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David Bowie — Aladdin Sane
Album: Aladdin Sane
Avg rating:
5.7

Your rating:
Total ratings: 305









Released: 1974
Length: 5:06
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Watching him dash away
Swinging an old bouquet
Dead roses

Saki and strings divine
Uh-uh-uh-uh, uh-uh
You'll make it

Passionate bright young things
Takes him away to war
Don't fake it

Sadden glissando strings
Uh-uh-uh-uh, uh-uh
You'll make it

Who will love Aladdin Sane?
Battle cries and champagne just in time for sunrise
Who will love Aladdin Sane?

Motor sensational
Paris or maybe hell
I'm waiting

Clutches of sad remains
Waits for Aladdin Sane
You'll make it

Who will love Aladdin Sane?
Millions weep a fountain, just in case of sunrise
Who will love Aladdin Sane?

Will love Aladdin Sane?
Will love Aladdin Sane?

Who will love Aladdin Sane?
Millions weep a fountain, just in case of sunrise
Who will love Aladdin Sane?
Will love Aladdin Sane?
Will love Aladdin Sane?

(See the lights all shining bright on Broadway)

[laughter]
Comments (56)add comment
 Chimpmeister wrote:

Spastic garbage.



You seem to hate almost all music on here. Perhaps  you should stick to listening to phone ins.
An average rating of 5.5 for Aladdin Sane? You have to be shitting me?!?
Spastic garbage.
Seriously?  Aladdin Sane is a 1,2,or 3?  Maybe you needed to be there...
 (anonymous) wrote:
Garson is still Bowie's pianist. I used to find him grating and obvious (like Steve Naive is now) but, after all these years, he's a pleasant heaping helping of rock and roll. Catch him on Bowie's VHI Storytellers episode and you'll see him do some really beautiful heartfelt stuff. Gotta stop typing - here comes the Garson part! CRANK IT UP! How do you take acoustic piano and make it abrasive and emotive? It's harder than you think. And rock and roll isn't easy or comfortable, sometimes...
 
Steve Nieve (not Naive) is neither grating nor obvious.  In fact, and I speak as a pianist and rock musician, Nieve is one of the very best rock pianists around.  Why does acoustic piano need to be abrasive?  
Wow, that piano just destroys an otherwise a decent song. Indulgent, masturbatory, pointless. Unlistenable.
Make it stop!
The_Enemy wrote:
This was a great song when I was 14. Doesn't age well. 3
This was a great Singer when I was 14. Doesn't age well.
Sorry, to me the solo sounds like Daffy Duck piano-dueling Donald Duck in Roger Rabbit.
not 4 th faint of heart nor anybody who cant tolerate avante garde jazz (click here) funny comments ..the thing i think is most interesting is google somehow managed to already index the radioparadise comments into their search engine
Wow, the distribution here is clearly love it or hate it; too me this is like "modern" jazz which puts me in the latter camp. Painful!
I wish I could cut the piano out...the rest has/had potential.
haljordan wrote:
Hey - it takes a true celebrity to get away with this kind of crap.
Bwahahahahahahaaaa Well, at least he took chances if we must say something nice about this one. Generally like Bowie, but this one misses.
I heard sounds like the piano ovetrack once after taking some magic mushrooms... thought I was having a flashback...
auburntigerrich wrote:
A whirling tornado of senselessness and insanity. No thanks. Call me when the producer gets out of rehab. Barfo.
Thus the title..."A Lad Insane"
So I suppose you'd HATE to hear King Crimson's Cat Food (a favorite here)! With this BPM, a likely segue candidate would be Jimi's Foxy Lady. (Or the aforementioned Cat Food.)
sharkartist wrote:
I was just coming in here to specifically comment on the piano work in this song. This is hands down, my favorite Bowie song. I've always considered it genius. Who the heck was the piano player, anyone?
Thank God there's at least one person with good taste posting on this song. It's amazing how intolerant people are of any song that doesn't sound boring and generic. And yes, Mike Garson is amazing.
I registered just to say that I couldn't stand this song. I know some people like that kind of stuff, I don't.
sharkartist wrote:
I was just coming in here to specifically comment on the piano work in this song. This is hands down, my favorite Bowie song. I've always considered it genius. Who the heck was the piano player, anyone?
From Wiki: Both numbers <"Time" and "Aladdin Sane wrote:
were dominated by Mike Garson's acclaimed piano work,<5> which also featured heavily in the James Bond flavoured ballad "Lady Grinning Soul", inspired by singer Claudia Linnear.<1>
Mugro wrote:
The piano thing is annoying.
The combination of "The piano thing" and somebodies computer in the office going crazy making the Microsoft "Ta-da" noise over, and over, and over again makes me want to punch my monitor.
pattiecovert wrote:
the piano part is making us nuts! too much dischord for the work place.
True, I turned mine down here at my desk, BUT would an insane lad play the piano any other way!!!?
This was a great song when I was 14. Doesn't age well. 3
The piano thing is annoying. It is annoying when my darling two year old does it. It is even more so when David Bowie does it. Just because you are a musical genius does not mean that you get to assault musical instruments and our ears like that!
please make it stop...
Sounds like he might have made this when he was hanging with Warhol. Not always an effective inspiration. Phew!
A whirling tornado of senselessness and insanity. No thanks. Call me when the producer gets out of rehab. Barfo.
okay the jazzy piano is kinda cool ... bumped from sucko barfo to marginal
rbigelo wrote:
Bowie's one of my all-time favorite performers, but this is not one of my favorite songs of his. Sorry.
Agreed. Yeah, Bowie's had so many incarnations. Think of this one as a transition from Ziggy to Thin White Duke (one of my favorite periods).
the piano part is making us nuts! too much dischord for the work place.
a Bowie classic. avant garde jazz from the thin white duke.
Marina1 wrote:
me no like
Great song....!
me no like
Bowie's one of my all-time favorite performers, but this is not one of my favorite songs of his. Sorry.
MissAmy wrote:
No, I wouldn't give this a 1, or a "ho-hum." There is definitely some sophisticated stuff going on in this peice, there is some virtuoso keyboarding, it's definitely not boring that's for sure. But it's SOOO strange! I can do strange, but this is just utterly, confoundingly bizarre. I kind of want to listen to it over and over so that I might figure it out. Then again, maybe not.
I was just coming in here to specifically comment on the piano work in this song. This is hands down, my favorite Bowie song. I've always considered it genius. Who the heck was the piano player, anyone?
ginger wrote:
This has to be the most monotonous bass line ever.
Try playing it, then. Not as easy as monotony would dictate.
algrif wrote:
How about:- 1 Sucko Barfo ? It seems to be the favourite at the moment
No, I wouldn't give this a 1, or a "ho-hum." There is definitely some sophisticated stuff going on in this peice, there is some virtuoso keyboarding, it's definitely not boring that's for sure. But it's SOOO strange! I can do strange, but this is just utterly, confoundingly bizarre. I kind of want to listen to it over and over so that I might figure it out. Then again, maybe not.
when i hear this somewhat atonal piece of performance art i appreciate A Lad Insane more than ever. A true original.
OK then, I think I'll go with majority. This song is
that was painful
MissAmy wrote:
I'm not quite sure what to make of this.
How about:- 1 Sucko Barfo ? It seems to be the favourite at the moment
Can't say that I'm down with this version. Usually I just jump in if I like a song, but oy........seems like DB kind of took a great song and crashed it into the side of a mountain.
love Bowie, but not this one... although it is really hard to play out of key on purpose over and over, and do it again the next time you play the song. whew! makes me tired just thinking about it :oD
That is some bad-ass keyboards.
This makes me hurt
This has to be the most monotonous bass line ever.
I'm not quite sure what to make of this.
Hard to say... Is it good or is it only one of those songs to meet a 12 songs album contract ?
DADDY, MAKE THE BAD MAN STOP.
This is one of my fav albums all time. It's great to hear it here on RP.
Very glad to hear this one. It's a fabulous album. Would be great to hear "Cracked Actor" which I don't think I've heard since my days in the Stanford Band (we played it, and listened to Bowie on "originals tapes").
holy crap- haven't heard this in years!! Great tune, and crazy memnories!!! thanks fer playin' it!
squidish wrote:
I loooove this lad insane!
cute
Really nice to hear this Bowie classic on RP! His early stuff was sooo good!
I loooove this lad insane!