicker tempo reappears on the sappy, harmless fun of "Fill Your Heart," continues with the one-two punch of "Song For Bob Dylan" and "Andy Warhol," and comes to a head on the only truly up-tempo song on the disc, "Queen Bitch." Then, it is right back to the sparse acoustics of the "The Bewlay Brothers," a haunting tribute to Bowie's schizophrenic half-brother. This is a particularly effective closer, as it allows the effect of the rest of the CD to settle a bit, and at the same time affects the listener in a whole new way. It is also further evidence (along with songs such as "Quicksand") that, had he not chosen to become rock's consummate chameleon, Bowie could have ended up in many of the same sentences with Neil Young.

When I first heard Hunky Dory, I considered it to be the greatest CD that I had ever heard. I no longer feel this strongly about it (even hearing Ziggy Stardust shortly thereafter made me start to wonder), but its virtues are still just as obvious. The variety in moods always keeps the listener interested, and the fact that there is only one familiar track on the disc ("Changes") makes it an ideal place to appreciate Bowie's range (assuming that you already know his "hits.") Furthermore, Hunky Dory is the last time for a decade that Bowie would not rely on an alter ego (eg, Ziggy Stardust, Alladin Sane) or a midwife - such as Brian Eno - to bring his ideas to life. While Bowie's self-conscious experimentation was very fruitful, the absence of it here is quite refreshing, as whatever multiple personalities he may have are revealed through the variety of the songs themselves.

The fact that Bowie is more "himself" on Hunky Dory makes two of the disc's lyrics - in the first and last songs, no less - all the more interesting. In "Changes," Bowie says, "So I turned myself to face me/But I never caught a glimpse/Of how others must see the faker...." In "The Bewlay Brothers," he says, "Oh, we were gone/Real cool traders/We were so turned on/You thought
we were fakers."

Bowie seems to be aware of the possibility that, as a performer, he may come across as inauthentic in the eyes of others. On future recordings, he would abandon almost all pretense of
"being himself," and whole-heartedly celebrate the possibility of having multiple personalities. On Hunky Dory, however, he is still David Bowie, the solo singer/songwriter. Even if he did abandon this role almost completely with his next album, he clearly went out with a bang.

and my favorite Bowie album. Pre - Ziggy Stardust, we have here none-the-less the very musicians who would become the Spiders from Mars. Some of his British folk leanings are evident here but they're unlike anything from that scene. These songs are pretty wierd - and pretty unique.

I won't ramble on about each song as others have done that well enough on this forum. I will say that "The Bewlay Brothers" is my favorite song. Bowie's intricate wordplay is wonderful and the howling chorus with ringing acoustic guitar is haunting. The end of the song sounds like a scene from the movie he did some time later called "Labrinth."

Rycodisc put out some great additional tracks on their Bowie re-releases, but the ones included here will mostly be useful to hardcore fans who collect such things.

Unless you insist on his harder rock n' roll stuff, this could be considered his best album ever.

In the void before Bowie became the famous Ziggy Stardust, he was basically a singer/songwriter, not out to blow you away but to entertain. And this album is certainly entertaining, probably about as any folk, pop/rock record I own. Bowie was into his 'musical chameleon' stages by then but seems quite comfortable in the state he's in.

The record kicks off with the famous 'Changes', one of Bowie's most known songs. It's probably all that much more ironic coming from Bowie himself as nobody had a clue how many he would go through in the near future at the time. The song can take on a new meaning for each individual who hears it. The album lives up to Bowie's history of being in various styles at once as we're hit with some anthemic rocking of 'Oh You Pretty Things' and 'Life on Mars' to the folky 'Song for Bob Dylan' and 'Andy Warhol'. The best part is that Bowie puts all these differing styles of songs together and you never feel out of place jumping from one to the other. Probably would serve as a good starting point for a Bowie 'newbie' and if you're a fan of his you won't be dissapointed in the least.

What is good about this album?

The lyrics? Even Dylan and Lennon meet their match here!

The tunes rival those of the Beatles.

The guitar playing of Ronson is almost as influential as Hendrix, yet generally unobtrusive enough to be almost entirely ignored by all but Ronson devotees.

The singing voice and style is as influential in its time as Billie Holiday, Elvis, or Sinatra were in theirs.

The production is as influential as Dark Side of the Moon's.

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