David Bowie - Young Americans [Bonus Tracks]

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. [The 1991 CD has three bonus tracks, including the terrific outtake "Who Can I Be Now?"] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Name Credits Andy Newmark Drums Anthony Hinton Vocals Ava Cherry Vocals (Background), Vocals Carlos Alomar Guitar David Bowie Vocals, Saxophone, Guitar, Producer, Keyboards, Piano David Michael Kennedy Photography David Sanborn Saxophone Dennis Davis Percussion, Drums Dr. Toby Mountain Digital Mastering Earl Slick Guitar Eddie Kramer Engineer Emir Kassan Bass Eric Stephen Jacobs Photography, Cover Photo G. Diane Sumler Vocals Harry Maslin Engineer, Producer Jean Millington Vocals (Background) Jeanie Fineberg Vocals (Background), Vocals John Lennon Guitar, Vocals Jonathan Wyner Mastering Assistant, Assistant Larry Washington Percussion, Conga Luther Vandross Vocals, Vocals (Background) Mike Garson Piano, Keyboards Neal Preston Photography Pablo Rosario Percussion Ralph MacDonald Percussion Robin Clark Vocals (Background), Vocals Steve Schapiro Photography Steve Shapiro Photography Tony Visconti Producer Warren Peace Vocals Willie Weeks Bass, Guitar (Bass)