Cosmic Harmony
Senior Member
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2009
- Posts
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Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)
Every artist that had aspirations to put out an album in the 80's had a very high bar to reach for after the release of David Bowie's 1980 album "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)".
If I had to pick one word to summarize this album and why it stands out from David's other albums it would be bleakness. Unlike with the critically beloved Berlin trilogy that preceded this album Bowie spent a great deal of time focusing on the lyrics before even concerning himself with the music and aside from one cover ("Kingdom Come" by Tom Verlaine, which had been released the year before) he wrote all of the songs himself.
As with most David Bowie albums "Scary Monsters" has some very unusual melodies that are both innovative and mesmerizing. What is so different about this album though is (as I mentioned earlier) it's bleakness, it's harshness, it's desperation. I have to admit that I can never get through this album without being brought to tears at one point or another, usually during "Ashes to Ashes" or "Teenage Wildlife", the former being one of my favorite songs ever.
During this period of David's career he took a look of Pierrot, the sad clown, a character who was unmasked yet still his truest feelings were hidden behind his makeup. A character who just wanted to love. That is the kind of full lengths that Bowie went to in order to present this album the way it was supposed to be.
1. It's No Game (No. 1) - The album kicks off with a strange rattling noise and a woman speaking in Japanese which, in a call and return sort of fashion, David translates very harshly. I mean, at points he quite seriously sounds like he's ripping his vocal chords apart.
2. Up the Hill Backwards – This is a bit of a weak track on the album but I do still find it to be quite catchy and I can appreciate it's subject matter. It's about the invasive way that the media pried into David's divorce from his now former wife, Angela Bowie (who was quite a bold looking woman...of course no one would expect any less considering she was married to the Thin White Duke)
3. Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) – This is one of my favorite tracks on the album. I love the half robotic vocals in the chorus and the Robert Fripp's guitar work, who plays on over half of the songs on the album but this is my favorite of his work on it. On top of it being a jarring track musically it's also very intriguing lyrics. From what I understand it's about a woman's plunge into madness.
4. Ashes to Ashes – In "Ashes To Ashes" David revives the man that originally made him famous over ten years earlier, the famous Major Tom. This is not only the biggest hit from the album but also in a lot of ways the defining song from "Scary Monsters". Taking Major Tom, who was originally a hero, and turning him into nothing more than a junkie who's hitting their all time low drives in the desperate tone that hovers over much of the album.
5. Fashion – In the way that "Ashes to Ashes" revisits Bowie's past I believe "Fashion" sets the stage for his following album "Let's Dance". Now with that said it's kind of ironic that this song got played in dance clubs because the lyrics are actually against the vanity that you often find in such places. Kind of like how people thought Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The USA" was really patriotic when it actually wasn't at all. By the way, Roy Bittan from the E Street Band plays on "Up The Hill Backwards", "Ashes to Ashes", and the next track. (how's that for a segue?
)
6. Teenage Wildlife – More present on this song than anything is the presence of Robert Fripp's guitar playing. It has some very prominent parts with more than one solo. Something about the music in this song breaks my heart in a similar way that his previous hit "Heroes" does. Lyrically Bowie tears into all of the new wavers that he had influenced, most notably Gary Numan. It's not that he hated what they did but it was the lack of creative ingenuity that infuriated him so much. At nearly 7 minutes this is also one of the longest songs in Bowie's catalog.
7. Scream Like a Baby – 3:35 Bowie once again revisits the past in ways with this song. It's a story about the future (told in the past tense) about a character named Sam who, along with the narrator, are being kept as political prisoners. Thematically it takes that space age setting that has had such a prominent part in Bowie's career whether in the way of Major Tom, Ziggy Stardust, or beyond.
8. Kingdom Come – Maybe it's because this song is a cover but for whatever reason I don't think it fits with the rest of the album. Musically it's fine but in terms of the message and lyrics it seems out of place to me. I mean, it doesn't hurt the album by having it on it but I can't say I would miss it.
9. Because You're Young - I absolutely love the intro to this song. It's like...the music that should be playing in a synthesizer cemetery. It also has some really unique guitar parts for "Scary Monsters" because it is probably the most straight forward playing on the album courtesy of none other than The Who's Pete Townshend.
10. It's No Game (No. 2) – And to bring the album to a close we end were we began with "It's No Game". This time around though it's more reserved and nowhere near as harsh as No. 1 was. I personally take this as David's way of saying that things aren't any better than they were when we started but I'm more mature than I was then and can handle them better now because it followed "Because You're Young". It also ends with the odd rattling noise that can be heard at the start of the album which makes it somewhat cyclical.
Every artist that had aspirations to put out an album in the 80's had a very high bar to reach for after the release of David Bowie's 1980 album "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)".
If I had to pick one word to summarize this album and why it stands out from David's other albums it would be bleakness. Unlike with the critically beloved Berlin trilogy that preceded this album Bowie spent a great deal of time focusing on the lyrics before even concerning himself with the music and aside from one cover ("Kingdom Come" by Tom Verlaine, which had been released the year before) he wrote all of the songs himself.
As with most David Bowie albums "Scary Monsters" has some very unusual melodies that are both innovative and mesmerizing. What is so different about this album though is (as I mentioned earlier) it's bleakness, it's harshness, it's desperation. I have to admit that I can never get through this album without being brought to tears at one point or another, usually during "Ashes to Ashes" or "Teenage Wildlife", the former being one of my favorite songs ever.
During this period of David's career he took a look of Pierrot, the sad clown, a character who was unmasked yet still his truest feelings were hidden behind his makeup. A character who just wanted to love. That is the kind of full lengths that Bowie went to in order to present this album the way it was supposed to be.
1. It's No Game (No. 1) - The album kicks off with a strange rattling noise and a woman speaking in Japanese which, in a call and return sort of fashion, David translates very harshly. I mean, at points he quite seriously sounds like he's ripping his vocal chords apart.
2. Up the Hill Backwards – This is a bit of a weak track on the album but I do still find it to be quite catchy and I can appreciate it's subject matter. It's about the invasive way that the media pried into David's divorce from his now former wife, Angela Bowie (who was quite a bold looking woman...of course no one would expect any less considering she was married to the Thin White Duke)
3. Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) – This is one of my favorite tracks on the album. I love the half robotic vocals in the chorus and the Robert Fripp's guitar work, who plays on over half of the songs on the album but this is my favorite of his work on it. On top of it being a jarring track musically it's also very intriguing lyrics. From what I understand it's about a woman's plunge into madness.
4. Ashes to Ashes – In "Ashes To Ashes" David revives the man that originally made him famous over ten years earlier, the famous Major Tom. This is not only the biggest hit from the album but also in a lot of ways the defining song from "Scary Monsters". Taking Major Tom, who was originally a hero, and turning him into nothing more than a junkie who's hitting their all time low drives in the desperate tone that hovers over much of the album.
5. Fashion – In the way that "Ashes to Ashes" revisits Bowie's past I believe "Fashion" sets the stage for his following album "Let's Dance". Now with that said it's kind of ironic that this song got played in dance clubs because the lyrics are actually against the vanity that you often find in such places. Kind of like how people thought Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The USA" was really patriotic when it actually wasn't at all. By the way, Roy Bittan from the E Street Band plays on "Up The Hill Backwards", "Ashes to Ashes", and the next track. (how's that for a segue?
)6. Teenage Wildlife – More present on this song than anything is the presence of Robert Fripp's guitar playing. It has some very prominent parts with more than one solo. Something about the music in this song breaks my heart in a similar way that his previous hit "Heroes" does. Lyrically Bowie tears into all of the new wavers that he had influenced, most notably Gary Numan. It's not that he hated what they did but it was the lack of creative ingenuity that infuriated him so much. At nearly 7 minutes this is also one of the longest songs in Bowie's catalog.
7. Scream Like a Baby – 3:35 Bowie once again revisits the past in ways with this song. It's a story about the future (told in the past tense) about a character named Sam who, along with the narrator, are being kept as political prisoners. Thematically it takes that space age setting that has had such a prominent part in Bowie's career whether in the way of Major Tom, Ziggy Stardust, or beyond.
8. Kingdom Come – Maybe it's because this song is a cover but for whatever reason I don't think it fits with the rest of the album. Musically it's fine but in terms of the message and lyrics it seems out of place to me. I mean, it doesn't hurt the album by having it on it but I can't say I would miss it.
9. Because You're Young - I absolutely love the intro to this song. It's like...the music that should be playing in a synthesizer cemetery. It also has some really unique guitar parts for "Scary Monsters" because it is probably the most straight forward playing on the album courtesy of none other than The Who's Pete Townshend.
10. It's No Game (No. 2) – And to bring the album to a close we end were we began with "It's No Game". This time around though it's more reserved and nowhere near as harsh as No. 1 was. I personally take this as David's way of saying that things aren't any better than they were when we started but I'm more mature than I was then and can handle them better now because it followed "Because You're Young". It also ends with the odd rattling noise that can be heard at the start of the album which makes it somewhat cyclical.
