Hunky Dory

Jag trodde jag skulle sätta en trea på denna som med Heroes men sen satte jag på albumet och sjöng med till alla låtarna och var distraherad så... Det betyder nog att alla David Bowie album jag gillar BÄTTRE än detta får en femma automatiskt.

The man was a genius. The first few songs on this one are 5 star quality but then it gets a bit less interesting. I’m no fan of Bob Dylan so the tune in his style is a bit off a bummer for me. Queen Bitch sounds exactly like “ Take a Walk on the Wild Side” by the Velvet Underground. Turns out Bowie was first. Overall it’s still miles ahead of most.

The Best David Bowie album by a mile. Masterpiece

The earliest classic Bowie record. Not as glamorous as Ziggy Stardust but it has so many good songs! In my eyes this is a must listen.

Truly a classic. Life On Mars? has been getting stuck in my head on and off since listening.

So many iconic tunes on this album! And they’re all so different. Even some of the songs I’m less familiar with are amazing, like “quicksand”. That said, there are a few misses for me (songs that don’t reach the 5 star mark), like “Andy Warhol” and “Song for Bob Dylan”. I also hear some British prog reach creeping in, which I’m growing fatigue for at this stage in the project. Also, not worth nothing, but I sometimes have no idea what Brits are singing about.

Je m'attendais à pire.

I don't really appreciate David Bowie and his music although there were bangers on the record such as Changes and Life on mars they were not enough for me to give it more than 2 stars as 3 stars were too much. Would have wanted to give 2,5 stars.

I mean, it was cute but other than a couple hits I don't think Bowie found his stride yet

An impeccable record and the first classic Bowie album in my mind. Almost a greatest hits compilation at the time of release, and so glad that Bowie decided to give us this art pop masterpiece before going full glam rock.

Hunky Dory is where Bowie becomes Bowie. I don’t need to explain my score any further.

Big Bowie fan and this one is among my faves. Such fun songs

His first truest great album, setting the stage for his work until he goes to Berlin.

not my favourite Bowie album but has some songs i like

Legendary Bowie album, much better than the first one I listened to on this list. 7.6/10

Very good classic Bowie

5/5 love david bowie

First time listening to a Tupac album. Very much enjoyed.

I ok with Best of collections with Bowie. Daimond Dogs and perhaps another may be exceptions. Good stuff, not all of it resonates with me.

some really nice piano

A classic obviously.

Fantastic classic album from the legend. All killer, no filler.

David Bowie was geen mens volgens mij, maar een soort van buitenaards wezen die ons de meest fantastische muziek heeft gebracht. 4.5

Another Bowie album….

Highlights: Queen Bitch, Changes, Fill Your Heart, Kooks, Life On Mars? In a nutshell: the man who stunned the world. Overall: 8/10

Przyjemne, nostalgiczne, wprowadza w dobry nastrój

8/10. Very good album, probably wouldn't have given it quite so high if it wasn't for 'Life On Mars?' that is an absolute tune. Had a nice epic feel to it as a lot of the highly proclaimed artists of that time do and worthy of a solid score.

Great album <3

Han är duktig, ok album. Men han är i te alltid min kopp te.

Great album! Several of the songs I've never listened to before were jams.

Notbad

Incredible. Really good stuff. Had a good time doing yard work while blasting this.

all killer, no filler

Not one of my go to Bowie’s but certainly had some bangers. Andy Warhol always makes me chuckle.

Wow majorly classic album. Lucky for me, I have also heard this one before. So cool of me to have heard this one. Another album closer to death. Queen Bitch and Oh You Pretty Things are pretty perfect unstoppable all-timers. What else can you say? My biggest issue with Bowie is he is so overplayed on every jukebox and corner of the earth, that many of his biggest songs I am sick of hearing, but that's just not a factor in this 1001 albums situation. Even listening to the first song "Changes" (which I don't even like that much) I'm like "YUP, PERFECT SONG" - you can't deny it. Life on Mars? > Oh You Pretty Things > Quicksand > Andy Warhol > Queen Bitch > Fill Your Heart > Changes > The Belway Brothers > Eight Line Poem > Song for Bob Dylan > Kooks A few of the album cuts are kinda dull but the bangers pull it all up to a 5 star album

I was introduced to this album when i was 20. Life changing. Listening to it now, nearly 15 years later… if you can overcome how overplayed so many of these songs are… wow what an album. So fun to sing along and dance to, and very dark! Favorite song.. maybe quicksand. Queen Bitch maybe inspiration for Mr. Bright side??? I feel silly giving it anything less than five stars but I can’t reward a known sex pest with 5 :(

7/10 its a David Bowie, but not one of my favorites, so it gets four stars. 4-18-2025

I LOVE BOWUE LOVE THE PRETTY THINGS LOVE KOOKS QUICKSAND BEST SONG EVER

Niin hyvä levy että piti pohtia viittä tähteä.

At one point this was my favourite Bowie album. I've sort of gotten way more into his later stuff, but I still have a deep appreciation for this one. It was played a lot in college.

Unbelievable how so many classics can come from one album

Life on Mars is one of my favorite tracks of all time. Changes is great, Song for Bob Dylan is great. But, the rest of the album is too all over the place for me to really want to put this whole thing on.

who is hunky dory???

Great album!

Never understand the love this guy gets, there was maybe two or three good songs on this album and the rest were absolute shit

One of my favorite (somewhere in the top 50-75 range) albums of all time. Although he has a number of tracks worth hearing before this, I see Hunky Dory as Bowie’s first masterpiece. An earthbound yet eclectic work of art, Hunky Dory began my fascination with Bowie’s work around a decade ago. The bombastic catchiness many of these songs offered was quite new to me then and the record still feels fresh now. Changes is a classic opener, Bewley Brothers is a chilling closer, Life On Mars? is one of his, or anybody’s, very best songs full stop. There’s some sort of palatable charm and measurable charisma on every song and in every cranny of this album. Oh! You Pretty Things is a favorite of mine too. Not only is it a bipolar banger musically, it’s one of the first examples I think of regarding Bowie’s uncanny ability to paint imagery with his words. This is a pretty solid set up for the project Bowie had been working up to for a few years, Ziggy Stardust. But at the same time, it’s very impressive how convincingly his pulls this set of ideas so shortly beforehand. It’s fun to listen to this and hear the breadcrumbs like Queen Bitch leading to his glam rock to come. Mick Ronson’s guitar playing and orchestral arranging is another element in the midst of fully blossoming here. But before Bowie blasts off into the stratosphere on his next release, the height he reaches here is vastly impressive and not to be forgotten. Easily 5 stars, 9.5/10 overall.

It feels sacrilegious but this has never been high on my list of David Bowie albums. There's something I can't pinpoint that I'm not crazy about, it could be the pomp and too much theatre for my taste. Other than that, I have similar issues with his voice that I did with Ziggy Stardust, it being more shrill and nasally than how he sounded from the mid 70s onwards. I would normally avoid making such a direct comparison, but I know that I love his voice from around Young Americans onwards and before that I'm not as fond of it. I'm bashing it but this is a good album. I can definitely appreciate that he was trying different things though, as he always did, it just doesnt really resonate with me the same way a lot of his later stuff does 3.5 Highlights: Andy Warhol

4.5

The beginning of the 70s Star Dust era kicks off with an absolute banger.

Not all Bowie albums are a 5, but this one is. One of his best; one of my favorites.

Boring

I only know Bowie “hits” and I’ve never listed to any of his albums before now. I’m sure if I like any of this? “Kooks” is interesting. I’m liking this so far. “Quicksand is trippy”. This album is not doing much for me. I tend to like the Bowie hits. And normally I like his voice, but this seems to be that weird punk rock atonal thing coming out of the UK. Something about the sound of his voice I don’t like here.

More 70s! Bowie this time, let's go! I've not listened to this album all the way through before and I have high hopes going in because, well, it's Bowie. Standouts are "Changes," "Eight Line Poem" - I really liked the slide guitar and the interesting lyrics - "Life on Mars," "Quicksand," and "Queen Bitch" - has some killer guitar. I could almost list each track here, they are all very good, but these were my tops if I had to pick. The piano in this album is incredible and Bowie's lyrics are unmatched. Each track is a great little story. The themes are varied and interesting. Each song is light and airy feeling yet has so much substance jammed into it, instrumentally and lyrically. Hunky Dory flies by, the album was over before I knew it and it definitely doesn't overstay its welcome. I really vibed with this one. It's hard to find any flaws and I could see myself playing this record over again. This is easily my first 5 star album here.

Very stripped back, lots of acoustic guitar. This album is a nice change of pace for Bowie with lots of folk influence. Dude never missed.

I think I like Bowie in theory much more than I actually like the music. Couple of tunes I love, but overall this is just OK for me.

I never considered myself a Bowie fan until I participated in this project.

I prefer elton's tap dance song

Heh. yeah. A favourite Bowie album and has been in my collection for more than 40 years in every format conceivable. Normally under the rules of engagement with this site I'd listen to the album now. I am not going to as I listened to it two days ago. 5/5.

At this point I’m over Bowie man like the first album was good, the second one okay, this one I’m like ugggg. This was one of his earlier albums and less rock and more strange. I understand the reputation now more tbh. I’m probably not giving it a fair rating I’m just done with his ass LOL

One of my favorite Bowie albums, not flawless, but some great tracks. Especially the Ken Scott tracks

A very theatric album with brief grandiose orchestral segments highlighting David Bowie's voice. The instrumentation and composition remain uninteresting through the album. There also feels like bit of stylistic confusion, swapping between sci-fi interludes back to traditional classic pop/ rock. 'Andy Warhol' is the only track that surprised me in a good way. The other songs feels a bit lackluster. The album seems like generic pop rock "good stuff" with nothing noteworthy or special.

Fun Classic bowie Oh you pretty thingssss

5 stars. Right, now time to listen to the album.

Two phenomenal classics, rest is just fine. Struggle with whole Bowie albums

High 4

Fav song - Life on Mars? Vibes - energetic, makes you move but also contemplate I like it 7/10

I own a few Bowie albums but haven't listened to his entire discography. This was the first time I'd listened to Hunky Dory in full. On first listen I liked it. On second listen I thought it was better so I think it could be a grower. Andy Warhol and Oh! You Pretty Things stood out amongst a couple of others. 7.5/10

It’s a fine album and definitely a turning point where Bowie really fine-tuned his talents. The clever songwriting, theatrical delivery, and all the Bowie charm people love him for. But as a full listen, it doesn’t really keep me hooked start to finish. Some standout tracks, sure, but overall it feels more like an important piece of music history than something I actually want to throw on and enjoy all the way through.

As a Bowie fan, I realized listening to this album that the only "record" of his I've ever listened to in full is a greatest hits CD we had in the car growing up. It helped me go into this one with a more open mind rather than already knowing it or having some other to compare it to. Perhaps that was the reason, but I was a bit underwhelmed by the album. Definitely some good ones on there, but others that didn't hold me like Bowie normally does. Overall: 3/5

His first truly great album

Another Bowie, another great album. If there's any artist deserving of having this number of albums on this list it's him. For me, nothing comes close to Ziggy Stardust but it's 50/50 whether this or Low is his 2nd best. 5* Fav tracks: Life on Mars?, Changes, The Bewlay Brothers

3 felt harsh and 4 felt generous but by virtue of having at least 3 songs I would happily listen to again, i went for 4.

Very good, but I didn't resonate with most of it.

couple bangers, hated it at first but cane around. 3.5/5

Legal

Discazo my Bowie fav

Loved every song

Early David Bowie, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

3.5

Great album, some absolute belters.

I've only started getting into David Bowie from doing this project. This is my fourth album from him on this list so far, and I was afraid that I had gotten one before he really started to go off the deep end and stared to make really cool music - but you can actually pinpoint the exact moment, it's around halfway through track four on this album. Started off too poppy - awesome by the end.

第一次认真听Bowie的专，还不错，和之前熟悉的Starman之类的区别比较明显。其中有几首不错，不过可能更喜欢Prog一点的。

4/1001 I consider myself a fan of Bowie, and have heard most of these songs but I don’t think I’ve ever listened to this album as a whole before. It has strong Dylan and Beatles influence with a young Bowie stop finding his uniqueness. As I listened the Dylan influenced seemed to get stronger with each passing song and then a song dedicated to Bob Dylan shows up. All-in-all, this album is a standout from a year (‘71) that may have been the best year in music history (in the western world).

Doing his full on Anthony Newley voice here. More piano based. I enjoyed it, but not my favorite Bowie.

The stop and talk isn't my vibe. The Bewlay Brothers is my favorite on it.

Okay so this one doesn't have a ton of songs that I remember when I'm not actively listening to it but I enjoy it a lot when it's playing, you know? So I'm giving it a 4 but it's really a 3.5 maybe? I'll round up for this one.

Great album. Life on Mars, Changes, and Oh You Pretty Things are superb 1001 album worthy: yes - 63/117

Very good but not my thing

Hard to be objective when some songs have been heard so many times over the years…rest of the album is okay but maybe a bit more forgettable.

Some good songs but not my cup of tea.

Features the best song Bowie ever wrote, Life on Mars and two other good tracks.

i like this one

Just the best.

I bought this CD at a Sam Goody at the mall after hearing a few songs on the Life Aquatic soundtrack. Listening back now, it's just such an awesome mix of Bowie's disruptive edgy side and his croony smooth side. Very drinkable but unlike any other. I still say Life On Mars is top 5 songs ever. But this whole album is a constellation of red hot and beautiful gems.

nomol en bowie sind alli vo ihm do druf hey? changes super schön mega crazy chords irgendwie. aber au catchy. oh you pretty things au seeehr cool. tönt huuere guet ufgnoh. sehr crisp. eight line poem meega schön giti meeega schön. life in mars au uuuuhuere schöne song. passt alles zeme. er git aaaalles id vocals ine. slapback ufd drums isch au hard haha. BEATLES SCHLUSS. und denn no also sprach zarathustra trommle reference. geil. de rick wakeman wo nocher zu yes isch hets au seeehr druff. gad uf fill your hears seeehr cool. andy warhol mega normale afang hää? er redt immer vo silver screen irgendwie. find de song etz biitz weniger geil s piano fehlt chli. song for bob dylan irgendwie cute.

soo es legendärs cover. in letschter ziit sind d covers hammer chamges kenni glaub sogar!! banger bi oh you pretty things ischmer immerno changes nahgloffe aber isch au cool gsi! eight line poem hat nicht gelogen life on mars? isch schön, wenn au ener seicht dito für kooks, eifach no chli seichter quicksand findi recht speziell, s het chli öppis trurig/dramatischs, obwohls immerno sochli "reduziert" isch warhol funny! ah warhol kenntmer ja mega fest! anschinend hets de andy nöd so gern gha im gegesatz zu mier! poah jz auno eis für de bob dylan!! hii und daa ischsmer chli zu seicht gsi, doch s album het megaa spass gmacht und es isch megaa bowie

Weirdos and geeks

A fantastic and classic album. This is how you make great music. Each song is unique and tells its own story, while at the same time having all the DNA of the collective songs on the album run through each song. Although this isn’t a perfect album, it is damn close.

Voice like sand lol

Life on Mars is like the best song ever but there's a couple tracks that drag it down a bit

3.5/5 stars

Well, is there life on Mars? 4/5

Day440 - throwing the word genius around is easy but it’s true with david bowie

Bowie proves (as always) that he’s just as capable of orchestrating a Broadway musical album as he is at writing rock operas and dance hall staples.

The first great album from an artist with more great albums than many artists have albums period reveals the transformative power of Bowie's shift from guitar to piano as his compositional foundation.

Much calmer rock then s2s. Has energetic peaks but uses much more piano. 8 line poem especially is very relaxed - focuses on a mix of calm piano and simple riffs. Relies a lot on piano and acoustic guitar.

probably 3rd best db album

This guy makes some pretty good music, why didn’t anyone tell me? Favorite Song: Life on Mars?

Bowie starts cooking Rating: 8.0 Favorite Song: Life on Mars

9/10 One of if not my favorite Bowie album. Him being weird and being good at it. I loved this listen through. Only thing keeping it from 10 is the lack of cohesion and the dip in the back 3rd. Still love this one though. Favorite Song: Changes

7/10

Only losing a star because this is not Bowie's best album but it's certainly up there

Really really love this album. Truly one of the greats! Rip Bowie

One time when my daughters were toddlers I made them some shirts featuring their favorite music. One of them was a "David Bowie, Oh you pretty things!" shirt in a cute rainbow font. My wife posted a pic on social media and some twat insinuated that I was a band shirt bootlegger. It was that day that I decided that facebook will be downfall of western civilization. Anyway, this album is great.

This is one of my favorite albums of all time, and David Bowie is one of my favorite artists of all time. I genuinely love every track on here. On any given listen I am randomly grabbed by a harmony in the background from one of the instruments; every song is so well constructed musically. This has reminded me I don't have this album on vinyl yet so I'm going to go order it right now.

David Bowie is really cool. Listening to his full discography it's pretty incredible how about every two years he could have a totally different sound that was still extremely popular. This is what I consider his first real album and I was mostly indifferent on it for a long time but listening again, it's really good.

Good music and lyrics.

It was really good I fuck with the vibes

Not a big fan of David Bowie

There's just something fascinating on Bowie's style and also this album proves it. Almost every song sound somehow familiar throughout I haven't listened this album before. Sign of repetition or good song? This doesn't reach Bowie's highest level but such a great album.

I’ve never been a huge fan of David Bowie. He’s alright, but nothing more. Over and out.

Ah, another album I've ment to listen, but never got around to! I even know a few tracks off this album as it is. Bowies music is often very lyrics centric, which makes for a bit more boring listening experience. The album has 3-5 great songs, but some of the tracks sound so similar to each other, so one would have to be interested in the lyrics and stories they tell to get more out of them. I am not. Rest of the songs are ballads and slow moody songs, which I find very boring and tune out sort of automatically. This is not his best album for me, nor is it the worst, just not that interesting either way. In the context of Mr. Bowies career it seems to be an important one, but since this kind of music in general does not do much for me, well, I don't care for this one either. I'm kind of sad that most pop music is so shite for my ears and brains, I'd like to enjoy all the music, but alas! This is not the case!

Top 10 album OAT for me. Composition is great, perfect encapsulation of the randomness of Bowie, along with some of his more popular singles

Classic, ahead of its time, sign of great things to come from one of the greats. 5/5

As classic as David Bowie gets, fantastic, eccentric melodies

I like this one, would listen again.

I do enjoy some of David Bowie's work, but I wouldn't call myself a David Bowie super fan or anything. So, take what I say with a grain of salt. The most notable and popular song on this album is "Changes," but the rest of the music is something I think mostly David Bowie fans would enjoy, if that makes sense? The music wasn't bad, just not for me. I would still recommend it to others.

Creative songwriting that is more piano-based than guitar-based. Several tribute songs, and not really any weak tracks throughout. Standouts include catchy earworm "Changes", more modern-sounding "Life on Mars?", and "Queen Bitch".

Good album

Always.

найс, есть парочка бэнгеров.

Life On Mars? is clearly the highlight here. A classic song with a handful of other decent tracks and some I don’t care for. Overall good album.

Bowie’s best era, in my opinion.

Bowie and Van Morrison are jazz musicians at heart; while Van is standards, Bowie is free form; and, while I didn’t know where Bowie was going with many of these songs, the album grew on me. A lot of tributes here, a lot of silliness and sarcasm (I think), and two great songs in “Changes” and “Life on Mars.”

The more Bowie I listen to on this project, the more I realize I mostly enjoy his radio hits. It's not a bad album, but nothing really grabbed me. 3.5*

Getting a little tired of Bowie on the list, but there are some good songs on here for sure.

Yeah this goes hard. Made my walk a lot more enjoyable for sure

cant go wrong w bowie fav is life on mars

Excellent album. So many hits.

Legendary.

This feels like Bowie at his best.

Yes! This is exactly what I want when listening to Bowie. This album is perfect.

tolles album - facettenreich, mitreissend, Bowie. ich mag es.

Für mich zuviel Piano Balladen. Und zuviel David Bowie.

Brilliant

Andy warhole. Like holes. You said it wrong. What did i say earlier Literally top 5 songs if it didnt have this terrible intro

2/28/25. One of Bowie's best. Life On Mars is an all time track.

This is so clearly different from the earlier Bowie stuff, and much more the stuff I like. There's some hits on here, but especially the tracks about Warhol and Dylan I found to be less interesting. It's a very clear way to credit the inspirations, it just wasn't musically interesting to me. Standouts Changes Life On Mars? Quicksand 4/5

Straight to 5/5 this is the fucking Hunky Dory!!! David Bowie is so unique, there's no one in the whole music history like him, the person pretty much define a whole generation's music and fashion(in several different ways). Hunky Dory is essential.

Masterful songwriting, first time listening to this album in full and I would say it's essential listening

самый нормисный Боуи их всех возможных

Well good morning, David Bowie! This will be my 8th David Bowie album to review, but my first album of his to review in almost a year. Before starting this project, I was mostly only familiar with Bowie's singles, and not any of his whole albums. I've had pretty mixed reactions to his work, but I'm excited to give this a listen! I wasn’t wowed by this album, but I thought it was really good. I thought the name Hunky Dory suited this album pretty well, because a lot of the piano arrangements gave this album a bit of ragtime/blues feel. “Changes” was a great leadoff track. The piano, guitar and saxophone playing were all fantastic, and I really love the lyrics and vocals too. “Oh! You Pretty Things” was great too. The piano playing was my favorite on the whole album, and I loved how the song built up in intensity about halfway through. The backing vocals were fantastic too, and this was a really fun song to groove to. My favorite song on the album was “Life on Mars?” The vocals were my favorite on the album, and the strings and piano playing are incredible as well. I love how the verse and chorus have differing intensities as well. For a song that’s not terribly long, “Life on Mars?” still manages to be sweeping and epic in its sound. “Fill Your Hear” was really good too. Like some of my other favorite songs on the album, it had some really jazzy piano playing and some nice, subtle strings as well. “Queen Bitch” was really great too, and I loved the guitar sound that was used. All the other songs on the album were fine, but they weren’t too remarkable to me. Overall, this was a solid album, but not my favorite Bowie offering that I’ve experienced so far.

Great album, a classic

The most David Bowie I have ever listened to. I like Changes, the others were... strange.

Another Bowie album I have never listened to before in its entirety, so I only knew (and loved) the hits - a shame! There are a few songs that leave me a bit cold but there is so much good stuff and creativity it still deserves a 5.

Day 81 and I finally get the first of nine total Bowie albums within the one thousand and however many (since we're listening to all the albums from all editions). Also the first of those nine chronologically. Bowie was, what, 24 when he made this? First listen was through my phone speaker while skeining my latest handspun yarn. Not the best sound quality, but the mellow meditative activity paired nicely with the softer piano melodies on the album. Gotta relisten with headphones on sometime later. Dang. This is some good stuff. Welcome to my music library, Hunky Dory.

I was so torn between a 2 or a 3 for this. Objectively it's not a bad album, it's just not that special to me, I don't see why people have so much love for Bowie.

Strong start, thought it could become my favorite bowie album. But the quality of songs slowly degrade throughout

It's a wonderful long affair for the boy with the mousy hair.

Seems pointless to give any of my own thoughts on one of the most acclaimed works of art by someone widely recognised as one of the greatest artists in history.

the dawn of a genius, yes I know he'd done stuff previous but this has got to be the album where people back then must had begun to think... "o aye this fella is a bit good isn't he!?" haven't heard some of the album tracks in a while but they still stand up well. Brilliant.

Hunky dory little story on the wall he might fall greatest show man of them all

Not my favorite Bowie, but Changes is a classic! This is a piano forward Bowie, less guitar - an amazing talent and creator.

Me gusta mucho bowie

Not one single bad song. Really good album and had not listened as an adult to it. Mindblown

Loved this album. I'd heard about half of it before but start to finish enjoyable.

Very boring

Love me some David Bowie

Ok

Definitely solid first 5 or so songs, then it went downhill with some of the deep cuts. Overall, not bad. 3.5 for sure.

Liked this one. Maybe second fav Bowie record?

Very good!

Some classics on here including my fave Life on Mars. The supporting tracks I was never too into though.

Very impressed by so many things on this recording, you can see why Bowie had such a successful long career. Ya I have heard Changes, Andy Worhal, oh you pretty thing, and Life on Mars many many times and always liked them. However there are so many other great guitar rifts (Eignt line Poem), and lyrics (Quicksand). Unfortunately a few duds held me back from a 5-star

Andy Warhol does sound like that can of Campbell soup. Was going to give a 3, but it picked up towards the end.

B+ Changes 5 Oh! You Pretty Things 5 Eight Line Poem 3 Life On Mars? 5 Kooks 4 Quicksand 4 Fill Your Heart 3 Andy Warhol 3 Song For Bob Dylan 3 Queen Bitch 4 The Bewlay Brothers 4 The first half of the album is some of Bowie's best, but the latter falls off a small bit, otherwise it'd be a 5.

Habe mir irgendwie mehr erhofft, weil David Bowie ja sooooo bekannt ist. The Bewlay Brothers ist ganz nett und das ganze Album hat irgendwie eine entspannte Atmosphäre, man erkennt David Bowie direkt wieder. Aber bei jedem Lied hatte ich das Gefühl irgendetwas fehlt

Pleased to have a reason to listen to this. Third Bowie record to appear on this list for me and the best one I've had so far (the other two were his more recent ones). I definitely like Bowie selectively but this was overall solid

It feels wrong to rate Bowie even this low, but while the album sounds like him and fits his style, most of the songs are forgettable or a little awkward. That said, both Changes and Life on Mars? are hits, and I liked The Bewley Brothers a lot too. It's cool to hear this album even if it's not his greatest hits though because it was the start of him finding his unique sound.

2.5

This album features the song "Life On Mars?" by David Bowie.

Indeed it was.

11/02/2025

Bowie always gets a 5

I liked the acoustic tracks. Good variety of songs and it showcased Bowie’s voice well.

Didn’t love it though I appreciate the lyricism. I find Bowie’s voice to be inhuman ,in a bad way. He’s obviously a genius but I can’t get on board. Standout tracks are “Changes” and “Song for Bob Dylan”.

I was expecting to like this but other than the the songs Changes and Song for Bob Dylan and one or two others which Iikded, the rest sonically reminded me of some Off Broadway Play musical or some high school Cabaret presentation. The lyrics might be excellent but just couldn't handle the sound on most of the songs.

I enjoyed listening to an album I've never heard from an artist I love.

Nice

1 star for changes

I like some songs on this album quite a bit, but there are some I’m really not into. I’m gonna go with a three on this one. 3/5

bavid dowie

Good Bowie, with lite rock elements. Some classics Bowie hits appear, but they're probably my last favorite of his hits. (Possibly burnout for life on 'changes', and that's hard to overcome)

Decent

I like David Bowie. This album isn't a chart topper for me, but it's better than a lot of what I've heard from this list recently. 3/5

listened to it before, but God is this album fresh. bowie is the only person I know who can pull off pretense without actually being pretentious. how many people could sing a word on quicksand without appearing like the biggest dweeb on the planet?

Earlier in my trip through the 1001 I distinctly remember giving an excellent Bowie album four stars precisely because there are some GREAT Bowie records. This is one of those, a GREAT Bowie record. It really shows his development as a performing artist and as a songwriter.

It’s fine. “Changes” is “Changes”. “Life on Mars” is a lovely shade of lost-electrons melancholy featuring some tight, bracing, elastic vocals. “Queen Bitch” starts off toe-tapping and ends up dancing on the tables. It’s better than fine, it’s objectively really good. And. Yet. I. Just. Can’t. Make. Myself. Connect. To. It. Fleur says that it’s how I don’t really like Star Wars; she’s totally right that I don’t always click with things that an otherwise overwhelming majority of people do – hot I can’t stress enough that it’s not on purpose*. I’m not trying to be “out there”. Fuck, I wish I got it. But honestly, I joked “Come on Dave, I could be listening to Chat Pile” as we listened to this. And I meant it. I could have been. Chat Pile rules. 2.5. We’ll try again with the next record, Dave love.

just not my vibe :/ but it was good to finally listen to such an influential album and bowie is obviously crazy talented

算是 70s rock 的巡礼吧，有年代感 和 Beatles 区别在声乐。号称艺术摇滚？可能确实有点呢 哈哈哈

If Bowie recorded a series of farts, it would be on this list. This has bangers though. 4.5.

This is probably the best Bowie album I'm going to hear. This made me realize that I just don't emotionally connect with Bowie as an artist. Personal enjoyment: 3/5 Relevance to this list: 3/5

As of this moment, this is my favorite Bowie album. Lots of incredible tracks. In my heart of hearts this is probably a 4.5 star album, but I'm going to round up in this case.

Best Bowie album I've had so far.

Me ha sorprendido!!

Some classic Bowie tracks on here. The lesser known songs didn't hit quite as hard as for me so maybe it's a 4. But it's possible Queen Bitch is good enough to get this to a 5. (12 known/18 new)

Try as I might, I’ve never really been able to get into Bowie. I like a handful of his songs but most of it just doesn’t appeal to me. Not to say this album is bad, Changes is great (though I think the cover for Shrek 2 that he appears on is better). Solid album but not for me

A classic, some phenomenal tunes. Mid 4s.

Classic Bowie.

Peaceful and trippy

It was fine. Some bangers on here but somewhat forgettable to me.

Alright, this is my sixth David Bowie album on my journey, and the second one to break chronological order after Aladdin Sane broke the run of Young Americans through Low, followed by "Heroes". I am well familiar with the singles from Hunky Dory and a few cuts such as "Queen Bitch" and "Oh! You Pretty Things" that are undeniable bangers to me. How does the rest of the album stack up? This was Bowie's best album to date. Taking a more piano-focused songwriting approach, he crafted warmer rock tunes that placed more emphasis on melody. I've already mentioned the above tracks as good examples of this approach. I'll add to that notion the sporadic piano with spare guitar licks on "Eight Line Poem", the delightful "Kooks" that's a heartfelt dedication to Bowie's son Duncan, the spiritualistic nature of "Quicksand" that sounded like a stylistic precursor to Low, the swing and horn accompaniment of "Fill Your Heart", the more esoteric tributes to Andy Warhol and Bob Dylan on their respectively named songs, and the even more cryptic closer "The Bewlay Brothers" with the backmasked guitar solo and delectable guitar hooks as the end descends into a controlled madness with the chants of "Please come away". Even when these songs get bonkers in the lyrics, the hooks are there to sink you in deeper. Even if I can acknowledge that David Bowie would continue to experiment and improve his songwriting chops, knowing full well how much I loved Station to Station, I cannot deny Hunky Dory was an excellent cornerstone that showcased the man finding his style.

No, there is no life on Mars

Yeah some good Bowie on this one, even got him writing a bit of Master of Puppets on this

Friday albums always have a fleeting effect on me, and this one wasn’t mind blowing enough to properly remember but I know it was half decent for Bowie

you don't realize how many legendary songs there are on this album

This is my favourite Bowie album, I love the lyrics and the musical style, to me it is his most coherent and connected album. Over shadowed by Ziggy, unfairly I believe as this is a better work. Much more creativity and emotional content. Easily 5 🤩

I struggle to enjoy Bowie. I hate the "stuttering" on changes. It's very, very difficult to argue that this isn't a brilliant album though.

Album - Hunky Dory Artist - David Bowie Release - 1971 Genre - Art Pop/Pop Rock Heard it before? - Y Heard OF it before? - Y Bowie’s first truly great album. It seems to take a backseat to the glam years, which while understandable makes it somewhat more special. It takes a lot of cues from Sgt. Pepper in its instrumentation, but while that album’s orchestra and brass seemed bombastic, this one prefers to make it subdued. Less street parade, more live musical theater. The pianos are really pretty too. It’s lighter on the electric guitar than the albums that followed, but when it does appear (“Eight Line Poem,” “Queen Bitch”) it’s seems to be another piece in the overall machine, which fits these songs perfectly. I was going to make a longer review for this one but it’s Friday and I don’t think this is the kind of album that needs some framing review like the previous ones I got. It’s great piano-driven artsy pop from a brilliant songwriter, what more needs to be said? 9/10

Seems like every time I get a different Bowie album, I like it even more than the last. This album just hit differently than the others for me. I really enjoyed it from start to finish, and it provided a fantastic soundtrack to my weekly grocery shopping trip.

Going through this generator, I got Bowie albums that I didn't like before and somehow the 3rd listen made everything click. I figured the same would happen to this album, but no. This shit sucks. I don't know what it is with the production, I can hear everything perfectly fine, but it feels like there is no air, making it sound....I don't know off? "Changes" for example has what should be a big chorus sounding empty, like something is just missing. The rest afterwords are just dribble. No idea what the hell I listened to because I forgot what it sounded like as soon as it ended. I'm extremely disappointed in this album. "Andy Warhol" is a fucking killer song though, but it doesn't save this album.

Quirky and upbeat. Just the way I like my Bowie.

Very well made. The people involved are very talented. David Bowie can SING! But ultimately, just not really my style, I wasn't really able to get into many of the songs. My favorite song was "Changes"

kinda mid tbh

Life on Mars!

I really liked this album.

Good album

I am not that kind of fan of David Bowie's like most that see him as the greatest thing. But I can see what an influence he was and through an album like Hunky Dory being such a monster where the opening side is a near-perfect album side. 4/5

Musically, I really don't like Bowie's voice, I think. Stylistically, his voice is really great, though. It's unique and stands out. But I don't think I would intentionally go out seeking David Bowie's music strictly because of his voice. So, I don't love it. But it definitely has its place in history (and on this list). I don't think that I have much else to say about it, though. It is what it is: a solid rock album with a front man that's larger than life but doesn't really have a ton of vocal talent. Favorite Song(s): Changes, Life on Mars?

Well obviously five stars, it's Hunky Dory. Life on Mars, followed by Kooks followed by Quicksand, wow. Pretty things, Changes, Andy Warhol, Bewlays and of course Queen Bitch. The only minor bum note is Fill Your Heart and that's a fun enough cover. Class, top to bottom. Post album listening: Bombers, last minute replaced by Fill Your Heart, and the Bob Rose original of that song which is nice and feels more genuine.

Not my favorite Bowie album but not bad - not as esoteric as some, not as full of bops as others. Great lyrics, but sound-wise a little one dimensional.

If you don't like "Kooks" we can't be friends. Truly one of Bowie's best. I love the evolution of his sound here, he's still a little folksy/hippy at this point in his career.

This was already an all time fave of mine, but it was good to have a focused re-listen.

pretty cool, listened to it smoothly

Greta albums with some of his best work. Listenable from start to finish.

I like Bowie but not all of his music. Kooks really resonated with me.

this guy was really, truly from another planet

need to remind myself that a 4-star bowie album is just a 5-star album

i've been getting more into david bowie's music lately and especially after the handful of albums i've already gotten in this project, so i was really eager to listen to another. and... it was good. i've heard some great bowie and this one, to me, does not get quite up to those highs. don't get me wrong, there are some great tracks on here - i love 'queen bitch,' 'oh! you pretty things,' and 'life on mars?' - but a lot of the rest of this album is just not the pinnacle of bowie. there's a lot of softer stuff here, which isn't bad, but i found myself wanting more of the aggressive, glam-type stuff that i love bowie for around this era. that being said, i still think it's pretty great - but not to the immense heights that bowie can get to.

3.41

OVERALL: There were some pretty damn good songs here. Changes, Oh! You Pretty Things, Life On Mars, Quicksand, and Queen Bitch are all extremely good songs, and have pretty much nothing wrong with them. They have very good instrumentation, vocals, and writing. Eight Line Poem, Kooks, Fill Your Heart, Song for Bob Dylan, and The Bewlay Brothers are fine songs, but they have something about them that I just don't like. The only "bad" song here is Andy Warhol, but it might just be not for me. It sounds too weird and experimental, and can be pretty annoying at times. SONG AVG: 7.77/10 PERSONAL RATING: 7.25/10 Changes: Very catchy, I like the piano and David Bowie's vocal performance. The instrumentation is good, but is a little bit basic. 9/10 Oh! You Pretty Things: The chorus hits harder than a 4 wheeler. Pretty good piano and message. 9.25/10 Eight Line Poem: Pretty good instrumentation, but it doesn't really stand out to me or have anything that interesting in it. I don't hate it, but it's a bit mid. 6/10 Life On Mars?: Fantastic. The piano, vocals, guitar, lyrics, everything is very well executed. 10/10 Kooks: Overall pretty solid. I guess it's pretty fun and a bit silly, but other than that it's fine. Also, fade out outro. 7/10 Quicksand: Pretty good piano and guitar, especially when the song picks up. It can get a little boring, but it doesn't stay that way for too long. Unfortunately, it has a fade out outro. 9.5/10 Fill Your Heart: Pretty fun and upbeat, the instruments are played very well, but David Bowie's singing can be annoying at times, why does that man sound like a fly. The piano is played extremely well, and the harmonica(?) transitions well into the next song. 7/10 Andy Warhol: Very experimental and weird, especially the intro. This song sounds like a dumpster fire accompanied by David Bowie's weird yodeling. Also, it ends with claps? I guess the guitar is nice and it's kinda catchy, but that's about it. 3.75/10 Song for Bob Dylan: I like the guitar and the melody is pretty nice, but it's just okay. 6.5/10 Queen Bitch: Really fun and the guitar is pretty good. Nice energy and the lyrics are pretty good. Nothing too bad about it, but the intro is kinda weird I guess. 9.75/10 The Bewlay Brothers: This can be so unbelievably boring, but the chorus is so very good. I don't understand what this song is about, or what the ending is supposed to be. Apparently it's about David Bowie's brother? Anyways, the song is carried by the chorus pretty heavily. 7.75/10

This was fun! I’ve been singing changes for like 24 hours now.

First half is definitely better than the second. But, maybe I'm just not weird enough to get it. 4

I wish i was cool and liked art pop / art rock more. I enjoyed Quicksand and Fill Your Heart the most. 3.5/5

I am 300 albums into this list and this was my 7th David Bowie album. Maybe this is an unpopular opinion but I don't need to hear his entire discography before I die.

First record on the list that I enjoyed all the way through. Really really like it

Bowie before Ziggy

He did it again

Great early Bowie! A little bit of everything he would dive into later to create his many personas. Rocker, out there artist, show tunes, space man, this one’s got it all. Including some of his best hits. Not quite a 5 because he’s got some clunkers (Andy Warhol???) but he seemed to break into a real interesting artistic place with writing on the piano for this album. Always a fun one to come back to. Saved Songs: Changes Oh! You Pretty Things Life on Mars? Queen Bitch

Clearly exceptionally influential. Really hits hard too, even on a first listen. Classic for a reason!

It's not a masterpiece, but it's alright; better than most of Bowie's earlier input. By masterpiece, I mean "DSotM" levels of greatness. "Hunky Dory" has "Life On Mars" and other classics on the A-side. The B-side is disappointing in comparison. By the way, I preferred "ZSatSFM". 3 stars for "Hunky Dory".

Hunky Dory has some of Bowie’s best songs on it. That being said I do think he has better albums. That’s not necessarily a knock on Hunky Dory though, because Bowie has made some of my favorite albums ever. It’s just while this record has some of Bowie’s best songs, it also has some songs I could live without such as Andy Warhol. Despite having a few low points, I think this the perfect Bowie record to start with for a new fan, and it’s one that I hold dear because it was one of the first Bowie records I heard. It’s insane that there’s multiple albums I would take over this, because it is damn near flawless, but that just shows how consistent Bowie’s catalog is.

— Hunky Dory 1. Changes — classic 9.5/10 2. Oh! You Pretty Things — one of my bowie favorites since childhood! 10/10 3. Eight Line Poem — nothing special, slow for my preference 3/10 4. Life On Mars? — also another childhood memory. (never heard the talking at the very end, interesting to notice) 9/10 5. Kooks — alright, sounds kind of theatre-ish. would probably grow on me with more listens. nice melodies 6.5/10 6. Quicksand — guitar sounds really great at some moments, a little slow but enjoyable. felt like it went on a while. 6/10 7. Fill Your Heart — first time hearing, good! nice pickup after Quicksand. snappy and nice sax. (cool cool transition into next song) 8/10 8. Andy Warhol — talking at beginning good touch, got me nodding my head from the first notes. surprised I’ve never heard this one before, or maybe just don’t remember. really glad to find this one. (kinda hurts in earbuds with the volume high) 9/10 9. Song For Bob Dylan — nothing special, lyrics aren’t too interesting to me though it paints an effective picture. 4/10 10. Queen Bitch — catchy and nice guitars, just doesn’t totally catch my attention for some reason, prefer Lady Stardust for nostalgia, 7/10 11. The Bewlay Brothers — interesting for sure, especially lyrics, and good closing. liking the echo effects and choral ending, eerie and captures Bowie well 7/10 album cover thoughts — I feel like this cover has about 20 different variations depending on color shades and vibrancy levels. obviously iconic but it’s not my favorite Bowie cover to look at, compared to Ziggy Stardust or others. captures his spirit well, though. overall — has some amazing classics that will stick with me for my whole life, including some new discoveries! just not my favorite Bowie material though, especially with the slower ones scattered throughout. probably just needs a few more listen throughs to really get into some of the ones above 6/10 ratings. prefer Bowie concept albums rather than scattered culture references.

Lots a hidden gems, been wanting to explore Bowie more. Queen Bitch, Eight Line Poem, Kooks, and life on mars are favorites

Listenable; a couple of particularly good tracks but nothing special as an album for me.

Wow instant classic

4.5 rounded up, because it deserves more credit than my last couple 4 stars, which were low+key 3.5s rounded up. That being said, this album still kicks ass. Changes, Pretty Things, and Life on Mars, all within the first 4 songs?!? David Bowie began to define his legacy on this album, as early as 1971, and he never looked back. Strange giving this 5 stars bc obviously he would go on to SMASH it out of the park, but my man David Bowie would take over the music industry with albums as unassuming as this. Before you know it he has cornered the game singing about space and extraterrestrial life forms and experiences. Bring it back to Earth, however, his humble piano ballads make this album very digestable before he goes on to be larger than life.

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.

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

4,3

The start of a perfect run to Scary Monsters.

Great album. David Bowie is that guy

One of the most interesting things for me in music is when an album that did ok when it came out suddenly rockets up the charts when the artist makes it big. This is one of those cases. Bowie had been made a star through Ziggy, but this album is better. And even if you don't think it's better, I think it's more representative of who David Bowie was. Honest (if more than slightly detached) and never staying in the same style or genre for very long. This was also sadly where he flirted with some weird and problematic ideas and imagery, which bit him in the arse when The Thin White Duke arrived (though I'm not sure Bowie actually believed in any of the stuff the Duke did). Tangent: The story about Bowie playing 'Andy Warhol' for Andy Warhol, them both sitting in awkward silence for a minute since it was clear that Andy didn't like it, and then Andy saying he liked Bowie's shoes to break the tension may be one of my favourite musical anecdotes ever. Favourite Song: Life on Mars Least Favourite: Quicksand (on a song level. It's interesting for lyrical analysis) Strong Bad Demerit Count: 1

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

Bipperty-bopperty brilliant.

jackanory

I'm not a particular fan of Bowie, but this album is great! It severely scratches 5 stars! 4,4 ;-)

Changes is a forever bop. New appreciation for Bowie’s lyricism, especially on Life on Mars? Start to see the evolution of Ziggy Stardust.

Very cool, super interesting chords and piano parts, unfortunately i just don’t like david bowie’s voice that much

Outstanding. One of the best albums ever.

Great album, so many great songs. Highlight being Life on Mars?

This is one of the greatest albums ever written and produced. First discovered it many years ago and even now find new things in it. Inventive, quirky and profound. "Oh! You Pretty Things" is one of my favourite tracks period plus.... "What did I say? "Hull." It's "hole." As in "holes." Andy Warh- Huh? Andy Warho- Andy War-War-ol, like hol—hol— "Andy War-hole," take one"

Life on Mars?

Un très bon album. Pas grand chose de plus à rajouter.

Crazy I got this album on the 9th anniversary of Bowie passing and sending the world into the tailspin we’re currently in.

changes - I like the song, I found it fun and groovy Oh! you pretty things - At first I was not feeling it, then the chorus hit, I personally really like the chorus Eight line poem - Although I do like the instrumentals, didn't think it was anything special life on mars? - Felt like a punch to the face in a good way kooks - I liked the instruments, but didn't find the singing spectacular quicksand - Really like the guitar in this one, really well done fill your heart - I'm starting to get the "Bowie" sound with this one, I like the piano riffs and trumpets Andy Warhol - the guitar riff is cool, I really like the chromatism in the song; shootouts to Andy Warhol. Love Campbell soup. Song gets weird in the end Song for Bob Dylan - nothing too special imo Queen Bitch - yummy guitar; I love the tone of the guitar and playfulness of the song The Bewlay Brothers - A tad long, but still an enjoyable song Overall - literally have never listened to David Bowie, but I enjoyed it. I can totally see how this influenced a lot of other albums and artists. Would recommend

Want my taste but still pleasant to listen too

Bowie can do no wrong in my book. One of my favorite Bowie albums. Everything about this album is Hunky Dory and more.

I already knew the song Changes but not because it's by David Bowie, but because I heard it from the film Shrek. I'm embarassed to say this but as a late 90's kid and in my defense when i watched kids movies I wouldn't search the songs I enjoyed. However I enjoyed the whole album and I liked the different sounds.

Amazing album, already liked it but was nice to hear it again

Love this album!! Heard many times

I’m super biased cause I adore David Bowie, but this is probably one of his more mainstream albums. This is a total classic, maybe two skips, but a nearly perfect album all round.

Another 5 star for Bowie. Never having done the dive into Bowie that I should have it is a revelation to hear the albums now. Looking forward to more Bowie albums on this journey.

What can I say? This is a masterpiece. Maybe not the first, given that the rougher-sounding *The Man Who Sold The World* has left equally stellar moments to music history, even if they were less commercially successful at the time. Yet *Hunky Dory* still probably supersedes its predecessor, if only because it saw Bowie properly enacts his will to constantly mutate from one identity to another. It's all spelled out in the opener "Changes", one of three absolutely iconic songs in this album. The other two being "Oh You Pretty Things" and , of course, "Life On Mars?". About the latter, there's quite an interesting story behind it. The story goes that Bowie was first tasked to write the English adaptation of the French hit "Comme d'habitude", sung by Claude François (which would become the overblown *My Way*) but he lost the rights to the song, and so got inspired by the first song's dramatic chord changes to write something at least ten times better. What a genius move. We can all be thankful that he lost those rights, can't we? There are also three gems that are admittedly a notch less famous in this LP: the moving "Quicksands", the livelier and reckless "Queen Bitch", and the part-moody, part-moving, and part-extravagant closer "The Bewlay Brothers". And if the rest can be considered as "deeper cuts", they are still tunes that are extremely pleasurable to listen to. Especially the best Vaudevillian one of the bunch, "Kooks". As for "Andy Warhol" and "Song For Bob Dylan", they are catchy and playful acoustic guitar-driven winks to two absolutely legendary pop culture figures, with those two songs retrospectively signalling Bowie was on his way to join their ranks. Historical album, the first of many victory laps during David Bowie's career. Of course, it's gonna be in a list such as this! Number of albums left to review: the 80-ish extra LPs listed on this app, included because different past editions of the book have mentioned albums that have since been dropped in subsequent editions. Number of albums I'll keep in my own list: half, approximately (including this one, I've temporarily lost count here) Number of albums I *might* keep: a small quarter, approximately Number of albums I won't keep: a large quarter

not my favorite Bowie, I find it a little one note and I'm not that into Changes

I like it

A classic

This was an easy listen, but not my favorite Bowie

Frankly ridiculous how strong this record is. A real all-killer, no-filler affair. No best-of collections required when there is back catalogue like this to unearth. There are of course several era-defining bangers (Changes, Pretty Things, Life on Mars, Queen Birch) but those are so well known already that it's some of the slightly deeper cuts (Bewlay Brothers, Fill Your Heart, Eight Line Poem, Quicksand) that really stick with me these days. Peak Bowie. Maybe his best.

Not a fan, personally.

The first song sounds so different to the last song or maybe it's just me

Great pick

A classic

My first true classic. This is probably in the top 50 albums one should listen to. Even so, I was not familiar with a number of the tracks and it was fun to hear them in the curated order they were intended among those I know very well. "Changes" and "Life on Mars?" are the types of tracks that are played all the time but don't get old. Particularly enjoyed "Fill Your Heart," "Andy Warhol," "Queen Bitch" (found myself bopping to this one), and "The Bewlay Brothers" was a excellent end track. Really felt like a conclusion.

Bowie

pretty good, I liked changes, kooks, and life on mars.

Not the biggest Bowie fan but had some decent tunes regardless.

Quite enjoyed this

yes good yes enjoy 4/5

Admittedly I am not the biggest Bowie fan. I think he has some killer singles, but at the album level he does not quite work for me like he does others. I feel like Hunky Dory is such a letdown after Life on Mars?. A really strong opening 4 songs, with only Song for Bob Dylan being notable on the later half of the album.