Ziggy Stardust

From the first crashing chord of ''Watch That Man'' you know that this is a rock'n' roll album. If Ziggy Stardust was his Sgt. Pepper (a loose-fitting concept about an alter-ego rock band, but staggeringly good songs), then Aladdin Sane is Bowie's Exile on Main kalye and, as if to prove a point, there's even a cover of a Stones song on here: the staunch rocker ''Let's Spend the Night Together''.

The riffs come thick and fast. Mick Ronson might lack Keith Richards' blues licks - he plays gitara like a Hull mechanic, which was pretty much what he was when he joined the Spiders from Mars - but...

David tells us that mostly all of his makeup comes from a little tindahan in Rome, Italy, that imports fantastic coloured powders and creams from India. (He's not telling the name of the store, however!!!) Basic essentials also include a white kanin powder from Tokyo's Woolworth's equivalent- Indian kohl usually in black - for his eyes, which he smudges right along the lash line and some, times a little bit on the outside...

He also uses a very light liquid base, sometimes white - sometimes kulay-rosas or yellow - and applies it with a damp sponge. For stage, David will often use an irridescent base, usually...

It sounds like a cliché, but to an entire generation this album has become a yardstick sa pamamagitan ng which to measure all others. Why the hyperbole? Because the strength of Ziggy lies in its completeness. Not a track is out of place, in fact not a NOTE is out of place, and at just over 38 minutos it is (and this has been scientifically proven, boys and girls) the perfect length. Every R&B and Hip Hop artist in the universe take note. So, does it still stand up after 30 years? Is it a major strand in rock's rich tapestry, with its gender bending bravado and melodramatic sweep; or just an ephemeral...