David Bowie | Aladdin Sane [50th Anniversary Half Speed Master] (2023)

April 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the release of David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane. The title track and songs such as ‘Lady Grinning Soul’ and ‘Time’ marked a significant musical progression from its predecessor, adding brass, woodwind, soulful backing vocals and the distinctive piano playing of Mike Garson.
The album was preceded by two singles ‘The Jean Genie’ and ‘Drive-In Saturday’, peaking in the U.K. singles chart at numbers 2 and 3 respectively, and was the first time he topped the U.K. album charts. It also marked his debut on the U.S. charts reaching the top 20 album chart there, where an edited version of ‘Time’ was released as a single. The cover artwork has become one of the most famous sleeves of all time and was rumoured to be the most expensive produced up to that point. The cover photograph was… Rhino

David Bowie: Aladdin Sane
[50th Anniversary Half Speed Master]

Vinyl:

…taken by Brian Duffy, who would also shoot the sleeves for 1979’s Lodger and 1980’s Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) and features Bowie with the iconic red and blue lightning bolt make-up, an image which has now entered the planet’s cultural lexicon.
This new pressing of Aladdin Sane was cut on a customised late Neumann VMS80 lathe with fully recapped electronics from 192kHz restored masters of the original master tapes, with no additional processing on transfer. The half-speed was cut by John Webber at AIR Studios.
Bowie described Aladdin Sane as ‘Ziggy Goes To Washington: Ziggy under the influence of America’. The album was to be Ziggy Stardust’s last stand, and the persona was laid to rest three months after the album’s release in July 1973 at the infamous final show with the Spiders From Mars at London’s Hammersmith Odeon. Rhino

The late icon’s sixth album, and the follow-up to 1972’s ‘The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars’, was originally released in April 1973. Produced in the wake of his post-Ziggy stardom, most of the tracks were written while on the road in the US. According to a press release, the new pressing was “cut on a customised late Neumann VMS80 lathe with fully recapped electronics from 192kHz restored masters of the original master tapes, with no additional processing on transfer.” The half-speed record was cut by John Webber at London’s AIR Studios. NME

With hit singles such as “The Jean Genie” and “Drive-In Saturday,” Aladdin Sane — released less than a year after Bowie’s momentous breakthrough album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars — marked the Brit’s debut on the US charts. As one of the final examples of his Ziggy Stardust persona before he was “laid to rest” in July 1973, Aladdin Sane also boasts perhaps the most iconic cover art in Bowie’s mammoth discography, and arguably one of the most recognizable album covers of all time. Consequence of Sound

An album just as iconic as its cover art, featuring the glam rocker branded with the famed red and blue lightning bolt make-up, Aladdin Sane was a beyond memorable release in the artist’s discography. Created in between the legs of his Ziggy Stardust Tour, the album would mark Bowie’s final project with his backing band, the Spiders from Mars.
“Bowie described Aladdin Sane as ‘Ziggy Goes To Washington: Ziggy under the influence of America,’” according to a press release. “The album was to be Ziggy Stardust’s last stand, and the persona was laid to rest three months after the album’s release in July 1973 at the infamous final show with the Spiders From Mars at London’s Hammersmith Odeon.” American Songwriter

Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Parlophone
Original Release Date ‏ : ‎ 2023
Label ‏ : ‎ Parlophone
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BRSG7226
Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1