SCARY MONSTERS

He took everything he did in the '70s and combined it into a perfect rock record.

After this one, it was LET'S DANCE and all downhill from there...

i say,

Hunky Dory or Ziggy.....

Two good choices, and contenders for best.

me too.

I'd argue while Hunky Dory and Ziggy can sound dated, Scary Monsters was ahead of its time.

Me three. Hunky Dory has my favourite Bowie song, but for the album, I'd give the nudge to Zig. I couldn't care less that it sounds dated or not. If that were the case, I'd have to flush most of my collection.

ziggy

I only have two Bowie albums (Ziggy and Low). I've always just assumed 'Station To Station' would be the best Bowie album, purely based on the album cover.

Scary Monsters is a good answer, but I think I'll go with the indie snob favorite and pick Low. For a while I only really liked the first half, but the Brian Eno side has grown on me considerably. The first half is absolutely perfect, though.

My other favorites would be Station to Station and Lodger.

All these albums used to be my favorite at one time or another, except LODGER.

yeah...my vote goes to ziggy

I'm a Hunky Dory man.

Yeah, i actually like the Eno side much more than I used to. Agree totally on the A side.

Station to Station is the right answer. Bowie's wild cocaine-fueled paranoia at the time make the lyrical structures just strange enough to deviate the Thin White Duke persona into an alien-like phenomenon. My favorite Bowie album, Aladdin Sane, is not quite his best, but it is close. It certainly plays better in the long run than Ziggy does, which (like Hunky Dory) can sound a little one dimensional after 1,000 or so plays. 15 years ago Ziggy and Hunky Dory would've been 1-2 for me.

Scary Monsters is a fantastic album. Low is the most overrated album in the canon, but it's still pretty awesome. The most underrated record is Diamond Dogs.

I'd probably rank his pre-Let's Dance stuff:

1) Station to Station
2) Aladdin Sane
3) Ziggy Stardust
4) Scary Monsters
5) Hunky Dory
6) Diamond Dogs
7) "Heroes"
8. Low
9) Lodger
10) The Man Who Sold the World
11) Space Oddity
12) Young Americans
.
.
.
.
1,859,785) Pin Ups

you know it's definitely far from my favorite, but i picked up an old casette of lets dance a few months ago and there's a few tracks on it i really like. but i've noticed people really seem to hate this album--is it just a jumping the shark type of thing? for people that were listening to him when it came out, was it the sense of betrayal when one of your favorites makes so-so records?

oh, and i vote for ziggy stardust, my favorite top to bottom.

Hmm.

1. Scary Monsters
2. Ziggy
3. Station to Station
4. Hunky Dory
5. Aladdin Sane
6. Diamond Dogs
7. Low
8. "Heroes"
9. The Man Who Sold the World
10. Lodger
11. Young Americans
12. Space Oddity
13. Pin Ups

Don't know if that's perfect...

I like LET'S DANCE just fine; I think it's a good pop album, and his last really good record.

Man Who Sold The World
Space Oddity
Alladin Sane
Hunky Dory
Rise And Fall
Diamond Dogs
Heroes
Low
Scary Monsters
Pin Ups
Lodger
Station To Station
that silly comp with The Laughing Gnome and Love You Till Tuesday on it

I like Pin Ups just fine--it's one of the earliest and best "cover" albums out there.

My heart truly screams Ziggy on this one, but Hunky Dory is a very close second.

changes kinda monthly with me. right now it's diamond dogs but over time i'd probably pick aladdin or hunky or ziggy

You know, I liked that album when it came out in 1983 or whenever. But looking back on it, I wouldn't necessarily categorize it as "jumping the shark" but rather Bowie thinking he wasn't a valid alternative anymore, and trying to find a signature method of making his presence known again. "Let's Dance" and "Tonight" are both good albums, but not what I would consider Bowie at the top of his game. At the very least, both of those albums, with their constant MTV rotation and radio play, allowed people to be more aware of him, and gave the opportunity to then go back and check out his previous stuff.

edit: furthermore, I think Bowie is a master of morphing his characters, and this was just another character for him.

It's hard for me to to tell you what I think is the best Bowie album. He's like ice-cream to me, all the flavors are good, it's just a matter of what you feel you're in the mood for.

At the very least he ALWAYS has one or two good songs on every album he's done. People are really doing themselves a disservice when they say they stopped listening to him at around Let's Dance (1983).

To recap:

I love the early 70's Bowie.
I love the 70's glam Bowie.
I like the experimental/art school 70's Bowie.
I love his forays into pop, ambient, soul, dance, jazz, and electronic/industrial.

Bowie is not a "Madonna" where he gets someone to make songs for him. Instead I find that he's inspired by the current trends, assmilates their sounds and somehow makes them his own, a sign of a truly unique, visionary artist.

this obviously should've been a poll.

Isn't it one?

Here's my ranking of the only Bowie albums I own:

Ziggy
Hunky Dory
Diamond Dogs
Low
Scary Monsters
Aladin Sane
Station to Station
Heroes