My Favorite David Bowie Albums and Songs

David Bowie is one of the greatest musical artists in the history of the world. This is a fact. So to commemorate him and his new live album chronicling his last tour (maybe (but hopefully not) ever), I am counting down my favorite Bowie songs and albums, as I have done with The Beatles and Kraftwerk: two of the only other musical artists that are on Bowie's level.

From the late '60s through the early '80s, David Bowie not only put out a lot of music, but he put out a lot of amazing music. Whether it was with glam-rock, new wave, or cocaine-influenced electronic/krautrock/experimental pop, he was changing popular music with every subsequent release. His early glam records made him a star and introduced the world to his bizarrely singularly genius. Then he got weird, moved to Berlin, started doing drugs, became a fascist, etc. The music he made during this period (the mid to late '70s) is his best and most innovative--and that he released so many albums ("Heroes" and Low came out the same year!) just makes his sonic achievements all the more impressive. By the '80s he had switched his focus to pioneering new wave, which he did excellently. (He may have lost some of his muse as the '80s wore on, but I'll forgive him.) (Oh, and let's not forget the work he did with Iggy during the mid-70s!)

The bottom line is that David Bowie is both one of the most successful pop stars of the 20th century, and one of the most creative artistic minds--a rare (and essentially unparalleled) combination.

So here's a look at my 45 favorite Bowie songs and 10 favorite albums. (I'd do all his albums, but I really only have heard 10 sufficiently.)

Songs

1. "Heroes"

2. Sound And Vision

3. Station To Station

4. The Man Who Sold The World

5. Warszawa

6. Space Oddity

7. Queen Bitch

8. D.J.

9. Ashes To Ashes

10. Panic In Detroit

11. Be My Wife

12. Life On Mars?

13. Moonage Daydream

14. Golden Years

15. African Night Flight

16. What In The World

17. Suffragette City

18. Cat People (Putting Out Fire)

19. Beauty And The Beast

20. Under Pressure (with Queen)

21. Five Years

22. Absolute Beginners

23. Breaking Glass

24. Let's Dance

25. Fantastic Voyage

26. Teenage Wildlife

27. A New Career In A New Town

28. Fame

29. Scream Like A Baby

30. Oh! You Pretty Things

31. Ziggy Stardust

32. Joe The Lion

33. Rebel Rebel

34. Speed Of Life

35. Watch That Man

36. Lady Stardust

37. Changes

38. Modern Love

39. Art Decade

40. TVC 15

41. Repetition

42. The Secret life Of Arabia

43. Subterraneans

44. Up The Hill Backwards

45. Let's Spend The Night Together

Albums

1. Low

2. "Heroes"

3. Lodger

4. Station To Station

5. Hunky Dory

6. Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)

7. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars

8. Aladdin Sane

9. The Man Who Sold The World

10. Let's Dance

That's what I think. That David Bowie: he's quite a guy.

My Favorite Long Songs

While being able to pack a full song into under two minutes is an impressive feat, being able to stretch a song out past ten minutes without boring the listener to death is arguably even more impressive. All of these songs are over ten minutes long (the longest being about 65 minutes), but they all manage to stay captivating and interesting throughout. Brevity is certainly an admirable quality, but there's something to be said for what these songs exhibit--anti-brevity, if you will. Anyhow, here are my 90 favorite songs over ten minutes long. Enjoy. (Times according to my iTunes.) Oh, and no classical pieces are included. Oh #2: the picture is of Can, the masters of the long song.

90. Kraftwerk--Stratovarius (12:08)

89. Earth--Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine (27:05)

88. Basic Channel--Octagon (12:58)

87. Cannonball Adderley--Autumn Leaves (11:00)

86. Charles Mingus--Trio And Group Dancers (18:38)

85. Herbie Hancock--Sleeping Giants (24:38)

84. Ekkehard Ehlers--Albert Ayler 1 (10:01)

83. Miles Davis--Miles Runs The Voodoo Down (14:04)

82. Fela Kuti--Expensive Shit (13:12)

81. Tyondai Braxton--Platinum Rows (10:25)

80. The Orb--Black Side Of The Moon (14:15)

79. Boredoms--Super Shine (12:45)

78. B.B. King--Lucille (10:16)

77. Of Montreal--The Past Is A Grotesque Animal (11:53)

76. Sunn 0)))--Alice (16:20)

75. Jimmy Smith--The Sermon (20:12)

74. Miles Davis--In A Silent Way/It's About That Time (19:53)

73. Kraftwerk--Geigerzahler (38:01)

72. Luomo--Tessio (12:08)

71. Funkadelic--(Not Just) Knee Deep (15:22)

70. Can--Soup (10:32)

69. Boredoms--(Circle) (13:42)

68. Godspeed You! Black Emperor--Storm (22:32)

67. Charles Mingus--Cumbia & Jazz Fusion (28:06)

66. LCD Soundsystem--Freak Out/Starry Eyes (12:22)

65. Sly & The Family Stone--Sex Machine (13:48)

64. Ricardo Villalobos--Enfants (Chants) (17:08)

63. Primal Scream--Come Together (10:22)

62. The Residents--Swastikas On Parade (17:52)

61. Miles Davis--Solea (12:23)

60. Kraftwerk--Kling Klang (17:25)

59. Black Dice--Endless Happiness (15:26)

58. Glenn Branca--The Ascension (13:10)

57. Robert Fripp & Brian Eno--Swastika Girls (18:38)

56. Black Leotard Front--Casual Friday (15:07)

55. Miles Davis--Right Off (26:54)

54. Fuck Buttons--Surf Solar (10:33)

53. James Brown--Papa Don't Take No Mess (13:52)

52. Isaac Hayes--By The Time I Get To Phoenix (18:42)

51. Panda Bear--Good Girl/Carrots (12:42)

50. Jim O'Rourke--The Visitor (38:03)

49. Miles Davis--Bitches Brew (27:00)

48. Boris--Absolutego (1:05:35)

47. The Fiery Furnaces--Quay Cur (10:25)

46. Funkadelic--Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow (10:06)

45. The Knife--Colouring Of Pigeons (11:01)

44. Joanna Newsom--Emily (12:08)

43. Donna Summer--Love To Love You Baby (16:49)

42. Lindstrom--Where You Go I Go Too (28:58)

41. Godspeed You! Black Emperor--The Dead Flag Blues (16:28)

40. Sigur Ros--Svefn-g-englar (10:04)

39. John Coltrane--My Favorite Things (13:44)

38. Rhys Chatham--Guitar Trio (time varies)

37. Wipers--Youth Of America (10:27)

36. Oval--Do While (24:05)

35. Isaac Hayes--Walk On By (12:03)

34. Miles Davis--Shhh/Peaceful (18:17)

33. Modest Mouse--Truckers Atlas (10:58)

32. The Juan Maclean--Happy House (12:38)

31. Parliament--Flash Light (10:44)

30. Beastie Boys--B-Boy Bouillabaise (12:34)

29. Brian Eno--1/1 (17:21)

28. Miles Davis--Pharaoh's Dance (20:06)

27. Terry Riley--A Rainbow In Curved Air (18:46) (I don't consider this classical really, hence its inclusion)

26. Dinosaur--Kiss Me Again (13:04)

25. Dan Deacon--Wham City (11:45)

24. Fela Kuti--Water Get No Enemy (10:59)

23. Faust--Krautrock (11:49)

22. Public Image Ltd.--Albatross (10:39)

21. Tortoise--DJed (20:57)

20. Herbie Hancock--Chameleon (15:45)

19. Rhys Chatham--Die Donnergotter (21:48)

18. John Coltrane--Ascension - Edition II (40:57)

17. Panda Bear--Bros (12:30)

16. Can--Bel Air (19:53)

15. Miles Davis--He Loved Him Madly (32:17)

14. David Bowie--Station To Station (10:14)

13. Pharoah Sanders--The Creator Has A Master Plan (32:52)

12. Neu!--Hallogallo (10:07)

11. Suicide--Frankie Teardrop (10:26)

10. Sly & Robbie--Taxi X-Mas (22:59) (A total nostalgic guilty pleasure)

9. Marvin Gaye--Got To Give It Up (11:54)

8. Lou Reed--Street Hassle (11:01)

7. Jimi Hendrix--Machine Gun (12:41)

6. The Velvet Underground--Sister Ray (17:27)

5. Television--Marquee Moon (10:38)

4. Can--Yoo Doo Right (20:28)

3. Kraftwerk--Autobahn (22:43)

2. Can--Halleluhwah (18:30)

1. Funkadelic--Maggot Brain (10:21)

That's what I think. There's one word to describe each song on this list: epic.

My Favorite Short Songs

Ah. Brevity. There's nothing like being able to say what you want to say and do what you want to do in a very short period of time. Efficient, succinct, purposeful. That's what these songs are. Each tune clocks in at under two minutes, yet packs more good ideas in that short time than most songs twice or thrice its length. (I tried to be brief as well in my explanation, but I tend to have some trouble with that. Nevertheless, here are my 90 favorite songs under two minutes long (with their lengths (according to my iTunes library) in parentheses).) Oh, and that picture is of Wire: the masters--along with The Minutemen and GBV--of the short song.

90. John Zorn--You Will Be Shot (1:32)

89. Randy Newman--Dayton, Ohio - 1903 (1:53)

88. The Monkees--Rui Chiu (1:32)

87. Arthur Russell--The Deer In The Forest, Pt. 1 (1:35)

86. Tim Buckley--Moulin Rouge (1:59)

85. Boards Of Canada--Wildlife Analysis (1:16)

84. The Music Machine--Talk Talk (1:58)

83. The Castaways--Liar, Liar (1:54)

82. The Plugz--Hombre Secreto (1:49)

81. The Human League--Get Carter (1:02)

80. Guided By Voices--Hot Freaks (1:43)

79. Burl Ives--Fooba Wooba John (1:07)

78. Pixies--"You Fuckin' Die...!" (0:45)

77. Negative Approach--Nothing (1:51)

76. The White Stripes--You're Pretty Good Looking (For A Girl ) (1:49)

75. The Germs--Richie Dagger's Crime (1:57)

74. John Fahey--Brenda's Blues (1:47)

73. The Beach Boys--Ol' Man River (1:18)

72. Serge Gainsbourg--Valse De Melody (1:32)

71. Nick Drake--Harvest Breed (1:38)

70. This Heat--Shrink Wrap (1:41)

69. Big Black--L Dopa (1:41)

68. The Ramones--Cretin Hop (1:56)

67. Husker Du--Never Talking To You Again (1:41)

66. Portishead--Deep Water (1:33)

65. Kraftwerk--Endless Endless (0:56)

64. Guided By Voices--A Salty Salute (1:29)

63. Circle Jerks--Group Sex (1:06)

62. Guided By Voices--Kicker Of Elves (1:04)

61. Bibio--All The Flowers (1:05)

60. Devendra Banhart--The Red Lagoon (1:17)

59. Giorgio Moroder--Faster Than The Speed Of Love (1:58)

58. Mission Of Burma--This Is Not A Photograph (1:57)

57. Buddy Holly--Ready Teddy (1:35)

56. Minutemen--Please Don't Be Gentle With Me (0:48)

55. Brian Eno--Another Green World (1:37)

54. The Streets--Sharp Darts (1:33)

53. Wire--Surgeon's Girl (1:18)

52. Jay Reatard--Fading All Away (1:28)

51. Tom Waits--Cemetery Polka (1:47)

50. Beat Happening--Jamboree (1:03)

49. The Misfits--Halloween (1:52)

48. The Ramones--Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue (1:36)

47. Minutemen--The Roars Of The Masses Could Be Farts (1:21)

46. Devendra Banhart--Tit Smoking In The Temple Of Artesian Mimicry (1:25)

45. Descendents--Weinerschnitzel (0:13)

44. Odetta--God's Gonna Cut You Down (1:51)

43. Tom Waits--Frank's Wild Years (1:54)

42. Boredoms--Noise Ramones (0:31)

41. John Zorn--Igneous Ejaculation (0:24)

40. Pixies--Tame (1:58)

39. The Beatles--I'm Happy Just To Dance With You (1:59)

38. Devo--Too Much Paranoias (1:58)

37. John Fahey--Beautiful Linda Getchell (1:54)

36. Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band--The Dust Blows Forward 'N The Dust Blows Back (1:53)

35. My Bloody Valentine--Touched (0:57)

34. Guided By Voices--A Good Flying Bird (1:08)

33. Agent Orange--Bloodstains (1:54)

32. Buddy Holly--Rave On! (1:52)

31. The Misfits--We Are 138 (1:41)

30. The Mothers Of Invention--What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body? (1:03)

29. Wire--Field Day For The Sundays (0:28)

28. Vashti Bunyan--Diamond Day (1:47)

27. Minor Threat--Minor Threat (1:28)

26. The Ramones--Judy Is A Punk (1:33)

25. DJ Shadow--Organ Donor (1:57)

24. Elvis Presley--All Shook Up (1:58)

23. The Misfits--Night Of The Living Dead (1:58)

22. Big Black--The Power Of Independent Trucking (1:27)

21. Pixies--There Goes My Gun (1:52)

20. Wire--Fragile (1:18)

19. The Beatles--Golden Slumbers (1:32)

18. Neutral Milk Hotel--Communist Daughter (1:57)

17. Gold Panda--Quitters Raga (1:57)

16. Guided By Voices--As We Go Up, We Go Down (1:37)

15. Meat Puppets--Lake Of Fire (1:57)

14. Prince--Sister (1:32)

13. Young Marble Giants--Final Day (1:44)

12. Minutemen--Viet Nam (1:30)

11. Pavement--Zurich Is Stained (1:41)

10. The Beatles--Carry That Weight (1:37)

9. Wire--Three Girl Rhumba (1:24)

8. The Beatles--I Will (1:47)

7. Bad Brains--Pay To Cum (1:32)

6. Minor Threat--Straight Edge (0:45)

5. Scott Walker--30 Century Man (1:29)

4. The White Stripes--Fell In Love With A Girl (1:50)

3. Guided By Voices--Game Of Pricks (1:33)

2. Wire--Outdoor Miner (1:45)

1. Sly & The Family Stone--There's A Riot Goin' On (0:00)

That's what I think. I may draw more inspiration from "Outdoor Miner" or "Game Of Pricks", but no song on this list is as beautifully succinct as "There's A Riot Goin' On," which lasts zero seconds.

My Favorite Love Songs

Well, it's Valentine's Day: the day that makes some people extremely happy and others extremely depressed (and leaves a few, like me, indifferent). That means it's time for Il Buono to look at its favorite love songs. But, rather than look at songs about love--which is probably over 80% of all songs ever written--we're going to count down our favorite songs by the band Love. One of the finest psychedelic rock groups of the '60s, Love made several really weird and beautiful albums, including the unbelievable classic Forever Changes, one of the better records ever made. So on this February 14, we're going to celebrate Love (albeit a little differently than most folks). (The song is in bold, and the corresponding album follows in parentheses.)

1. Alone Again Or (Forever Changes)

2. Seven And Seven Is (Da Capo)

3. A House Is Not A Motel (Forever Changes)

4. You Set The Scene (Forever Changes)

5. The Red Telephone (Forever Changes)

6. My Little Red Book (Love)

7. Andmoreagain (Forever Changes)

8. Stephanie Knows Who (Da Capo)

9. Live And Let Live (Forever Changes)

10. A Message To Pretty (Love)

11. Ride That Vibration (False Start) (no link. Sorry.)

12. The Daily Planet (Forever Changes)

That's what I think. Happy Valentine's Day.

My Favorite Guitarists

If I have to pick, my favorite musical instrument is the guitar. As cool as theremins and zithers are, no instruments are as vital to the music I listen to as guitars. And so here's a list of my favorites--some may have extraordinary technical ability, some may be extremely innovative, etc. But all (or at least the top half of the list) have influenced me and many others to play the guitar, with their axe-wielding awesomeness. So here it is. (It may be pretty obvious, but the names of the guitarists are in bold, and their bands follow in italics. For bands with more than one great guitarist, I just lumped the two together because I'm not always sure who's doing what. And usually both are pretty darn good.)

75. Mick Jones & Joe Strummer (The Clash)

74. Jeff Buckley

73. Jonny Greenwood & Ed O'Brien (Radiohead)

72. Duane Denison (The Jesus Lizard)

71. Sly Stone & Freddie Stone (Sly & The Family Stone)

70. Ty Braxton & Ian Williams (Battles)

69. Kirk Hammett & James Hetfield (Metallica)

68. Dr. Know (Bad Brains)

67. Pete Townshend (The Who)

66. Roger Miller (Mission Of Burma)

65. Jeff Parker (Tortoise)

64. B.B. King

63. Jerry Harrison & David Byrne (Talking Heads)

62. Gareth Williams (This Heat)

61. Devendra Banhart

60. Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse)

59. Greg Sage (Wipers)

58. Fred Frith (Skeleton Crew et. al.)

57. Guy Picciotto (Fugazi)

56. Arthur Lee & Brian MacLean (Love)

55. Tim Buckley

54. Zoot Horn Rollo & Antennae Jimmy Semens (The Magic Band)

53. Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones)

52. Link Wray

51. Curt Kirkwood (Meat Puppets)

50. Mississippi John Hurt

49. Mick Ronson (David Bowie et. al.)

48. Kid Congo Powers & Jeffrey Lee Pierce (The Gun Club)

47. Bruce Gilbert & Colin Newman (Wire)

46. Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen)

45. Christian Fennesz

44. Bob Mould (Husker Du)

43. Howlin' Wolf

42. Frank Zappa

41. Ike Turner

40. Dick Dale

39. Johnny Marr (The Smiths)

38. Rivers Cuomo & Brian Bell (Weezer)

37. Ry Cooder

36. Johnny Ramone (The Ramones)

35. Andy Gill (Gang Of Four)

34. Dave Longstreth (Dirty Projectors)

33. William Reid (The Jesus & Mary Chain)

32. Brian McMahan & David Pajo (Slint)

31. Joey Santiago (Pixies)

30. Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath)

29. James Williamson (The Stooges)

28. D. Boon (Minutemen)

27. John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu Orchestra et. al.)

26. Lou Reed & Sterling Morrison (The Velvet Underground)

25. Steve Albini (Big Black et. al.)

24. Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)

23. Blind Willie Johnson

22. Michael Karoli (Can)

21. Bernard Sumner (Joy Division/New Order)

20. Glenn Mercer & Bill Million (The Feelies)

19. Bo Diddley

18. Rhys Chatham

17. Kurt Cobain (Nirvana)

16. Glenn Branca

15. Prince

14. Jack White (The White Stripes)

13. Ron Asheton (The Stooges)

12. Leadbelly

11. Chuck Berry

10. Robert Fripp (King Crimson et. al.)

9. George Harrison (The Beatles)

8. Nick Drake

7. Eddie Hazel (Funkadelic)

6. Tom Verlaine & Richard Lloyd (Television)

5. Robert Johnson

4. Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine)

3. Thurston Moore & Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth)

2. John Fahey

1. Jimi Hendrix

That's what I think. Makes you wanna light your Fender on fire, huh?

Poll Results: Your Favorite Prince Album

Prince is kinda one of the most amazing people ever (in modern music, at least). Though his creative well has run semi-dry over the past two decades, he's still responsible for altering the courses of pop and R&B music, and he is still responsible for some of pop's all-time greatest longplayers. And so I asked you about your favorite Prince album. It's not easy to choose between records in a canon as wonderful as Prince's, but I asked you to do it anyways. While I'm not sure you all share my infatuation with the artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as Prince, I know that, deep down inside, everyone loves the Purple One.

With each successive album from the late '70s to the late '80s, Prince further demonstrated his genius. He made bizarre, experimental, futuristic funk-pop that, despite being very weird musically and lyrically, was extremely popular. For the poll, I gave options of the three albums I believe represent him the best: the early and incestuous Dirty Mind, the mid-career magnum-opus Purple Rain, and the double-album masterpiece Sign O The Times. Understandably, your favorite was Purple Rain, a brilliant album and also one of the best pop albums ever. Sign O The Times came in second, and Dirty Mind placed third.

It's important to note that the reason I did this poll is because, lately, I've been listening almost exclusively to Sign O The Times, and it is rapidly finding its way into my shortlist for best albums ever. There's just something about it that makes it both my favorite Prince album and, now, one of my favorites of all time. I'll talk more about it when I revisit my Top Albums of the '80s list in a month or two.

My Favorite Summer Songs

If there's one thing that January in Chicago makes me appreciate, it's summer in Chicago. While the summers here are indeed quite humid, I'll take 80 with humidity over 10 with wind any day. Call me a wuss, but once the holiday season is over, I'm ready for some warmth.

And the one way I can get that warmth--that feeling of summer--without taking a vacation or visiting a tanning salon is by constantly reminding my brain and my body what summer feels like. How better to do that than by listening to songs about the season?

So here's a list of my 30 favorite "summer" songs a.k.a. ones with "summer" in the title. While not all of these songs musically capture the feelings of late June, their titles do. So there.

30. Justin Timberlake--Summer Love

29. Mum--Random Summer

28. Bob Dylan--Summer Days

27. Unwound--Summer Freeze

26. Husky Rescue--Summertime Cowboy

25. Yo La Tengo--The Summer

24. Brightblack Morning Light--Summer Hoof

23. Mogwai--Summer

22. Chad & Jeremy--A Summer Song

21. Pisces--In The Summer The Grape Grows

20. Frank Sinatra--Something Wonderful Happens In The Summer

19. YACHT--Summer Song

18. The Undertones--Here Comes The Summer

17. Neon Indian--Deadbeat Summer

16. The Lovin' Spoonful--Summer In The City

15. The Jimi Hendrix Experience--Long Hot Summer Night

14. The Avalanches--Summer Crane

13. Husker Du--Celebrated Summer

12. Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood--Summer Wine

11. Don Henley--The Boys Of Summer

10. Animal Collective--Summertime Clothes

9. Mungo Jerry--In The Summertime

8. Love--Bummer In The Summer

7. Fennesz--Endless Summer

6. Blue Cheer--Summertime Blues

5. Sly & The Family Stone--Hot Fun In The Summertime

4. Pavement--Summer Babe (Winter Version)

3. Eddie Cochran--Summertime Blues

2. Beat Happening--Indian Summer

1. George Gershwin--Summertime

No song with "summer" in the title is better than the Porgy & Bess standout. In fact, few songs period are better than this one, which has one of the most definitive and ubiquitous American songs ever, with countless amazing covers by everyone from Miles Davis to John Fahey. (This list could be filled solely with covers of "Summertime", but I chose to just put the song as a whole at #1.) The living is easy indeed.

That's what I think. Hey, only four and a half months 'til summer.