16. The Next Day (2013)
The single "Where Are We Now?" speaks of the banal, modern-day life of the fugitive couple from "Heroes," which might have worked as a commentary on this comparatively blah stage of world history but comes out as a boring song about hanging out and shopping. Like the album cover, it's so clever it's dumb. The Next Day is redeemed by how dark it gets, with blistering bitterness aired on "Love Is Lost" and a gory chant from Full Metal Jacket serving as a chorus for "How Does the Grass Grow?"

Listen: "Where Are We Now?"

15. Outside (1995)
The cyberpunk rock opera aspect of Outside leads to a bunch of annoying segues and spoken word sections, but it's worth it; the project seems to have reawakened Bowie’s urge to write mind-trip songs with hard edges. A few were licensed to edgy directors of the day; David Lynch used "I'm Deranged" in Lost Highway and David Finch put the utterly sexy "The Heart's Filthy Lesson" in Seven.

Listen: "The Heart's Filthy Lesson" 

14. Pin Ups (1973)
Like most cover albums, Pin Ups is a low-ambition cash-in that sounds like it was recorded in a single afternoon. But Bowie went with singles from the mod era, and these songs sound great in the hands of a pimply garage band, let alone his classic Spiders from Mars ensemble. They own The Kinks' "Where Have All the Good Times Gone?"

Listen: "Where Have All the Good Times Gone?"

13. Young Americans (1975)
It took balls for a skinny British dude to take on American soul, and Young Americans' sublime title track embodies everything great about the genre, from its vision of brash love to its full-bodied smoothness. Soul Train extended Bowie an invitation because of it. Everything between it and the funky closer "Fame" is more style than substance, but damn did he ever have this style down pat.

Listen: "Young Americans" 

12. Let's Dance (1983)
With help from former Chic guitarist and soon-to-be star-making pop producer Nile Rodgers, Bowie took much of the edge out of his sound to create the mega-selling Let's Dance, but it was a long way from here to Tin Machine. In fact, "China Girl" is the one Pop-Bowie collaboration that sounds fiercer in Bowie's hands, and it put some anti-colonialism and ethnic fetishism onto Top 40 radio. A young Stevie Ray Vaughan laid down some great licks throughout, most notably on the title track.

Listen: "China Girl" 

11. Scary Monsters (1980)
Bowie's classic period doesn’t end with a whimper but it does go out with some venting on this moody, rough-textured album. "Fashion" sounds fun (thanks to Robert Fripp’s fantastic buzz-saw guitar) but the lyrics show disdain for shallow pop culture. ("There's a brand new talk, but it's not very clear … It's loud and tasteless and I've heard it before.") On "Teenage Wildlife," Bowie lashes out at his own fans, and on "Ashes to Ashes," he does the meanest thing he could: discredit Major Tom as a hallucinating junkie. 

Listen: "Ashes to Ashes"

10. Space Oddity (1969)
Major Tom’s dispatch may be the most lucid thing on this psychedelic-folk album. Bowie sings of magic books, steam-punk airships and mystical mountain villages, getting his inspiration from sci-fi/fantasy paperbacks and probably his bong. The grittier songs, like "Janine" and "Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed," work better than the more sweeping ones. The title track might have faded away as a fad song timed for the Moon landing if Bowie didn’t sound authentically sad over the fate of a made-up space explorer. 

Listen: "Space Oddity"

9. Lodger (1979)
Lacking a hit single or the bold moves of the other two albums in the Brian Eno-produced Berlin trilogy, Lodger has been overlooked, which is unfortunate. Interesting things are happened here. Bowie interacts with a vocal wall of sound on "Move On" and experiments with Arabian rhythms on "Yassassin." It’s surprising the singles "Boys Keep Swinging" and "DJ" didn't stick; they're as catchy as "The Jean Genie" or "Rebel Rebel." 

Listen: "Boys Keep Swinging"