Hunky Dory

With this album, Bowie really achieved one of the highest accolades he had ever or would ever receive in his life as an artist: having a cover of one of his songs appear in the soundtrack of Shrek 2.

One of my favorite Bowie albums to date. Something about it is especially touching compared to later albumbs. It's tender and understated but also powerful. Bowie's undeniable talent comes through with a strength and softness like a velvet hammer. SO good.

Ziggy Stardust before he became Ziggy Stardust. Inventive, creative, and a joy to listen to. Best track: Life On Mars?

I don't know why everyone hates "Kooks." "Kooks" rules. Without "Kooks," there is no Belle & Sebastian.

I'll admit it, I have never listened to Bowie. I know him more as a pop culture figure and couldn't name a song if you asked. Was pleased to know many songs on this, but didn't know who sang them. Incredible album!

My favourite Bowie album. Simple but excellent songwriting. Some lesser known gems on here like Eight Line Poem which has more emotion with only a piano and a guitar in the intro than a lot of other bands have in their entire back catalogue.

6th Bowie album out of the first 411. Come. On. I don't think I have much effort anymore with Bowie reviews; my last one (which felt like last week) was for Aladdin Sane and I made commentary about how I felt like I could copy/paste my previous Bowie review.... and since that absolutely once again applies here, I'll just *literally* copy/paste, while replacing a few specifics. I stand by it: -------copy/paste------ Without looking, I'd bet I could copy/paste my review from _Aladdin Sane_. It's a catchy-at-first early 70s rock album that I slowly get tired of because I'm just not able to really be moved by Bowie's music. It's fine - starting with "_Changes_" which is perhaps his most famous cut and deservedly-so. It's admittedly timeless and very well-crafted musically ..... And the cut "_Life On Mars?_" is a nice diversion from the initial track - but then it just gets...Bowie-ish. And if you're a Bowie fan I can see how you'd like this but his voice is always a little distracting for me. On a positive note, aside from "Low" which feels to me like an Eno record that Bowie happens to sing on, this is probably one of the more-enjoyable or perhaps immediately-accessible records of his but I'll never voluntarily put it on. It feels like I always use his voice as a cop-out because there are plenty of artists who I listen to that I don't necessarily like the singer's voice and I like the music. It's as simple as this even if I can't articulate it well: I don't connect with his music on any emotional level - can just appreciate it from a distance. -----end self-plagiarism----- TL;DR: I don't hate his music, I just don't really *like* it or ever connect with it and after so many years don't really care that much. 5/10 2 stars

Early Bowtie is tough to beat. Changes is an all time classic. This is a solid album all the way through. An easy 5 stars in my book.

I should really give this a 4 based on individual track ratings, but the peaks on here are elite. Probably 5th or 6th best Bowie album. Life On Mars aside, Queen Bitch has always been the highlight for me. 1. Changes - usually skip this because it's so overplayed but it's shit hot 9.5/10 2. Oh You Pretty Things - a highlight 9.5/10 3. Eight Line Poem - Doesn't do it for me 5/10 4. Life On Mars - possibly the best track of the 70's 11/10 5. Kooks - used to find this kind of annoying but it's harmless enough 7/10 6. Quicksand - forgot about this 8.5/10 7. Fill Your Heart - quirky 7/10 8. Andy Warhol - It's alright 7/10 9. Song For Bob Dylan - another classic 9/10 10. Queen Bitch - Top 10 Bowie tune 10/10 11. Bewley Brothers - Love it man such a unique track. Starving for me gravy - 9/10

David Bowie has a unique sound all to his own and this album is a perfect encapsulation of that

There's nothing wrong with kooks!

An album that was certainly not up to the standard of singer-songwriters of the time, but it showed that Bowie was more than just a pop singer. (7/10) FT: Changes, Oh You Pretty Thing, Life On Mars, Queen Bitch

As my Polish friend zbig, may say — This kicks many asses

Great album, I've listened to it numerous times and it's grown on me, maybe even being better than Ziggy Stardust. Changes is such a great opener, one of the best actually. I also learned that a riff from Andy Warhol was the inspiration for one in Metallica's Master of Puppets. Who knew?

Feels like the last album he did for quite some time with obvious flashes of himself - Bewlay Brothers; Quicksand (both amazing) - in there, rather than whichever persona he had created. It's quite open about his influences, and it also feels like he's still trying on lots of different styles to see what fits. So you get some early glimpses of glam like Oh! You Pretty Things, and a VU homage/parody/rip-off, straight acoustic songs, show songs and all sorts of other stuff chucked into the mix. Also casually in the middle of it all one of the best songs of all time, and it opens with another all-time Bowie classic. Don't much care for Fill Your Heart or Andy Warhol, but I love everything else. It's a 5 alright.

This was an easy 5 for me. Been a Bowie stan for awhile now, and "Queen Bitch" is one of my all time favorite Bowie songs. Plus we got "Changes" and "Life on Mars," so come on we gotta give it up for this record. A lot of interesting subject matter on this one too. The tributes to Andy Warhol and Bobby D were cool to see. Also love hearing Bowie espousing occult teachings and getting freaky on "Quicksand." An all over good time album for me.

The awe-inspiring ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes, followed by sweet, enjoyable songs.

How could one give this album less than five stars? It features most of my favourite songs by Bowie where the presence of piano makes every one of them so melodic and interesting, intriguing. Perfection

Perfect from start to finish and “Quicksand” is one of the greatest songs Bowie ever wrote.

One of my very favorite albums by one of my very favorite artists. I misheard "Changes" when I was a young child and thought he was singing "Don't let them grow up in Olivette." Olivette is a suburb of St Louis, Missouri and I was amazed that this British bloke would get so specific. Like he was singing just to me. Bowie has somehow managed to maintain that intensely personal intimacy with my soul, even when he is singing about Mars, a place where I've spent much less time than St Louis.

Don't need to relisten, ceritifed hood classic. Every song after Life on Mars could be Bowie farting into a microphone and it's still a Top 50 all time record

My favorite Bowie album. Life on Mars and Kooks are for me the highlights on a great album.

All y'all not giving this a 5 are the real kooks. This is some peak Bowie, elevated among an already great discography. Not a single weak point on here, and so many moments to savor individually. Album opens on an absolute classic, Changes. A catchy AF ode to the inescapable changes that time renders across us all. This bleeds over into the piano-led melody of Oh! You Pretty Things. Love the off-kilter sway of the chorus here. Built for shouting along to. Life on Mars? is up there with the best songs ever written IMO. And I love that Kooks is a song to his newly born son. Andy Warhol is a kooky one at the outset, but develops into a driven acoustic jam that, interestingly, Metallica interpolated a riff from into Master of Puppets. Queen Bitch is another energetic jam that taps a similar spirit to Suffragette City. I've listened to this album countless times and never tire of it.

arguably where Bowie reached his full potential. an eclectic mix that isn't incoherent, kind of like a Beatles album

Bowie was the greatest album artist of the 1970s, a period noted for great album artists (Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, The Clash, Led Zeppelin, Kraftwerk...), and Hunky Dory was his first album where he organically combined his varied artistic passions. In the credits, Bowie is credited as "The Actor" (though his films may make you think otherwise). As such, the listener senses a multiplicity to this album, that of numerous roles being adopted. Since this was Bowie's lifelong creative persona, and since this is the first album where he fully expounds on this iridescent philosophy. Indeed, the opening Changes serves as a manifesto. However, don't believe that this album, for all its theatricality, lacks tenderness and heart. The piano-led melodies are at turns bombastic and fragile, and the whole record demonstrates that Bowie settling into the role of Bowie was in pursuit of his muse. Indispensable, and yes, hunky dory.

This was the album that got be into Bowie in the first place. Queen Bitch was the first Bowie song I ever heard that I was consciously aware of as being a Bowie song. This entire album is perfect. Obviously it's full of hits, but even the 'lesser' tracks shine. Quicksand and Andy Warhol are some of my most favorite tracks ever.

5 stars. I’m pretty familiar with this album. I lump it in with Bowie’s other great albums (Ziggy Stardust, Heroes, Station to Station). This one feels more like a collection of songs that some of my other favorites, but maybe I’m being too hard on him

Excellent album top to bottom with great music and clever lyrics describing life and society. Wide variety of themes and styles but it still builds momentum from one song to the next. Changes. Oh you pretty things, life on Mars, kooks, fill your heart. Andy Warhol.

Just an incredible record. A landmark album.

The album where Bowie became Bowie. He then spent the remainder of the decade being anyone BUT Bowie.

I'm glad Bowie started doing cocaine after this album.

Not a big Bowie fan but I appreciate the impact and influence that he had on so many artists. For me, this is fine but not really special.

Bowie sucks

Wow instant classic

This has never been my favorite of the "classic" Bowie albums, although listening again it seems I'm just being picky. What's a few lesser music-hall numbers when there's "Changes", "Oh! You Pretty Things", "Life On Mars?", and the goddam genius "Bewlay Brothers" ffs? Fun to trace the evolution of "White Light, White Heat" into "Queen Bitch" and then on to "Transformer" in hindsight. It's a 5*, glad to hear it again. Mark - if you like the more spooky/Nietzschean stuff (e.g. "Quicksand") but wished it rocked a bit harder, you'd probably like "The Man Who Sold The World", unlikely to be on here but (gun to the head) the better album

the first of (i assume) many bowie albums. more mellow than his later ziggy and aladdin sane records. beautiful and soulful melodies. the first half is somewhat stronger than the latter.

This underscores to me that I prefer later Bowie to the earlier stuff. Changes is great, but the rest is nowhere near the highs of Station to Station or Low.

This is the first Bowie album we’ve heard that did not raise my appreciation for him in any way. I’m sure I’ll get hate for this but It just doesn’t speak to me lyrically or sonically in any way. I’d rather just hear the Beatles or the Kinks, as this album feels like worse version of their songs. “Queen Bitch” was a highlight for me.

this wasn't a bad album but this was TWO BOWIE ALBUMS IN A ROW and like the fourth overall so far... I've had enough of Bowie now thanks dickhead author. 2/5 just because the sheer amount of Bowie in this list is starting to annoy me.

Hunky Dory For a long time this was possibly my favourite Bowie album, although it has been superseded by others, and as a result I haven’t listened to this for quite a while. Of course it still is truly excellent. Despite on the surface being one of his most ‘conventional’ albums it really is full of odd little corners and strange/absorbing/literary/facist*/cryptic lyrics, all the while being carried by a cinematic musical momentum, whether folk, orchestral, music hall or guitar led rock. There are some fantastic strings and horns and brilliant arrangements and instrumentation. Also I only just made the connection that the producer, Ken Scott, is the same Ken Scott who was engineer for quite a few Beatles sessions.
*not really, he just mentions Himmler and homo superior a bit. I won’t necessarily go through song by song, as I genuinely like every one on here, but there are moments throughout that I love. The guitar in the intro of Eight Line Poem for example, or the Dr Who beeps on Andy Warhol and the acoustic guitar line intro. I like the music hall influences too, similar to Macca in that regard. And I’ve always loved the opening stanza of Oh! You Pretty Things. Also I took me a while to appreciate Quicksand, but it really is a superb song. I’ve also never noticed it before but the way he sings ‘still the days seem the same’ at 1.44 in Changes is very very Dylan. Life on Mars stood out today - not because I’m not aware of what an incredible song it is - but sometimes you hear something you’ve heard a thousand times in a slightly different way. Maybe it’s mood, what you are doing or how receptive your brain is but it just seems different and feels fresh. I suppose that’s the thing that separates the truly great artists (your Bowies, your Youngs, your Tamsin Archers, your Beatles, your Dylans) from the good, that the songs endure and evolve as time passes, you find moments or angles you never noticed before and it feels like a new song. It’s of course an easy 5. Not just a transformational album in his career but one of the greatest albums ever recorded. If he only ever released this album he would still be regarded as one of the greatest ever. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It’s amazing to think that David Bowie was still a relative outsider when this album came out and that it sold poorly on first release. There is a lot here that points the way to the directions that his music would take with complex cinematic arrangements on Life on Mars alongside pop classics and lyrics namechecking Warhol, Dylan and the Velvet Underground. My high point is Kooks, an utterly charming song dedicated to his new born son.

Peak Bowie. Doesn’t get better than this.

The tipping point, where Davy Jones completely disappeared into David Bowie. Inconsistently brilliant, relentlessly creative and idiomatic beyond belief. The best was yet to come, but the high points here are top-tier Bowie. Favourite tracks: Changes, Pretty Things, Life On Mars (!!!!!!!), Queen Bitch

Not all of this works for me, but most does, and those songs are great. The closer, The Bewlay Brothers, has just hit me like some weird force.

Changes is such a jam of a song. Soooo easy to get into. Life on Mars? is also such a jam. I knew those songs pretty well going in but not a whole lot of others. Very different vibes overall from some of the other Bowie albums we've listened to which tracks (and I love). Andy Warhol's intro was a bit loopy I dig it. Also apparently there is a riff in Master of Puppets that paid homage to this song. Went back and listened and it's clear as day. Queen Bitch rules also I know that's a popular one. All in all an above average album with a few serious jams on it. Knocking a star because it doesn't live up to other Bowie I've heard which is probably unfair but it's my rating so suck it.

Oh you pretty thing!

Again, I am surprised how I could miss basically the complete work of David Bowie. It's a great album that had been unknown by me until today.

Very original feeling songs, really enjoyed them. I didn’t like David Bowie before but I do now. I think it’s the fact that the songs are fairly unpredictable in tone and cadence, but at the right amount so it’s not crazy

what a ride. this ablum is like forrest gumps box of chocolates (or paul mersons bag of Revels). you might get an absolute all time belter of a song, you might get a mime stuck in a phone box or you might get a song that didn't make it on to mary poppins. still throroughly enjoyable and it feels weird giving it a high score when there are songs on there that i would happily never hear again but the belters, well they're the reason everyone has such a hard on for Bowie.

I was late at the Bowie party. Like really late. In 2004 David Bowie canceled a concert at Roskilde Festival. The festival administration had a hard time finding a replacement. But they found a band: Slipknot. Lol! I was excited, 'caus Slipknot was more down my alley. However, at the festival I had a conversation with a girl who was really into Bowie, and she opened up my views on him. In the following years i bought a couple of his albums, and now I really enjoy his musical universe. Honky Dory is one of my favourite albums. For me, the start of the album is the best. My top tracks are "Changes", "Oh, you Pretty Things" and "Life on Mars?".

I'm always going to be happy to see David Bowie on this list. This is early 1970's Bowie, and it feels like a Bowie not fully formed, still exploring and finding his way, with the best of his work ahead of him. I see shades of what's to come, with Bowie exploring themes found in his other work (youth and pop culture, art, politics, philosophy) with the sense of individuality and surrealism/absurdity that became his hallmarks. Many of the songs here feature piano, but a couple of the later tracks show glimpses of glam rock and punk. The songs vary a lot in subject matter and feel, so I don't find it to be a very cohesive album, and there are a few tracks that, while not horrible by any means, I would probably seldom reach for as a Bowie fan, just because there are so many others that I love more. Obviously “Changes” and “Life on Mars?” are classics. I'm glad for the opportunity to hear him in his earlier career even if I consider it before his peak. 3.5 Lyric of note, from “Quicksand”: "I'm not a prophet or a stone age man Just a mortal with potential of a superman, I'm living on I'm tethered to the logic of homo sapien Can't take my eyes from the great salvation of bullshit faith If I don't explain what you ought to know You can tell me all about it on the next bardo I'm sinking in the quicksand of my thought I ain't got the power anymore Don't believe in yourself Don't deceive with believe Knowledge comes with death's release”

Another classic. Pushing boundaries, but not so strange as to be inaccessible or unenjoyable.

Restoring the messy remains of classic rock with pop purpose lovingly swiped from Black sources, at its best this is a signpost for the road too infrequently travelled by proggers. At its worst, he proves susceptible to the same tendencies. In the middle, he pays tribute to Warhol and Dylan by name, but not to Lou Reed, even though Queen Bitch doesn't exist without the Velvets. Then again, two bouts of overt hero-worship is probably enough for one record. Freaks, kooks, and queers everywhere are addressed directly for maybe the first time ever. And how about those camped John Lennon vocals? Some of his best.

Some decent songs, some weird songs. Mixed bag.

Good start. I hate the intro to Andy Warhol I had a bad time with this album

10/10

An undeniably great album, the start of his classic run. Obviously Changes, pretty things, life on Mars etc are classics, but there's a song for every mood. A great combination of folky acoustic vibes, early glamour, literary and philosophical references. Up there with the best of anyone.

Not my favorite Bowie album, but it's still a classic with 5 epic tracks like "Changes," "Life on Mars," "Quicksand," and even "Kooks "

Love David Bowie

cool shit

Changes is such a great song. So many great tracks here.

Ragtime art rock space age Dreamland

I know it well, and it's just as good as I remember. So many all timer songs on here, and the less well known ones are still great. Fills silly to praise this one when I already know I love it. Still a 5.

5 - mastapiece

I love David Bowie, it’s hard not to, he’s so cool. This is also the first David Bowie album I love. Opener “Changes” is amazing, I absolutely love the vocals on “Oh! You Pretty Things”, and “Eight Line Poem”. Everyone with ears loves “Life On Mars?” that high note in the chorus is heaven. I love “Quicksand” and “Queen Bitch”. There’s not a bad moment on the whole record, there’s a reason this is often considered the first great Bowie album. It is a top 5 Bowie record for me as well, I generally like the glam stuff he did more than this, but it’s truly great.

Truly and excellent album.

Uno de mis preferidos. David

Top 3 Bowie album for sure. Bowie is his young and joyful self in this album. He’s proven what he can do, now he can have fun with it.

Beauty

Didn’t listen to the full thing, but rly liked what I heard

damn i can see why the marauders were obsessed with him

🎭 Hunky Dory – David Bowie (1971) This album feels like a scrapbook left behind by a beautiful alien who spent a gap year on Earth reading Nietzsche, taking piano lessons, and people-watching in vintage velvet. Bowie hadn’t yet become Ziggy Stardust, but you can feel him getting itchy. It’s theatrical, introspective, wildly melodic—and so casually brilliant it almost feels like he’s just showing off. One moment you’re in a sing-along (“Kooks”), the next you’re having an existential crisis set to piano (“Quicksand”), and by the time “Life on Mars?” hits, you’re lying on your bedroom floor rethinking your entire aesthetic. Rating: 5/5 Short Review: Glam folk cabaret for the introspective extraterrestrial in all of us. Favorite Track: “Life on Mars?” – It’s not a song. It’s a divine joke whispered through eyeliner. Consistency With Me: 9.5/10 ch ch ch changes ...turn and face the strange...

Forgot how piano heavy this album is. But some truly excellent cuts

Always beautiful.

I LOVE THIS ALBUM! Bowie is one of the reasons why I enjoy music so much, and why I was able to expand my taste during my teenage years. This album does so many things for me. Life on Mars? BANGER! Andy Warhol? BANGER! Changes? BANGER! You get the point by now. To me, this is essential. Bowie's build-ups to the choruses on this album are unbeaten.

Enjoyed every l second of this album, my favourite by far. I actually genuinely enjoyed listening to it and it didn’t feel like a chore.

- Yeah, right at the beginning of an almost unmatched string of releases. -

A great Bowie album, although not a personal favorite for me. But also Bowie has like 5 albums that I think are among the best of all time so this not being one of my favorites from him doesn’t really mean much. Some all timers on here for sure and his first album that feels like he has found himself

This album was an incredible experience from start to finish. Every track had its own personality and left me wanting to see where the next one would go. The range is huge, moving from the light, upbeat feel of Fill Your Heart to the sharp, moody edge of Andy Warhol, and each style shift feels intentional rather than scattered. You can hear how well-crafted it is, with thoughtful arrangements and a clear sense of artistry behind the writing. The contrast between songs is striking, yet the album holds together as one cohesive piece. The production feels rooted in its early ’70s recording, but the ideas and delivery make it feel timeless. There’s a sense of playfulness and experimentation without losing accessibility, and it’s packed with moments that stick long after the album ends.

One of Bowie's best - a must listen

Love this album. So Bowie. So rock n roll.

Hunky Dory by David Bowie feels like flipping through a scrapbook of moods and styles, all tied together by his insane songwriting. Cool folk-inspired tunes, and bursts of glam rock, but Bowie’s voice and wit keep it all grounded. Final Ranking: Lyrics: 9/10 Instrumentals:8/10 Originality: 9/10 Album Cohesion and Flow: 8/10. Vocals: 9/10 Overall: Hunky Dory is Bowie experimenting with identity through sound. Bro is pulling from folk, pop, glam, art rock, and I think cabaret (What actually definies a piece as being cabaret?.) It’s not locked into one style, but instead shows how many directions Bowie could go at once. That genre-jumping energy, paired with some of his strongest early songwriting, makes it both unpredictable and timeless. Liiterally a timeless Bowie Classic. My Highest rated Album for now. If I were to give it an overall score thoough it would haeve to be 8.5/10

David is alway god

Love Bowie. Top 5 Artist.

Album full of amazing timeless classics, Life On Mars? for example. You could listen to this album many times in a row and it won't get boring. Just a brilliant record from start to finish.

I love this album. It might be my favorite Bowie album.

St. Bowie.

No notes.

Yes I enjoyed that. I am finally old enough to enjoy Bowie... it first happened in my 40's. He finally grew on me. Not all of it, you understand. But in so many ways he was living art, in that he was always "performing" for us. This is quote a warm lyrical album, and the preoccupations and poetry so thoroughly modern. [No, there's no Life on Mars , but its now the a planet inhabited solely by robots, searching for life. ]

The first really Bowie-like Bowie album. Contains some deadset classics (Life on Mars?, Oh You Pretty Things, Changes), plus a few grade-A quality second-string Bowie numbers (Queen Bitch, Andy Warhol). The Spiders from Mars band coming together (augmented by Rick Wakeman, playing at his career best in my opinion), with occasional glimpses of the rock monster that band would become. This is the first real glimpse of Bowie's full powers, and the beginning of his awesome run of albums through the 1970s. While this album may have a few moments of weakness, this is the real kick-off point of Bowie's extraordinary body of work, laying down many of the themes he would return to throughout his career (changes, chameleons, aliens, gender, the apocalypse, identity).

Amazing album, Bowie is one of my favourite songwriters ever, and it contains some of my favourite Bowie songs

It's worth considering the context of Hunky Dory in Bowie's discrography, particularly following his first two self titled albums, which are not that well-known beyond Space Oddity. The first one is especially quite a simple, folky album which is inoffensive but here he is really finding his creativity and leaning into the glam rock sound. In Changes and Life on Mars he wrote two of his absolute best songs which stand aside everything else in his discography and it's a strong album overall

One of Bowie's best. Life On Mars? is one of my favorite songs ever. 4.5/5 #144

Great start to the week

I think the best thing about this list so far is that it got me to dive into Bowie's catalog, when I was only familiar with the hits before. It's funny that the tracks I like are the ones the other reviews mention. Life on Mars is the best song I have heard from Bowie. It may well be the best of the 70s. Queen Bitch is a top 10 Bowie song. Changes and Pretty Things are great, just below the other two. Everything else? Above average, some really above average, but that's it. Hunky Dory is below Station to Station and Low and below what I have heard of Ziggy Stardust and Heroes. Which still puts it above most of this list. 4.5, but I'm rounding up for Life on Mars.

My favourite Bowie.

Brilliant. The singles are all time classics and personally some of the favourite Bowie I knew before listening to this. The other tracks build this smoothly into a really interesting statement. I don't understand how he makes such bold choices in terms of harmony and modulation and yet it sounds so natural.

It's an experimental, varied album with crisp, clear production touching on music hall (Fill Your Heart), acid folk (Andy Warhol), mellow country-ish rock (Song For Bob Dylan) amongst others. I like that acoustic guitars frame most of tracks and it's interesting how Bowie utilised different styles into a coherent, satisfying whole.There are of course the perennial classics (Changes, Life on Mars, Oh You Pretty Things) but pretty much every track is a winner on this turntable favourite, and probably my favourite Bowie album.

Yes. Of course this is on the list. Such fine tunes.

Classic