David Bowie - Rise & Fall Of Ziggy Stardust [Exclusive Picture Disc]

Released in 1972, Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars is one of David Bowie's most popular and important albums. This was his the fifth studio album, which is loosely based on a story of a fictional rock star named Ziggy Stardust.

Great musicians often seem to have one year of red hot creativity that stands above all the others. For David Bowie, 1972 was unquestionably that year. Having put the finishing touches to this, his magnum opus in January, Bowie then officially unveiled his groundbreaking (particularly in those days) Ziggy Stardust persona the following month at the start of a world tour.

Rise and Fall emerged during early summer, in all its loose concept glory, with the iconic 'Starman' making him a fixture on radio and television shows. But Bowie wasn't finished yet; around the same time, he fired off 'All The Young Dudes' right in front of the band that he would give the song to, a song that would revitalize and jump start that same band's career, Mott the Hoople.

No time to lose though, as Bowie then hopped into the producer's chair to mastermind not only Mott's album, but also Lou Reed's breakthrough Transformer right afterwards, before rounding out the year by recording a vast chunk of Aladdin Sane. Most musicians would kill for a list of career achievements such as these and yet Bowie did it in just 12 months.

This limited edition PICTURE DISC vinyl 50th Anniversary Edition of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars was cut on a customized late Neumann VMS80 lathe with fully recapped electronics from 192kHz restored masters of the original Trident Studios master tapes, with no additional processing on transfer. The half-speed was cut by John Webber at AIR Studios.

This edition exclusively includes a replica promotional poster for the album. Made in Germany.