Hard core Bowie fans hate this album, because it was "commercial" and light, and lacked the angst of "Scary Monsters" or "Lodger." At the time, it seemed like it was an enjoyable album of the moment, picking up on the dance rhythms that had taken over the airwaves by the mid-80s. With hindsight, it is musically a lot more sturdy than that, and seems like a minor classic. Don't follow biography that closely, but I suspect Bowie was just in a good mood then, and that impacted his music, giving it a jolly quality his CD's typically lack. The beats are beautifully constructed, and it is a very pleasing meeting of rock and dance aesthetics.

I have always been a big Bowie fan, but I came along later in his musical career. In fact, Let's Dance was my 1st introduction to Bowie when I was about 12, so it always has a special place in my heart. The only earlier Bowie I listened to for a long time was from his greatest hits, Changes One. Anyway, I finally began collecting his earlier stuff and now own most of his pre=80's cannon. I never bought Let's Dance on cd, so when it came out as a hybrid SACD, I decided to get it. I don't have the original cd to compare it,with, but the SACD sounds great. Incredibly clear, incredibly crisp sound. Unfortunately, they released this as a 2-channel stereo SACD instead of the multi-channel, so it is limited in that regard. However, it sounds great and highly recommended.

Having read one of the reviews, I feel I have not add something about, what i believe, common misunderstanding.

Namely, when a SACD is marked as hybrid it does not automatically mean that it is recorded in 5.1 technology. What it means is that it can be played on both SACD player and a conventional CD player. 5.1 disc on the other hand are usually referred to as 'multi-channel' and can be hybrid or single layer (playable only on SAC players).

As far as DSD is conerned, it refers to a new technology of transferring recordings onto the new digital media.

To put it shortly, there is nothing wrong with the Bowie disc. It sounds absolutely great and reminds me of my youth :-))

I will begin this review with a tale of the distant past.

Once upon a time in 1983, a girl in her teens went on a plane trip to Disney World with her mother, a friend of her mother's, and the friend's young sons. The plane had a sound system in each seat, and the passengers were given headsets. There were several "stations" of music to choose from, and the girl had hers tuned to (at the time) contemporary hits.

The teen sat bobbing her head, tapping her feet, and chair-dancing to such tunes as "She Blinded me with Science" and "Hungry like the Wolf." This was FUN music! Then, it happened.

All of a sudden, the teenage girl's eardrums were caressed by a voice like that of an angel -- a very manly-sounding, sexy-voiced angel. As this manly yet angelic voice sang passionately about dancing and swaying and trembling flowers and red shoes, the teen sat there motionless, enthralled, spellbound, utterly enchanted, unable to believe a human voice could sound so gorgeous, so exquisite.

That girl was me, the song was "Let's Dance," and the fellow with the sexy angel-voice was none other than Mr. David Bowie.

I have read scathing criticisms of the album "Let's Dance," citing how it was more "commercial" than Bowie's earlier recordings. I don't know what that means, "commercial." If The Gentleman and his spellbinding musical stylings got more exposure, so much the better. As a Bowie fan in a BIG WAY, I am here to say that, in its own way, this sparkling disc of audio enchantment deserves to be as much a Bowie classic as "Ziggy Stardust" or the Berlin recordings

The "hits" hit the mark. I always feel like dancing when I hear the catchy "Modern Love," and I still find the title track mesemerizing, and "China Girl" is lushly romantic. But even better still are what I call the album's "basement tracks" -- those tunes that didn't get as much airplay and exposure.

"Criminal World," is smooth, seductive, and danceworthy, at once dreamy and dark, the hypnotic instrumentation the perfect foil for The Gentleman's beautiful voice.

"Cat People" sounds delightfully dark, as Bowie sings impassionedly of the plight of being under a supernatural "werecat" curse.

"Richochet" is a dark yet danceable musical tale of the plight of workers on an oil rig.

"Without You" is the heartfelt plea of a brokenhearted lover.

"Shake It" is a disco-tinted love song on the order of the title tune of this album and of "Stay" from Bowie's classic '76 album Station to Station"

Then there's "Under Pressure," a bonus track on the reissue, is a hard-hitting yet danceable collaboration between Bowie and the fine fellows of well-known rock band Queen. It may have been a Queen song featuring Bowie rather than a Bowie song featuring Queen, but Bowie just about took ownership of it.

I urge every Bowie fan worth his or her stardust to buy a copy of this wondrous work of audio art PRONTO. I recommend it highly.

Yes, this album is commercial, having spawned such hits as "Modern Love," "China Girl," and "Let's Dance." I am an avid Bowiephile, and I do admit that it took me a while to adjust myself this album, and to disregard its commercial aspects (I once heard a terrible remix of "Let's Dance" in a retail clothing store, which more than unnerved me), yet I eventually came to adore this album. The three songs which I just alluded to are not the best on this album, in my opinion, but one reason, I admit, for believing such is that they are extremely overplayed, everywhere from the radio to 80's clubs, to, aaaggghhh, retail stores (however, I must admit that the video to "China Girl" is extremely sexy, and I have fantasized about being so fortunate as to be the girl who is lying on the beach with Bowie in the video). . . Anyways. These songs are delightful in their own right (and I do wish that I had not heard them played quite so often), but it is the other songs which are really the delight of "Let's Dance."

Skipping the three aforementioned "hit songs," I'll critique the other songs in the order in which they appear on the album. . . "Without You" is a lovely, intense, and indeed heart-wrenching tune. . . Who would not shiver and delight in being the subject for whom this song was composed? Bowie's voice is especially emotive and emotional in this song. . ."Without you. . . what would I do?" he croons, and it makes me swoon. Wouldn't it be wonderful indeed if all men were so emotional, helpless, and passionate in professing their love? We can only wish. . . "Ricochet" is a captivating and urgent song, as it also somewhat sinister ("These are the prisons, these are the crimes. . . it's the sound of the devil breaking parole"). . . It is also refreshingly optimistic, especially when listened to after a long and interminable day ("It's not the end of the world," Bowie assures us). The beat is also unusual, rather reggae-like, but it is much more welcome than the reggae-like tunes to be found on "Tonight" (although I am an avid Bowiephile, I think that that album is pretty forgettable). But "Ricochet" gives a sense of a ricochet in itself. "Criminal World" is complex, compelling, and seems really personal. And Bowie's voice complements the music spectacularly: "It's a criminal world,/ where the girls like the baby-faced boys," he sings, to the sound of carefully-chosen and fervent riffs. The crescendo created in this song is truly amazing: it is a conceptual and complicated song which takes a few listens to fully realize and appreciate its rollercoaster-like artistry. . . And I must say that the guitar solo around the middle of the song is mind-riveting indeed. "Cat People," ah yes. I prefer the soundtrack version, but this is no ordinary song. It conveys a sort of wistful, vehement, and somewhat angry feeling, which transmits itself to the listener. . . and who has not at some time said to someone, "Well, you wouldn't believe what I've been through". . .? And I daresay, as well, that many Bowie fans know very well what it's like to "put out a fire with gasoline". . . Bowie is all about extremes, and many of his fans can surely identify with such an approach. "Shake it," well, um, this is not one of Bowie's finer moments, and will very likely be skipped on your CD player, unless you have had a few drinks, or enough drinks to "shake it" along to the, well, grating, chorus behind Bowie's attempt to. . . what? I seek the answer to this question, and seem to come up with no suitable response. "We're the kind of people who can shake it if we're feeling good," he sings, and I think that he must have really been feeling good indeed to have included this song on the album with sincerity. I adore Bowie unabashedly, but this song compells me to inquire of him as he sings this tune on my stereo, "Um, sir. .. ?!" "Sir. . .?!" Definitely should have been a B-side. Well, what is a great musician if he or she can't put out some embarassing songs every now and then? And we can surely forgive David Jones for such lapses in musical judgement, well, because he made such consistently outstanding albums as "Alladin Sane," "Diamond Dogs," and "Ziggy Stardust". . . Go ahead and "shake it," Bowie, all you wish, but my rock and roll heart will gladly gravitate towards "Without You," "Richochet," "Criminal World," and "Cat People" on the "Let's Dance" album. I might be in the minority here, but again, I insist that these are the greatest songs on this album. But it still remains a great album, commercial or not. And I just might put on my pair of red shoes and "dance under the moonlight, the serious moonlight," and even frolic, but I doubt that I'll ever feel compelled to "shake it." But even if I were to do so, well, it wouldn't be the "end of the world!" For those fellow Bowiephiles who snub this album, give it another chance, and if necessary, another, and yet another. . . for it has a lot to offer. . . it is a work of Bowie, after all. . .