After summing up his maverick tendencies on Scary Monsters, David Bowie aimed for the mainstream with Let's Dance.
Hiring Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers as a co-producer, Bowie created a stylish, synthesized post-disco dance music that was equally informed by classic soul and the emerging new romantic subgenre of new wave, which was ironically heavily inspired by Bowie himself.
Let's Dance comes tearing out of the gate, propulsed by the skittering "Modern Love," the seductively menacing "China Girl," and the brittle funk of the title track.
All three songs became international hits, and for good reason -- they're catchy, accessible pop songs that have just enough of an alien edge to make them distinctive.
However, that careful balance is quickly thrown off by a succession of pleasant but unremarkable plastic soul workouts.
"Cat People" and a cover of Metro's "Criminal World" are relatively strong songs, but the remainder of the album indicates that Bowie was entering a songwriting slump.
However, the three hits were enough to make the album a massive hit, and their power hasn't diminished over the years, even if the rest of the record sounds like an artifact.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Modern LoveDavid Bowie | David Bowie | Play | 04:48 | 11 MB | 34 MB |
| 2 | China GirlDavid Bowie, Iggy Pop | David Bowie | Play | 05:33 | 12 MB | 38 MB |
| 3 | Let's DanceDavid Bowie | David Bowie | Play | 07:37 | 17 MB | 53 MB |
| 4 | Without YouDavid Bowie | David Bowie | Play | 03:10 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 5 | RicochetDavid Bowie | David Bowie | Play | 05:13 | 11 MB | 39 MB |
| 6 | Criminal WorldDuncan Browne, Peter Godwin, Sean Lyons | David Bowie | Play | 04:24 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 7 | Shake ItDavid Bowie | David Bowie | Play | 03:49 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 8 | Cat People | David Bowie | Play | 05:09 | 11 MB | 38 MB |
| 39 mins | 91 MB | |||||
| 39 mins | 282 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Aaron | Flute, Tenor (Vocal) |
| 2 | Robert Arron | Flute, Sax (Tenor), Saxophone |
| 3 | Derek Boshier | Cover Painting, Paintings |
| 4 | David Bowie | Arranger, Assistant, Composer, Guitar, Horn Arrangements, Keyboards, Mixing, Primary Artist, Producer, Saxophone, Vocals |
| 5 | Duncan Browne | Composer |
| 6 | Kevin Cann | Design, Package Design |
| 7 | Bob Clearmountain | Engineer, Mixing |
| 8 | Bernard Edwards | Bass, Guest Artist |
| 9 | Steve Elson | Baritone, Baritone (Vocal), Flute, Sax (Baritone) |
| 10 | Sammy Figueroa | Percussion |
| 11 | Peter Godwin | Composer |
| 12 | Mac Gollehon | Trumpet |
| 13 | Greg Gorman | Cover Photo, Photography |
| 14 | Dave Greenberg | Assistant Engineer |
| 15 | Mick Haggerty | Cover Art, Design, Logo, Package Design, Photography |
| 16 | Omar Hakim | Drums, Guest Artist |
| 17 | Stan Harrison | Flute, Sax (Tenor), Saxophone, Tenor (Vocal) |
| 18 | Bob Ludwig | Mastering |
| 19 | Sean Lyons | Composer |
| 20 | Peter Mew | Digital Remastering, Remastering |
| 21 | Giorgio Moroder | Composer |
| 22 | Denis O'Regan | Photography |
| 23 | Iggy Pop | Composer |
| 24 | Queen | Performer, Producer |
| 25 | Nigel Reeve | Project Coordinator, Remastering |
| 26 | Nile Rodgers | Arranger, Assistant, Guest Artist, Guitar, Horn Arrangements, Mixing Assistant, Producer |
| 27 | Carmine Rojas | Bass |
| 28 | Robert Sabino | Keyboards |
| 29 | Frank Simms | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 30 | George Simms | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 31 | David Spinner | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 32 | Tony Thompson | Drums |
| 33 | Stevie Ray Vaughan | Guest Artist, Guitar |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |