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David Bowie - Young Americans (Ryko) (1975)

Track listing:
  1. Young Americans 5:14
  2. Win 4:48
  3. Fascination 5:51
  4. Right 4:21
  5. Somebody Up There Likes Me 6:34
  6. Across The Universe 4:33
  7. Can You Hear Me 5:08
  8. Fame 4:20
  9. Who Can I Be Now? (Previously Unissued Track - 1974) 4:39
  10. It's Gonna Be Me (Previously Unissued Track - 1974) 6:30
  11. John, I'm Only Dancing Again (Single A-side - Recorded 1974) 6:59

Notes


David Bowie had dropped hints during the Diamond Dogs tour that he was moving toward R&B, but the full-blown blue-eyed soul of Young Americans came as a shock. Surrounding himself with first-rate sessionmen, Bowie comes up with a set of songs that approximate the sound of Philly soul and disco, yet remain detached from their inspirations; even at his most passionate, Bowie sounds like a commentator, as if the entire album was a genre exercise. Nevertheless, the distance doesn't hurt the album — it gives the record its own distinctive flavor, and its plastic, robotic soul helped inform generations of synthetic British soul. What does hurt the record is a lack of strong songwriting. "Young Americans" is a masterpiece, and "Fame" had a beat funky enough that James Brown ripped it off, but only a handful of cuts ("Win," "Fascination," "Somebody up There Likes Me") comes close to matching their quality. As a result, Young Americans is more enjoyable as a stylistic adventure than as a substantive record. [The 1991 CD has three bonus tracks, including the terrific outtake "Who Can I Be Now?."]