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Review of the Ziggy Stardust album

Circus Magazine (July 1972)

DAVID BOWIE: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars.  RCA

Someday in the far future when armed guides are leading interplanetary tourists through the ruins of Western society, perhaps they'll also be touting chrome statuettes of David Bowie - the young man from England who, if it may not be said that he saw it coming, at least was heard to cry "Look out!"

David's latest exclamation comes in the form of this portrait-in-song of the ultimate rock and roll star.  Ziggy is an otherworldly figure who can really sing and "lick em by smiling".  With the lyrical expertise he has demonstrated in Hunky Dory and earlier albums, Bowie dispassionately chronicles Ziggy's upward course, his reign at the top, and his inevitable decline.  From start to finish this is an LP of dazzling intensity and mad design.  Bowie is achieving with words the sort of effect which groups like Pink Floyd are attempting with instruments and volume.  At times one is almost mesmerizes by the tumble of images and the sheer force of Bowie's performance.  A stunning work of genius.  Not your everyday sort of album, but an album for every day - at least until the End.

---This page last modified: 13 Dec 2018---

Ziggy Stardust Scarf (1973)