David Bowie - Scary Monsters

David Bowie returned to relatively conventional rock & roll with Scary Monsters, an album that effectively acts as an encapsulation of all his '70s experiments. Reworking glam rock themes with avant-garde synth flourishes, and reversing the process as well, Bowie creates dense but accessible music throughout Scary Monsters. Though it doesn't have the vision of his other classic records, it wasn't designed to break new ground -- it was created as the culmination of Bowie's experimental genre-shifting of the '70s. As a result, Scary Monsters is Bowie's last great album. While the music isn't far removed from the post-punk of the early '80s, it does sound fresh, hip, and contemporary, which is something Bowie lost over the course of the '80s. [Rykodisc's 1992 reissue includes re-recorded versions of "Space Oddity" and "Panic in Detroit," the Japanese single "Crystal Japan," and the British single "Alabama Song."] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Name Credits Andrew Clark Synthesizer Andy Clark Synthesizer Brian Duffy Cover Art Concept, Photography Carlos Alomar Guitar Chris Porter Vocals (Background) Chuck Hammer Guitar David Bowie Engineer, Keyboards, Artwork, Vocals, Producer, Guitar, Main Performer, Saxophone, Cover Art Concept, Vocals (Background) Dennis Davis Percussion Duffy Cover Art Concept Edward Bell Artwork, Cover Art, Illustrations George Murray Bass Greg Gorman Photography Hisahi Miura Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part, Translation Jeff Hendrickson Assistant Engineer, Assistant Kevin Cann Package Design, Design Larry Alexander Assistant Engineer, Assistant Lynn Maitland Vocals (Background) Lynn Maltland Vocals (Background) Michi Hirota Voices, Vocals Nigel Reeve Remastering, Project Coordinator Pete Townshend Vocals, Guitar Peter Mew Digital Remastering, Remastering Richard Sharah Make-Up Robert Fripp Guitar Roy Bittan Keyboards, Piano Tony Visconti Guitar, Producer, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals (Background), Engineer