'' is an album by
David Bowie , released in September
1980 by
RCA Records . It was Bowie's final album for the label and his first since the so-called "
Berlin Trilogy " of ''
Low '', ''
"Heroes" '' and ''
Lodger '' (
1977 -
1979 ). Whilst critically a triumph, the trilogy had proved less successful commercially. With ''Scary Monsters'', however, Bowie achieved a major coup on both counts, the music press heaping praise on the new album and public anticipation being high enough to ensure that it debuted in the
UK charts at #1.
The album’s release was preceded by the #1 single "
Ashes To Ashes ", built around an ear-catching
Guitar Synth theme by
Chuck Hammer , that revisited the character of Major Tom from his early hit "
Space Oddity ". Aside from its critical and commercial success as a song, the accompanying
Music Video set a benchmark for the art form. Other tracks on the album included "It’s No Game (Part 1)", the hard-rocking opener featuring lead female vocals in
Japanese ; the manic title track with its distinctive percussion effects and Bowie’s mock-
Cockney voice; and the second single "
Fashion ", which seemed to draw uncomfortable parallels between style and politics and which had its own highly-regarded video.
Notwithstanding the lush textures of "Ashes to Ashes", Bowie's sound on this album was described by many critics as being harsher and more desperate than anything he had previously released.
Brian Eno was no longer a collaborator but, following his absence from ''Lodger'',
Robert Fripp returned with the unique guitar sound he had earlier lent to ''"Heroes"''.
Pete Townshend also guested on the bittersweet love song "Because You’re Young".
Aside from "Ashes to Ashes", "Teenage Wildlife" was perhaps the album’s most personal lyric. Against a musical backdrop that owed much to his classic song "
"Heroes" ", Bowie appeared to take aim squarely at his
Post-punk artistic godchildren, particularly
Gary Numan :
:A broken-nosed mogul are you
:One of the new wave boys
:Same old thing in brand new drag
:Comes sweeping into view
:As ugly as a teenage millionaire
:Pretending it’s a whiz-kid world
Following "Ashes to Ashes" and "Fashion", the
Title Track was released as a single in early
1981 in both
Vinyl Record and
Compact Cassette form. Other songs from this period, released on
CD by RykoDisc, included both sides of the single "
Alabama Song " b/w "Space Oddity", the latter a stark remake that debuted New Year’s Eve 1979 on
The Kenny Everett Video Show and served as a "ritualistic purification" of Bowie’s most famous number prior to its demolition with "Ashes to Ashes"; "Crystal Japan", a Japanese-only single b/w "Alabama Song" which Bowie lent to a
Sake commercial; and a new version of ''
Aladdin Sane ''’s "Panic In Detroit".
Despite the worldwide megastardom and commercial success that Bowie would achieve in coming years, most notably with his next studio album ''
Let's Dance '' in
1983 , many critics and fans consider ''Scary Monsters'' to be his last 'classic' album. Often, Bowie's later releases, such as ''
Heathen '' or ''
Reality '', were reviewed as "the best album since ''Scary Monsters''."
{Link without Title}
All tracks written by David Bowie, except "Kingdom Come" by
Tom Verlaine .
# "
It's No Game (Part 1)" - (4:15)
# "
Up The Hill Backwards " - (3:13)
# "
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) " - (5:10)
# "
Ashes To Ashes " - (4:23)
# "
Fashion " - (4:46)
# "
Teenage Wildlife " - (6:51)
# "
Scream Like A Baby " - (3:35)
# "
Kingdom Come " - (3:42)
# "
Because You're Young " - (4:51)
# "
It's No Game (Part 2)" - (4:22)
The album has been rereleased thrice to date on
CD , the first being in
1992 by
Rykodisc (containing four bonus tracks) the second in
1999 by
EMI (featuring 24-bit digitally remastered sound and no bonus tracks) and the last in
2003 by
EMI as a
SACD (Super Audio Compact Disc).
# "
Space Oddity " - (4:47) Re-recorded single B-side 1979
# "
Panic In Detroit " - (3:00) Re-recorded version 1979, previously unreleased
# "
Crystal Japan " - (3:08) Japanese single A-side 1979
# "
Alabama Song " - (3:51) UK single A-side 1979
- :
- --- David Bowie: Vocals , Keyboards , Background Vocals
- ---
- ---
- --- s
- --- on "Ashes To Ashes" and "Teenage Wildlife"
- --- on "Fashion", "It's No Game", "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)", "Kingdom Come", "Up The Hill Backwards" and "Teenage Wildlife"
- --- on "Teenage Wildlife", "Ashes To Ashes" and "Up The Hill Backwards"
- --- on "Fashion", "Scream Like A Baby", "Ashes To Ashes" and "Because You're Young"
- --- on "Because You're Young"
- --- Tony Visconti: Acoustic Guitar on "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" and "Up The Hill Backwards", Background Vocals
- --- Lynn Maitland: Background Vocals
- --- Chris Porter: Background Vocals
- --- Michi Hirota: Voice on "It's No Game (Part 1)"
