The 40th anniversary of David Bowie‘s breakthrough album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars has been reached this year, and to celebrate this, there is a free stream of the entire album to listen to below, AND there will be a full scale special re-release of the album on CD, MP3, and limited edition vinyl formats on June 5th.

The album, which propelled Bowie into mythical status, stands as one of rock and roll’s all time great albums. Bowie, who had rotated his way around the musical landscape for a few years prior to this with a few releases and even a hit in “Space Oddity,” finally hit the jackpot with Ziggy Stardust. The album, a concept one which tells the tale of an alien mired in androgyny who fell to Earth with a hopeful rock and roll message and became a rock star of superstar proportions that would also happen to Bowie in real life as a result of the album in an amazing case of art imitates life, is almost a roadmap for glam and early punk and hard rock sounds. Bowie was hinting at this sound on earlier albums, “The Width of A Circle” on The Man Who Sold the World and “Queen Bitch” on Hunky Dory, but on Ziggy Stardust, the sound became fully realized, the attitudes and style he was carving and carving finally came to whirlwind musical fruitions. Not only did the album put Bowie in a higher musical echelon, it also almost singlehandedly started the entire glam movement, a movement started in a way by Marc Bolan and T-Rex, who certainly was the Chuck Berry to Bowie’s Rolling Stone glam, but Bowie had the superstar power and muscle to put him over the top and arguably become the sole heir of the glam rock mantle with this release.

For his birthday today we remember the late Mick Ronson, who was a force in rock and roll as a session guitarist, best remembered for his work on some classic David Bowie albums.

Born in 1946, Michael “Mick” Ronson hailed from England and bounced around local bands in his youth in the 1960s before he finally hit pay dirt landing a gig with Elton John, playing guitar on his “Madman Across the Water” song from John’s Tumbleweed Connection sessions. That song remained unreleased and later became the name of an Elton John album, but it put Ronson in more of a high profile in the music community as a result. Following this, he crossed paths with David Bowie and was the lead guitarist on Bowie’s records The Man Who Sold the World, Hunky Dory, and Bowie’s 1972 breakthrough release The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars. Ronson was one of the Spiders From Mars and his guitar sound lent as much to the Bowie glam rock/hard rock/early punk sound that has been often associated with Bowie throughout that time.

The Kindle ebook deal of the day over at Amazon today is 10 titles in the 33 1/3 book series that focuses on specific albums from artists like David Bowie, Public Enemy, The Beastie Boys, Bob Dylan, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, and more for just $.99 each.

Here’s are all 10 ebooks from the sale:

– David Bowie’s Low
– Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
– Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street
– Kinks’ The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
– The Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique
– Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited
– Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds
– The Pixies’ Doolittle
– Johnny Cash’s American Recordings
– Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

As part of Amazon’s monthly $5 MP3 album deal for March 2012, David Bowie‘s Hunky Dory is on sale for only $5.

This wonderful 1971 album by music’s greatest chameleon, David Bowie, finds him in an early phase of his career. But, it is still a mélange of different sounds and styles that he would find himself interchanging as easily as shedding musical skin later on in his career. Hunky Dory, which contains one of his most well known songs, “Changes,” also has tunes as diverse as the cabaret style “Fill Your Heart,” the aching “Life on Mars?,” the steely knives pointed at the songs “Andy Warhol” and “Song for Bob Dylan,” the out and out rocking “Queen Bitch,” and the haunting “The Bewlay Brothers.”

Browse the main sale page to see the other 99 albums on sale for only $5 each in MP3 format through the end of March 2012.

Also, don’t forget, March Is Metal, so check out all the sales on all things metal!

As part of Amazon’s monthly $5 MP3 album deal for March 2012, David Bowie – The Best Of 1980/1987 is on sale for only $5.

Spanning his second wave of success, David Bowie, true jack of all trades, conformist, non-conformist, legend and trailblazer, has a nice assemblage of his standout 1980s tracks on this eclectic musical patchwork. Many hits, some staples of classic rock radio, including “Let’s Dance,” “Fashion,” “Modern Love,” “Blue Jean,” “Under Pressure,” Iggy Pop’s “China Girl,” and 13 other Bowie tunes, round out the collection.

Browse the main sale page to see the other 99 albums on sale for only $5 each in MP3 format through the end of March 2012.

Also, don’t forget, March Is Metal, so check out all the sales on all things metal!