107) Hunky Dory

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Bowie, then twenty-four, arrived at the Hunky Dory cover shoot with a Marlene Dietrich photo book: a perfect metaphor for this album's visionary blend of gay camp, flashy rock guitar and saloon-piano balladry. Bowie marked the polar ends of his artistic ambitions in tribute songs to Bob Dylan and Andy Warhol; in songs such as "Oh! You Pretty Things" and "Changes," he shows that he is already his own man, with a new pop sound that seems just as modern today as it was then. On "Life on Mars?," he sings to all the weirdos like himself who feel like aliens on Earth. Soon an army of kids would remake themselves in his spangled image, proving his point.

Total album sales: Under 500,000

Peak chart position: 93

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