Talk:Let's Dance (David Bowie album)/GA1

GA Review
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Reviewer: Vaticidalprophet (talk · contribs) 05:03, 1 July 2021 (UTC)

As usual, this is broadly solid work. The thing that pops out to me on my first reading is the discussion of "Criminal World" under #Side two -- I have some content quibbles with the description of O'Leary's take here. I recall him having quite strong words on the song and how it reflected on Bowie's changing attitude towards [bi]sexuality in the 80s, particularly regarding the lyrical changes from the Metro original, and the summary of his take here doesn't touch on those. While there's the issue of due weight for a single reviewer's option on a minor song, of course, I think there's a balance issue with presenting him as giving a much more positive opinion than I recall -- and it's not like this is an overlong section. It could do with a broader discussion of how that cover tied into Bowie's 80s attitudes. Vaticidalprophet 05:03, 1 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Sorry it's taken me a couple of days to get to this. O'Leary does have some strong opinions on "Criminal World". Just for clarification, would like appreciate some more context regarding Bowie's famous "I'm gay" interview, and the build up to '83? I can do that but if you could give a little more clarification I'd appreciate it. Thanks! – zmbro (talk) 18:14, 4 July 2021 (UTC)
 * No worries about response-timing, I can be spotty myself :) I think some additional context about those things would be important, because they were a pretty significant part of the album's reception in general, and one that gets missed in a lot of more mainstream retrospectives. Vaticidalprophet 04:35, 5 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Sorry it's taken me so long to get to this. I guess I'm a little stuck/confused on what you're looking for exactly. Do you want it to tie back to his famous "I'm gay" interview from '72 and acknowledge he didn't mean that in '83? Or do you have access to Ashes to Ashes to where you can put the info in yourself? This has honestly just thrown me in a loop here. – zmbro (talk) 16:15, 10 July 2021 (UTC)

New reviewer needed per discussion here. --Usernameunique (talk) 21:20, 17 July 2021 (UTC)
 * ,, , & , I'm going to take this one over.  Tkbrett  (✉)  13:02, 26 August 2021 (UTC)

Background

 * The murder of John Lennon in December 1980 affected Bowie deeply: might be helpful to include more context by mentioning they were previous collaborators and friends (however much there was a friendship, I'm not particularly read up on Bowie and John's relationship). As it's written, it just makes it sound like Bowie was only a fan.
 * Added a note to help clarify.


 * "...where he became a recluse[2][5] and continued working." Any reason the citations aren't at the end of the sentence?
 * I have no idea; moved

Development

 * ...were considered "dance classics" by Pegg.: I understand that the sentence means that, according to Pegg, listeners considered "We Are Family" and "Upside Down" "dance classics", but as it is currently worded, you could also read it as saying that only Pegg considers the songs to be dance classics.
 * I see what you mean. My intention was to make sure it was properly attributed. How would you say it? – zmbro (talk) 20:03, 9 September 2021 (UTC)
 * "were considered" is passive as well, which should probably be "contemporary listeners considered", since they are the ones who hold the opinion Pegg is discussing, rather than Pegg himself. How about: According to Pegg, contemporary listeners considered Rodgers' writing and production work, including Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" (1979) and Diana Ross's "Upside Down" (1980), to be "dance classics".
 * Yep that works. Changed. – zmbro (talk) 12:47, 10 September 2021 (UTC)

Recording

 * Be sure to introduce Albert King.
 * Also, introduce Strange Fascination.
 * Both done.


 * Be careful not to editorialize with "Nevertheless, Bowie and Rodgers offered..." (MOS:EDITORIAL).
 * Reworded
 * Sorry, I should have been clearer, I meant the "Nevertheless", which can be dropped to simply Bowie and Rodgers offered... or Bowie and Rodgers praised...
 * Fixed.

Songs

 * I made a few edits here, so make sure to check them over.
 * Looks good, thanks.

Tour

 * ...so stakes were high.: seems a little unencyclopedic in tone to me. Try rewording.
 * Removed entirely.


 * ...he was fired...: watch for passive voicing. Who fired him? Bowie?
 * Changed to 'let go'. It's a very complicated story (I recall Buckley having like three pages devoted to this alone). I tried to summarize it as best I could.
 * Okay. That's still passive as written though – to make it active it would be "_____ fired Vaughan..." or "______ let Vaughan go...", with the blank filled in with Bowie or whoever it was that was responsible for firing him. If it's unclear who exactly did the firing then we can leave the wording as is.
 * Was able to confirm it was Bowie so added.


 * ...the most elaborate stage set yet.: compared with what? The shows of other artists or just Bowie's shows?
 * Just Bowie's; reworded.

Final verdict and comments

 * All images are PD or have good free use justifications.
 * Copyvio gives a score of 41.9% entirely due to quotations, so no copyright concerns here.
 * As always, great stuff. Sections I don't mention above are good as is, so once the above is addressed we are good to go. I made several edits as I made my way through, so make sure to check and let me know if you have any concerns.
 * , sorry it took me so long to get to this one – work has been hectic. It's wild that Bowie didn't play anything on this album; I never knew. Also, I didn't know it was his most sold album, as it is definitely not my number one listen. That was always Ziggy Stardust, though Scary Monsters has loomed large in my recent listening, due in no small part to your work on that GA.  Tkbrett  (✉) 19:42, 9 September 2021 (UTC)
 * , All good man thanks for the review! I agree I was also surprised he played nothing (Tonight included). Imo, you could argue Never Let Me Down is more of a Bowie album than these two (because he actually played on that one). Thanks for the compliment on Scary Monsters. Believe it or not SM is actually not one of my favs (I know, I know). Side one is one of the best song-runs in his entire career, but side two just does nothing for me (and I've heard it many times at this point). – zmbro (talk) 20:16, 9 September 2021 (UTC)
 * All done. Thanks again. – zmbro (talk) 12:53, 10 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Great stuff, another GA!  Tkbrett  (✉) 12:57, 10 September 2021 (UTC)