Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 09/28/1999
Run Time: 58:13
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.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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