Aladdin Sane
Aladdin Sane is David Bowie’s sixth studio album, co-produced with Ken Scott and recorded between December 1972 and January 1973 in London and New York City during breaks in the Ziggy Stardust Tour. It features the full Spiders from Mars lineup—Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder, and Mick Woodmansey—alongside jazz-influenced pianist Mike Garson, two saxophonists, and three backing vocalists. Most songs were written on the road in the US and reflect Bowie’s ambivalent perceptions of America, resulting in a harder, edgier rock sound than his prior glam work. Lyrics explore duality: the rewards of stardom versus the toll of touring, and recurring motifs of urban decay, drugs, sex, violence, and death. The album includes a Rolling Stones cover, 'Let's Spend the Night Together', and Bowie framed its title as both a pun—'A Lad Insane'—and the conceptual extension 'Ziggy Stardust goes to America'. 'The Jean Genie' was the first track recorded, on 6 October 1972 in New York, with Bowie producing that session himself. It was Bowie’s final album with the complete Spiders from Mars lineup.
