Best of Bowie: 30 - 26

30. "Oh! You Pretty Things" (Hunky Dory - 1971) Are we really just seeing our first track from Hunky Dory? Don't you worry, there will be plenty more. What a way to start that trend! "Oh! You Pretty Things" is definitely one of Bowie's more curiously strange tracks. A beautiful piano bounce care of Rick Wakeman in a catchy, show-tuney style is countered by Bowie's strange musings on the occultism of Aleister Crowley and the philosophy of Nietzsche. Common themes lyrically for Bowie throughout the 70's, but juxtaposed with this style it's definitely strange--beguiling may be more fitting. That's how Bowie rolls. Taking strange lyrics and injecting them into a sunny pop song. It came as no surprise to find out that Peter Noone of Hermin's Hermits covered this song, with Bowie playing piano for him. Add that to the list of strange collaborations.

29. "Time" (Aladdin Sane -1973) One common thread in a lot of David Bowie tunes is the exceptional useage of the piano. Be it an appearance of Rick Wakeman on the last track or Bowie himself, piano is a crucial and all too important instrument in the sound of Bowie's music. Easily the best album for piano stand-outs, Aladdin Sane has two phenomenal tracks where the piano takes over. First on this list is "Time." Mike Garson's performance here is strident, vampy and bombastic. it fits the bill for the song, a paranoid tryst of "Quaaludes and red wine." For all of it's over the top sound, it never feels overdone. Personally, Aladdin Sane is the pinnacle of Bowie's glam rock sound, moreso than his beloved but misunderstood by me classic Diamond Dogs. It may be the help of Mike Garson throughout the record or just the sheer insanity of it all, but "Time" is one of those integral pieces on Aladdin Sane and in the Bowie canon at large.

28. "Slip Away" (Heathen -2002) - Bowie revisits space. Images of future worlds, dystopia and space are also among the common themes that Bowie keeps revisiting. Here it becomes more about nostalgia than being in the moment of the Space Age. The song is a tribute to the "Uncle Floyd Show" which he learned about through his good friend John Lennon. I do not personally know much of anything about the show, but what I do know is that this track is beautiful. It's a slow, sweeping anthem that builds in sound. Of his later career beyond his "golden years" in the 70's, this is the highest of high points for Bowie. Tony Levin's bass slinks in the background of yet another piano driven song and Bowie's vocals hit new heights even in the autumn of his career. Unfortunately, Heathen was not his final album. It was followed up by Reality which has a few decent moments but none that compare to the grandeur and beauty of "Slip Away."

27. "Stay" (Station to Station - 1975) The monumental album Station to Station is chock full of great cuts and only one song from that album didn't make this list... due to it being a cover. That said, "Stay" is one of Bowie's best melanges of a funky leftover riff from Young Americans and infuses it with some hard rock and paranoia typical of Bowie's late 70's output. This song is most notable for Carlos Alomar's soaring guitar workout. Throughout the tracks six minutes, Alomar strings together some funky riffing overlayed with searing guitar solos that swirl in and out around you. Bowie's desperation in the lyrics also stand out. His strung out desperation whilst stranded in L.A. for two years is conveyed both lyrically and through the strain heard through his vocal delivery. For as rockin' a song "Stay" is, it's also terribly dark, pointing toward the road that Bowie was going when he left the USA for Berlin the following year.

26. "Let's Dance" (Let's Dance - 1983) Ahh yes, the greatest of Bowie's 80's big hits. "Let's Dance" came out the year of my birth. It was a huge success for Bowie, although it would ultimately be the death kneel for his career for a few years (save for a few hits here and there, this album was essentially the end of Bowie's prolific career.) Notable on this track is the guitar work of the late Stevie Ray Vaughn who delivers a subtle and subdued yet ultimately memorable guitar riff. More so than even the song being great was the songs video, a tribute to the lost souls of Australia. If for no reason other than nostalgia and this being one of the very first Bowie songs I loved as a kid, this song also has a balls out, crazy album edit that sprawls for 7 minutes of pure dance hall beats and a horn section that goes all out jazz on your face. It's not just nostalgia, I take that back. This is one of those great songs from the 80's, far and away better than most of the songs released during that strange, drug addled and synthesizer heavy decade.

Best of Bowie: 40 - 36

40. "Cracked Actor" (Aladdin Sane - 1973) - One of the many great, grungey blues riffs on Aladdin Sane, "Cracked Actor" is a song of crazy sexual abandon in L.A. When Bowie was on tour in the US for Ziggy Stardust, he wrote quiet a few tunes about his touring experience. Aladdin Sane would become the album of these tour songs and "Cracked Actor" is definitely the Ziggy vision of Hollywood. It's a vision of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll that is gritty, dirty and hard rockin'. This album really showed a more aggressive rock and roll approach than the more baroque arrangements of his prior Ziggy material and for that it's worth blasting and rocking out to. The title of the song is curious as well as Bowie himself is an "actor" of sorts, putting on these disguises and costumes. It may have been a reflection of the hard times on the road and the need for "company." This is all speculation on my part. Regardless of the true meaning of the song, "Cracked Actor" is one of Bowie's hardest rockers.

39. "Win" (Young Americans - 1975)- Quite the opposite of the aforementioned tune, "Win" is a slow jam of jazzy and smooth proportions. Instead of aggression, "Win" turns up the charm, but still in an unsettling way, mainly in it's lyrical content. Bowie has rarely looked at the brighter side of life and even in this slow jam that'll make the ladies fall to their knees, there is a sense of doubt. It's not quite a love song, although musically it sounds like a bedroom anthem. It's more of a song about not giving up. "All you've got to do is Win." Bowie's shattered croon is backed up again by glorious backing vocals and a rippling saxophone. It's a wonderful track. If you think that this style isn't an influence on future generations, Beck performed this track on several occasions (including in Philadelphia where the song was recorded.) Beck also did his own mock up of a jazzy, love-fest on Midnite Vultures with the fantastic bedroom jazz of "Debra,"an obvious antecedent to "Win."

38. "Starman" (The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars - 1972)

One of Bowie's more classic pop-rock moments, "Starman" is a sumptuous treat. This is another side of Mick Ronson that many don't give him credit for. The string arrangements throughout this album and this song are all by Ronson as well as the catchy riffing. He excelled at creating a functionality for string arrangements amidst a rolling rock ballad. Mirroring T. Rex, Bowie's main competitor for glam rock king at the time, but this song soars high and into the ether. This is Bowie's ballad to rock and roll as a saving grace. This was a constant message in a lot of music in the late 60's and early 70's and this is one of the more hopeful visions in Bowie's catalog.

37. "TVC 15" (Station to Station - 1976) One of Bowie's stranger lyrical songs, "TVC 15" is a disco jam for the ages. It's swirling verses, sung with crazed abandon and almost out of breath intensity create an air of unease amidst a killer beat. The track based on a drug binge with friend and cohort Iggy Pop after Iggy hallucinated his TV eating his girlfriend. Strange, but coming from the mind of a guy deeply paranoid and over-drugged, it's no surprise. As many Bowie songs tend to, this track has a brilliant backbone of piano and guitar haze. This track showed that Bowie's new-ish band of Carlos Alomar, George Murray and Dennis Davis really was coming into their own. Although not as flashy a guitarist as Mick Ronson, Alomar's understated playing with the ripping rhythm section was flexing their muscles with this track. (Editor's Note: The video here from Top of the Pops is fucking stellar.)


36. "I'm Afraid of Americans" (Earthling - 1997) It's a common mistake to give full credit to Trent Reznor for "I'm Afraid of Americans." Although the version that he remixed is in fact the one we most know and hear, this track dates back to 1995's Outside, which was recorded and written by Bowie and Eno. Although there version . Much like "I'm Deranged," it deals with paranoia but in a much more sardonic way. The industrial vibe of the song makes it a no-brainer as to why Trent Reznor was tapped for a remix. His version adds just a bit of edge to the song with his usual drum loops and intensely heavy guitar. Even more memorable to most, this is one of Bowie's best videos with a paranoid bowie being stalked by an exquisitely creepy Trent Reznor through the streets of NYC.

Best of Bowie: 50 - 46

50. "Beauty and the Beast" ("Heroes" - 1978) Kicking off the frenzied and daunting 'Heroes', "Beauty and the Beast" submerges you into a dual world, much akin to a lot of Bowie's music and imagery. Somewhere buried under the layers of insanely fuzzed guitars care of Robert Fripp and sloshing Eno synths is one of Bowie's stranger dance grooves. If this song wasn't so dark it could have been a great dance hit. Somehow the track is a combination of a disco groove and a post-kraut rock dirge. A dirge that moves your feet. This bi-polar nature is a constant theme through Bowie's career, but this era brought it to it's darkest edge while still being insanely catchy. The overall composition of this song is something of wonder. Unlike it's predecessor, Low, the vocal tracks on Heroes are much more structured and coherent, this being one of the best examples. Definitely one of the stranger singles in his catalog, but one that still rocks.

49. "5:15 The Angels Have Gone" (Heathen - 2002) The stream of conscious ballad is something Bowie excels at. Many of the tracks on this list will fall into this category and "5:15" is one of them. Heathen as a whole is mostly dark and romantic like this track. Tony Visconti returned to produce this album and this song in particular has his stamp all over it. Chorus synths, a woozy bass-line care of Tony Levin and an epic chorus that raises you out of the muddled shuffle of Bowie looking to get out of wherever he was feeling stuck. It's a song about wishing to get yourself out of a rut, out of a town that holds you down. It could just simply be about how Bowie has never really stayed in the same place for too long. Be it London, Berlin, New York or L.A., he's moved quite a bit for inspiration but has never staid in the same place too long.

48. "Panic In Detroit" (Aladdin Sane - 1974) A paranoid riot song with a salsa beat? Definitely strange, but in the realm of glam rock it somehow works. The percussion section really makes this track as good as it is. Layered congas over a killer drum beat with a bouncing bass line and one of many brilliant riffs a-la Mick Ronson. Of all the myriad guitarists that have worked with Bowie, Ronson is easily the one that fit the Bowie's eccentricity the best. His gritty and throbbing tone was the perfect back-drop for Bowie's paranoid lyrics with amazing backing vocals rising behind. It's Santana by way of Ziggy Stardust. Dirty glam rock with a Latin flair. Truly a strange beast of a rocker.

47. "Right" (Young Americans - 1975) Of all the strange alter-egos Bowie has created for himself, the "plastic-soul" outing has to be one of the strangest yet most satisfying. Somehow, and mostly to the credit of his amazing band at the time. The song is a groovy interplay between a groovy piano, a slinky guitar part by Carlos Alomar and a wild and untamed sax solo throughout. It's truly a musical feast. Then the vocals have their back and forth assault between Bowie's fragile yet funky delivery and the soulful croon of Luther Vandross and Robin Clark. Doesn't get much better than that. It's always strange listening to this song amidst the glam rockers and kraut rock dirges of Bowie's standards. But it's that unique funkiness that really makes it worth coming back to.

46. "Look Back In Anger" (Lodger - 1979) - I always envision this song to being the ending credits to Bowie's insane 1970's era. Not that I'm saying he is literally looking back at his career by the title, but more because it's the perfect blend of what Bowie did the entire decade. Carlos Alomar unleashes one of his more understated performances and the rhythm section is a juggernaut of sound. This song sounds like a cut off of The Man Who Sold The World filtered through the mad intensity of Station to Station. Co-written by Brian Eno, it isn't hugely influenced by his style. This is clearly a rocker, great by any Bowie song standards. It definitely has layers of sound that fly back and forth throughout it. If you trade the live band for a drum machine and a synthesizer, you would have the Bowie song of the future. (Editor's Note: Make sure to watch the video for "Look Back In Anger." I just did for the first time while writing this and....wow. It's... something special.)