The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Released 16 June 1972 via RCA. Bowie and Ken Scott recorded it at Trident Studios in London between November 1971 and February 1972, with Mick Ronson on guitar and piano, Trevor Bolder on bass and Mick Woodmansey on drums: the Spiders from Mars. The concept is loose, an androgynous rock star sent as a messenger five years before the end of the world and consumed by his own fame, and the songs carry it with glam swagger and real dread.

"Five Years" opens on a lone drumbeat and a countdown to the apocalypse. "Starman" was the lead single, and Bowie's Top of the Pops performance of it on 5 July 1972, arm draped around Ronson, is the broadcast that made him a household name in Britain. "Moonage Daydream," "Suffragette City" and "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" complete the arc. Brian Ward shot the cover on Heddon Street in London, under the K. West furrier's sign, and the back sleeve still carries the instruction: to be played at maximum volume. The album entered the US National Recording Registry in 2017.