The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (often shortened to Ziggy Stardust) is the fifth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 16 June 1972 in the United Kingdom by RCA Records. It was produced by Bowie and Ken Scott and features Bowie’s backing band the Spiders from Mars – Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey. Most of the songs were written around the same time as its predecessor Hunky Dory. After that album was completed, recording for Ziggy Stardust commenced in November 1971 at Trident Studios in London, with further sessions in early February 1972.
Described as a rock opera and a loose concept album, Ziggy Stardust concerns Bowie’s titular alter ego Ziggy Stardust, a fictional androgynous bisexual rock star who is sent to Earth as a savior before an impending apocalyptic disaster. After gaining the trust of the citizens, Ziggy seduces everyone in his path and at the end of the album, dies as a victim of his own fame. Influences for the character of Ziggy Stardust were English singer Vince Taylor, the Legendary Stardust Cowboy and Japanese fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto. Most of the album’s concept was developed after the songs were recorded. The character was retained for the subsequent Ziggy Stardust Tour through the United Kingdom, Japan and North America. Not wanting Ziggy to define him, Bowie created a new character, Aladdin Sane for his next album, which Bowie described as “Ziggy goes to America”. A concert film of the same name, directed by D. A. Pennebaker, was filmed in July 1973 and released in 1979, and a live album from the same show followed in 1983.
The music on Ziggy Stardust has been characterised as glam rock and proto-punk. Unlike its predecessor Hunky Dory, which was generally piano-led, the songs on Ziggy Stardust are primarily guitar-based, mostly due to the departure of keyboardist Rick Wakeman. The songs were influenced by the singer-songwriters Iggy Pop of the Stooges, Lou Reed of the Velvet Underground and Marc Bolan of T. Rex. Two songs, “Moonage Daydream” and “Hang On to Yourself”, were originally recorded by Bowie in early 1971 with another band, Arnold Corns, before being rerecorded for Ziggy Stardust. The album’s lyrics discuss the artificiality of rock music, political issues, drug use, sexual orientation and stardom. Bowie also uses American slang and pronunciations throughout. The album cover, photographed by Brian Ward in monochrome and recoloured by Terry Pastor, was taken at 23 Heddon Street in London, outside the home of furriers “K. West”.
Preceded by the single “Starman”, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars peaked at number five on the UK Albums Chart and number 75 in the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. The album received widespread critical acclaim and, following his performance of “Starman” on the English television programme Top of the Pops, propelled Bowie to stardom. It has since been called one of the most important albums in the glam rock genre and one of the greatest albums of all time by such publications as Rolling Stone, Q, Time and NME. The album has been reissued several times and was remastered in 2012 for its 40th anniversary, which was included on the box set Five Years (1969–1973) in 2015, along with the 2003 mixes by Ken Scott. In 2017, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry, being deemed “culturally, historically, or artistically significant” by the Library of Congress.SOURCE
