Scary Monsters (studio album)
by David Bowie
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David Bowie bestography
Scary Monsters is ranked 7th best out of 94 albums by David Bowie on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by David Bowie is The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars which is ranked number 7 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 43,409.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
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Scary Monsters track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Scary Monsters rankings
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Scary Monsters ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
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Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 1,124 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 4 days ago |  szoze | 328 | 89/100 |
| ! | 12/08/2025 00:49 |  LukasAntoine00s | 369 | 80/100 |
| ! | 12/03/2025 23:23 |  DommeDamian | 7,295 | 49/100 |
| ! | 11/12/2025 20:26 | NYAndreas | 1,432 | 43/100 |
| ! | 11/11/2025 14:07 | Exist-en-ciel | 4,225 | 70/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 80.9/100, a mean average of 80.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 81.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.6.
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Scary Monsters comments
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This has always been one of my favourite Bowie albums. As others have said, the first half is stronger than the second, but it is all pretty strong stuff. His last great album, imho.
lleon79 09/28/2022 16:05 | #290026
First half is like a 10. Second half deflates like crazy, but it's still enjoyable.
Not the best from bowie
This album is definitely something new for Bowie at that point, instrumental experiments are mostly successful and they sound incredible, but vocal experiments are either incredible or horrible. Best tracks are Up The Hill Backwards, Scary Monsters, Ashes To Ashes, Fashion and hidden gem - Because You're Young.
Love the guitar work on this, and the bass on Ashes to Ashes is great. Highlights are Ashes to Ashes, Fashion and Teenage Wildlife. One of his best albums for me.
This is a solid record but it isn't up there amongst his greatest releases. It is quite an experimental album which means that there are quite a few strange moments for us to decipher so this record needs a few listens to properly digest it. This also means that there is a high chance of all the songs on here either really hitting or really not which is the main problem with the release. Songs like the title track, Ashes To Ashes and Teenage Wildlife benefit massively from this experimental nature as they sound so fresh even today and they are extremely infectious. Then there are the closing songs on the record amongst a few more which are just quite dull and can sound slightly dated. However, Bowie is extremely consistent throughout and so is the instrumental performances. Overall, there are some brilliant songs on here but the record can't maintain the consistency it needs to be considered an all time great.
The pros and cons of being an “avant-garde art rock” musician. There’s always lots of creativity, plenty of risks taken.
On this album, several of the risks pay off (Ashes to Ashes and Teenage Wildlife, most notably). And some do not (the last few songs aren’t great). Still a fascinating album, in all, due to the change in direction it signals.
Ashes to Ashes was the big hit, I remember watching the utterly bizarre video on Top of the Pops. I hated the video and didn't like Bowie much as a teenager. How things change... Generally a good album and interesting listening experience.
this is the album that got me hooked on mr bowie.the album that started the new romantic sound in the uk. he was always ahead of the rest.i love super creeps/ up the hill backwards as much as the 2 bigger hits.
A top 5 Bowie for sure...at a apex of avant garde & more popular.
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