134-626: Young Americans is the ninth studio album by the English musician David Bowie , released on 7 March 1975 through RCA Records . A departure from the glam rock style of previous albums, the record showcased Bowie's interest in soul and R&B . Music critics have described the sound as blue-eyed soul ; Bowie himself labelled the album's sound " plastic soul ". Recording sessions began at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia in August 1974, after
268-456: A "groove piece". " Can You Hear Me? ", originally "Take It in Right", is described by O'Leary as contemporary R&B , while Doggett believes its style is more reminiscent of southern music rather than Philly soul. Perone likens Bowie's vocal performance to the singer Al Green . In 1975, Bowie stated that the song was "written for somebody" but declined to disclose who; his biographers agree that it
402-420: A "live" sound. Recordings, including live, may contain editing, sound effects, voice adjustments, etc. With modern recording technology , artists can be recorded in separate rooms or at separate times while listening to the other parts using headphones ; with each part recorded as a separate track . Album covers and liner notes are used, and sometimes additional information is provided, such as analysis of
536-523: A $ 40,000 loan, which he used to lease 212 North 12th Street in Philadelphia in a location formerly occupied by Emil Corson's Rec-O-Art Studios. Rec-O-Art was a mono-only recording facility with a 40-foot long room and a 6x12x40 foot echo chamber where Tarsia had previously done service technician work. Tarsia opened his new recording studio, renamed Sigma Sound, in August 1968, hosting sessions for Gamble and Huff , Weldon McDougal , and The Delfonics on
670-458: A brown heavy paper sleeve with a large hole in the center so the record's label could be seen. The fragile records were stored on their sides. By the mid-1920s, photo album publishers sold collections of empty sleeves of heavier paper in bound volumes with stiff covers slightly larger than the 10" popular records. (Classical records measured 12".) On the paper cover in small type were the words "Record Album". Now records could be stored vertically with
804-454: A clue when it comes to singles. ... I don't get it, and 'Fame' was really out of left-field for me." In early November, he became one of the first white artists to appear on ABC TV's Soul Train , where he gave mimed performances of "Fame" and his new single " Golden Years "; He then sang "Fame" and "Can You Hear Me?" live on the CBS variety show Cher a few weeks later. Young Americans
938-412: A collection of pieces or songs on a single record was called an "album"; the word was extended to other recording media such as compact disc, MiniDisc , compact audio cassette, 8-track tape and digital albums as they were introduced. An album (Latin albus , white), in ancient Rome, was a board chalked or painted white, on which decrees, edicts, and other public notices were inscribed in black. It
1072-403: A compilation of songs created by any average listener of music. The songs on a mixtape generally relate to one another in some way, whether it be a conceptual theme or an overall sound. After the introduction of Compact discs, the term "Mixtape" began to apply to any personal compilation of songs on any given format. The sales of Compact Cassettes eventually began to decline in the 1990s, after
1206-424: A current or former member of a musical group which is released under that artist's name only, even though some or all other band members may be involved. The solo album appeared as early as the late 1940s. A 1947 Billboard magazine article heralded " Margaret Whiting huddling with Capitol execs over her first solo album on which she will be backed by Frank De Vol ". There is no formal definition setting forth
1340-557: A customer buys a whole album rather than just one or two songs from the artist. The song is not necessarily free nor is it available as a stand-alone download, adding also to the incentive to buy the complete album. In contrast to hidden tracks , bonus tracks are included on track listings and usually do not have a gap of silence between other album tracks. Bonus tracks on CD or vinyl albums are common in Japan for releases by European and North American artists; since importing international copies of
1474-461: A few hours to several years. This process usually requires several takes with different parts recorded separately, and then brought or " mixed " together. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing are termed "live", even when done in a studio. Studios are built to absorb sound, eliminating reverberation , to assist in mixing different takes; other locations, such as concert venues and some "live rooms", have reverberation, which creates
SECTION 10
#17328523189481608-464: A masterpiece of white soul. In 1991, Jon Wilde of Melody Maker argued that, like Bowie's other 1970s records, Young Americans was ahead of its time. The singer Bob Geldof said: " Young Americans is a fantastic soul record, but soul with something else going on. There's an edginess to it." Young Americans was voted Bowie's ninth best album in a 2013 readers' poll for Rolling Stone . The magazine argued that its style shift helped introduce Bowie to
1742-567: A modified version of the "Fame" instrumental for Parliament's " Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker) " (1976), while James Brown used "Fame" 's riff verbatim for " Hot (I Need to Be Loved, Loved, Loved) " (1975). In 2016, Joe Lynch of Billboard argued that "Fame" and Young Americans as a whole served as an influence not only on other funk artists such as Clinton but also early hip hop artists and
1876-447: A musical level." Bowie, Vandross, Clark and Cherry can be seen rehearsing the song in the BBC documentary Cracked Actor (1975). The title of "Somebody Up There Likes Me" was taken from the 1956 film of the same name . Similar to "Right", it uses a call-and-response structure and is embellished in strings, saxophone and synthesisers that hide dark lyrics. Pegg states that the lyrics discuss
2010-564: A musician who played at the Apollo meant a lot to him. Alomar had never heard of Bowie when they met, but they immediately connected and formed a working relationship that would last almost 15 years; Alomar became Bowie's guide into American black music. While in Pennsylvania, Bowie visited Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia to work on recordings with the American musician Ava Cherry . Sigma Sound
2144-453: A painting but retracted the offer when he heard that Rockwell would need at least six months to do the job. According to Pegg, another rejected idea was a full-length portrait of Bowie in a "flying suit" and white scarf, standing in front of an American flag and raising a glass. The final cover photo, a back-lit and airbrushed photo of Bowie, was taken in Los Angeles on 30 August 1974 by
2278-526: A persona. Sandford believed that Bowie showed maturity by not featuring Ziggy Stardust , which secured his breakthrough into the US market. Pegg says the album turned Bowie from "a mildly unsavoury cult artist to a chat-show friendly showbiz personality" in the US. Bowie, however, expressed varying statements about the album throughout his lifetime. In late 1975, he described it as "the phoniest R&B I've ever heard. If I ever would have got my hands on that record when I
2412-412: A similar theme as "Changes". "It's Gonna Be Me" is a ballad similar in style to Aretha Franklin. Originally titled "Come Back My Baby", it is lyrically similar to "Can You Hear Me?", in that it follows a casual seducer who realises the error of his ways and works to redeem himself. Pegg and Doggett praised the track as one of the most overlooked gems of Bowie's entire career. "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)"
2546-457: A single artist, genre or period, a single artist covering the songs of various artists or a single artist, genre or period, or any variation of an album of cover songs which is marketed as a "tribute". Sigma Sound Studios Sigma Sound Studios was an American independent recording studio in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , founded in 1968 by recording engineer Joseph Tarsia . Located at 212 North 12th Street in Philadelphia, Sigma Sound
2680-522: A single case, or a triple album containing three LPs or compact discs. Recording artists who have an extensive back catalogue may re-release several CDs in one single box with a unified design, often containing one or more albums (in this scenario, these releases can sometimes be referred to as a "two (or three)-fer"), or a compilation of previously unreleased recordings. These are known as box sets . Some musical artists have also released more than three compact discs or LP records of new recordings at once, in
2814-433: A solo album for several reasons. A solo performer working with other members will typically have full creative control of the band, be able to hire and fire accompanists, and get the majority of the proceeds. The performer may be able to produce songs that differ widely from the sound of the band with which the performer has been associated, or that the group as a whole chose not to include in its own albums. Graham Nash of
SECTION 20
#17328523189482948-414: A studio. However, the common understanding of a "live album" is one that was recorded at a concert with a public audience, even when the recording is overdubbed or multi-tracked. Concert or stage performances are recorded using remote recording techniques. Albums may be recorded at a single concert , or combine recordings made at multiple concerts. They may include applause, laughter and other noise from
3082-733: A term which became trademarked. In 1972, MFSB began recording as a named act for the Philadelphia International Label, and recorded the theme for the American musical TV show Soul Train at Sigma Sound. The song, " TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia) ", was the first television theme song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 . In 1969 Dusty Springfield recorded A Brand New Me and its hit title track at Sigma Sound. The following year, Wilson Pickett teamed up with Gamble and Huff at Sigma Sound for Wilson Pickett in Philadelphia and two of Pickett's most popular singles from
3216-406: A theme such as the "greatest hits" from one artist, B-sides and rarities by one artist, or selections from a record label , a musical genre , a certain time period, or a regional music scene. Promotional sampler albums are compilations. A tribute or cover album is a compilation of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may involve various artists covering the songs of
3350-509: A trend of shifting sales in the music industry , some observers feel that the early 21st century experienced the death of the album . An album may contain any number of tracks. In the United States, The Recording Academy 's rules for Grammy Awards state that an album must comprise a minimum total playing time of 15 minutes with at least five distinct tracks or a minimum total playing time of 30 minutes with no minimum track requirement. In
3484-569: A troubled place in Bowie's discography, being sequenced between Bowie's Ziggy and Thin White Duke periods. Rob Sheffield opined that the album is "easy to overlook" because Bowie "did most of these robot-soul space-funk tricks better two years later on Station to Station ". Mark Beaumont of The Independent argued: "Those rock historians who dismiss the album as a white elephant among Bowie's 1970s output [...] underestimate its significance. Because this
3618-430: A way of promoting the album. Albums have been issued that are compilations of older tracks not originally released together, such as singles not originally found on albums, b-sides of singles, or unfinished " demo " recordings. Double albums during the seventies were sometimes sequenced for record changers . In the case of a two-record set, for example, sides 1 and 4 would be stamped on one record, and sides 2 and 3 on
3752-516: A wider audience. That same year, NME ranked the album at number 175 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time . In 2004, the critic Charles Shaar Murray voted it the 88th best British album in a list for The Observer . The album was also included in the 2018 edition of Robert Dimery's book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . Young Americans was first released on CD by RCA in 1984, and then by Rykodisc / EMI in 1991, with three bonus tracks. The reissue charted at number 54 on
3886-469: Is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music ) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette ), or digital . Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records (78s) collected in a bound book resembling a photo album ; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl long-playing (LP) records played at 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 rpm . The album
4020-484: Is a radical seven-minute funk and disco reworking of Bowie's 1972 glam rock single "John, I'm Only Dancing". This new version mostly retains the original's chorus, but with new verses and an entirely different melody. It was released as a single in 1979. "After Today" is a soul-disco song with a falsetto vocal from Bowie and less polished production compared to other album tracks. For the album cover artwork , Bowie initially wanted to commission Norman Rockwell to create
4154-580: Is any vocal content. A track that has the same name as the album is called the title track. A bonus track (also known as a bonus cut or bonus) is a piece of music which has been included as an extra. This may be done as a marketing promotion, or for other reasons. It is not uncommon to include singles, B-sides , live recordings , and demo recordings as bonus tracks on re-issues of old albums, where those tracks were not originally included. Online music stores allow buyers to create their own albums by selecting songs themselves; bonus tracks may be included if
Young Americans - Misplaced Pages Continue
4288-576: Is closely associated with Philadelphia soul , and was the location of numerous recordings of Gamble and Huff 's Philadelphia International Records , the group of session musicians known as MFSB , and producer Thom Bell . Sigma Sound is credited with well over 200 gold and platinum awards with an extensive client list that includes Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes , The O'Jays , The Spinners , MFSB , David Bowie , Teddy Pendergrass , Patti LaBelle , The Roots and others. From 1977 through 1988,
4422-552: Is not necessarily just in MP3 file format, in which higher quality formats such as FLAC and WAV can be used on storage media that MP3 albums reside on, such as CD-R-ROMs , hard drives , flash memory (e.g. thumbdrives , MP3 players , SD cards ), etc. The contents of the album are usually recorded in a studio or live in concert, though may be recorded in other locations, such as at home (as with JJ Cale's Okie , Beck's Odelay , David Gray's White Ladder , and others), in
4556-402: Is recorded on both the "A" and "B" side of the tape, with cassette being "turned" to play the other side of the album. Compact Cassettes were also a popular way for musicians to record " Demos " or "Demo Tapes" of their music to distribute to various record labels, in the hopes of acquiring a recording contract . Compact cassettes also saw the creation of mixtapes , which are tapes containing
4690-576: The Ziggy Stardust track " Suffragette City " (1972) as the B-side . In the US, it was released in edited form, omitting two verses and a chorus; its B-side was the 1974 live cover of "Knock on Wood". It reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart and number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 , his second top 40 entry and second-highest chart peak in the US up to that point. Bowie's November 1974 performance of
4824-581: The Record Plant in New York City at the tour's end. A collaboration between Bowie and John Lennon yielded a cover of Lennon's Beatles song " Across the Universe " and an original, " Fame ", during a January 1975 session at Electric Lady Studios , produced by Harry Maslin . The album's cover artwork is a back-lit photograph of Bowie taken by Eric Stephen Jacobs. Young Americans was Bowie's breakthrough in
4958-710: The UK Albums Chart for 17 weeks, peaking at number two, being kept off the top spot by Tom Jones 's 20 Greatest Hits . Elsewhere, Young Americans reached the top five in New Zealand and Sweden, the top ten in Australia and Finland, number 12 in France, 13 in Norway, 17 in Canada and 82 in Japan. According to Buckley, sales were lower than Diamond Dogs overall. The second single "Fame"
5092-564: The West Coast G-funk genre of the early 1990s. Young Americans has received mixed reviews from critics and fans in later decades, being dismissed as a purely transitional record and an inauthentic excursion by an artist whose talents lay elsewhere. Others have criticised it for being inconsistent, and lacking strong songwriting and the musical cohesiveness of Bowie's other 1970s albums. Douglas Wolk stated in Pitchfork : "It doesn't have
5226-517: The iPod , US album sales dropped 54.6% from 2001 to 2009. The CD is a digital data storage device which permits digital recording technology to be used to record and play-back the recorded music. Most recently, the MP3 audio format has matured, revolutionizing the concept of digital storage. Early MP3 albums were essentially CD-rips created by early CD- ripping software, and sometimes real-time rips from cassettes and vinyl. The so-called "MP3 album"
5360-477: The live album David Live in October 1974. Bowie had grown tired of the tour's lavish set-pieces and theatricality and was ready to fully embrace black soul music. In early 1974, Bowie met the funk guitarist Carlos Alomar , an Apollo Theater session musician who had played with James Brown , Chuck Berry and Wilson Pickett . One of Bowie's favourite records was Brown's Live at the Apollo (1963), so meeting
5494-546: The resignation of president Richard Nixon , which occurred a week before the recording sessions began. The line "I heard the news today, oh boy" was taken from the Beatles' song " A Day in the Life " (1967), acknowledging Lennon's influence on Bowie and their imminent collaboration later on the album. The author Peter Doggett writes that the song introduced the world to an entirely new Bowie, catching everyone by surprise. Bowie said "Win"
Young Americans - Misplaced Pages Continue
5628-490: The "inspiration" for "Fame", which is why he received a writing credit; O'Leary states that Lennon wrote the song's intro chord progression . In 1980, Lennon stated: "We took some Stevie Wonder middle eight and did it backwards, you know, and we made a record out of it!" "Who Can I Be Now?" reflects the theme of self-identity. Over its runtime, it builds to a what Pegg calls a "gospel-choir climax". Doggett writes that its title summarises Bowie's career up to this point, sharing
5762-514: The 1970s. Appraising the concept in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau said most "are profit-taking recaps marred by sound and format inappropriate to phonographic reproduction (you can't put sights, smells, or fellowship on audio tape). But for Joe Cocker and Bette Midler and Bob-Dylan -in-the-arena, the form makes a compelling kind of sense." Among
5896-443: The 25-minute mark. The album Dopesmoker by Sleep contains only a single track, but the composition is over 63 minutes long. There are no formal rules against artists such as Pinhead Gunpowder referring to their own releases under thirty minutes as "albums". If an album becomes too long to fit onto a single vinyl record or CD, it may be released as a double album where two vinyl LPs or compact discs are packaged together in
6030-428: The Blue Notes , The Spinners , and Teddy Pendergrass . In 1974, David Bowie visited Sigma Sound Studios to work on recordings with Ava Cherry , and returned to Sigma Sound for the initial recording sessions for his 1975 album Young Americans . Local fans, whom Bowie referred to as the "Sigma Kids", waited outside the studio over the course of the sessions. On the final day of tracking, these fans were invited into
6164-491: The Hollies described his experience in developing a solo album as follows: "The thing that I go through that results in a solo album is an interesting process of collecting songs that can't be done, for whatever reason, by a lot of people". A solo album may also represent the departure of the performer from the group. A compilation album is a collection of material from various recording projects or various artists, assembled with
6298-583: The New York studios in 1988 and the Philadelphia location in 2003, but they still retained the Sigma Sound Studios name. The 6,000 unclaimed tapes from Sigma's 35-year-old tape library are now part of The Drexel University Audio Archive. In 2019, Drexel University's MAD Dragon Music Group released 14 formerly-lost tracks from funk-soul group Nat Turner Rebellion that had been a part of the archive. The Philadelphia studio closed in 2014. In March 2015,
6432-538: The Philadelphia area, long before Joel became widely known, which helped him establish a national following. In 1972, the O'Jays recorded their breakthrough album Back Stabbers at Sigma Sound, along with its hit single " Love Train ", one of the first disco songs. The same year, Billy Paul recorded his best-selling hit song " Me and Mrs. Jones " at the studio. Other artists who experienced commercial success working with Gamble and Huff, Philadelphia International, and Sigma Sound Studios included Harold Melvin &
6566-643: The UK Albums Chart for one week in April 1991. A 1999 edition on EMI featured 24-bit digitally remastered sound and no extra tracks. The 2007 reissue, marketed as a "Special Edition", included an accompanying DVD containing 5.1 surround sound mixes of the album and Bowie's November 1974 interview and performances on The Dick Cavett Show . In 2016, the album was remastered for the Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976) box set , which also includes an earlier, rawer-sounding draft of
6700-594: The US, reaching the top 10 on the Billboard chart; "Fame" became Bowie's first number one hit single . Bowie continued developing its sound on Station to Station (1976). Young Americans has received mixed critical reviews on release and in later decades; Bowie himself had mixed feelings about the album. The album proved influential. Bowie was one of the first white artists of the era to overtly engage with black musical styles; other British artists followed suit. The album has been reissued multiple times with outtakes , and
6834-516: The United Kingdom, the criteria for the UK Albums Chart is that a recording counts as an "album" if it either has more than four tracks or lasts more than 25 minutes. Sometimes shorter albums are referred to as mini-albums or EPs . Albums such as Tubular Bells , Amarok , and Hergest Ridge by Mike Oldfield , and Yes's Close to the Edge , include fewer than four tracks, but still surpass
SECTION 50
#17328523189486968-556: The United States. At Olympic and Trident Studios in Britain, engineers applied equalisers and reverb as they were recording, so these effects were heard upon playback. At Sigma Sound, however, the engineers applied effects during the mixing stage. Bowie was initially confounded when hearing the tapes back, as according to the biographer Chris O'Leary, he "hadn't heard his 'naked' voice on tape in years". The sessions were productive and moved rapidly, only taking two weeks to complete. It
7102-413: The album can be cheaper than buying a domestically released version, Japanese releases often feature bonus tracks to incentivize domestic purchase. Commercial sheet music is published in conjunction with the release of a new album (studio, compilation, soundtrack, etc.). A matching folio songbook is a compilation of the music notation of all the songs included in that particular album. It typically has
7236-544: The album contained the highest notes he ever sang on record. The sessions produced numerous outtakes , including "After Today", "Who Can I Be Now?", "It's Gonna Be Me", a rerecording of Bowie's 1972 single " John, I'm Only Dancing " titled " John, I'm Only Dancing (Again) ", "Lazer", "Shilling the Rubes", a scrapped rerecording of Bruce Springsteen 's " It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City " and " Too Fat Polka ". After these sessions, Bowie
7370-724: The album was completely finished, returned to London to record string arrangements for "Can You Hear Me", "Win" and "It's Gonna Be Me" at AIR Studios , while Bowie remained in New York, working on separate mixing with in-house engineer Harry Maslin . During this time, former Beatle John Lennon was working at the Record Plant on his covers album Rock 'n' Roll (1975). Lennon, who was in what he later termed his " Lost weekend " period, had met Bowie in Los Angeles in September 1974. The two connected and decided to record together. With Alomar,
7504-516: The album's artwork on its cover and, in addition to sheet music, it includes photos of the artist. Most pop and rock releases come in standard Piano/Vocal/Guitar notation format (and occasionally Easy Piano / E-Z Play Today). Rock-oriented releases may also come in Guitar Recorded Versions edition, which are note-for-note transcriptions written directly from artist recordings. Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one-half of
7638-632: The album's direction included "Win", "Can You Hear Me?" and "Who Can I Be Now?" Station to Station continued Bowie's run of commercial success, reaching number three in the US. However, his cocaine use continued throughout 1975, to the extent he had almost no recollection of recording Station to Station . After completing the Isolar Tour in May 1976, he moved to Europe to rid himself of his drug addiction. Commentators have acknowledged Young Americans as Bowie's first album that he performed as himself rather than as
7772-548: The album, Bowie was one of the first mainstream white artists to embrace black musical styles, paving the way for other artists to engage in similar styles. Daryl Easlea summarised in Record Collector : "While all rock'n'roll was based on white men's appropriation of black popular music, very few artists had embraced the form wholesale, to the point of using the same studios and musicians, as Bowie [did]." Buckley commented that it brought fans of both glam rock and soul together in
7906-525: The album, titled The Gouster . It was released in CD, vinyl, and digital formats, both as part of this compilation and separately. The 1991 and 2007 reissues featured "Who Can I Be Now?", "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)" and "It's Gonna Be Me" as bonus tracks; the latter was released in an alternate version with strings on the 2007 edition. The 1991 reissue replaced the original versions of "Win", "Fascination" and "Right" with alternate mixes, but later reissues restored
8040-503: The album. If a pop or rock album contained tracks released separately as commercial singles , they were conventionally placed in particular positions on the album. During the sixties, particularly in the UK, singles were generally released separately from albums. Today, many commercial albums of music tracks feature one or more singles, which are released separately to radio, TV or the Internet as
8174-406: The amalgam of rock and Philly soul is so thin it's interesting, it overwhelms David's voice, which is even thinner". He nonetheless appreciated Bowie's renewed "generosity of spirit to risk failure" following the disappointments of Diamond Dogs and David Live . In Phonograph Record , John Mendelsohn criticised the lyrics, Bowie's vocal performance, found the melodies "as good as non-existent" and
SECTION 60
#17328523189488308-424: The amount of participation a band member can solicit from other members of their band, and still have the album referred to as a solo album. One reviewer wrote that Ringo Starr 's third venture, Ringo , "[t]echnically... wasn't a solo album because all four Beatles appeared on it". Three of the four members of the Beatles released solo albums while the group was officially still together. A performer may record
8442-510: The audience, comments by the performers between pieces, improvisation, and so on. They may use multitrack recording direct from the stage sound system (rather than microphones placed among the audience), and can employ additional manipulation and effects during post-production to enhance the quality of the recording. Notable early live albums include the double album of Benny Goodman , The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert , released in 1950. Live double albums later became popular during
8576-465: The backing band, Bowie wanted to hire MFSB ("Mother Father Sister Brother"), Sigma Sound's house band of over 30 session musicians . All members were unavailable except for Larry Washington (percussion), so Bowie went to New York City for further recruitment. Mike Garson (piano), David Sanborn (saxophone) and Pablo Rosario (percussion) were retained from the Diamond Dogs Tour, while Earl Slick
8710-425: The backing singers "lends an air of immaculate sophistication to the lyric's paean to positive thinking", according to the biographer Nicholas Pegg . In 1975, Bowie called the song a mantra : "People forget what the sound of Man's instinct is—it's a drone, a mantra. And people say, 'Why are so many things popular that just drone on and on?' But that's the point really. It reaches a particular vibration, not necessarily
8844-406: The best selling live albums are Eric Clapton 's Unplugged (1992), selling over 26 million copies, Garth Brooks ' Double Live (1998), over 21 million copies, and Peter Frampton 's Frampton Comes Alive! (1976), over 11 million copies. In Rolling Stone ' s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time , 18 albums were live albums. A solo album , in popular music , is an album recorded by
8978-557: The biographer Christopher Sandford writes that the album is "a record of high spirits and lively, colliding ideas". One of Bowie's major inspirations when writing the album was Aretha Franklin . " Young Americans " opens the album, which Bowie said was about "a newly-wed couple who don't know if they really like each other". The song also presents new lyrical directions for the artist: instead of "shady" characters living in worlds fraught with darkness, "Young Americans" shows typical American teenagers. References are made to McCarthyism and
9112-510: The building that housed Sigma Sound Studios was sold for $ 1.55 million, with plans to renovate the space for office, retail or residential use. On October 15, 2015, the original building for Sigma Sound Studios was officially dedicated as a historic site by the City of Philadelphia. The historic site marker was placed at 212 N. 12th Street. On November 13, 2020, the Philadelphia Historical Commission voted unanimously to add
9246-648: The building to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places . In 2016, Sigma Sound Studios founder Joseph Tarsia was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum. Information on Sigma Sound Studios exists at the Special Collections Research Center at Temple University in Philadelphia. The memorabilia available includes newspaper and magazine clippings, collected ephemera and other publications. There are also photographs of both
9380-446: The cassette tape throughout the 1970s and early 1980s; the popularity of the cassette reached its peak during the late 1980s before sharply declining during the 1990s. The cassette had largely disappeared by the first decade of the 2000s. Most albums are recorded in a studio , although they may also be recorded in a concert venue , at home, in the field, or a mix of places. The time frame for completely recording an album varies between
9514-585: The early 1970s - "Engine No. 9" and "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You". In 1971 Harry Chipetz, former general manager of Cameo-Parkway, joined Sigma as general manager. The same year, Laura Nyro and Labelle recorded Gonna Take a Miracle at the studio. On April 15, 1972, singer-songwriter and pianist Billy Joel and his touring band played an hour-long concert at Sigma Studios. The recording of " Captain Jack " from this event received extensive radio play in
9648-612: The field – as with early blues recordings, in prison, or with a mobile recording unit such as the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio . Most albums are studio albums —that is, they are recorded in a recording studio with equipment meant to give those overseeing the recording as much control as possible over the sound of the album. They minimize external noises and reverberations and have highly sensitive microphones and sound mixing equipment. Band members may record their parts in separate rooms or at separate times, listening to
9782-467: The first day. From the beginning, Sigma Sound was strongly associated with Philadelphia soul and, in the 1970s, the sound of Gamble and Huff 's Philadelphia International Records (PIR), as well as the classic, sophisticated productions of Thom Bell , hosting recording sessions for PIR acts and others. More than 30 resident session musicians , known collectively as MFSB ("Mother Father Sister Brother"), were based at this studio and backed up most of
9916-498: The first leg of his Diamond Dogs Tour . The record was produced by Tony Visconti , and includes a variety of musicians, such as the guitarist Carlos Alomar , who became one of Bowie's most frequent collaborators, and the backing vocalists Ava Cherry , Robin Clark and then-unknown singer Luther Vandross . As the tour continued the setlist and design began to incorporate the influence of the new material. The recording sessions continued at
10050-494: The form of a prototype. Compact Cassettes became especially popular during the 1980s after the advent of the Sony Walkman , which allowed the person to control what they listened to. The Walkman was convenient because of its size, the device could fit in most pockets and often came equipped with a clip for belts or pants. The compact cassette used double-sided magnetic tape to distribute music for commercial sale. The music
10184-480: The form of boxed sets, although in that case the work is still usually considered to be an album. Material (music or sounds) is stored on an album in sections termed tracks. A music track (often simply referred to as a track) is an individual song or instrumental recording. The term is particularly associated with popular music where separate tracks are known as album tracks; the term is also used for other formats such as EPs and singles . When vinyl records were
10318-485: The idea of celebrity and the "hollowness of fame and adulation". Bowie himself described the song as a "Watch out mate, Hitler's on your back" warning. Bowie's rendition of " Across the Universe " is a blue-eyed soul reworking that features Lennon on guitar and backing vocals. Bowie had previously called the Beatles' original version "very watery" and wanted to "hammer the hell out of it". His cover has been maligned by critics and biographers. Perone argues that it succeeds as
10452-419: The interplay of the backing vocalists. Doggett cites elements in the novels City of Night (1963) and The Occult Reich (1974) as inspirations for the title, while David Buckley writes that it reaffirms the 'strange fascination' motif of Bowie's track " Changes " (1971). " Right " is the only track on Young Americans to feature Bowie's old friend Geoff MacCormack. The call and response between Bowie and
10586-582: The later '30s, record companies began releasing albums of previously released recordings of popular music in albums organized by performer, singers or bands, or by type of music, boogie-woogie , for example. When Columbia introduced the Long Playing record format in 1948, it was natural the term album would continue. Columbia expected that the record size distinction in 78s would continue, with classical music on 12" records and popular music on 10" records, and singles on 78s. Columbia's first popular 10" LP in fact
10720-488: The longer 12-inch 78s, playing around 4–5 minutes per side. For example, in 1924, George Gershwin recorded a drastically shortened version of his new seventeen-minute composition Rhapsody in Blue with Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. The recording was issued on both sides of a single record, Victor 55225 and ran for 8m 59s. By 1910, though some European record companies had issued albums of complete operas and other works,
10854-410: The mad theatrical scope of Diamond Dogs or the formal audacity of Station to Station ; at times, it comes off as an artist trying very hard to demonstrate how unpredictable he is." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said that Young Americans is "more enjoyable as a stylistic adventure than as a substantive record". Some critics have viewed Young Americans as an overlooked album that occupies
10988-483: The mid-1930s, record companies had adopted the album format for classical music selections that were longer than the roughly eight minutes that fit on both sides of a classical 12" 78 rpm record. Initially the covers were plain, with the name of the selection and performer in small type. In 1938, Columbia Records hired the first graphic designer in the business to design covers, others soon followed and colorful album covers cover became an important selling feature. By
11122-479: The mid-1960s to the late 1970s when the Compact Cassette format took over. The format is regarded as an obsolete technology, and was relatively unknown outside the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Stereo 8 was created in 1964 by a consortium led by Bill Lear of Lear Jet Corporation , along with Ampex , Ford Motor Company , General Motors , Motorola , and RCA Victor Records . It
11256-522: The mid-1960s, he began listening to soul records extensively and incorporating soul material into his live sets. In July, towards the end of the first leg of his Diamond Dogs Tour , he performed covers of the soul songs " Knock on Wood " by Eddie Floyd and "Here Today and Gone Tomorrow" by the Ohio Players for shows in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania ; these shows were recorded and released on
11390-516: The original mixes. Another outtake, "After Today", appeared on the 1989 box set Sound + Vision , as did the alternate mix of "Fascination". All tracks are written by David Bowie , except where noted According to the liner notes and the biographer Nicholas Pegg , except where noted. Primary musicians Additional musicians Technical Shipments figures based on certification alone. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. Studio album An album
11524-443: The other parts of the track with headphones to keep the timing right. In the 2000s, with the advent of digital recording , it became possible for musicians to record their part of a song in another studio in another part of the world, and send their contribution over digital channels to be included in the final product. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing or multi-tracking are termed "live", even when done in
11658-414: The other. The user would stack the two records onto the spindle of an automatic record changer, with side 1 on the bottom and side 2 (on the other record) on top. Side 1 would automatically drop onto the turntable and be played. When finished, the tone arm's position would trigger a mechanism which moved the arm out of the way, dropped the record with side 2, and played it. When both records had been played,
11792-461: The overall album very weak. In the NME , Ian MacDonald felt the record was more of a transitional one, created out of a confused state of mind not knowing where to take his career next. He enjoyed it despite its flaws. In Melody Maker , Michael Watts praised the backing band but found the record too "pastiche" to be credible and Bowie's worst release up to that point. In Canada, Bill Man of The Gazette
11926-449: The period; he often stayed awake day and night recording while the band slept. Alomar said the sessions were "fuelled" by drugs, recalling: "He used drugs to keep himself awake. [I assumed] it was more a functional thing [than an addiction], so he'd be 'on' whenever the moment came to record." Bowie's cocaine use affected his voice, creating what Bowie himself called "a real raspy sound" that prevented him from singing higher notes. He believed
12060-431: The photographer Eric Stephen Jacobs. Jacobs took inspiration from a similar photo he took of the choreographer Toni Basil for the September 1974 cover of After Dark magazine. Using that photo, Craig DeCamps designed the final cover at RCA Records ' New York City office. Sandford calls it one of the "classic" album covers. RCA released "Young Americans" as the lead single to the album on 21 February 1975, with
12194-464: The practice of issuing albums was not widely taken up by American record companies until the 1920s. By about 1910, bound collections of empty sleeves with a paperboard or leather cover, similar to a photograph album, were sold as record albums that customers could use to store their records (the term "record album" was printed on some covers). These albums came in both 10-inch and 12-inch sizes. The covers of these bound books were wider and taller than
12328-406: The primary medium for audio recordings a track could be identified visually from the grooves and many album covers or sleeves included numbers for the tracks on each side. On a compact disc the track number is indexed so that a player can jump straight to the start of any track. On digital music stores such as iTunes the term song is often used interchangeably with track regardless of whether there
12462-411: The project. During his time at Sigma Sound, Bowie completely immersed himself in soul music. He created a new persona called "The Gouster", a slang term for a hip street boy, which became one of the album's working titles. Visconti commented: "It wasn't so much a concept as a way of setting the tone that we were going to make a very hip album." Bowie's cocaine addiction heightened at a rapid pace during
12596-404: The record industry as a standard format for the "album". Apart from relatively minor refinements and the important later addition of stereophonic sound capability, it has remained the standard format for vinyl albums. The term "album" was extended to other recording media such as 8-track tape , cassette tape , compact disc , MiniDisc , and digital albums, as they were introduced. As part of
12730-617: The record not touching the shelf, and the term was applied to the collection. In the early nineteenth century, "album" was occasionally used in the titles of some classical music sets, such as Robert Schumann 's Album for the Young Opus 68, a set of 43 short pieces. With the advent of 78 rpm records in the early 1900s, the typical 10-inch disc could only hold about three minutes of sound per side, so almost all popular recordings were limited to around three minutes in length. Classical-music and spoken-word items generally were released on
12864-451: The recording, and lyrics or librettos . Historically, the term "album" was applied to a collection of various items housed in a book format. In musical usage, the word was used for collections of short pieces of printed music from the early nineteenth century. Later, collections of related 78s were bundled in book-like albums (one side of a 78 rpm record could hold only about 3.5 minutes of sound). When LP records were introduced,
12998-434: The recordings. Some of the musicians also acted as arrangers , writers , or producers for Philadelphia International as well as for other labels recording in the city. They included Bobby Martin , Norman Harris , Thom Bell, Ronnie Baker , Vince Montana and, later, Jack Faith, Dexter Wansel, and John Usry. The studios' large productions with strings and horns became known as "The Sound of Philadelphia," or "T.S.O.P.",
13132-497: The records inside, allowing the record album to be placed on a shelf upright, like a book, suspending the fragile records above the shelf and protecting them. In the 1930s, record companies began issuing collections of 78s by one performer or of one type of music in specially assembled albums, typically with artwork on the front cover and liner notes on the back or inside cover. Most albums included three or four records, with two sides each, making six or eight compositions per album. By
13266-452: The release and distribution Compact Discs . The 2010s saw a revival of Compact Cassettes by independent record labels and DIY musicians who preferred the format because of its difficulty to share over the internet . The compact disc format replaced both the vinyl record and the cassette as the standard for the commercial mass-market distribution of physical music albums. After the introduction of music downloading and MP3 players such as
13400-453: The rest of the decade. Cherry, Alomar's wife Robin Clark , then-unknown singer Luther Vandross , Anthony Hinton and Diane Sumler performed backing vocals for the sessions. Demo work began at Sigma Sound on 8 August 1974, with official work starting three days later on 11 August upon Visconti's arrival. Before Philadelphia, Bowie had spent most of his recording career in Britain, where recording methods were different from those in
13534-428: The seventh best album of 1975. Amongst mixed reviews, some enjoyed certain tracks but disregarded the collection as a whole. Rolling Stone ' s Jon Landau praised the title track and thought that the remainder of the album "works best when Bowie combines his renewed interest in soul with his knowledge of English pop, rather than opting entirely for one or the other". Ray Fox-Cumming of Record Mirror described
13668-623: The song on The Dick Cavett Show was used as promotion, airing on the BBC 's Top of the Pops on 21 February 1975. Young Americans was released in the UK on 7 March 1975, and in early April in the US. It reached number nine on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart and remained on the chart for 51 weeks; by July, it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It stayed on
13802-446: The sound as "spasmodic, awkward, frustrating" and having "a joyless energy". In The Philadelphia Inquirer , Jack Lloyd called Young Americans a "gem" and a "triumph" filled with "superb" songs aside from the "pretentious" title track, but felt "Across the Universe" and "Fame" were out of place. Several critics were negative. In The Village Voice , Robert Christgau called the record "an almost total failure", saying that "although
13936-465: The studio over the course of the sessions. On the final day of tracking, these fans were invited into the studio to listen to rough versions of the new songs. The album's many working titles included The Gouster , Dancin ' , Somebody Up There Likes Me , One Damned Song , Shilling the Rubes and Fascination . An early acetate of The Gouster provided by Visconti showed "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)", "Who Can I Be Now?" and "It's Gonna Be Me" in
14070-561: The studio to listen to rough versions of the new songs. In 1976, Lou Rawls recorded his first album for PIR at Sigma Sound, All Things in Time , including Rawls' most successful single, " You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine ". The same year, following their tenure at Motown as "the Jackson 5", the Jacksons recorded their self-titled 1976 album and their subsequent album, Goin' Places , at
14204-593: The studios also operated a New York City location in the Ed Sullivan Theater building, which hosted recording projects by artists including Talking Heads , Madonna , the Ramones , Aretha Franklin , and the B-52s . In fall of 1967, Joseph Tarsia, who had worked as a service technician for various Philadelphia recording studios before becoming chief engineer at Cameo-Parkway Studios, leveraged all of his assets to secure
14338-676: The studios' success included the Trammps , The Manhattans , Robert Palmer , Melba Moore , the Salsoul Orchestra , The Ritchie Family , Grace Jones , Loleatta Holloway , Linda Clifford , Gloria Gaynor , John Travolta and others. In 1977, Tarsia opened a second Sigma Sound studio location in New York City. Located in the Ed Sullivan Theater building, this studio was used by the Village People for their albums Macho Man (1978) and Cruisin' (1978). Sigma Sound's New York location
14472-409: The studios. In 1979, Tarsia purchased the former United Artists screening room and studio at 13th and Vine Streets in Philadelphia, which Sigma converted to 3 additional studios to meet demand. Sigma Sound was one of the first recording studios in the United States to offer 24-track recording and the first anywhere to successfully employ console automation . The varied list of artists attracted by
14606-534: The track-listing. The Soul Tour ended in December 1974, after which Bowie, Visconti and Alomar regrouped at the Record Plant in New York City to record two new songs, " Fascination " and "Win". At this point, Bowie told Disc magazine the album title was Fascination (after the newly recorded track); "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)" was still in the track-listing and the two new tracks replaced "Who Can I Be Now?" and "Somebody Up There Likes Me". Visconti, who believed
14740-645: The two convened at New York City's Electric Lady Studios in January 1975, recording a cover of Lennon's Beatles song " Across the Universe " and a new song, " Fame ". In Visconti's absence, the session was co-produced by Bowie and Maslin. Alongside Alomar, Bowie invited Slick and the drummer Dennis Davis , making their debuts on a Bowie record, as well as the bassist Emir Ksasan from the Soul Tour band. Ralph MacDonald contributed percussion, while Jean Fineberg and Jean Millington sang backing vocals. Mixing for Young Americans
14874-523: The upcoming album. On 2 November, Bowie appeared on The Dick Cavett Show and performed "1984", " Young Americans " and a version of the Flairs ' "Footstompin ' ". He was inarticulate and visibly drugged during his interview. Bowie and Visconti added overdubs and started mixing following the conclusion of the Soul Tour in November 1974. Local fans, whom Bowie referred to as the "Sigma Kids", waited outside
15008-461: The user would pick up the stack, turn it over, and put them back on the spindle—sides 3 and 4 would then play in sequence. Record changers were used for many years of the LP era, but eventually fell out of use. 8-track tape (formally Stereo 8: commonly known as the eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, or simply eight-track) is a magnetic tape sound recording technology popular in the United States from
15142-543: The wake of the disco era. In subsequent years, artists who experimented with funk and soul after Bowie included Elton John , Roxy Music , Rod Stewart , the Rolling Stones , Bee Gees , Talking Heads , Spandau Ballet , Japan and ABC . Bowie was also referenced directly by George Clinton in the Parliament song " P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up) " (1976) and in the film Saturday Night Fever (1977). Clinton also used
15276-421: Was Bowie's first display of true fearlessness, rock's most celebrated shape-shifter attempting his first real post-fame metamorphosis." Others agree that Young Americans deserves a spot in Bowie's discography, with Sam Kemp of Far Out arguing that "it's impossible to imagine Bowie's later albums without Young Americans ". Positive reviews of the album say that it has aged well, even being considered by some as
15410-592: Was Frank Sinatra's first album, the four-record eight-song The Voice of Frank Sinatra , originally issued in 1946. RCA's introduction of the smaller 45 rpm format later in 1948 disrupted Columbia's expectations. By the mid-1950s, 45s dominated the singles market and 12" LPs dominated the album market and both 78s and 10" LPs were discontinued. In the 1950s albums of popular music were also issued on 45s, sold in small heavy paper-covered "gate-fold" albums with multiple discs in sleeves or in sleeves in small boxes. This format disappeared around 1960. Sinatra's "The Voice"
15544-586: Was a favorite of Talking Heads who, beginning with 1980's Remain in Light , recorded some or all of their albums at Sigma Sound in New York City. In 1983, Madonna used the New York studios to record her 1983 debut album, Madonna . Other artists who recorded at Sigma Sound's New York studios include Rick James , Aretha Franklin , the B-52s , the Ramones , Whitney Houston , Steely Dan , Roy Ayers , Ashford & Simpson , Paul Simon and others. Tarsia sold
15678-443: Was a further development of the similar Stereo-Pak four-track cartridge created by Earl "Madman" Muntz . A later quadraphonic version of the format was announced by RCA in April 1970 and first known as Quad-8, then later changed to just Q8. The Compact Cassette was a popular medium for distributing pre-recorded music from the early 1970s to the early 2000s. The first "Compact Cassette" was introduced by Philips in August 1963 in
15812-463: Was about people who "don't work very hard". According to the author James E. Perone, the lyrics are more abstract than the previous track and are open to interpretation. Saxophones and strings feature throughout, while the backing vocalists are more relaxed and in line with Bowie's lead. " Fascination " evolved out of a Vandross track titled "Funky Music (Is a Part of Me)", which Bowie added new lyrics to. Bowie kept most of Vandross' structure but changed
15946-527: Was agreed early on to record as much of the album as possible live, with the full band playing together, including Bowie's vocals, as a single continuous take for each song. According to Visconti, the album contains "about 85% 'live' David Bowie". Most of the material was built out of jam sessions . The album represented a change in Bowie's approach to production, allowing the musicians to come up with ideas that Bowie used to write lyrics and melodies. Cherry, Clark and Vandross, in particular, became driving forces of
16080-494: Was also disappointed, believing Bowie should "focus his talents more directly". Bowie continued developing the funk and soul of Young Americans , with electronic and German krautrock influences, for his next studio album, Station to Station . Produced by Harry Maslin, the album was recorded in Los Angeles from September to November 1975 and released in January 1976. Songs from the Young Americans period that foreshadowed
16214-404: Was completed at the Record Plant on 12 January 1975. Bowie contacted Visconti about the collaborations with Lennon two weeks later. Bowie was apologetic and requested the two tracks be on the final album; they replaced "Who Can I Be Now?", "It's Gonna Be Me" and "After Today". Visconti later said: "[They were] beautiful songs and it made me sick when [Bowie] decided not to use them. I think it
16348-473: Was eager to perform the new work live. Embarking on the second half of the Diamond Dogs Tour, lasting September to December 1974, this portion is nicknamed the Soul Tour due to the influence of the new material. The shows were heavily altered and no longer featured elaborate set-pieces, due to Bowie's exhaustion with the design and wanting to explore the new sound he was creating. Songs from the previous leg were dropped, while new ones were added, including some from
16482-414: Was from this that in medieval and modern times, album came to denote a book of blank pages in which verses, autographs, sketches, photographs and the like are collected. This in turn led to the modern meaning of an album as a collection of audio recordings issued as a single item. The first audio albums were actually published by the publishers of photograph albums. Single 78 rpm records were sold in
16616-450: Was growing up I would have cracked it over my knee." He further described it as "a phase" in a 1976 interview with Melody Maker . He later reversed his stance in 1990, telling Q magazine: "I shouldn't have been quite so hard on myself, because looking back it was pretty good white, blue-eyed soul [and] it was quite definitely one of the best bands I ever had." Young Americans has been called one of Bowie's most influential records. With
16750-399: Was issued in 1952 on two extended play 45s, with two songs on each side, in both packagings. The 10-inch and 12-inch LP record (long play), or 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 rpm microgroove vinyl record, is a gramophone record format introduced by Columbia Records in 1948. A single LP record often had the same or similar number of tunes as a typical album of 78s, and it was adopted by
16884-401: Was most likely for Cherry. " Fame " is a funk rock song that represents Bowie and Lennon's dissatisfaction with the troubles of fame and stardom. Alomar originally developed the guitar riff for Bowie's cover of "Footstompin ' ", which Bowie then used to create "Fame". Lennon's voice is heard interjecting the falsetto "Fame" throughout the song. Bowie later said that Lennon was the "energy" and
17018-473: Was released on 2 June in the US and on 25 July in the UK, with the album track "Right" as the B-side. Although it only reached number 17 in the UK, "Fame" topped the charts in the US. Its chart success was a surprise to Bowie, who recalled in 1990: "Even though [Lennon] had contributed to it and everything, and I had no idea, as with ' Let's Dance ', that that was what a commercial single is. I haven't got
17152-492: Was released to a generally favorable reception, particularly in America. Billboard predicted that the album would appease Bowie's current fans and open him up to new ones. Record World called it Bowie's "most compelling album to date"; Crawdaddy 's Michael Gross said it was his best studio record since Ziggy Stardust , while Cashbox praised Bowie as an artist. In their end-of-year list, NME ranked Young Americans
17286-438: Was remastered in 2016 as part of the Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976) box set. David Bowie released his eighth studio album Diamond Dogs in May 1974. His final album in the glam rock genre, it contained two songs, " Rock 'n' Roll with Me " and " 1984 ", that exhibit elements of funk and soul , which predicted the musical direction for Bowie's next project. While his interest in soul music dated back to his mod days in
17420-520: Was replaced by Alomar on guitar. At Alomar's suggestion, Bowie hired Andy Newmark , a former member of Sly and the Family Stone , and Willie Weeks of the Isley Brothers to replace Tony Newman and Herbie Flowers on drums and bass, respectively. The producer Tony Visconti joined the project immediately after Bowie informed him of Weeks' involvement; Visconti co-produced much of Bowie's work for
17554-411: Was the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption from the mid-1960s to the early 21st century, a period known as the album era . Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have mostly focused on CD and MP3 formats. The 8-track tape was the first tape format widely used alongside vinyl from 1965 until being phased out by 1983, being gradually supplanted by
17688-416: Was the home of Philadelphia soul and the favourite studio of the writer-producer duo Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff ; the two had co-founded Philadelphia International Records , the home of many well-known black American musicians. At the end of the first leg of the tour, Bowie returned to New York City to mix David Live , listening to various black albums in preparation for his return to Sigma Sound. For
17822-516: Was the personal content of the songs which he was a bit reluctant to release, although it was so obscure I don't think even I knew what he was on about in them!" The album was mastered by the engineer Greg Calbi . Young Americans presented a new musical direction for Bowie, exploring blue-eyed soul and R&B . Bowie himself labelled its sound " plastic soul ", or, in the words of the author Benoît Clerc, "a pale synthetic derivative of authentic soul music". Garson later argued: "I think because he
17956-454: Was uncertain if he was good at it, he demeaned himself by calling it plastic soul." Other writers have classified it "sax-y white soul" and white soul music. Ashley Naftule of Consequence of Sound described the album as a cross between Bowie's " artsy rocker tendencies" and the "warm earnestness" of soul and R&B. According to BBC Music 's Daryl Easlea, lyrical themes throughout the album include loneliness, despair and alienation, although
#947052