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: 35 - 31

35. "Fame" (Young Americans - 1975) - One of Bowie's more famous collaborations in his long and sordid career would have to be with John Lennon in 1975. After sessions wrapped up for "Young Americans" in Philadelphia, Bowie sauntered up to NYC for a bit where he hung out with Lennon and decided to do a few more tracks. One was a cover of "Across The Universe" and the other was "Fame," one of Bowie's biggest hits. In fact, up to that point, it was Bowie's first #1 in the USA. The song is a three-pronged attack of brilliant writing. Carlos Alomar's groovy as fuck riff was the inspiration, Bowie's anger toward his record company at the time fueled the sinister lyrics (akin to but not as sharp tongued as Queen's "Death On Two Legs" recorded the same year) and Lennon's on voice heard as backing vox as partial credit for inspiring the lyrics added by Bowie after the fact. It's definitely one of the best of Bowie's hits and a worthy player among the many Greatest Hits in Bowie's catalog.

34. "Modern Love" (Let's Dance - 1983) Whether Bowie's Let's Dance was the beginning of the end of Bowie's brilliant run of albums is up for debate. Let's be honest, released the year of my birth and chock-full of fantastic pop rock goodness, a song like "Modern Love" is undeniably awesome. Guitar care of Stevie Ray Vaughn and an insatiable dance-hall beat, this is one of Bowie's best singles. It may also be nostalgia as this was one of the first Bowie songs that I loved. Of all music growing up, Bowie's has held up the most and stayed with me over the years. Much like many songs on this list, "Modern Love" is driven by fantastic saxophone care of Robert Aaron. It's possibly one of the better sax solos in all of Bowie's songs.

33. "Warszawa" (Low - 1977) On the polar opposite spectrum of "Modern Love" comes one of Bowie's most menacing tracks. It's also one of the more curiously composed tracks in his catalog. Music credits go to Brian Eno while the vocals were composed by Bowie, mostly in some foreign, strange language. The music was composed much like that of Bowie's experiments with ambient music. Bowie added his vocal parts, apparently 120 of them, to the track after the fact much in the way that the music was developed. Sporadic click tracks marked the place where chords would be placed and the music and lyrics were added on top of that. Crazy, but it leads to a beautifully haunting track, inspired by the dismal and depressing feel of Warsaw during Bowie's visit in the 70's. It's one of the best sound-scapes in Bowie's catalog and the best of all of Bowie's ambient forays during his"Berlin Trilogy."

32. "Fashion" (Scary Monsters(And Super Creeps) - 1980) Bowie's first album of the 80's is a bit of an underdog. Even on this list I've shafted a few tracks that may have made the cut. tony Visconti has stated that this was his favorite album to produce for Bowie. On "Fashion," we're treated to a sonic feast of awesomeness. The key to this catchy and dancey tune is all in Robert Fripp's howling solos. Amidst the back drop of a groovy guitar riff and a marching drum beat, Fripp adds delightful intensity via his signature guitar tone and one-take technique. The Fripp Factor is prevalent all over this list, but these guitar solos are some of his best outside of King Crimson.

31. "The Man Who Sold The World" (The Man Who Sold The World - 1970) Partial credit first goes to Nirvana for covering this great, almost forgotten Bowie track. "The Man Who Sold the World" was a song I had not known of as a young, greatest hits Bowie fan growing up, but Nirvana was a small part in growing into a super-fan. Bowie's original is much eerier than Nirvana's competent cover, filled with strange percussion floating over the creepy Moog organ. The song is yet another in the catalog of split identities. Some have speculated the song to be about his brother, who was a schizophrenic. Speculation aside, the eeriness of both this song and the album that shares its name is one of the strongest points in the early stages of Bowie's career.