TAKING SIDES: Neil Young -vs- David Bowie

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The only Bowie album that was a "genre exercise" was "Earthling". Other than that one, he has been innovating genres rather than doing exercises in already existing ones.
And, the best thing, whatever he does he sounds very much like David Bowie.
-- Geir Hongro (geirhon...), October 17th, 2006.

and the best thing about neil young is whatever he does he sounds nothing like david bowie

-- gear (speed.to.roa...), October 17th, 2006.

― Stephen Bush (Stephen B.), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 22:16 (nineteen years ago)

NY.

― AaronK (AaronK), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 23:09 (nineteen years ago)

The Fall

― Dr. Alicia D. Titsovich (sexyDancer), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 23:19 (nineteen years ago)

Can't help feeling that both these acts have one thing in common: their best work is way behind them. No-one really cares, beyond a few diehards and critics, about their more recent stuff (and I buy every Bowie album regardless so I'm one of those)

― SG (asylum), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 23:21 (nineteen years ago)

Neil, though I don't love either by a long shot.

― Mark (MarkR), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 23:24 (nineteen years ago)

The kids don't care. But then, most of the stuff the kids do care about is rubbish, so why bother?

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 23:31 (nineteen years ago)

Now the kids don't care/
They just make you worse/
But I know I'll see your race again

― Doctor Jaggernathy (noodle vague), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 23:33 (nineteen years ago)

i would prefer not to choose kthx.

― Emily B (Emily B), Tuesday, 17 October 2006 23:39 (nineteen years ago)

David Bowie

― Adam S S (Zephery), Wednesday, 18 October 2006 01:28 (nineteen years ago)

my hair says neil, my pants say bowie.

― s woods (sw00ds), Wednesday, 18 October 2006 01:29 (nineteen years ago)

What about records bowie produced or was involved with?

Oh wait, the answer to this thread is Brian Eno

― Adam S S (Zephery), Wednesday, 18 October 2006 01:30 (nineteen years ago)

the fall might be the right answer!

― ian@jon (ex machina), Wednesday, 18 October 2006 01:33 (nineteen years ago)

Neil Young should've been a Byrd, and Bowie should've recorded a concept album about gay space unicorns. I resent them both & would prefer not to choose kthx.

― King-a-Ling (King-a-Ling), Wednesday, 18 October 2006 01:35 (nineteen years ago)

They're both personas that I think really embody the way their respective fans want to see themselves - Young is the freewheelin' slacker who doesn't tolerate b.s. but still has a poet's soul deep down; Bowie is the above-it-all pomo sophisticate who's always enjoying a private joke with himself.

― A-ron Hubbard (Hurting), Wednesday, 18 October 2006 01:36 (nineteen years ago)

neil! duh. also he is usually the most enjoyable thing about his records while bowie is usually the least enjoyable thing about his.

however the fall is always the correct answer.

― ZR (teenagequiet), Wednesday, 18 October 2006 01:36 (nineteen years ago)

hurting also otm

― ZR (teenagequiet), Wednesday, 18 October 2006 01:38 (nineteen years ago)

although you could say the same thing about just any iconic persona, or music itself for that matter

― ZR (teenagequiet), Wednesday, 18 October 2006 01:39 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, I guess it's true for a lot of artists - Madonna, Dylan, etc., but I think for Neil Young especially, since it's part of his persona to be sort of "earthy" and "regular."

― A-ron Hubbard (Hurting), Wednesday, 18 October 2006 01:49 (nineteen years ago)

I'm 22. I'm a kid. I hate this ageist crap, ya cantankerous old fogies! I am obsessed with Neil (although agreed that his newer stuff is pretty weak).

This argument is kind of like pitting Warhol (Bowie) against Giacometti (Neil) though. Both great for different reasons (VERY DIFFERENT).

― Andi Headphones (Andi Headphones), Wednesday, 18 October 2006 02:41 (nineteen years ago)

TEH DUMBEST TAKING SIDES EVAH. appeal to totally different sides....Neil is for when I want music that'll soothe my spine and make me cry. Davey Jones is for when I need attitude. As in, I listen to 'Modern Love' a lot.

― trees (treesessplode), Wednesday, 18 October 2006 02:58 (nineteen years ago)

Bowie.

This is a tops T/S because I can so easily imagine an alternate me who would have said "Neil" just as readily. (If I'd been born five years earlier, for instance.)

― scriblerus (mike lynch), Friday, 20 October 2006 00:26 (nineteen years ago)

I don't expect much from you scriblerus with your love of the Anti-Neil. :-)

― I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit (I say we take off and nuke the), Friday, 20 October 2006 00:33 (nineteen years ago)

I probably prefer Bowie's persona but I'm voting Young for "Powderfinger" and because he plays guitar.

― Sundar (sundar), Friday, 20 October 2006 00:37 (nineteen years ago)

Sometimes I think Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere does most of the same things that made the Velvet Underground interesting while being more consistent and satisfying than any VU album.

― Sundar (sundar), Friday, 20 October 2006 00:40 (nineteen years ago)

I might take a Bowie mixtape over a Neil one, but I'd take a whole bunch more of Neil's full-lengths than David's.

― Zwan (miccio), Friday, 20 October 2006 01:17 (nineteen years ago)

Matching them up through their best decade:

Hunky Dory vs. After the Gold Rush (Bowie)
Ziggy Stardust vs. Harvest (Bowie)
Pin Ups vs. Journey Through the Past (Bowie)
Aladdin Sane vs. Time Fades Away (Young)
Diamond Dogs vs. On the Beach (Young)
Young Americans vs. Tonight's the Night (Young)
Station to Station vs. Zuma (Bowie)
Low vs. American Stars n' Bars (Bowie)
"Heroes" vs. Comes a Time (Bowie)
Lodger vs. Rust Never Sleeps (Young)

Changesonebowie vs. Decade (Young)
Live Rust vs. Stage (and/or David Live) (Young)

Bowie: 6
Young: 6

― s woods (sw00ds), Friday, 20 October 2006 01:27 (nineteen years ago)

Station to Station vs. Zuma (Bowie)

Oooh a close one, Scott. Damn you.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Friday, 20 October 2006 01:52 (nineteen years ago)

I probably prefer Bowie's persona but I'm voting Young for "Powderfinger" and because he plays guitar.

Bowie attempting to play lead guitar on Diamond Dogs is almost as entertaining as the crinkly leads Neil plays on Zuma.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Friday, 20 October 2006 01:53 (nineteen years ago)

(x-post)
That's probably closer than I realize. I'm not as familiar with Zuma as I should be. The really impossible one for me is:
Hunky Dory vs. After the Gold Rush. I gave it to Bowie because I've played it more, but they are perfectly evenly matched records in many ways ("Til The Morning Comes" is even the same song as "Kooks").

― s woods (sw00ds), Friday, 20 October 2006 01:57 (nineteen years ago)

i have been listening to after the gold rush SO MUCH lately. so much, in fact, that i will now switch to zuma to avoid getting sick of it.

― ZR (teenagequiet), Friday, 20 October 2006 02:06 (nineteen years ago)

i have been listening to Zuma & Comes A Time the most lately. But tonight I listened to side 1 of Times Fades Away!

― disappointing goth fest line-up (orion), Friday, 20 October 2006 02:08 (nineteen years ago)

ATGR always seems overrated, especially next to Everybody Knows, but the Hunky Dory comparison is a good one. "Til the Morning Comes" probably annoys me as much as "Fill Your Heart," but "Don't Let It Bring You Down" creates a mysterioso vibe almost as well as "Quicksand."

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Friday, 20 October 2006 02:10 (nineteen years ago)

Actually, if I'm completely honest about it, I've listened to my three or four favourite songs from Aladdin Sane far more than I've listened to Time Fades Away--was aiming a little too hard for balance or objectivity with that one. (I know TFA is the "better" album--there are things on AS I can't stand--but I've defintely played "Watch That Man" and "Panic in Detroit" more than all the songs on TFA combined, and several times over.) So I guess with that in mind, I'll have to choose Bowie. (Unless I'm in more of a mood for ATGR.)

― s woods (sw00ds), Friday, 20 October 2006 02:34 (nineteen years ago)

I love Neil; I love Bowie. Bowie dresses better, Bowie wins. Prioroties.

Plus, Bowie's best CD is only 11 years old (Outside.)

― Grey, Ian (IanBrooklyn), Friday, 20 October 2006 18:50 (nineteen years ago)

"Outside" is great, kind of better than its reputation, but BEST? Never!

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 20 October 2006 20:13 (nineteen years ago)

Yet, still, Neil Young made his best album in 1970, and his last great one in 1971. Bowie made his best album in 1977, and his last great one in 2002. So......

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 20 October 2006 20:13 (nineteen years ago)

Neil Young made his best album in 1970, and his last great one in 1971.

Take into account that no one really agrees with this point.

― disappointing goth fest line-up (orion), Friday, 20 October 2006 22:21 (nineteen years ago)

Hmm.. Strictly speaking, Neil Young's best ever album was called "Deja Vu", but it was still released in 1970, so...

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 20 October 2006 22:28 (nineteen years ago)

Strictly speaking, Neil Young's best ever album was called "Deja Vu", but it was still released in 1970, so...

I just had a breakthrough. If you treat your own opinions as if they are facts, you suddenly gain a lot of knowledge. For example, it is now a fact that Fruity Pebbles are the best cereal of all time.

― Zachary Scott (Zach S), Friday, 20 October 2006 22:38 (nineteen years ago)

three years pass...

"What Young or Bowie records does this shop have that I don't have?" is usually my first question when I'm buying used vinyl.

― Mark, Monday, 30 November 2009 03:56 (sixteen years ago)

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