Maps of Music

Aladdin Sane (1973)

Where the lyrics of Aladdin Sane take you, and where it was really made.

The famous lightning-bolt face makeup was reportedly copied from a rice cooker in the studio, according to the writer Cann.

Key places

Sessions at Trident Studios (1973)

Recording site Trident Studios — Recording sessions resumed in January 1973 at Trident Studios in London after the American tour and UK Christmas concerts. Tracks such as Panic in Detroit and Cracked Actor were recorded there. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

First song recorded at RCA Studios (1973)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The first song recorded for the album, The Jean Genie, was taped in October 1972 at RCA Studios in New York City. The location point is set at city centre level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Cover shot in north London (1973)

Album cover Wild Bunch Studios (London) — The cover photograph was shot in January 1973 by Brian Duffy in his north London studio. The point is set at city centre level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Aladdin Sane: sixth studio album by David Bowie
• Released April 1973 on RCA Records; US on 13 April, UK on 19 April
• Co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott
• Follow-up to The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
• First album Bowie wrote and released after achieving global stardom
• Recorded in London and New York City between legs of the Ziggy Stardust Tour
• Bowie's final album with the full Spiders from Mars lineup

Background

• Bowie launched to stardom in early July 1972 with Ziggy Stardust and 'Starman' on BBC's Top of the Pops
• Most tracks written on the road during the US leg of the tour, shaped by his view of the country
• Tour and side projects took a toll on his mental health, further influencing the writing
• Bowie was unsure of the new direction and wanted to move beyond the Ziggy character
• He created the new persona Aladdin Sane, described as a 'Ziggy goes to America' idea

Recording

• Mainly recorded between December 1972 and January 1973, between tour legs
• First song recorded was 'The Jean Genie' on 6 October 1972 at RCA Studios in New York City
• 'Drive-In Saturday' and 'All the Young Dudes' recorded with Scott in New York in December
• Sessions continued in January 1973 at Trident Studios in London, concluding on 24 January
• Pianist Mike Garson joined the lineup and added jazz and blues elements
• Saxophonists Ken Fordham and Brian Wilshaw and backing singers Juanita Franklin and Linda Lewis took part

Cover

• Shot in January 1973 by Brian Duffy in his north London studio
• Shirtless Bowie with red hair and a red-and-blue lightning bolt across his face
• Makeup designed by Pierre Laroche
• Regarded as one of Bowie's most iconic images

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life

• Born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 in Brixton, London.
• Studied art, music and design; took up saxophone in 1961.
• Adopted the stage name David Bowie in 1966 to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees.

Career

• Breakthrough with "Space Oddity" in 1969, reaching the UK top five.
• Glam rock success in 1972 with the Ziggy Stardust persona and album.
• Berlin Trilogy (Low, "Heroes", Lodger) with Brian Eno and Tony Visconti in the late 1970s.
• Greatest commercial success with Let's Dance in 1983.
• Fronted the hard rock band Tin Machine from 1988 to 1992 before resuming a solo career.
• Final studio album Blackstar was released two days before his death in 2016.

Legacy

• Sold over 100 million records worldwide.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
• Widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone's Ben Gerson praised Bowie's provocative melodies, audacious lyrics, and production with Ken Scott, and said it was less manic than The Man Who Sold the World
• Billboard called it a combination of raw energy with explosive rock
• The New York Times' Henry Edwards called it the most expressive, if still uneven, album of Bowie's recording career
• Record Mirror's Val Mabbs cited it as Bowie's best work up to that point
• NME's Charles Shaar Murray felt it was a strong contender for album of the year
• Let It Rock found it more style than substance
• Phonograph Record's Kim Fowley considered the record bad, save for 'Time' and 'The Prettiest Star'

Reappraisal

• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine said it followed the same pattern as Ziggy Stardust, for both better and worse, and called the Rolling Stones cover oddly clueless
• Pitchfork's Douglas Wolk called it effectively Ziggy Stardust II
• NME's Roy Carr and Murray called it oddly unsatisfying, considerably less than the sum of its parts
• Biographer Nicholas Pegg called it one of the most urgent, compelling and essential of Bowie's albums
• Billboard's Joe Lynch considered it as influential on glam rock as its predecessor

Records

• Debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and stayed there for five weeks
• Reached number 17 on the Billboard Top LPs and Tape chart in the US
• Reached the top five in France, the Netherlands and Sweden, and the top ten in Australia
• Estimated sales of 4.6 million copies worldwide
• Voted Bowie's sixth best record in a 2013 Rolling Stone readers' poll
• Ranked 277th on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003)
• Ranked 77th on Pitchfork's top 100 albums of the 1970s

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title is a pun on 'A Lad Insane', which was at one point expected to be the title.
• During the tour the working title was Love Aladdin Vein, changed partly because of its drug connotations.
• Later publications have compared the lightning bolt design to the flag of the British Union of Fascists.
• The Rolling Stones' influence is acknowledged by the album's only cover, 'Let's Spend the Night Together'.
• The album's cover used a seven-colour system at the insistence of manager Tony Defries, rather than the usual four.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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