David Bowie "The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust " RCA SF 8287 1972 + inner

	£		16
	$		21

David Bowie ? "The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars"  RCA Victor ?SF 8287
Stereo Vinyl, LP with a black label with silver print. The LP is housed in a printed inner sleeve, and was released in 1972.
The vinyl appears to have been lightly played and is in great shape. It played through beautifully on my elderly stereo - no hop, stick or jump. The LP is housed in its original printed inner sleeve which a couple of rips along the seams but is otherwise in good condition. The sleeve has some slight ring-wear, front and back but it is generally in good shape, no rips or writing. The spine is intact and legible. Matrix/Runout Side 1 : BGBS 0864-A-98 (SF8287) W A5F Matrix/Runout Side 2 : BGBS-0865-515 W (SF-8287) A2AH
"The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" (often shortened to Ziggy Stardust) is David Bowie's fifth studio album, released on 16 June 1972 in the United Kingdom. It was produced by Bowie and Ken Scott and features contributions from the Spiders from Mars, Bowie's backing band – Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey. The album was recorded in Trident Studios, London, like his previous album, "Hunky Dory". Most of the album was recorded in November 1971 with further sessions in January and early February 1972.
Described as a loose concept album, "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" is about Bowie's titular alter ego Ziggy Stardust, a fictional androgynous bisexual rock star who acts as a messenger for extraterrestrial beings. The character was retained for the subsequent Ziggy Stardust Tour through the United Kingdom, Japan and North America. The album, and the character of Ziggy Stardust, were influenced by glam rock and explored themes of sexual exploration and social taboos. A concert film of the same name, directed by D. A. Pennebaker, was recorded in 1973 and released a decade later.
"The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" peaked at number five on the UK Albums Chart and number 75 in the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. As of January 2016 it had sold 7.5 million copies worldwide. The album received widespread critical acclaim. In 2017, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry, being deemed "culturally, historically, or artistically significant" by the Library of Congress.
The album cover photograph was taken by Brian Ward outside furriers "K. West" at 23 Heddon Street, London in January 1972, looking south-east towards the centre of the city. Bowie said of the sign, "It's such a shame that sign went [was removed]. People read so much into it. They thought 'K. West' must be some sort of code for 'quest.' It took on all these sort of mystical overtones." The post office in the background (now "The Living Room, W1" bar) was the site of London's first nightclub, The Cave of the Golden Calf, which opened in 1912. As part of street renovations, in April 1997 a red "K series" phonebox was returned to the street, replacing a modern blue phonebox, which in turn had replaced the original phonebox featured on the rear cover.
Widely considered to be Bowie's breakthrough album, "Ziggy Stardust" was released on 16 June 1972 in the UK. An ambiguity surrounding Bowie's sexuality (even after Bowie declared himself as gay) and a performance of "Starman" on Top of the Pops brought public attention to the album. Indeed, the Top of the Pops performance helped to solidify Bowie as a controversial pop icon. In a 2010 interview in Rolling Stone, Bono said, "The first time I saw him was singing 'Starman' on television. It was like a creature falling from the sky. Americans put a man on the moon. We had our own British guy from space - with an Irish mother."
"Ziggy Stardust" entered the top 10 in its second week on the UK Albums Chart. In its first week, the album sold 8,000 copies in Britain. After dropping down the chart in late 1972, the album began climbing the chart again; by the end of 1972, the album had sold 95,968 units in Britain. It peaked at number 5 on the chart in February 1973. In the US, the album peaked at number 75 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart in April 1973. It was eventually certified platinum and gold in the UK and US respectively. The first single from the album, "Starman", charted at number 10 in the UK while peaking at 65 in the US.
The album returned to the UK chart on 31 January 1981, amid the New Romantic era that Bowie had helped inspire. It was followed by a reissue of "Aladdin Sane", which spent the first of 24 weeks on the chart in March 1982. After Bowie's death from cancer on 10 January 2016, the album reached a new peak of 21 in the US Billboard 200.
Upon release, "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" received highly favourable reviews by music critics. James Johnson of New Musical Express (NME) said the album has "a bit more pessimism" than on previous releases, and called the album's songs "fine". Michael Watts of Melody Maker published that, while Ziggy Stardust had "no well-defined story line", it had "odd songs and references to the business of being a pop star that overall add up to a strong sense of biographical drama." In Rolling Stone, writer Richard Cromelin gave the album a favourable review of "at least a 99" (assumed out of 100). But while Cromelin thought it was good, he felt that the record and its style might not be of lasting interest: "We should all say a brief prayer that his fortunes are not made to rise and fall with the fate of the 'drag-rock' syndrome". Circus wrote that the album is "from start to finish [...] of dazzling intensity and mad design", and called it a "stunning work of genius". The album was placed at the top of Creem's end of year list.
"Ziggy Stardust" has been retrospectively acclaimed by critics, and recognised as one of the most important glam rock albums. Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote for AllMusic: "Bowie succeeds not in spite of his pretensions but because of them, and "Ziggy Stardust" – familiar in structure, but alien in performance – is the first time his vision and execution met in such a grand, sweeping fashion." Greg Kot, writing for Chicago Tribune, described the album as a "guitar-fueled song cycle", saying it "enacted the deaths of Joplin, Morrison, Hendrix and the '60s and presaged the dread, decadence and eroticism of a new era."
In 1987, as part of their 20th anniversary, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number 6 on "The 100 Best Albums of the Last Twenty Years". In 1997, "Ziggy Stardust" was named the 20th greatest album of all time in a Music of the Millennium poll conducted in the UK.  It was named the 35th best album ever made by Rolling Stone. In 2004, it was placed at number 81 in Pitchfork's Top 100 Albums of the 1970s. In 2006, Q magazine readers placed it at number 41, In the same year, the album was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 best albums of all time.
According to Acclaimed Music, a site which uses statistics to numerically represent reception among critics, "Ziggy Stardust" is the 16th most celebrated album of all time. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2013, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it 35th on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.