3. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXq5VvYAI1Q The enduring image of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars is, without a doubt, the onstage chemistry shared between David Bowie and Mick Ronson. The most television-friendly footage of Bowie's live performances is from the Ziggy era, and it is the sheer energy and sense of character that appealed to the youth of 1972. It is a concept album with a fairly straightforward narrative about a rock alien attempting to save the world from impending doom. The theatrical element of such a story is altogether more successful than in 'Diamond Dogs', so fulfilling in this case that it makes us wonder if theatrics are rock music's true goal. The answer, we soon find out, is 'yes'. 'Five Years' opens the album in an apocalyptic crescendo, examining the chaos that ensues in a world which knows its days are numbered. The steady drumbeat which opens and closes the track acts as the uncaring universe, while Earth appears and disappears in relative milliseconds. One of the great achievements of 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust' is the album's attainment of a futuristic, otherworldly sound without the overuse of effects. This sound isn't omnipresent, but comes and goes at crucial moments to complement the album's themes. There is a fantastic moment during Ronson's solo in 'Moonage Daydream' when he plays the same guitar bend over and over again, evoking some kind of signal from another planet. As the album chillingly closes with 'Rock 'N' Roll Suicide', we come to realise that we have experienced a rare moment in music: the near-perfect execution of a majestically ambitious concept.