I was intrigued with the post in the rock section on David Bowie vs. Bob Dylan (which I feel is a no contest for Dylan) and it brought back memories of "Song For Dylan" by Bowie on his Hunky Dory album. This has always been one of my favorite albums, so I thought I'd give it a review.

Hunky Dory is probably Bowie's most realized album in the singer/songwriter genre. Bowie's lyrics here are very strong, sometimes eclectic, and very memorable. The album starts with the classic "Changes", one of Bowie's more popular songs. “Changes� always brings me memories of the opening sequence of the movie "The Breakfast Club" where lyrics from this song are put on the screen. "Changes" is without a doubt one of the best teenage anthems in rock music. The piano work on "Oh! You Pretty Things" highlights this catchy upbeat number, and also dominates many of the songs on the album. "Life On Mars" continues Bowie sci-fi infatuation (which blows right up on his follow up album, "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars"), while "Kooks" shows Bowie's playful side. The album also has two tributes songs, one for Bob Dylan ("Song for Bob Dylan"), and one for Andy Warhol ("Andy Warhol"), both of which are very well done. Another highlight on this album is "Queen Bitch", where Mick Ronson's guitar riff is brought to the foray on an album that is more piano dominated. In fact, "Queen Bitch" is a foreshadow into the sounds which dominates "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" album.

Hunky Dory is such a wonderful album because of the many musical and song styles Bowie incorporates into the mix. Bowie has made a couple of better albums (Both Ziggy and Low come to mind), but he has never been as warm and personal as he was on Hunky Dory.

Grade: A+

No love for "Quicksand"? That might be my favorite off the album.

Anyways, great review. I love Hunky Dory; I don't know why I haven't really checked out anything else by Bowie. Any suggestions on what to try out next?

I like Quicksand too.

Try "Ziggy Stardust" next. It's very heavy riff laden. Great from start to finish. Low is also a good choice; half is instrumental (Low is probably my favorite Bowie album).

Solid 9/10, although Ziggy Stardust is way better. Not sure if this or Aladdin Sane is better, though. Favorites are Life on Mars (used perfectly in the Life Aquatic) and Oh! You Pretty Things.

Come to think of it, all the Bowie songs in the Life Aquatic were used perfectly.