THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS

Review #32. It was the 6th of June 1972 when a record appeared in the record shops with the strange title: 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars', having a weird looking blond guy in the cover wearing blue tights and holding a guitar. The guy on the cover was David Bowie, and this record was his masterpiece!

It can be characterized as a concept album in a way, having as main theme the story of Ziggy, an alien Rock star who came to Earth trying to give hope to humans and save the planet, which was to be destroyed in 5 years. Ziggy was an a-sexual persona, addicted to heavy drugs, singing about peace and love (don't forget that the 60's were not that far), to the people of the Earth. In the end he was destroyed both by drugs and his fans.

David Bowie actually "adopted" Ziggy's character, appearing in his shows wearing short skirts, changing costumes and dresses all the time, having his hair painted red etc... But further than all the marketing strategies, Ziggy Stardust is a true musical diamond, containing songs like Five Years, Starman, Ziggy Stardust and Rock n' Roll suicide, just to name a few. Upon its release it peaked at No. 5 in the UK album charts, having Starman as its first single. Ziggy Stardust returned to the UK album charts in 1981, peaked at No. 33 and remained in the charts for 62 weeks. I remember buying the vinyl version of Ziggy when I was a teenager, which I still have of course, but then a special CD edition followed, many years later. I grew up with this album, that's why I can't be objective. For me it is a masterpiece, and that's why I will rate it with 5 stars. In my opinion this is an album that every Rock fan must have in his/her collection. Period! 5 Stars!