David Bowie | Space Oddity | The Man Who Sold the World | Hunky Dory
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars | Aladdin Sane | Pin Ups | Diamond Dogs | Young Americans
Station to Station | Low | "Heroes" | Lodger | Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) | Let's Dance | Tonight | Never Let Me Down
Tin Machine | Black Tie White Noise | The Buddha of Suburbia | Outside | Earthling | 'hours...' | The Next Day | ★
Changesonebowie
- Adaptation Displacement: Of a sort. More people know about the album than either the TV series or the novel, and those that do know about them usually do so because of the album.
- Broken Base: A minor one exists as to whether or not this album's version of "Strangers When We Meet" is better or worse than the 1.Outside re-recording. Supporters of the 1993 version describe it as being technically superior, while supporters of the 1995 version describe it as sounding more musically and emotionally inspired. Others prefer to Take a Third Option and state that both versions are equally good for their own reasons and are best listened to in the context of their parent albums.
- Misaimed Marketing: The album's failure and subsequent deletion can be pinned primarily on Arista choosing to market it as the soundtrack album to the BBC miniseries The Buddha of Suburbia (to which Bowie wrote the soundtrack), despite the Title Track being the only song on the album actually used in the show. Even Bowie's website insisted that it was a soundtrack, despite Bowie's statements to the contrary, as late as 2018, only relenting when it was included in the 2021 Boxed Set Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001).
- Surprisingly Improved Sequel: While Black Tie White Noise was a critical and commercial success upon release, its very early '90s R&B approach led it to become one of Bowie's most divisive albums as the years went on. On the flipside, when people started rediscovering The Buddha of Suburbia after its initial commercial failure, it became regarded as a major improvement over its predecessor that did much to consolidate the electronic jazz elements of Black Tie White Noise with Bowie's signature brand of art rock, paving the way for Outside.
- Vindicated by History: Upon its initial release, the album was relatively ignored, received middling reviews from critics, and was even taken off shelves for over a decade due to it underselling. Nowadays however, it's considered by fans and analysts to be one of David Bowie's most underrated solo albums.
