David Bowie- The Rise & Fall Of Ziggy Stardust... (1972) ****
Queen- A Night At The Opera (1975) ****
David Bowie- The Buddha Of Suburbia (1993) ****
Moby Grape- S/T: Stereo (1967) ****
Tom Verlaine- S/T (1979) ***1/2
Al Green- The Reverend: Personal Playlist (2025) ****
Boston- S/T: Kevin Gray Master (1976/2010) ****
The Vibrators- Pure Mania (1977) ***1/2
12 comments:
The Buddha never disappoints.
You're right. It's such an interesting record. I am always surprised by how much I enjoy it.
I'm seeing a lot of 4 star records but don't recall seeing anything higher. What's an example of a 5 star record
The 4 stars aren't grading the record. I don't think "Buddha Of Suburbia" is as good as "Ziggy," but I really enjoyed it as much as I did everything else. I think the Tom Verlaine is a 4 star record, but I really loved listening to the Moby Grape and so the Verlaine didn't hit me the way it usually does.
I've use 5 stars in the past, probably the first time I heard the Kevin Gray "What's Going On?"
I understand these are today's how I feel/enjoyed the record, of course. That is the only way that the Moby Grape isn't five stars. Or Ziggy for that matter.
That said, I like four Bowie records more than Ziggy.
this is posted on the upper right of the page:
"Now Playing" started out as nothing more than me writing down what I listen to everyday. It was another way to start a conversation. It took some time to take off, and now has been getting a good number of hits and comments. To be clear, Now Playing is NOT me grading records. It's me grading the listening experience. I created a Pete Townshend playlist that consisted of 15 songs that I love, so why did it get three and a half stars instead of four? Maybe the sequencing. Maybe I wasn't in the mood. Who knows? Robert Palmer's "Drive" recently came out on vinyl for the first time and man, did it sound great! Four & a half stars! I still like five Robert Palmer albums more. Got it?
It's not unthinkable that a three -star record could get a five star spin, or vice versa.
Only four? Even I’ve got 5-6 that are at least equal. Cleveland Jeff
I'm confused. Maybe something is lost in translation.
Your first comment implies Ziggy is a five star spin, which is why, as an aside, I mentioned having four others I like more.
But now, "even I have 5-6 that are at least equal" sorta implies that you are agreeing with my initial 4 stars.
An interesting essay re: The Buddha - lots of background: https://thequietus.com/opinion-and-essays/anniversary/david-bowie-buddha-of-suburbia-review-anniversary/
1. Imagine “Strangers When We Meet” on Black Tie as originally attempted. Unknown classic. 1993 has aged well for Bowie.
2. It’s not unreasonable to consider Blah Blah Blah, Bowie’s best of the eighties.
Thanks for all you do. :)
I agree with your system of rating how you enjoyed a record on the day you heard it, and how that isn't the same as you would rate that record overall. My point was that the daily score and the big picture score are not the same thing, which you yourself have indicated. So on. a day when the Moby Grape scores a four, that doesn't mean it's not a five-star record. It just means it wasn't five stars in the context of that day. When you mentioned four Bowie records you like more, I thought about ones I might put on my Bowie list equal to or higher than Ziggy. We may both be overthinking this one. You know I dig your work.
I have six Bowie albums I give a perfect five stars to, so it's possible I might love one of them and yet have five others I love even more. However, I grade Ziggy slightly below those six albums. But it's great!
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