David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars

Ziggy Stardust (the full title is too long to keep typing) is the quintessential Bowie album. It touches on most of the facets of Bowie’s constantly shifting career, which equal amounts of rock, pop sensibility and psychadelia, which was decidedly uncool by 1972. It’s also one of the best pop albums of all time. Literally anything from this would have done well as a single. It’s definitely an easier listen than Diamond Dogs or the Berlin era.

The album is a loose concept album about a rock star from space. I think it’s supposed to be a response to celebrity idolism (so is basically every Bowie album from the 70’s) but to be honest the concept doesn’t seem to have all that much to do with the songs themselves. If you only get one Bowie album this is probably the safest bet. Although I prefer Diamond Dogs the tone is quite different.