HUNKY DORY
| David Bowie
HUNKY DORY
Hunky Dory is the fourth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 17 December 1971 by RCA Records. It was his first release through RCA, which would be his label for the next decade. Hunky Dory has been described by AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine as having "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".The album has received critical acclaim since its release, and is regarded as one of Bowie's best works. Time chose it as part of their "100 best albums of all time" list in January 2010, with journalist Josh Tyrangiel praising Bowie's "earthbound ambition to be a boho poet with prodigal style". The style of the album cover, photographed by Brian Ward and air brushed by Terry Pastor, was influenced by a Marlene Dietrich photo book that Bowie took with him to the photo shoot. -WIKIPEDIA
Critic Reviews
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ALL MUSIC
a touchstone for reinterpreting pop's traditions into fresh, postmodern pop music.
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RollingStone
1972 - Hunky Dory not only represents Bowie’s most engaging album musically, but also finds him once more writing literally enough to let the listener examine his ideas comfortably, without having to withstand a barrage of seemingly impregnable verbiage before getting at an idea — only in “The Bewlay Brothers” does he succumb to the temptation to grant his poetic faculties completely free rein, and there with expectedly frustrating results.
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BBC
2007 - inally demonstrated David Bowie's enormous potential to the listening public
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Classic Rock Review
2014 - This was a landmark album for Bowie in many ways, as a transition between his folksy origins and his movement into what would become his signature sound for years to come.
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UCR
2016 -Now, decades after its release, Hunky Dory sounds like the album where Bowie starts to become Bowie.
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CLASH
2011 - Bursting with bawdy vaudevillian cabaret, spare, sombre balladry and prototypes of glams incendiary androgyny, it serves as both an insight into his influences and the path he was about to tread. It’s his first wholly great album and some would say never bettered. A star(man) is born.
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50THIRDAND3RD
2016 - Hunky Dory is the place where he gained his footing as both a songwriter and recording artist.
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TREBLE
2005 - building a signature sound out of a melange of musical styles including folk, glam, rock, blues and cabaret, topping it off with a velvety voice that can only be David Bowie.
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sputnik music
2007 - 1971's "Hunky Dory" spawned a number of hits, most notably the gorgeous "Life on Mars". David Bowie opted for a piano-based pop sound on this record, creating one of his strongest efforts to date. A classic.
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The Jukebox Rebel
Each passing album has been getting better since 1967 – “Hunky Dory” is the first proper good ‘un.
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Only Solitaire
Going back to singer-songwriting for a while, but with rejuvenated and redoubled forces and a future Yes member, too.
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Keno's Classic Rock n Roll Website
Hunky Dory has a nice, mellow blend of songs, and a bit more folky than some of his other LPs.
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Adrian Denning
'Hunky Dory' became another modest seller, yet marks the beginning of the classic Bowie period.
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manik music
2012 - this album is awesome.
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Bored and Dangerous Blog
Hunky Dory more than delivers on the Bowie legend.
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Wilson & Alroy's Record Reviews
I'm leaning to the conclusion that this is Bowie's greatest album - tuneful, innovative, and brilliantly performed. Practically every song is a landmark.
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John McFerrin Music Reviews
On this album, David left rambling heavy rock behind him and instead opted for an album of well-crafted, quirky pop songs, and the effort was so successful that it's not clear why he didn't do this sooner or make any more albums similar to this.
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Don Ignacio
David Bowie had found his groove. Or rather, he reinvented his old one.
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One Louder Reviews
2019 - His creative mind blows my mind.
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Rising Storm
2007 - The problem is the powerhouses tend to overshadow the real gems here.
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REBEL REBEL MUSIC
In a word this album is magical…and so much more.
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Robert Christgau
After two overwrought excursions for Mercury this ambitious, brainy, imaginative singer-composer has created an album that rewards the concentration it demands instead of making you wish you'd gone on with the vacuuming.
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Mark Prindle
These are nice tunes! Not a single bad song from beginning to end.
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The Medium
2019 - Hunky Dory marked the transition from the blues sounds of his previous works into the experimental art rock he would be known for. The album contained a dangerously poppy edge that was different from the sunshine pop and blues rock popular at the time.
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