David Bowie: Scary Monsters (1980)

"I think Pete (Townshend) downed a bottle of wine, he put it away in those days, and he did the full windmill with the arm. It was great. I was looking through the window going, `Look, it's Pete Townshend'. It was rather fab..." (David Bowie)

Where: Power Station, New York.

When: 1980

Who: David Bowie (guitar, keyboards, saxophone, vocals), Robert Fripp (guitar), Carlos Alomar (guitar), Pete Townshend (guitar, vocals), George Murray (bass), Dennis Davis (percussion), Chuck Hammer (guitar), Roy Bittan (piano), Andy Clark (synthesizer), Michi Hirota (vocals, voices), Lynn Maitland (vocals), Hisahi Miura (speech/speaker/speaking part), Chris Porter (vocals), Tony Visconti (acoustic guitar, guitar, vocals)

What: 1. It's No Game (Part 1) 2. Up The Hill Backwards 3. Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) 4. Ashes To Ashes 5. Fashion 6. Teenage Wildlife 7. Scream Like A Baby 8. Kingdom Come 9. Because You' re Young 10. It's No Game (Part 2)

How: Produced by David Bowie & Tony Visconti

Up: les japonaiseries glacées d'intro, le chant déchiré de Bowie et la guitare tortueuse de Fripp ["It's No Game (Part 1)"]... le solo coulant et retors de Fripp (02"08) ["Up The Hills Backwards"]... les circonvolutions sournoises de Fripp encore et toujours, Bowie impérial, chante du haut d'une montagne ["Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)"]... la basse slappée de Murray, le chant fragile, les lyrics post-modernes et, au bout, une gemme étincelante ["Ashes To Ashes"]... les riffs crimsoniens de Fripp en contrepoint du refrain sautillant ("We are the goon squad and we're coming to town - Beep-Beep") ["Fashion"]... la guitare veloutée de Fripp (01"32), les ébouriffantes acrobaties vocales de Bowie (05"48) ["Teenage Wildlife"]... la décontractation magistrale de Bowie (02"19) ["Kingdom Come"]... les interventions grandiloquentes de Pete Townshend ["Because You're Young"]...

Down: le chant doublé un peu cruche sur "Up The Hills Backwards"... de rares notes de synthé, le mauvais, celui qui est daté, qui traînent un peu et datent certains passages (02"51 sur "Scream Like A Baby")...