6. Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHywdqH3F6Y Following his Berlin Trilogy of 'Low', "Heroes" and 'Lodger', which represented forays into the new, everything changed once again for David Bowie. 'Scary Monsters' was to be written without the influence of his collaborators who had been so important to his sound -- meaning, therefore that the sound was to undergo another change. Bowie drafted in Robert Fripp of King Crimson, whose lead guitar slithers grandiosely through tracks such as 'It's No Game (Part 1)' and 'Teenage Wildlife'. Here we find a Bowie with true confidence in his vocals, despite the fact that they often sound paranoid and distant. As an album, this is one of Bowie's most political, with ample references and allusions to fascism. 'Scary Monsters' is an album which grapples with the past, ultimately shedding its shackles. The self-reference adorns the album with a holistic, backwards-looking feel, the zenith of which is Bowie's resurrection of the character Major Tom in 'Ashes to Ashes'. Bowie examines the path of his career during the 11 years between his invention of the character in 'Space Oddity' and its reintroduction. While the lyrics do delve into Bowie's drug addiction, the song also acts as the singer's termination of an era from which he felt he needed to depart. And depart he would, as his next album, 'Let's Dance', would be a foray into the pure mainstream. It is almost a cliché to say that 'Scary Monsters' was Bowie's last great album, but it is probably true.