David Bowie - Hunky Dory
Critic Score
Based on 5 reviews
1971 Ratings: #9 / 172
User Score
1971 Rank: #13All Time: #331
Liked by 703 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
Pitchfork
He'd also made huge leaps as a songwriter, and his new songs demonstrated the breadth of his power: the epic Jacques Brel-gone-Dada torch song "Life on Mars?" is immediately followed by "Kooks", an adorable lullaby for his infant son.
100
AllMusic

Hunky Dory is a kaleidoscopic array of pop styles, tied together only by Bowie's sense of vision: a sweeping, cinematic mélange of high and low art, ambiguous sexuality, kitsch, and class.

100
SPIN
Glam is born: pissy rockers ("Queen Bitch"), letters to American Idols ("Andy Warhol"), and an ode to his peeps ("Oh! You Pretty Things").
100
Rolling Stone

Bowie's first classic, an album of Nico-style cafe ballads about queen bitches falling in love with pretty things.

Suha
94

I still miss David Bowie, he was a beautiful guy

LonelyHipHopFan
60

OUTDATED

Recommended by the lovely @Jc9ers!

I have to admit something. I have never heard a full Bowie project... except his debut. I know, why even listen to that? I don't know. I heard a lot of bad things about it and I'm a sucker for horrible albums, so I listened to it. It's just as bad as people say it is. Don't go near it, unless you're prepared to suffer. JC's recommendation came at a right time as this is a nice opportunity to hear an actually decent Bowie LP. I had high expectations ... read more

BartDaGoat
100

[David Bowie's discography ranking 4/27]
Where is Dory?
After little success of "The Man Who Sold the World", especcially in US, RCA pushed him to US to promote his record. He have written on this trip close to 30 songs inspired by American artist like Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan (for both of them, he dedicates songs), Iggy Pop and Lou Reed. In comparison to his previous hard rock record, this is much more softer record. Bowie has written most songs to be played on piano. Lyrically this is ... read more

BlackYoshi
86

So, there’s a lot to take in. I will say that I enjoy nearly every moment of the album. I remember when I got the first 5 tracks, I knew that it was going to be good. Now, I pretty much have high expectations with this album because I did enjoy a couple of the previous ones that I listened to including Heroes and The Rise and The Fall… However, there are particular tracks that I didn’t fall in love with. The first example is the song Quicksand. I didn’t have the best ... read more

KINGKUNTA
83

Again, a great album from the one and only David Bowie

PabloCommunist
90

A great record! Full of fun and enjoyable glam rock, and also has a few artsy tracks to slow the record down a bit in a very comfortable way!

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Track List

1Changes
3:37
96
2Oh! You Pretty Things
3:12
93
3Eight Line Poem
2:55
81
4Life On Mars?
3:55
98
5Kooks
2:53
83
6Quicksand
5:06
91
7Fill Your Heart
3:10
81
8Andy Warhol
3:54
86
9Song for Bob Dylan
4:13
85
10Queen Bitch
3:20
89
11The Bewlay Brothers
5:29
89
Total Length: 41 minutes

Year End Lists

#6/SPIN
#14/Paste
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Added on: April 5, 2013