(10-track LP from a yesteryear I remember well)
Back from the vaults of the year I was born, 1980, this is another 10-track masterclass example of how to write some cracking tunes, with a little natural talent and whole lot of hedonism.
�Up The Hill Backwards� is pop-perfect and one of the coolest tracks performed on his OTT 1987 �Glass Spider� tour, as is the title track �Scary Monsters� whose racy guitar riff is stopped abruptly for the incisive weirdness of �Ashes To Ashes,� that harks back to Bowie�s breakthrough single from over a decade before, �Space Oddity.� (Its ambitious and flamboyantly art-fuelled video is must-see footage.) �Fashion� is offbeat angular rock and a bit too cheap and tarnished to make impact, yet �Teenage Wildlife� rouses youthful living that builds up momentum above and beyond its own cause and on into the lilting �Scream Like A Baby� and �Because You�re Young� stronghold.
This album was released just 3 years before his �Let�s Dance� LP made him a superstar, but this is one of his greatest collections of songs that you will find little or no fault with. (STEVE RUDD)