Track Listing

1. Watch That Man
2. Aladdin Sane
3. Drive In Saturday
4. Panic In Detroit
5. Cracked Actor
6. Time
7. Prettiest Star
8. Let's Spend The Night Together
9. Jean Genie
10. Lady Grinning Soul

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1720 in Music
• Released on: 1999-09-06
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Enhanced, Original recording reissued
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
The second most important moment in Bowie's glam period, Aladdin Sane is full of smart, cutting-edge songs that hold up decades later as classic moments in rock. Standout tracks include "Panic in Detroit", with Mick Ronson's screaming guitars and Mick Woodmansey's urgent drumming; "Watch that Man", a piano-driven, rollicking number perfect for the Bowie strut; the lascivious and sweaty "Cracked Actor"; the punky "Jean Genie"; and a perfectly raucous cover of "Let's Spend the Night Together". "Time" hearkens back to the theatrics of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, while "Drive in Saturday", "The Prettiest Star", and "Lady Grinning Soul" serve as precursors to Bowie's "plastic soul" sounds that came later in the 1970s. Aladdin Sane is even more impressive when considering that the same year this album was made, Bowie was also working with artists like Iggy Pop and Lou Reed, producing some of their most heralded works (the Stooges' Raw Power and Reed's Transformer). --Lorry Fleming

CD Description
It's no surprise that ALADDIN SANE and PIN UPS came out in the same year. Each drip with the seedy sexuality of London's late '60s sexual revolution. Yet, while PIN UPS was a mid-'60s sampling of influences--a glorified cover album--ALADDIN SANE was all Bowie.
Stepping out of the Ziggy Stardust shadow (Bowie would announce his temporary retirement from the stage later that year), ALADDIN SANE was the aftermath ofZiggy's visit, a brutal memoir of the drugs, sex and glamour that a young starlet could find at the time. "Forget that I'm 50/'Cause you just got paid", Bowie croons, adopting thepersona of a "Cracked Actor", and one wonders how far stardom had pushed Bowie. Was he indeed a lad insane?
The macho guitar rave-ups are a brilliant spewing of the PIN UPS influences. Mick Ronson's searing guitar is beautiful trash, made of Stonesy grind and dangerous Kinks-like riffing. Bowie is at an evocative peak, his vocals at once voyeuristic and enticing. His cover of "Let's Spend The Night Together" sends an unwashed shiver up the back, and his youthful exuberance on "Panic In Detroit" is charmingly believable.
ALADDINSANE showed that Bowie was an artist with staying power that reached beyond his previous Martian Cult status.

Customer Reviews

The best album of the best glam-rocker
I originally bought Aladdin Sane solely on the basis of the Album cover (you don't get anywhere near the effect from the CD). I got home, put it on and my life changed...

The key question is whether you can you separate this kind of personal history from the music itself? I think you can. Anyone who likes rock music has to appreciate the sheer quality of each and every one of the tracks on the record, and I mean bar none. Most albums of the time included a few good tracks and a lot of rubbish. But on Aladdin Sane, Bowie just reels off quality song after song. If you have a favourite off this album you are missing something.

I cannot think of a better album that sums up the glam rock era. I can think of few albums in any era that come anywhere near it.

Poor Little Greenie!
Squeezed between "Ziggy Stardust" and "Diamond Dogs", Bowie presents himself as his most extreme glam rock self. It's not that the look is outrageous, it's that the songs were immediate classics. Opener "Watch That Man" is a rolling rocker that even mid-tempo artists like 'Lulu' covered. A finger snapping 'Drive In Saturday" is perfectly mixed with Bowie's trademark saxaphone and a smooth melody. "Panic In Detroit" should have been a high charting single with it's multi-bongo banging percussion and Bowies backup singing chorus screaming like banshees - it's a hair raiser! Not to be outdone on stage, Bowie has nearly always performed the nasty, narcissistic "Cracked Actor" on stage and "Let's Spend The Night Together" certainly must have made the 'Rolling Stones' sit up and wonder why they didn't do it like Bowie's hard rockin' version. However, the album is best remembered for it's heavy bass themed thumper, "Jean Genie"; a foreshadowing to Iggy Pop's "China Girl". Ryko never added any songs to this collection as it is such a sure fire seller. Ten stars!

The Ultimate Glam Rock Album!
Bowie was arguably at his peak when he released "Aladdin Sane". Every song was a potential hit single, with "Jean Genie" taking the honors. Hard-core lyrics and cutting-edge guitars drove this collection into millions of homes. "Watch That Man" (covered by Lulu!) and "Cracked Actor" brought in the hilarious vocal antics of the ... Bowie while "Drive-In Saturday Night" bounces along like a teenage dream date. One of the most impressive songs here is "Panic In Detoit", a relentless beat of a song with a wondrous overload of congos and screaming background vocals. The entire collection begs re-listening, but it's so good, I guess RYKO felt no additional songs or outtakes were needed to sell this album. Rock it with that devishish attitude!