Incredible but true: David Bowie turns 60 in just over a week's time. For many of us, he'll always be a whippet-thin, ageless, sexually amorphous creature from the outer reaches of the universe who transformed the face of pop and whose legacy, even if he never makes another record, is assured. To others, he's simply an overrated musical magpie who never had an original idea in his life. (Genius steals, that's what I say.) In the Observer Review, we pay tribute to the Dame and examine his lasting influence on today's music stars. In advance of that, we hereby humbly suggest five Bowie albums you shouldn't live without. We'd like to hear from you, whether it is to tell us what your favourite album is or - if you dare, for I will smite your face with an indelible bolt of lightning - you want to explain why you're not a fan.
1. Low (1977)
Alienated, withdrawn, detached, deluded: that's the state of mind Bowie had reached when he extricated himself from Los Angeles and cocaine addiction in 1977, moving to West Berlin, where he could lie low - hence the title - and make use of the city's famous Hansa by the Wall recording studio. Ever curious, he absorbed the city's isolated feel and expressed the withdrawal from his old life through a mixture of bombastic, emotion-stripped rock and subdued electronic instrumental music. A true example of pop as art.
2. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (1972)
I defy anyone not to punch the air the moment Bowie, as his wild and bendy alter-ego Ziggy, sings "Aaaaah, wham-bam, thank you ma'am!" on this album's thrilling climax, 'Suffragette City'. It could have been seen as a horrid rock opera, or worse, a concept album, yet, Bowie managed to suspend disbelief in his invented character, a doomed rock star whose fame sent him mad, through the sheer quality of the songs. Glam rock was invented and never bettered here, and can you think of a better song than 'Starman' to sing along to?
3. Station to Station (1976)
You wouldn't want to have been Bowie when he made this record, which remains among the most compelling documents of what drugs can do to your head. By 1976, Bowie had fallen deeply for cocaine, whose attendant sensations of omnipotence and grandiosity led him to "become" the Thin White Duke, a staring-mad aristocrat with shades of Oswald Mosley. This is an album of long, demanding tracks that, lyrically, alternate between ice-faced posturing and desperate cries for help. The music is taut funk rock that never lets up and never quite lets you in, which is the source of its creepy magic.
4. Young Americans (1975)
Bowie's worldwide success in the early 1970s was cemented in the US by the 1974 "Philly Dogs" tour, which began as a stiffly theatrical performance, but - a prime example of Bowie's industrious curiosity - swiftly became a soul revue after he picked up on the disco and r'n'b hits coming out of Philadelphia. Young Americans is soulful insofar as Bowie quickly mastered a raspy, yearning singing voice, backed up with the exquisite vocals of Luther Vandross and Ava Cherry, but is a gauche, poppy version of Philly soul - Bowie himself termed it "plastic soul" - that has a great charm of its own.
5. Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980)
With the 1970s over and his 'Berlin trilogy' of experimental albums completed, Bowie could have eased towards a quiet, if horribly early, retirement. Instead, reinvigorated and inspired by both British punk and the US take on punk provided by bands such as Television and Talking Heads, he steamed right in and created the most political album of his career to date. Determined to rectify the lingering stain on his character left by the Thin White Duke, he stated his disgust with fascism on the songs 'It's No Game' and the huge hit 'Fashion' (the anti-Nazi song you can dance to!). 'Ashes to Ashes' is unique in the pop canon: sad, reflective electronic pop of as-yet unmatched depth.
Honorable mentions: Heroes (1978) - a worthy follow-up to Low, its title track being one of the greatest-ever pop singles - and Aladdin Sane (1973) - a mature, sensual companion to the Ziggy album.
