Young Americans (EMI)

David Bowie

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Number of Discs: 1
• ASIN: B00000635N
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,310,419 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

With 1975's Young Americans, David Bowie chose to head in yet another "new direction," this time extrapolating on the slick disco-soul vibe that characterized 1974's David Live. Surrounded by an army of backup singers (including Luther Vandross) and smooth session players, Bowie actually makes the stylistic affectation work on three of the songs--"Fame," "Young Americans," and "Can You Hear Me." The rest of the record suffers from a dearth of quality songwriting; all the tasty licks in the world can't disguise the fact that "Fascination," "Win," "Somebody Up There Likes Me," and "Right" are basically empty-headed disco vamps. (And the less said about the overwrought cover of the Beatles' "Across the Universe," the better.) A necessary transitional step to Station to Station, perhaps, but not a great record. --Dan Epstein

Product Description

Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. 2007. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Bowie, awesome production -- what's not to like??, August 13, 2003

By	Gordon M. Wagner (Suburbia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Young Americans (Audio CD)

THIS IS A CLASSIC ALBUM AND ONE YOU OUGHT TO HEAR AGAIN AND AGAIN. Smooth, polished, perfect -- if David Bowie had emerged from the primordial goo of 60s/70s music to deliver only this single album (as opposed to his Picasso-like eternal rock brilliance) he would still be considered a genius.

For someone to term this album "plastic" is an abomination. This is brilliant work, satisfying on several levels at once, not the least of which is the joy of hearing the stellar production and playing throughout the album. The arrangements will have you out of your seat with joy, shouting out the open front door to the neighbors to get over here and listen to this, no, wait, I'll just turn it up. It's *exciting* how good this music is.

There's one point in "Win" where the background singers, Bowie, and the bass line are all happening and it's a kind of vortex or singularity that delivers all that music has to offer, I mean they really grab the gold ring and bring it home to show Grandma. This album is so good that I've never objected to the horn charts, which always irritate me otherwise. It's a beautifully crafted album, truly a work of art.

Yes, "Across The Universe" blows monkey chunks. Listen, not every oyster you slice open is going to contain a pearl, you know what I mean..? And I heard "Young Americans" often enough in high school to really never want to hear the song again, though 25 years on it's not half as bad as I recall.

The combination of Win > Fascination > Right > Somebody Up There stands as the vital, beating heart of the album. Excellent for slow f*cking. This album is like the Seventh Cavalry riding over the mountain to save the day, this album is like Charlemagne or King Arthur's Camelot riding up to your house on horseback with nothing but good news. Boundless riches.

Can he sing the blues? Don't stray. This is an excellent album, well worth the price. You will never regret having purchased it. There are more visceral and more forgettable Bowie albums, but this is the most elegant and refined rock album that God has so far seen fit to release to the general public (you and me).

Note from 2004: DB is apparently mortal after all, having had a stent installed in a heart procedure this year. Difficult to believe. Anyone that's reached the stratospheric heights like David Bowie has hit musically ought to be immune from death... what a genius. This album is irrefutable proof of his staggering talent. David Bowie defines what a rock star is. You have GOT to hear this album!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rare Album Of Consistency, July 20, 2005

By	Martin A Hogan "Marty From SF" (San Francisco, CA. (Hercules)) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Young Americans [ECD] (Audio CD)

After "Diamond Dogs", the world was thrown off balance again with Bowie's rumors of hanging out in a Philadelphia studio with fans sleeping at the stage door. It was the same city he recorded the "Diamond Dogs" tour - the `City of Brotherly Love'. Black/White Soul Love music from Bowie? No way. Yes way. Although it was a strong departure, "Young Americans" has become one of those Bowie albums that are so unique and distinct in its character that you either love it or hate it. It's all true soul funk with the magical backup of the late Luther Vandross's voice. "Young Americans" made it as a modest single, but it was the collaborative effort of "Fame" with John Lennon that is the song of choice here. There is nothing like it anywhere in the world. Bowie's rendering of "Across The Universe" is an uninspired tribute to Lennon and "Can You Hear Me" is bland. However, "Somebody Up There Like Me" is a true funky bass driven number that completely satisfies. At the very least, this album is consistent and Bowie proves he truly has some serious soul.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Plastic Soul' Bowie plays Gamble & Huff to a T., July 13, 2001

By	StewartMcNaughton "stewartmcnaught" (Airdrie, Scotland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Young Americans (Audio CD)

Bowie's Glam edifice is reclad in philly soul slacks and swaps Londons West End for Broadway.

During his two year North American drive-thru, performing Glitter caked heavy metal at night,Bowie was by day absorbing the sounds of Galdys Night, Billy Paul et al. By 1974, he had already signposted his change of direction on his Orwellian 'concept' album, Diamond Dogs. Listen to 'When you rock and Roll with me' and you'll get the picture. Just in case no one took the hint, he embarked on another jaunt around the states with a convoy of trucks containing a 'post apocolyptic cityscape' stage set, from which he sang soulfull renditions of his back catalogue. Listen to the resultant 'David Live' album and and you can hear radically reworked versions of, most notably, 'Moonage daydream', 'All the young Dudes' and a spectacular camp-soul version of 'Rock'n'roll suicide.

When his convoy of props ended up in the florida swamps thanks to a road 'incident', he reopened at the Curtis Hixon Hall, somewhere in florida (don't ask me to be geographically precise here - I'm from Scotland)as a stripped down soul revue. The Diamond Dogs tour was over and the 'Philly Dogs tour began.

When Young Americans hit the shelves then, nobody should have been surprised. They were however (myself included, all that knowing cynisism is just hindsight. I was ten!) and the 'chamelion of rock' had just managed another total reinvention.

The hype around this was magnified in the UK when the BBC broadcast 'Cracked Actor', a documentry that managed to portray a skeletal anorexic coke head as the most intelligent and (still) glamorous entity in the universe - in the eyes of a ten year old anyhow. Still, He backed up the smoke and mirrors with a batch of music that will stand the most vigorous testing for a long time to come. As the album kicks off with the awesome title track, you know that you are in for something special. He manages to paint a picture if cosmopolotan urban streetlife and varnishes if with a veneer of contemporary political bite. There is even some prototype rapping at the end. 'Win' is a late night candlelit dinner in a Manhattan penthouse that is given a dark underbelly by Bowies' deep swimming vocals and decadent phrasing. Where did Ziggy get that voice?? 'Fascination' is a taster for his later multi layer production techniques with Eno. Here, they are used to convey an urgent and sexy groove and a certain Mr Luther Vandross is used superbly on backing vocals. 'Right' continues the theme in a slightly choppier manner and gives way to 'Somebody up there likes me' which, as well as being astoundingly good, conjured up images of 'The Candidate' and, er, 'Rhoda' (it's MY image and I'm going to use it).

Across the Universe should be awfull. I believe that it is generaly accepted as awfull (I may be wrong) but I love it. Compare Lennons' original wispy vocals with Bowies swirling vocal gymnastics and It's plain to see that the whole ethos of the song is being bulldozed. Still, I love it. 'Can you hear me' was the song that I used to play in my teens when trying to be sophiticated with a girl of my fancy. The fact that I didn't score once does not detract from the sheer shaggability factor of this song. Snogtastic. Then there's 'Fame'. One night with Lennon on a James Brown trip and you have the King of dancefloor Strutters. It is so cool it's positively artic. The man was truly godlike in his snide venomous put down of the trappings of his holy grail. The more knowing of us ten year olds could empathise with the man. It really was tough being so creative, enigmatic and famous.

The extra tracks on this reissue demonstrate what a hot streak Bowie was on. Somebody else said this and it is true. Bowie was diching tracks that other artists would have built careers on. That they can hold their own in such company should be recommendation enough.

This album kicked off the most creative period of Bowies' career. That it did so employing the likes of Dennis Davis, Earl Slick and Carlos Alomar is no coincidence. Check out the credits on the subsequent 'Stationtostation', 'Low', 'Heroes', 'Lodger', and 'Scary mosters' discs.

Young Americans is my favourite Bowie album, though not for any inellectual or aesthetic reasons. Scotland had a very rare real summer in 1975 and this music was perfect for bright summer days and hot steamy nights. Even when you were ten. We had even had a drought in '76 but that's another album.

This album gets five stars because that's all I'm allowed to award. Go buy it.