Whatever Bowie does on stage, and no matter how skillfully, it cannot and does not carry over to recordings. He comes off flat and pedestrian with his overfed, underpowered vocals and lyrics filled with incomprehensible blah. Some of his early albums were loony and funny, but he is now apparently taking himself seriously and it just doesn't work. Almost all of ["Young Americans"] is pale and unprofitable, with the exception of his rendering of John Lennon's wonderful Across the Universe, outstanding because of the way he butchers the tune.

Joel Vance, "Popular Discs and Tapes: 'Young Americans'," in Stereo Review (copyright © 1975 by Ziff-Davis Publishing Company), Vol. 35, No. 1, July, 1975, p. 73.