Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) 1261565 224831730 2008-07-10T16:45:48Z J Milburn Bot 7423137 All Music Guide has now been rebranded to Allmusic {{Infobox Album <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Albums --> | Name = Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) | Type = Studio album | Artist = [[David Bowie]] | Cover = DavidBowieScaryMonstersCover.jpg | Released = [[September 12]] [[1980]]<br>[[Rykodisc]]<small> Reissue [[May 8]] [[1992]]</small> | Recorded = [[Avatar Studios|The Power Station]], [[New York, New York|New York]]; Good Earth Studios, [[London]] February-April 1980 | Genre = [[Rock music|Rock]]<br> [[New Wave music|New Wave]]<br> [[Post-punk]] | Length = 45:08 | Label = [[RCA Records]] | Producer = [[David Bowie]], [[Tony Visconti]] | Reviews = *[[Allmusic]] {{rating-5|5}} [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:4i66mpsk9f5o link] *[[Robert Christgau]] (B+) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=david+bowie link] | Last album = ''[[Lodger (album)|Lodger]]''<br/>(1979) | This album = '''''Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)'''''<br/>(1980) | Next album = ''[[Changestwobowie|ChangesTwoBowie]]''<br/>(1981) | Misc = {{Extra album cover 2 | Upper caption = Back cover | Type = studio | Cover = ScaryMonstersBackCover.jpg | Lower caption = Original [[Gramophone record|LP]] rear sleeve }} }} '''''Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)''''' is an album by [[David Bowie]], released in September 1980 by [[RCA Records]]. It was Bowie's final studio album for the label and his first following the so-called '[[Berlin Trilogy]]' of ''[[Low (album)|Low]]'', ''[["Heroes"]]'' and ''[[Lodger (album)|Lodger]]'' (1977-1979). Though considered significant in artistic terms, the trilogy had proved less successful commercially.<ref>David Buckley (1999). ''Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story'': p.302</ref> With ''Scary Monsters'', however, Bowie achieved what biographer David Buckley called "the perfect balance", the music press heaping praise on the new album and public anticipation being high enough to see it debut in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] charts at #1.<ref name="Strange Fascination">David Buckley (1999). Ibid: pp.363-375</ref><ref>[[Nicholas Pegg]] (2000). ''The Complete David Bowie'': p.314</ref><ref name="Bowie: An Illustrated Record">[[Roy Carr]] & [[Charles Shaar Murray]] (1981). ''Bowie: An Illustrated Record'': pp.108-114</ref> ==Production== According to co-producer [[Tony Visconti]], Bowie's method on ''Scary Monsters'' was somewhat less experimental and more concerned with achieving a commercially-viable sound than had been the case with his recent releases; to that end the composer spent more time on his own developing lyrics and melodies before recording, rather than improvising music in the studio and making up words at the last minute.<ref name="Strange Fascination" /> Aside from one cover, [[Tom Verlaine]]'s "Kingdom Come", all tracks would be credited to Bowie alone, unlike the 'Berlin Trilogy' where he had increasingly relied on input from his collaborators. Among those collaborators, [[Brian Eno]] was no longer present on ''Scary Monsters'' but, following his absence from ''Lodger'', [[Robert Fripp]] returned with the distinctive guitar sound he had earlier lent to ''"Heroes"''. [[Bruce Springsteen]]'s pianist [[Roy Bittan]] was back for his first Bowie album since ''[[Station to Station]]'' (1976), while [[The Who]]'s [[Pete Townshend]] guested on the bittersweet love song "Because You’re Young". ==Style and themes== The public's first taste of ''Scary Monsters'' was "[[Ashes to Ashes (song)|Ashes to Ashes]]", which was released as a single one month prior to the album and made #1 in the UK. Built around an ear-catching [[guitar synthesizer|guitar synth]] theme by [[Chuck Hammer]], it revisited the character of [[Major Tom]] from Bowie's early hit "[[Space Oddity]]". Aside from its critical and commercial success as a song, the accompanying [[music video]] set a benchmark for the art form.<ref>Nicholas Pegg (2000). Op Cit: p.29</ref> Notwithstanding the lush textures of "Ashes to Ashes", Bowie's sound on the album was described by critics as being harsher – and his worldview more desperate – than anything he had released since ''[[Diamond Dogs]]'' (1974).<ref name="Bowie: An Illustrated Record" /> This was exemplified by such tracks as "[[It's No Game]] (No. 1)", the hard-rocking opener featuring lead female vocals in [[Japanese language|Japanese]]; the careering [[Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (song)|title track]] with its prominent percussion effects and Bowie’s mock-[[cockney]] accent; the second single "[[Fashion (song)|Fashion]]", which seemed to draw uncomfortable parallels between style and politics and which had its own highly-regarded video;<ref name="Bowie: An Illustrated Record" /> and "[[Scream Like a Baby]]", a tale of political imprisonment. Aside from "Ashes to Ashes", "Teenage Wildlife" was perhaps the album’s most personal lyric. Against a musical backdrop that owed much to his classic song [[Heroes (song)|"Heroes"]], Bowie appeared to take aim squarely at his [[post-punk]] artistic godchildren, particularly [[Gary Numan]]:<ref name="Strange Fascination" /> :A broken-nosed mogul are you :One of the new wave boys :Same old thing in brand new drag :Comes sweeping into view :As ugly as a teenage millionaire :Pretending it’s a whiz-kid world ==Cover== The cover of ''Scary Monsters'' featured Bowie in his "Ashes to Ashes"' [[Pierrot]] costume, rendered in a combination of Brian Duffy's photographs and Edward Bell's painting. The original [[Gramophone record|vinyl album]]'s rear sleeve referred to four earlier albums, namely the immediately preceding 'Berlin Trilogy' and 1973's ''[[Aladdin Sane]]'', the last-mentioned also having been designed and photographed by Duffy. The cover images from ''Low'', ''"Heroes"'', and ''Lodger'' – the last showing Bowie's torso superimposed on the figure from ''Aladdin Sane'''s inside gatefold picture – were portrayed in small frames to the left of the track listing. Their whitewashed look was reportedly designed "to symbolise the discarding of Bowie's old personae."<ref>[http://members.ol.com.au/rgriffin/GoldenYears/ScaryMonsters.html ''Scary Monsters'' at BowieGoldenYears]</ref> These images were not reproduced on the Rykodisc reissue in 1992. ==Singles and additional tracks== Following the release of "Ashes to Ashes" in August 1980, prior to the album, and "Fashion" in October, the title track was issued as a single in January 1981 in both [[Gramophone record|vinyl record]] and [[compact cassette]] form. In March that year the album's last single, "[[Up the Hill Backwards]]", was released. Other songs from this period, released on [[Compact disc|CD]] by RykoDisc, included both sides of the single "[[Alabama Song (Bowie)|Alabama Song]]" b/w "Space Oddity", the latter a stark remake that debuted New Year’s Eve 1979 on ''[[The Kenny Everett Video Show]]'' and served as a "ritualistic purification"<ref name="Bowie: An Illustrated Record" /> of Bowie’s most famous number prior to its demolition with "Ashes to Ashes"; "[[Crystal Japan]]", B-side of "Up the Hill Backwards" in the UK and an A-side b/w "Alabama Song" in Japan, where it was also used for a [[Sake]] commercial;<ref name="Bowie: An Illustrated Record" /> and a new version of ''Aladdin Sane''’s "Panic in Detroit". ==Release and aftermath== RCA released ''Scary Monsters'' in September 1980 with the promo line "Often Copied, Never Equalled", seen as a direct reference to the New Wave acts Bowie had inspired over the years.<ref name="Strange Fascination" /> It was highly praised by critics, ''[[Record Mirror]]'' giving it a rating of seven stars out of five,<ref name="Strange Fascination" /> while ''[[Melody Maker]]'' called it "an eerily impressive stride into the '80s" and ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' reported that it "should be the most accessible and commercially successful Bowie LP in years".<ref>Patrick Humphrey (2007). "You've Been Around", ''MOJO 60 Years of Bowie'': p.79</ref> The album's #1 placing in the UK charts was Bowie's first since ''Diamond Dogs'' in 1974, while its U.S. peak of #12 was his highest stateside showing since ''Low'' almost four years earlier. Despite the worldwide megastardom and commercial success that Bowie would achieve in coming years, most notably with his next studio album ''[[Let's Dance (David Bowie album)|Let's Dance]]'' in 1983, many commentators consider ''Scary Monsters'' to be "his last great album",<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:4i66mpsk9f5o All Music Guide review]</ref> the "benchmark" for each new release.<ref name="Strange Fascination" /> Later efforts, such as ''[[Heathen (album)|Heathen]]'' or ''[[Reality (album)|Reality]]'', were often cited as "the best album since ''Scary Monsters''."<ref>[http://www.google.com/reviews?cid=d971e29cc1e757a0&q=%22scary+monsters%22&fp=4 Google reviews]</ref> In the latest edition of his musical biography of the singer, ''Strange Fascination'', David Buckley suggested that "Bowie should pre-emptively sticker up his next album 'Best Since ''Scary Monsters''' and have done with it".<ref>David Buckley (2005). ''Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story'': p.500</ref> In 2000 [[Q magazine|''Q'' magazine]] ranked ''Scary Monsters'' at #30 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2002 [[Pitchfork Media]] placed it #93 in its Top 100 Albums of the 1980s. ==Track listing== All songs written by [[David Bowie]] except where noted. # "[[It's No Game]] (No. 1)" – 4:15 # "[[Up the Hill Backwards]]" – 3:13 # "[[Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (song)|Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)]]" – 5:10 # "[[Ashes to Ashes (song)|Ashes to Ashes]]" – 4:23 # "[[Fashion (song)|Fashion]]" – 4:46 # "[[Teenage Wildlife]]" – 6:51 # "[[Scream Like a Baby]]" – 3:35 # "[[Kingdom Come (song)|Kingdom Come]]" ([[Tom Verlaine]]) – 3:42 # "[[Because You're Young]]" – 4:51 # "It's No Game (No. 2)" – 4:22 ==Reissues== The album has been rereleased four times to date on [[CD]], the first being in 1984 by RCA, the second in 1992 by [[Rykodisc]] (containing four bonus tracks), the third in 1999 by [[EMI]] (featuring 24-bit digitally-remastered sound and no bonus tracks) and the last in 2003 by EMI as a [[Super Audio CD|SACD]] (Super Audio Compact Disc). ===1992 reissue bonus tracks=== # <li value=11> "[[Space Oddity]]" ([[single (music)|single]] [[A-side and B-side|B-side]], re-recorded acoustic version 1979) – 4:47 # "[[Panic in Detroit]]" (re-recorded version 1979, previously unreleased) – 3:00 # "[[Crystal Japan]]" (Japanese single A-side 1979) – 3:08 # "[[Alabama Song (David Bowie song)|Alabama Song]]" ([[Bertold Brecht]], [[Kurt Weill]]) (UK single A-side, recorded 1978) – 3:51 ==Personnel== *[[David Bowie]] – [[singer|vocals]], [[keyboard instrument|keyboards]], backing vocals *[[Dennis Davis]] – [[percussion instrument|percussion]] *[[George Murray (musician)|George Murray]] – [[bass guitar|bass]] *[[Carlos Alomar]] – [[guitar]]s ===Additional personnel=== *[[Chuck Hammer]] – [[guitar/synthesizer]] on "Ashes to Ashes" and "Teenage Wildlife" *[[Robert Fripp]] – guitar on "Fashion", "It's No Game", "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)", "Kingdom Come", "Up the Hill Backwards" and "Teenage Wildlife" *[[Roy Bittan]] – [[piano]] on "Teenage Wildlife", "Ashes to Ashes" and "Up the Hill Backwards" *[[Andy Clark (musician)|Andy Clark]] – [[synthesizer]] on "Fashion", "Scream Like a Baby", "Ashes to Ashes" and "Because You're Young" *[[Pete Townshend]] – guitar on "Because You're Young" *[[Tony Visconti]] – acoustic guitar on "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" and "Up the Hill Backwards", backing vocals *Lynn Maitland – backing vocals *Chris Porter – backing vocals *Michi Hirota – [[human voice|voice]] on "It's No Game (No. 1)" ==Charts== ===Album=== {| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" !align="left"|Year !align="left"|Chart !align="left"|Position |- |align="left"|1980 |align="left"|Australian [[Australian Recording Industry Association|ARIA]] Albums Chart |align="left"|1 |- |align="left"|1980 |align="left"|[[UK Albums Chart]] |align="left"|1 |- |align="left"|1980 |align="left"|[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] Pop Albums |align="left"|12 |- |align="left"|1980 |align="left"|Norway Albums Chart |align="left"|3 |- |} ===Single=== {| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" !align="left"|Year !align="left"|Single !align="left"|Chart !align="left"|Position |- |align="left"|1980 |align="left"|"Ashes to Ashes" |align="left"|[[UK Singles Chart]] |align="left"|1 |- |align="left"|1980 |align="left"|"Ashes to Ashes" |align="left"|Norway |align="left"|3 |- |align="left"|1980 |align="left"|"Fashion" |align="left"|UK Singles Chart |align="left"|5 |- |align="left"|1980 |align="left"|"Fashion" |align="left"|[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] Pop Singles |align="left"|70 |- |align="left"|1980 |align="left"|"Fashion" |align="left"|Norway |align="left"|9 |- |align="left"|1981 |align="left"|"Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" |align="left"|UK Singles Chart |align="left"|20 |- |align="left"|1981 |align="left"|"Up the Hill Backwards" |align="left"|UK Singles Chart |align="left"|32 |- |} ==Certifications== {| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2" !align="left"|Organization !align="left"|Level !align="left"|Date |- |align="left"|BPI – UK |align="left"|[[Gold]] |align="left"|[[September 17]] [[1980]] |- |} ==Notes== <div class="references-small"><references /></div> {{s-start}} {{succession box | before = ''[[Xanadu (soundtrack)|Xanadu]]''<br> by [[Olivia Newton-John]] and the [[Electric Light Orchestra]] | title = Australian [[ARIA Charts|ARIA Albums Chart]] [[Number-one albums of 1980 (Australia)|number-one album]] | years = [[October 6]] - [[November 9]] [[1980]] | after = ''[[Guilty (Barbra Streisand album)|Guilty]]'' by [[Barbra Streisand]] }} {{end}} {{David bowie}} [[Category:David Bowie albums]] [[Category:Albums produced by Tony Visconti]] [[Category:1980 albums]] [[Category:Albums produced by David Bowie]] [[Category:RCA Records albums]] [[fr:Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)]] [[he:Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)]] [[nl:Scary Monsters... and Super Creeps (album)]] [[ja:スケアリー・モンスターズ]] [[nn:Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)]] [[pl:Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)]] [[sk:Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (album)]] [[fi:Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)]] [[sv:Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)]]