Young Americans

1975年，David出了新专辑《Young Americans》，毫无征兆地改变了形象和音乐，他近乎一百八十度大转弯，梳着时髦的金发，西装革履，和昔日惟一的联系大概也就只有化妆了，那妆在他衣冠楚楚的打扮下显得浓重与不和谐。 同时，David的音乐随之改变，嗓音介于浓厚和早期尖锐的混合，歌曲风格是更适合美国人口味的灵魂乐。《Fame》登上美国排行榜第一名的位置，这也是David的音乐第一次在美国成为冠军歌曲。John Lennon也许功不可没，他让David用了他的歌，而且在专辑中为David演奏吉它并和声。 David的变化太快也太剧烈，剧烈到让他的歌迷一时难以接受。这也就难怪Todd Haynes在他的电影《天鹅绒金矿》（Velvet Goldmine）中把它解释为一种变节。 然而平心静气去说，《Young Americans》仍是一次非常成功的转变，非常成功，无数David的老歌迷因为无法接受而离去，但是也有更多新歌迷补充了进来。 by Stephen Thomas Erlewine David Bowie had dropped hints during the Diamond Dogs tour that he was moving toward R&B, but the full-blown blue-eyed soul of Young Americans came as a shock. Surrounding himself with first-rate sessionmen, Bowie comes up with a set of songs that approximate the sound of Philly soul and disco, yet remain detached from their inspirations; even at his most passionate, Bowie sounds like a commentator, as if the entire album was a genre exercise. Nevertheless, the distance doesn't hurt the album -- it gives the record its own distinctive flavor, and its plastic, robotic soul helped inform generations of synthetic British soul. What does hurt the record is a lack of strong songwriting. "Young Americans" is a masterpiece, and "Fame" has a beat funky enough that James Brown ripped it off, but only a handful of cuts ("Win," "Fascination," "Somebody up There Likes Me") comes close to matching their quality. As a result, Young Americans is more enjoyable as a stylistic adventure than as a substantive record.