I know that people think that I'm a little crazy

David Bowie - Young Americans - 1975

After leaving the last remains of Ziggy Stardust behind with his previous album, David Bowie was ready for changing again, and this album is as far removed from what he had done before as it can get. If Diamond Dogs was a sort of "transition album", in which he was somehow exploring the territory, this album shows him moving completely towards a new direction.
Listening to it again, I can't help but smile. Partly because I realise that, slowly but surely we're approaching late 1970s territory, which will bring new rhythms, and a much less pretentious and serious take on music. The appearance of soul, R&B and even disco are like a breath of fresh air. But I also realise how far we still are, in a way, and I can't help but be amazed at how much Bowie really understood everything, how he always managed to be leading the way, a couple of steps ahead of everyone else.
This is another slightly uneven album. His explorations of soul and R&B don't always work perfectly well, and they seem to actually work much better when they have a bit of rock or pop added to the mix.
Still, as it so often happens with his work, the quality is in the best moments, like the classic "Fascination", or the title track. And also because this is the album that starts introducing his Thin White Duke persona. Keeping in mind that this is the Bowie I got to know and love first, I can't help but love this album, even with ups and downs.

• Bowie himself described this album as "the squashed remains of ethnic music as it survives in the age of Muzak rock, written and sung by a white limey". You can't say the man didn't have a way with words. 
• There is a cover of The Beatles' "Across the Universe". It's not really bad, but I still much prefer the original one. 
• One of the greatest hits from the album was "Fame". The song was written by Bowie, together with Carlos Alomar (I think this would be the first time they worked together?) and a guy you may or may not have heard about, one John Lennon. 
• The title of this entry is not a personal statement of fact (well, yes, that too), but from the song "Fascination", which is another one of the best songs here.
• Still, I'm putting the title track here. It's a tough choice but, after all, we're moving towards dancing days. This is, chronologically, one of the oldest songs I danced to. And no, I didn't dance it back then!! It was still a big favourite over 10 years later.

And the Crimson Dynamo came along for the ride

Paul McCartney & Wings - Venus and Mars - 1975

I don't know why this album has always been so hated by critics. Well, probably I do know: Critics never really liked Paul much, I guess. His music always seemed too simplistic, and his lyrics too weird and uninvolved with anything "important". That's most likely because he was constantly being compared to John. 

But I do think this is actually a very good album, and I'm a bit surprised at how many songs I have liked for ages are here. I knew most of the songs from their brilliant 1976 live album Wings over America. Probably because that's how I knew them, some of them seem a bit bland here. Or maybe it's just that the live versions are actually better, I'm not sure. 

My preferring the live versions is probably the reason why I haven't listened to this album much too often, and the reason why I think I'm not all that likely to listen to it too often from now on. But I like all the songs which made it into the live one, and there's a lot of them here (10 out of 13, if I remember correctly), so that must count for something. The other three songs are really filler, but this is a great album. Yes, a great simple album, a great pop album, perhaps. But great anyway. 

• There's a song called "Magneto and Titanium Man". It actually is about the Marvel characters, and also the Crimson Dynamo. Stan Lee was asked years later what his opinion was, and he said it was "terrific". I agree.
• Allegedly, John Lennon was about to visit during the recording sessions, and maybe write a couple of songs with Paul. This was during his "lost weekend" (the period in which he had left Yoko and was living with May Pang). The reunion never happened because Yoko reappeared. 
• I just spent an absurd amount of time deciding what to share here. I ended up choosing "Letting Go". The song was a single, and one very much criticised at that, because of the autobiographical "Paul & Linda" tone of the lyrics. But it's a really good song, and one of the few that doesn't sound much worse off in the studio version.