This has been my favorite album for about 20 years. If I could only listen to one album the rest of my life, this would be the one.
I think the primary reasons this album holds this prestigious spot is the bass and the guitar work. Adrian Belew is indescribable in his work on this album. I swear every note he plays is one I've never heard before. His style on this album has never been reproduced.
The bass on this album is everything bass is supposed to be. It's not buried in the mix as in most albums. It stands right up. It thumps and gets into your gut.
There's the strange sounds mixed into various tracks that make the album more than 4 musicians. There is the famous singer and his amazing song writing.
But the more I think about it, this album is really all about guitar that did not exist before this album and has not been heard since.
And I don't want to begin to go in to the "Ashes to Ashes" track. It is the conclusion to one of the most incredible songs ever released, back in '69. You have to listen to both tracks in sequence, and pay attention to lyrics to appreciate this one. Ok, I'll tell you: the original track I'm talking about is "Space Oddity" off David Bowie's very first album and present on all of his "collective" albums.