Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)
David Bowie 1980 synchronized
new wave art rock post-punk
Berlin's experiments compressed into razor-sharp pop: every experimental idea from the trilogy made accessible without losing its edge.
Acoustic Profile
Production
Method: hybrid
Fidelity: polished
new wave production crispnessRobert Fripp angular guitarTony Visconti productionsynthesizer-guitar balance
Vocal
Approach: sung
Lyrical Abstraction: 5/10
Mood & Theme
anxiety defiance playfulness
Territory: persona-destruction, new-wave-mastery, pop-as-art
Emotional Arc: controlled-aggression
Era & Context
1980: new wave cresting. Bowie synthesizing everything he'd learned in Berlin into accessible but angular art-pop.
Spiritual Links (14)
Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me The Cure (1987)
6/10 commercial-accessibility-meets-depthsonic-experimentation
Peepshow Siouxsie and the Banshees (1988)
6/10 radical-reinventionsonic-experimentation
Some Girls The Rolling Stones (1978)
6/10 radical-reinventiongenre-destruction
A Kiss in the Dreamhouse Siouxsie and the Banshees (1982)
5/10 radical-reinventionsonic-experimentation
Hyaena Siouxsie and the Banshees (1984)
5/10 radical-reinventionsonic-experimentation
Tinderbox Siouxsie and the Banshees (1986)
5/10 radical-reinventionsonic-experimentation
Goo Sonic Youth (1990)
5/10 genre-destructioncommercial-accessibility-meets-depth
Naughty Boys Yellow Magic Orchestra (1983)
5/10 commercial-accessibility-meets-depthsonic-experimentation
The Wanderer Donna Summer (1980)
5/10 sonic-experimentationradical-reinvention
Cat People Giorgio Moroder (1982)
5/10 studio-as-instrumentsonic-experimentation
Songs of Faith and Devotion Depeche Mode (1993)
4/10 radical-reinventiongenre-destruction
Superstition Siouxsie and the Banshees (1991)
4/10 radical-reinventioncommercial-accessibility-meets-depth
Californication Red Hot Chili Peppers (1999)
3/10 radical-reinventioncommercial-accessibility-meets-depth
Stadium Arcadium Red Hot Chili Peppers (2006)
3/10 sonic-experimentationcommercial-accessibility-meets-depth
Influences
Absorbed from
Similar Albums (Cross-Artist)
1
More Songs About Buildings and Food Talking Heads (1978)
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84% 5 Superstition Siouxsie and the Banshees (1991)
84% 6 Aftermath The Rolling Stones (1966)
83% 7 Actor St. Vincent (2009)
82% 8 AMOK Thom Yorke (2013)
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80% 10 Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams Solange (2008)
80%