Just over a year ago, I read and reviewed Adam Steiner’s intriguing, in-depth, and fabulous tome, ‘Into The Never – Nine Inch Nails And The Creation Of The Downward Spiral‘. It remains one of the best books examining a musician’s creative process and all the external influences that fed into that work. So obviously, as a massive Bowie fan, I was excited to hear that his next book would explore the creation of David Bowie’s ‘Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)’ album. That book is out in the USA and will be published in the UK in September 2023. In my head, I don’t recall ever seeing ‘Scary Monsters’ being the number one album in any online or magazine listings of Bowie’s greatest albums. To check that thought I did a little online research and discovered that it often featured at number 7, 8, 9, or 10 in most polls and listings. The exception to that was the Rough Trade blog from January 2022 where it hit the heady heights of number one!
Steiner writes in a really academic but very readable style and I love how he draws on the influences of Bowie’s experience and environment. This album was Bowie’s first real post-punk release, given that most people will see 1979’s ‘Lodger’ as the final part of the acclaimed Berlin Trilogy. ‘It’Scary Monsters’ was also an album that included Bowie’s first UK number-one single that wasn’t a rerelease. (“Space Oddity” went to number one after being reissued in 1975). This was also an album that came into the world just as Thatcher and Reagan were beginning the pomp of their right-wing takeover of the West. Was this album also the harbinger of the new romantics? Probably not, but as Steiner suggests, without Bowie there probably would not have been a new romantic movement, despite what a young Tony Hadley said, in the full flush of youthful arrogance. The major events in Bowie’s life following this album are also covered. In particular, his performance as John Merrick on Broadway in ‘The Elephant Man’ and the assassination of his friend John Lennon by Mark David Chapman.
Adam Steiner tackles the album one song at a time and covers each one with the same level of detail and enthusiasm rather than focusing on the most popular tracks. He includes some great insights and his thoughts have encouraged me to listen to the album with fresh ears. Given that I have heard the record so many times over the years that is no mean feat! I love the rather strange writing fragments that preceded each section which are often weird, often jarring, and all of them most definitely “turn and face the strange”. The book is seasoned nicely with comments and stories about the creation of the album from those who were there, including Tony Visconti and Robert Fripp to name just two. Steiner considers the primal scream aspects of Bowie’s vocal on “It’s No Game” which soars in an almost frightening style when set against the angular, industrial Fripp guitar tones.
Adam Steiner uses some odd, yet perfect reference points throughout. This includes the 1969 self-help book, “I’m OK—You’re OK” by Thomas Anthony Harris when discussing the lyrics to “Up The Hill Backwards”. He brings in the 1932 Tod Browning film “Freaks” when analysing the title track and adds parallels with Bowie’s 1980 Broadway performance in Elephant Man. The piece on John Lennon’s murderer is chilling but so in time with the dawn of the new decade. The description of how the music for “Ashes To Ashes” was created actually revealed something that I never knew before, and I am somewhat of a Bowie fanatic! I won’t tell you what I learned, you need to read the book. Obviously, Bowie fans will love this book, but if you’re not a fan do not be put off. It is a worthwhile read for all rock music fans and for anyone who likes a large dose of social history too! I don’t normally give a star rating, but if I did this would be a five stars out of five book.
It is out now in the US and will be out in the UK in September. Click here to order from Amazon in the US and here to order from Amazon UK. It is published by Rowman and Littlefield.
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