Hunky Dory evokes some of John Lennon’s more acerbic songs, Lou Reed’s swagger, and Donovan’s cosmic musings. A few months after he had terminated Bowie's contract with Mercury, Defries showcased the newly recorded Hunky Dory to multiple labels in the US, including New York City's RCA Records. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.

You Pretty Things", "Eight Line Poem", "Kooks", "Queen Bitch" and "Andy Warhol" had been recorded; the mixes of "Eight Line Poem" and "Kooks" on the promotional album differed from the final versions on Hunky Dory.Five days later, the group recorded four takes of " Quicksand", the last of which appears on the finished album. Hunky Dory has received critical acclaim since it’s release, and is regarded as one of Bowie’s best works. Michael Gallucci of Ultimate Classic Rock notes that it is Bowie's first record to include "a mix of pop, glam, art and folk wrapped in an ambisexual pose that would come to define the artist".

After the hard rock sound of The Man Who Sold the World, Hunky Dory features a stylistic shift from Bowie towards art pop and melodic pop rock. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic describes it as "a kaleidoscopic array of pop styles, tied together only by Bowie's sense of vision: a sweeping, cinematic mélange of high and low art, ambiguous sexuality, kitsch, and class". Biographer Marc Spitz believes the piano incites a warmer feel on this record compared to its two predecessors. Although Bowie normally waited to name his albums until the last possible moment, the title "Hunky Dory" was announced at the John Peel session. Holy Holy", recorded in November 1970 and released as a single in January 1971, was a commercial flop.Unlike the majority of the album's tracks, "Queen Bitch" is primarily driven by guitar rather than piano. The whole album sounds fresher, cleaner and more defined and is considerable better at meaningful volume than my original. Looking back from the vantage point of 2018, it’s easy to forget the early trajectory of David Bowie’s rising star was a bit wobbly. After David Bowie completed his third studio album, The Man Who Sold the World, in May 1970, he became less active in both the studio and on stage. After hearing a demo of Bowie's " Holy Holy", recorded in autumn 1970, Defries signed the singer to a contract with Chrysalis, but thereafter limited his work with Bowie to focus on other projects.