After the freakish hard rock of
The Man Who Sold the World,
David Bowie returned to singer/songwriter territory on
Hunky Dory. Not only did the album boast more folky songs ("Song for Bob Dylan," "The Bewlay Brothers"), but he again flirted with
Anthony Newley-esque dancehall music ("Kooks," "Fill Your Heart"), seemingly leaving heavy metal behind. As a result,
Hunky Dory is a kaleidoscopic array of pop styles, tied together only by
Bowie's sense of vision: a sweeping, cinematic mélange of high and low art, ambiguous sexuality, kitsch, and class.
Mick Ronson's guitar is pushed to the back, leaving
Rick Wakeman's cabaret piano to dominate the sound of the album. The subdued support accentuates the depth of
Bowie's material, whether it's the revamped Tin Pan Alley of "Changes," the
Neil Young homage "Quicksand," the soaring "Life on Mars?," the rolling, vaguely homosexual anthem "Oh! You Pretty Things," or the dark acoustic rocker "Andy Warhol." On the surface, such a wide range of styles and sounds would make an album incoherent, but
Bowie's improved songwriting and determined sense of style instead made
Hunky Dory a touchstone for reinterpreting pop's traditions into fresh, postmodern pop music.