David Blue

David Blue

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
'60s folk and rock fans remember David Blue as perhaps the most authentic Dylan imitator in an era full of them, and certainly everything about this 1966 release, from the half-spoken, half-sung vocals, to the bluesy, keyboard-rich arrangements, to even the album cover shot of Blue sporting a curly Dylan-like haircut, brings Bob to mind. But Blue came by his Dylan influence honestly; he was not only a friend, part of the inner circle of Greenwich Village folkies, but also, as legend would have it, helped Dylan come up with the chords to Blowin' in the Wind. So if mid-' 60s Bob is your bag, you're gonna love this long-lost record, a key artifact of a very special time and place. A Collectors' Choice Music exclusive, with new notes featuring an interview with album producer Arthur Gorson!

Tracks:

Young Americans (5.11)
Win (4.44)
Fascination (5.44)
Right (4.15)
Somebody Up There Likes Me (6.30)
Across The Universe (4.50)
Can You Hear Me (5.03)
Fame (4.15)
John, I'm Only Dancing (Again) (7.00) (Bonus Track)
Who Can I Be Now? (4.36) (Bonus Track)
It's Gonna Be Me (with strings) (6.26) (Bonus Track)

Tracks:

Young Americans (5.11) (5.1 mix)
Win (4.44)(5.1 mix)
Fascination (5.44)(5.1 mix)
Right (4.15) (5.1 mix)
Somebody Up There Likes Me (6.30) (5.1 mix)
Across The Universe (4.50)(5.1 mix)
Can You Hear Me (5.03) (5.1 mix)
Fame (4.15) (5.1 mix)
John, I'm Only Dancing (Again) (7.00) (Bonus Track) (5.1 mix)
Who Can I Be Now? (4.36) (Bonus Track) (5.1 mix)
It's Gonna Be Me (with strings) (6.26) (Bonus Track) (5.1 mix)
1984 (live performance on Dick Cavett Show, 1974)
Young Americans (live performance on Dick Cavett Show, 1974)
Dick Cavett interviews David Bowie, 1974

Customer Reviews:

mastering issues?.......2007-07-05

young americans as an album is great - my reason for this review is to find out if i'm just hearing things or if there are a couple mistakes on the standard cd of this album (not the 5.1 mix)

at 3:45 in the song young americans, the background singers seem to drop completely out of the mix for a full second in the right speaker. also, maybe 5 to 10 seconds or so before this, there is a click that kind of sounds like skip in the cd but its not - these aren't huge things but for an audiophile, they're distracting at the least, esp. with headphones - can anyone else verify that this is on all of the copies of the special edition album? its not just mine, right?

It's not THAT bad.......2007-06-27

I honestly think the Dolby mix listening experience depends on the type of fidelity system one has. I do agree with the previous poster that certain instruments really are much too loud on several of the songs, but I found the backup singers coming out of the rear channels to be really something else. The songs featuring string arrangements are especially compelling with Bowies' vocals centered, background singers in the rear and the orchestration lushly swirling around seemingly from everywhere. I don't know if Dolby DTS makes this sound better, but that's the scheme that I use to listen to just about everything, including this (I just prefer DTS over 5.1). Aside from the occasionally loud bass drum or percussion instrument, I just haven't found any deal breaking faults like the prior reviewer has. No disrespect to his opinions, but I guess people just hear things differently.

The five star rating is for the total package of this latest re-issue. The CD version of the mixes is outstanding, the Dolby disc while not drop dead essential, is nice enough to have. The Dick Cavett interview and the musical performances are both really very interesting archival things. Yeah they've been floating around forever as bootlegs, but now's your chance to get it legitimately. The liner notes are also excellent, tracing the path of the album itself and the Bowie timeline of events that surrounded this recording (like found on the Ziggy, Aladin and Diamond Dogs reissues).

So in short, no don't buy this if you're happy with whatever version of YA you have. But if you do have the cash to burn then by all means indulge yourself.

Young Americans was and still is, a great great album.

5.1 channels of gross.......2007-06-10

I love this album. The original stereo mix is great. Great songs, great performances, great sound. I'm not even going to get into that. My review is for those of you strictly curious about the 5.1 mix.

The 5.1 mix, in short, is awful. If you've ever thought to yourself, "Boy, I wish that bongo drum was loud as hell" or "Why can't those backup singers sound like they're singing in a garage down the road?" then maybe you'll like this. The strut and soul of these songs is lost in the obnoxious frills of this surround mix. There are constant issues with the reverb on both lead and backup vocals. I'm sure the original tracks are hard to deal with, but the effects that make this album sound like a classic piece of coked-out 70's soul only sound awkward when shifting around in the stereo field at any instant. The only track that I find even interesting to hear in 5.1 is "Win". The worst tragedy of this remix is "Fame". It sounds so dry and brittle that I can't even handle it. This isn't "Fame". This is something else... Then again "Fascination" sucks pretty bad too. Man, what a waste of money.

The Dick Cavette show stuff is great though. Bowie just can't quit fidgeting with that cane.

(...)

Average customer rating:

Bowie at his Best
My Favourite Bowie Album
Oldie But (Remastered) Goodie
as wonderful as the wind
Great effects!

Station to Station
David Bowie
Manufacturer: Virgin Records Us
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Heroes
Low
Young Americans [ECD]
Aladdin Sane
Scary Monsters

ASIN: B00001OH7U
Release Date: 1999-09-28

Tracks:

Station To Station
Golden Years
Word On A Wing
TVC15
Stay
Wild Is The Wind

Amazon.com essential recording

After the success of the dance hits "Fame" and "Young Americans" (both off 1975's Young Americans), Bowie seemed to step back, ponder the future of rock, and then turn up the guitars and the art-rock sensibilities and make a completely engaging and evocative album. From the epic title track (introducing the Thin White Duke character and building into an incendiary rocker) to the irresistible "Golden Years" (another dance hit) and on to the physically wrenching and funk-drenched "Stay," the soul of David Bowie is pretty much meshed into every track. The playful "TVC15" takes the listener on a bumpy ride into unholy tech-love, and the gorgeous "Wild is the Wind" and "Word on a Wing" have Bowie stepping out of his rocker persona and into sensual crooner mode. Strong from beginning to end. --Lorry Fleming

Customer Reviews:

Bowie at his Best.......2007-08-01

cut to cut easily the most flowing & complete bowie. a must for any person with good musical taste. curious,,,,,,try this one & be totally turned on to davie baby. p.s. let's go flyers !!!!!!!

My Favourite Bowie Album.......2007-06-12

Hmm, Only six songs on a Bowie album. Is this a rip-off? That was my first reaction when it was released. Also when i heard the album for the first time it seemed my fears were justified. I could not understand the title song and felt it was a ten minute disjointed waste of time. I was also very shocked at the photos provided for the album. David Bowie was always thin but these photos showed him very anaemic and deathly thin. I realize he was at the height of drug addiction during this time and sometimes artists in this state can produce their best work.

For a die hard Bowie fan in the Seventies, there were too many abrupt changes in direction from Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust..., Aladdin Sane, Pin-Ups, Diamond Dogs, Young Americans and now Station to Station. It would continue with Low, "Heroes", Lodger, Scary Monsters and Let's Dance. Looking back it was an amazing run of success, with each album being very different fron its predecessor. He was very definitely ahead of his time! He was superbly aided by long time associate Carlos Alomar on Guitar, along with Earl Slick. Also included was Roy Bittan on Piano (of E Street Band fame), Dennis Davis on Drums and George Murray on Bass.

After listening to all of Bowie's albums from the Seventies, this is the one album I cherish the most. I do not know why that is as all his other albums are very rewarding and some are true classics (Ziggy, Aladdin, Low). But i think that this is his most personal album, not the musings of some alter-ego but it is David Bowie speaking from the heart. It may be another persona in the form of "The Thin White Duke" but it seems more stripped down with no glam, no funk and no throwbacks to an earlier time. It was a very modern album for 1976, and was blessed with a release date just before punk and disco ruled the radio.

1. STATION TO STATION (10.08) Certainly in the 1970s this was Bowie's longest song. Basically it comprises four differnet sections; TRAIN RIDE, INSTRUMENTAL INTRO, RETURN OF THE THIN WHITE DUKE and IT'S TOO LATE. I could not understand it all at first but now i just sit back and enjoy the wonderful ten minute opus in all its glory. One of my favourite Bowie songs of all time (and this album includes four!).

2. GOLDEN YEARS (4.03) One of DB's most popular songs and deservedly so. Very catchy and done in a great doo-wap style. Sounds nothing like Jean Genie or Diamond Dogs and it shows another side of Bowie's gift for songwriting. Another favourite.

3. WORD ON A WING (6.00) Getting into a more sentimental, religious mood. It is a nice change of pace and shows he can be vulnerable and very willing to show that he is not too strong. Not many superstars did this in those days.

4. TVC15 (5.29) The one song on the album that could be a throwback to earlier times and I do not mean that in a negative sense. This is a great Bowie song, hard to make out what he is saying but it is just good old guitar/piano rock song with a very catchy chorus. Love it!

5. STAY (6.08) The opening guitar riff draws you in immediately. Oblique lyrics but there is a sense of broodng uncertainty throughout the whole song and again it shows the singer's sensitive side.

6. WILD IS THE WIND (5.58) A cover version of a song written in 1956 by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington. I have not heard the original or any other version of this song but this is arguably the most satisfying song on the whole album. It is hard for me to say why as sometimes I listen to this song and feel Bowie's vocals are a little wobbly. Other times i listen to it and I feel he nails it completely. It is a beautiful song and the lyrics are sublime. I can understand why Bowie wanted to sing it as his vocal is so emotional. You get the sense that he is so completely in love and laying himself bare that it can make you teary-eyed. From an artist who was a glam rock superstar, it is a very sobering song coming straight from the heart. Sorry for the hyperbole but I have to admit personally it is the standout track on the album.

The folowing two tracks are bonuses on the cd and not indcluded on the original LP. They are live versions of WORD ON A WING (6.10) and STAY (8.24). They are interesting but not essential. The time listed on the album for the Live verion of STAY is incorrect at 7.24

Oldie But (Remastered) Goodie.......2007-04-13

Yet another Bowie album that sounded like nothing else being made at the time. Remarkable in that it only consists of 6 tracks, but most folks have probably forgotten how good those tracks were. Showcases Bowie's fabulous voice and operatic sense of timing.

as wonderful as the wind.......2007-04-09

a fantastic and profound album that comes to new light with this version. It is truly a timeless work that shines in any form. Captures Bowie in his occultish-musing incarnation and of course adding brilliance to the classic "wind."

Great effects!.......2007-01-26

The sound of the train coming through your speakers is amazing. Vocals are vintage Bowie as we know and love him. Make no mistake "Golden Years'" is just the tip of the iceberg on this great cd.

Average customer rating:

Pure Moods, Vol. III
Almost Perfect!!
AWESOME!
One of the best!
One of the Best in the New Age Genre

Pure Moods, Vol. III
Various Artists , Blue Man Group , Brian Eno & Geoffrey Oryema , David Lanz , Enigma , Enya , Jessie Cook , Kitaro , Moby , and Eight Others
Manufacturer: Virgin Records Us
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Pure Moods, Vol. II
Pure Moods, Vol. IV
Pure Moods, Vol. I
Pure Moods: Celestial Celebration
Celtic Moods: A Celtic Companion to Pure Moods

ASIN: B000058TCH
Release Date: 2001-02-06

Tracks:

Only If - Enya
Porcelain - Moby
Life in Mono - Mono
Games Without Frontiers - Peter Gabriel
Christphori's Dream - David Lanz
Land of Anaka - Brian Eno and Geoffrey Oryema
Dela Dela - Sacred Spirit
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - Ryuichi Sakamoto
Velocity of Love - Suzanne Ciani
Ever So Loney - Sheila Chandra
Virtue - Jessie Cook
Theme from Silk Road - Kitaro
Synaesthetic - Blue Man Group
On Sacred Ground - Yanni
Gravity of Love - Enigma
Deliver Me - Sarah Brightman

Amazon.com

What's most surprising about the Pure Moods series is not that it is so popular, but that the music on it actually represents some of the best New Age and modern instrumental music, rather than scraping the barrel. For every piece of Enya pop froth--like her "Only If," which opens the album--there is a deep and impassioned exploration like Sheila Chandra's virtually a cappella "Ever So Lonely/Eyes/Ocean." Yanni's bombastic "On Sacred Ground" is balanced by Moby's soulful trance groove, "Porcelain." Sometimes those juxtapositions don't work out well. The overwrought romanticism of pianist David Lanz's "Cristofori's Dream" can only suffer being sandwiched between the soul-searing vocals of Peter Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers (Massive/DB Mix)" and the Geoffrey Oryema/Brian Eno hymn, "Land of Anaka." With more than a quarter of the album drawn from the 1980s, there are some influential early gems here for new listeners, including Kitaro's wistful "Silk Road" and Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence." --John Diliberto

Customer Reviews:

Pure Moods, Vol. III.......2007-01-12

I did not find that I enjoyed it as much as Pure Moods, Vol. I

Pure Moods Vol I, I think is still the best

Almost Perfect!!.......2006-11-16

Anyone who's actually reading an online review of a Pure Moods album has to be, in my most humble of opinions, an established fan of the franchise, and I'm no exception: I LOVE Pure Moods. I have all 5 installments and Christmas Moods.

But on Pure Moods III, there is one song that simply does not belong: "Silk Road" by Kitaro. That has to be the most annoying, shrill, plodding sequence of sounds I've ever come across. I only listen to that track about 33% of the time. (I sporadically listen to it, just to see if I can hear it differently that time.) I would like to make a burn of this CD that does not contain that song.

Everything else rocks my socks.

Buy Pure Moods.

AWESOME!.......2006-09-06

If you are looking for meditation or tranquility from daily stress I recommend not only this CD, but the entire collection. I have all the Pure Moods collection and keep buying more New Age music. I feel I've invested my money in good music. I listen to pretty much anything from soft music, Rock, Salsa, Calypso to Dance-Techno music, but when I don't feel like listening to loud music, I listen to these CD collection, specially on a Sunday to reconnect with relaxation to start another heavy woking week. Also, if you like gospel, I'm sure you'll love these even though is not quite gospel music. You just reconnect yourself spiritually in this material world.

One of the best!.......2006-05-17

Pure Moods volume 3 is probably the second best in the series after the original Pure Moods. With mainstays such as Yanni and Enigma how can you go wrong? Powerful tracks like "Deliver Me" from Sarah Brightman and Peter Gabriel's "Games without Frontiers" highlight this release. As with the rest of the Pure Moods series this is very good and worthy of repeat listenings. Other great CD's include Imogen Heap, any Digital Moodz CD and Enigma's 1st CD or LSD.

One of the Best in the New Age Genre.......2005-12-02

Pure Moods: Vol. 3 is one of my favorite New Age CDs, which is such beautiful mix of sublime music from various artists. Suprisingly, the CD both energizes and calms.

Games Without Frontiers by Peter Gabriel has such a satisfying, mellow groove, yet it seems to take the spirit straight to higher plains. It's not only ear candy, but enhances altered states of consciousness.

On Sacred Ground is one of my favorite Yanni songs, and it's on here, too! All I can say is "major goosebumps." It's like being in the Universal Cathedral of Spirit and having God sing to you.

Diva Sarah Brightman adds her smooth soprano voice to the track called Deliver Me. It has a pop groove, but weaved into the background is the etheric keyboards that gives it that flavor that appeals to both the ear and the spirit. When I listen to this song, I feel my heart chakra just blow wide open, receiving the love that the Universe provides in abundance.

Dela Dela by Sacred Spirit starts off with a deep flute reminiscent of a Native American ceremony. Although a pop beat ensues, the song is still undergirded by the strings, which makes it feel orchestral, but very tribal. The tribal aspects is punctuated by what sounds like Native American chanting, but then the female lead takes over once again. It's a song that penetrates, daring you to look away...but you just can't. Then it segues back into the strings, which sucks you right back in to the groove.

The only song I'm not particularly crazy about is Enya's Only If; it's a good song, but so much of Enya's music is overplayed, especially for movie trailers and soundtracks.

This CD contains Christofori's Dream (the 1988 piano masterpiece) as well as songs by Moby, Brian Eno, Enigma, and others, for a total of 16 songs.

Average customer rating:

Two Thumbs Up
Good (as always), but it's not Dave.
Let's dance (and you'd better not expect anything else than that)
4 1/2 stars - Much better than you're led to believe
Far From The Gods

Let's Dance [ECD]
David Bowie
Manufacturer: Virgin Records Us
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Scary Monsters
Young Americans [ECD]
Heroes
Station to Station
Tonight

ASIN: B00001OH7Z
Release Date: 1999-09-28

Tracks:

Modern Love
China Girl
Let's Dance
Without You
Ricochet
Criminal World
Cat People
Shake It

Amazon.com

David Bowie returned to recording after a four-year break with this relatively clean-cut 1983 album. Although offering another definite new direction for Bowie, with Nile Rodgers of Chic helping to produce a stylish post-disco dance sound, Let's Dance is a mixed bag. Much of the album's success was due to its three danceable hit singles--"China Girl," a sensuous Bowie/Iggy Pop collaboration, the distinctive "Modern Love," and the funky title track. However, much of the rest of the album is bland and vapid, marking the start of serious decline in Bowie's songwriting skills. A cover of Metro's "Criminal World" and "Cat People" are the only other strong tracks here. --James Swift

Customer Reviews:

Two Thumbs Up.......2006-11-10

What can you say? Every song on this CD is great!

Good (as always), but it's not Dave........2006-02-13

I bought this album because I heard Let's Dance on the radio. It was a Bowie song I never heard, but I liked it so I bought the album. It had some pretty "okay" songs on it. Let's Dance and China Girl are definately the highlights on this record, and perhaps the only highlights. The others are enjoyable, but they don't rank in David Bowie's best. At least David managed to make an album with 2 of his best and most popular songs.

In conclusion, I HIGHLY reccomend this to anyone who's a die-hard fan of David Bowie. If you don't exactly worship at the alter of Dave but own some of his work, you may want to stay clear of Let's Dance and just download the songs Let's Dance and China Girl.

Let's dance (and you'd better not expect anything else than that).......2006-01-17

''Let's Dance'' is not one of Bowie's best albums, but it's something you need to check, like all of Nile Rodger's co-produced works. Analysed as an artistic project it's not even in Bowie's top10, due to the inconsistency that marked all of his albums after ''Lodger'' and is not absent here either. A prolific songwriter, Bowie is always coming back from his ashes with a large set of new material, but the quality control seems to have disappeared since almost 2 decades ago and in the end we get little -when we're lucky- gems among time-wasting filler tracks. What makes this record so charming though is that the singles are simply amazing, the compaining videos are among his best and the yellow-headed superstar persona he created to introduce it all to us is simply the coolest we could get from him since the Berlin albums. ''Modern love'' is a deliciously simple rocker, one of his catchiest singles ever. ''Let's Dance'' is one of his best tracks to the purpose explicited on its title, and ''China Girl'', although not in pair with Iggy's version, is also a very clever single. ''Cat people'' is another good 80's-Bowie-song and the production of the whole album is in general very consistent, despite of some weak but still listenable and enjoyable fillers. It won't hurt you to have this in your collection - if you don't expect a masterpiece, but a nice album for good fun instead.

4 1/2 stars - Much better than you're led to believe.......2006-01-16

David Bowie's 1983 opus, "Let's Dance" has become quite a controversial title in his catalog in the years passing since it's release. Some see it as a sellout, others see it as a nadir, but I think both views are a little out of hand.

Following SEVEN five-star albums (IMO) between 1974-1980 (Diamond Dogs, Young Americans, Station To Station, Low, Heroes, Lodger and Scary Monsters), anything less than perfection from the man was seen as a colossal disaster, and while Let's Dance is a great album, it is a slight decline from the albums he recorded in the mid to late seventies.

Another thing that really hurts the album is that it was his first album since "Young Americans" in 1975 that really is a product of its era. "Let's Dance" is as 1983 as Flashdance and Kajagoogoo. This album would not have been able to work in 1982 or 1984, much like "Young Americans" is a total product of 1975. It was totally the right album at the right time.

The album was highly commercial and provided him with more American success than he'd ever seen before and the videos made him a mainstay on the then-new MTV, but the commercialness of it has made the album seen as "David Bowie-lite" to most diehard fans. Truth be told, there is much to offer from this album.

"Modern Love", "China Girl" and "Let's Dance" are the one-two-three punch that starts this album off. These songs are solely responsible for bringing many new fans to the David Bowie party in 1983, and all of them are great singles. "Let's Dance" is presented as a 7 1/2 minute long 12" style mix of the song instead of the 4 minute version that made it a #1 single.

"Without You" was an afterthought choice for a single, and is a nice low-key new wave style ballad, although the Keith Haring portrait on the 45 cover might be more memorable than the album.

"Ricochet" is definately the closest thing to the Berlin trilogy as Bowie will get on an otherwise commercial album. I hated the song at first but it's really grown on me.

"Criminal World" was another single-in-the-making, it kinda reminded me of a slower Duran Duran style song, a very pleasing song.

"Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" is where the album falters. The original 1982 version of the song produced by Giorgio Moroder is a masterpiece and one of Bowie's most underrated singles. Here is a re-recording that turns it into a standard snoozeworthy 80's rock song.

"Shake It" is another bad track, ending the album with filler of the worst kind.

However, I love the first six of the eight tracks, and that is enough to make the album worth owning. It is nowhere in the league of Bowie's 1974-1982 work, but at the same time, this is the best album we'll get from Bowie until 1993 when his career begins its renaissance. Stevie Ray Vaughan fans also should check this album out.

Far From The Gods.......2006-01-08

On the one hand, 'Let's Dance' is the first album since his 1967 debut, where Bowie releases a record not worthy of the highest praise on this planet. But on the other hand, it is by far not as awful as some have made it. Also, it is very much 1983 in a bottle, as Ziggy was 1972, Heroes 1977 and Scary Monsters 1980. After all, it was the year of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' and Culture Club's 'Colour By Numbers' (of which the latter is by far the best of all three albums). It would be on 'Tonight' that Bowie, for the first time, was out of time.

'Let's Dance' opens with the brilliantly rocking pop gem 'Modern Love', which, as the third single off the album soared to a UK #2 / US #14 peak. It is deliciously disposable, utterly commercial, but not at all too self-conscious. It is followed by the second single (UK #2 / US #10), the now-stample-on-radio, 'China Girl', an arguably somewhat superior version of the song Bowie wrote with Iggy Pop for his 1977 comeback album 'The Idiot'. Here 'China Girl' is a soft & smooth danceable track with great rhytm & also retaining Iggy's haunting lyrics.
The title track, and also the first single off the album, a UK #1 / US #1, appears here in its full lenght, majestic & brooding, with darkening lyrics & joyous instrumental backing, that made it an instant worldwide classic.
The fourth single, which was released only in the US, and only scraped to an undeserved #73, is 'Without You', a simple but breathtakingly gorgeous song, which is my personal favourite on the record (due to overexposure of the three brilliant first singles). It is romantic & gentle & brilliantly sung, an underrated gem, if there ever was one. Also one of the most 'new romantic' tracks on the record.
'Ricochet', another of my favourites, has the most brooding text on the album, & also the strangest music, with rolling drums that underline, that 'Let's Dance', if nothing else, at least still is somewhat darker than 'Thriller'.
The cover of 'Criminal World' is excellent, & brings further neo-romantic mystique onto the record. It is followed by a re-recording of 'Cat People (Putting Out Fire)', a song Bowie originally wrote and recorded with Giorgio Moroder for the 'Cat People' soundtrack, in 1982. Released as a single at that time, it reached a low & undeserved UK #26.
Anyway, in its original state, it was a delicious piece of New Romanticism, the closest Bowie ever came to the wonderful, glammy dance of Duran Duran, & with lyrics & sound effects that made it haunting like any classic Bowie track from the 70s.
Here, on 'Let's Dance', however, it is tossed off in a blaze of hard rock. Not that it doesn't work, it's an almost excellent recording, but it pales so much compared to the original version, and worse = you can't stop thinking of how much better the original was.
'Shake It', which closes the album in a Boy Georgesque way, is a great dance track, poppy, & self-consciously disposable & irrelevant. It ends a record that, if released by anybody else, would have been seen as, at least, a near-masterpiece, but which, like its recording of 'Cat People' (a microcosm mirror of all the strenghts & weaknesses of the album), just didn't match the earlier Bowie. Still, if you already own everything from 'Space Oddity' to 'Scary Monsters', this album is well worth a thought, 'cos it harbours a warmth, that Bowie at least retained through the eighties, on to 'Never Let Me Down', before it was lost to experimentation for experimentation's sake (as opposed to experimentation for the sake of your life, as one could have called his 70's period).

So this album is great. But unlike 'The Man Who Sold The World', 'Station To Station' or 'Diamond Dogs', this one is far from the gods. Far, far from the gods...

Average customer rating:

A GREAT BOWIE COMPILATION ALBUM FOR THE CURIOUS BEGINNER.
GOOD STARTER, BUT.................
BOWIE KEEPS SWINGING
18 classic bowie songs, perfect!
Outdated

Changesbowie
David Bowie
Manufacturer: Rykodisc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Young Americans [ECD]
The Cars - Greatest Hits
Let's Dance [ECD]
Scary Monsters
Space Oddity

ASIN: B0000009UI
Release Date: 1990-03-12

Tracks:

Space Oddity
John, I'm Only Dancing
Changes
Ziggy Stardust
Suffragette City
Jean Genie
Diamond Dogs
Rebel Rebel
Young Americans
Fame '90 Remix
Golden Years
Heros
Ashes To Ashes
Fashion
Let's Dance
China Girl
Modern Love
Blue Jean

Amazon.com

The 1976 best-of Changesonebowie (slyly named for a Charles Mingus disc issued the previous year) was the Thin White Duke's last major commercial hit of the decade. Collecting famed singles and album cuts from an amazingly fertile period, it clicked both with those who got into Bowie through his mainstream popularity and with the crowd who loved him for his challenge to it. This expanded edition goes forward from "Golden Years," the original closer, with a hopscotch through later radio favorites like "Let's Dance." Flaws? A remixed "Fame '90" that already sounded dated when it was new, and the disc's omission of almost all of Bowie's collaborations with Brian Eno. The upside? A generally smart update of a key compilation. --Rickey Wright

Album Description

Bowie's 1990 hits compilation, deleted in the U.S. Contains 18 of the Thin White Duke's finest from 1969-1990, all digitally remastered. Includes 'Space Oddity', 'Changes', 'Suffragette City', 'Rebel Rebel', 'Young Americans', 'Golden Years', 'Ashes To Ashes', 'Let's Dance' and 'Blue Jean'. 1990 release.

Customer Reviews:

A GREAT BOWIE COMPILATION ALBUM FOR THE CURIOUS BEGINNER. .......2007-05-07

I will be writing a review on the legendary compilation album entitled "DAVID BOWIE - CHANGESBOWIE" by one of Rock's all-time greatest premier charismatic artists ever. I give you one of England's pride and joy's and one of Britain's favorite sons, M-R. D-A-V-I-D--B-O-W-I-E! "CHANGESBOWIE" was originally released in 1990 on Compact Disc on the RykoDisc Records label. As always, if I hear any new additional information concerning this legendary album or the artist, I will edit this review immediately so that you the consumer will get the overall best informative and most accurate review possible.

DAVID BOWIE will forever go down in Rock n' Roll history and be remembered for recording some of Rock's most sacred classic anthems ever. BOWIE will also be remembered for his charisma and his flamboyant personality along with his many outlandish costumes and clothing. BOWIE started out in the music scene via a series of short-lived British bands in the mid-sixties-among them, THE MANISH BOYS and THE LOWER THIRD-before embarking on a successful solo career beginning in 1966. DAVID BOWIE is without a doubt, Rock's most foremost futurist and genre-bending pioneer, chameleon and transformer. Thoughout BOWIE'S solo career, and his alliances with other legendary contemporary artists such as Mick Jagger, Freddie Mercury, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Brian Eno and Nine Inch Nails, BOWIE has positioned himself on the cutting edge of Rock n Roll. BOWIE'S innovations has created or furthered several major trends in Rock n' Roll including Glam-Rock, Art Rock and the very notion of the self-mythologized larger-than-life Rock star. DAVID BOWIE, throughout his entire career, has recorded many great legendary albums and unforgetable legendary hit songs to highly critically acclaim. Which brings me to the legendary compilation album that I'm about to review for you today. "CHANGESBOWIE" is the result of the many great hit songs that BOWIE recorded in the 70's and 80's. In my opinion, "CHANGESBOWIE" is without a doubt, a true testament of the sheer genius and musical creativity of a very extremely talented individual. "CHANGESBOWIE" is also a fine fitting tribute to a great legendary artist that was truly indeed, far ahead of his time.

It is now time to let the Rock n' Roll music of DAVID BOWIE to speak for itself and back it up by doing all of the talking musically. DAVID BOWIE'S legendary "CHANGESBOWIE" compilation album begins with the beautifully slow and mysterious acoustic Rocker "Space Oddity," the amazing acoustic Rocker "John, I'm Only Dancing," the beautiful synthesized Rocker "Changes," the forever breathtaking BOWIE trademark slow hard Rocker "Ziggy Stardust," the blistering BOWIE trademark hard Rocker "Suffragette City," the groundbreaking hard Rocker "Jean Genie," the incredible live hard Rocker "Diamond Dogs," the forever BOWIE trademark a*s kicking hard Rockin' anthem "Rebel Rebel," the soulful and soothing Rocker "Young Americans," the THEN new 90's remix version of the a*s kicking BOWIE/LENNON composition hard Rocker "Fame '90 (Remix)," the smooth and refreshing Rocker "Golden Years," the forever BOWIE trademark hard Rock anthem "Heroes," the bass pumping and heartfelt Rocker "Ashes To Ashes," the sizzlin' Rocker "Fashion," the forever BOWIE trademark synthesized dance Rocker "Lets Dance," the forever BOWIE trademark 80's synthesized dance Rocker especially for oriental women, "China Girl," (WHY DON'T YOU JUST SHUT YOUR MOUTH! AND SHE SAID, "SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!") the ultimate 80's BOWIE synthesized dance Rocker "Modern Love" and the forever BOWIE trademark killer dance Rocker "Blue Jean." May I also add that BOWIE was in TOP FORM while laying down the tracks for all of these legendary hit songs. BOWIE'S blistering lead vocals were sizzlin' red hot and is definitely the lifeforce and energy that was needed to take the music to another level. Also note that STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN played guitar on several of these songs after 1983.

Overall, this is one hell of a greatest hits compilation album worth checking out and seeking further research and information into especially if you are a hardcore diehard DAVID BOWIE fan or a devout music collector. As for all of the curious newcomers or new beginners that are not quite familiar with the sound and music of DAVID BOWIE, this is a great compilation album to begin with. However, there are many other new DAVID BOWIE greatest hits compilation albums that you might want to research further into before you make your final decision as to which album(s) are right for your musical needs and tastes. Either way you choose, you will have taken a giant step in owning and starting your very own DAVID BOWIE music collection. You can do all of your researching and album purchases on either Amazon com or at your nearest local Borders Books and Music store. If you ever get a chance, buy this album. You'll be happy and satisfied that you did.

I would like to highly recommend purchasing this legendary compilation album to own as a valuable and important part of his or her own personal music collection. This legendary treasure album has already proven to stand the test of time and will always be around to be enjoyed, appreciated and cherished for many years to come, NOW AND FOREVER. This is one great priceless gem that no hardcore music fan or devout music collector would want to be without.

In closing, DAVID BOWIE has successfully continued in recording many more great albums and embarking on new World Tours to sell-out audiences the world over up to this very day to highly critically acclaim. Knowing this, I guess it is safe to say that DAVID BOWIE is here to stay and isn't going anywhere soon. DAVID BOWIE has received the highest ultimate honor possible by being inducted as a member of the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. There will also be new stories in the BOWIE legend that will still need to be told and written. But that, my fellow readers and reviewers, you will just have to stay tuned to your computers and read further more about it at a later date in the near future. With this in mind, DAVID BOWIE has forever left his place and mark in Rock n' Roll history and will never be forgotten. So here's to you David! Thanks for the great memories with many more still to come. Keep Persevering. Keep The Faith. And as the saying goes, "AND THE REST IS ROCK N' ROLL HISTORY," need I say more? Thanks for reading my review and I truly hope that you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have truly enjoyed writing it for your reading pleasure. I also deeply hope that all of you will read all of my other reviews in the near future when time permits. DAVID BOWIE RULES! Long Live Rock n' Roll. Rock out always and take it easy. Forever in Rock, John L.

GOOD STARTER, BUT........................2006-01-15

.......incomplete. Once I got a hold of this album, I'm like thinking to myself, well this is pretty good but one exception, you urge for more Bowie because it doesn't have every song I like of his, and to be quite honest, I like his earlier sets better, like Space Oddity, or even Ziggy Stardust, or maybe even Diamond Dogs. Well the list can go on and on but I would be ramblin now wouldn't I. Yeh I guess it's fair to say if you're a casual listener this would be good enough, but if you like his work, go out and just get his studio albums, they're more worth it, unless you like to here just bits and pieces like Let's Dance or Fashion, or even Chinagirl, what about The Man Who Sold The World, or even Rock and Roll Suicide. Well, either way be warned.

BOWIE KEEPS SWINGING.......2005-12-21

DAVID BOWIE-CHANGESBOWIE: If ever a word aptly described the former David (Don't call me a Monkee) Jones, the title of his early classic CHANGES would be it. From the beautifully eerie SPACE ODDITY and wham-glam of SUFFRAGETTE CITY, to the neo-soul of YOUNG AMERICANS and the calculated club cut LET'S DANCE, Bowie has seldom repeated himself. A seamless combination of the CHANGESONEBOWIE and CHANGESTWOBOWIE anthologies, here is most everything you could ask for hit-wise, the lone downer being a less than necessary remix of FAME. Throughout his career, the Thin White Duke has been blessed with a long line of stellar guitar foils, including Mick Ronson, Carlos Alomar, Robert Fripp, even a pre-fame Stevie Ray Vaughn, yet it is Ziggy himself who is always the Starman. RATING: FIVE OH BOWIES!

18 classic bowie songs, perfect!.......2005-11-01

Let me start by saying that David bowie is, along with the Beatles, one of the most influential artists in popular music history. This 1990 compilation collects bowies most important songs from 1969 to 1984, you couldn't really name any other classic bowie song after Blue Jean, these songs trace bowie's amazing journey from the folkie-psychedelic start to glam-rock icon, from british soul singer to pre new wave pioneer to finally pop superstar in the 1980's.
Some reviewers have written that the most recent EMI collection "best of bowie" is better than this Rykodisc edition, well, if you talk about the single disc edition this is a lot better, and cheaper, option. This compilation includes two songs that the other one doesn't, "john Im only dancing" and "diamond dogs", I would take these songs any day over "dancing in the streets" and even "under pressure" wich is more appropiate in a Queen collection (this song appeared on Queen's hot space).
The other argument is the remastering, even tough this is a 1990 compilation it was digitally remastered back then, so in that aspect they are even.
Finally there's the fact that on the new collection some songs have been edited, like "young americans".
So the final veredict is that this is better than the single disc edition of "best of bowie", but I never said than the double disc option, wich is more comprehensive and it covers the latter years, but it's going to cost you more money, so if you want a single disc introduction to bowie, this is the best way to go.

Outdated.......2004-07-30

Admittedly, this album is great Bowie 101. It was the second album of Mr. Bowie's that I ever purchased and it sold me forever as a hardcore fan. Ten years ago, you couldn't really do any better so far as greatest hits albums go (with the possible exception of Bowie Singles 68-93). However, since the release of Best of Bowie, it seems like kind of a waste of money when, for the same price or perhaps a little extra, one can purchase a much more complete, up-to-date album.
This is a fantastic album in and of itself, but for my money, it's kind of obsolete considering what else is available.

Average customer rating:

Well, I Love It!
Every new Bowie album takes some getting used to.
Not as bad as you've heard
A prime example of Bowie mediocrity
His Weakest Effort

Tonight
David Bowie
Manufacturer: Virgin Records Us
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00001OH80
Release Date: 1999-09-28

Tracks:

Loving The Alien
Don't Look Down
God Only Knows
Tonight
Neighborhood Threat
Blue Jean
Tumble And Twirl
I Keep Forgettin'
Dancing With The Big Boys

Customer Reviews:

Well, I Love It!.......2007-06-13

I'm not sure why so many people dislike this record, but I hold it high among the most enjoyable things Bowie has ever done. I can listen to it repeatedly from beginning to end and get a very warm feeling from it. This album is kind of like the sonic equivalent of a good pair of comfy shoes...they feel great everytime you put 'em on!

Every new Bowie album takes some getting used to........2007-02-08

Of course I bought "Tonight" when it first came out, lo these many years ago, because of the smash (and deservedly so) hit, "Blue Jean". It was a phenomenon at the time. The extra-long video playing during an era when music TV stations actually played music videos, and so the album became mine. At the time I must have owned about 20-30 Bowie albums, having amassed quite the collection shortly after "Let's Dance" arrived a few years earlier.

And yes, as some reviewers here have also said, I was let down. But I played it. Over and over. I recall the same feeling when buying "Scary Monsters", and several other of Bowie's albums.

With each new album Bowie re-invents himself, and this one perhaps a bit moreso. Gone was the glam-rocker, and here was the lounge singer. But like most of his albums, he brings a bit of his own art to each of these songs. It's as if you walked into a night club in the 1950s and this guy was opening for Sinatra or something. But the more I listened, the more I began to really really love the haunting tones of Bowie's voice lent to some of these creamy lounge songs.

And now, some 20 years later, I find myself missing this album. I sold off my Bowie cassette collection years ago during a move. (No room for everything of course.) So I'm ordering this one again now. I can get one or two of the songs on his various "Greatest Hits" albums, but you may find, as I did, that this album is not something you can cut up and serve in pieces. It's best served whole.

Not as bad as you've heard.......2006-07-01

I feel that Bowie changes with every new album so I always go in listening to Bowie with open ears, not prejudice. This is a fine album. I think that Bowie was trying to go for a more latin sound than Let's Dance. The title track is disposable, but it's the only one. I liked this album, maybe it's because I am a Bowie fan, but give this album a chance, you may like it.

A prime example of Bowie mediocrity .......2006-03-06

David Bowie's Tonight is not as bad as almost every critic makes it out to be. Yeah, sure, a few of the tracks suck horrendously ("God Only Knows", anyone?), but what about "Blue Jean"? That's one of Bowie's best singles ever. But the one reason to buy this album is the first track: "Loving The Alien" . It is one of my all-time favorite Bowie tracks and for a good reason: it is seven minutes (that's a fifth of the whole album, just to let you know) of pure, other-worldly, David Bowie bliss .

Another reason you may not want to pass this album up is the fact that Iggy Pop co-wrote a few of the tracks on this album (in case you don't know, Pop was lead vocalist for the hard-hitting rock band The Stooges, who inspired Bowie's own Ziggy Stardust album immensely). Although the tracks he contributed to don't sound anything like The Stooges or his solo records, they still make for an interesting (yet poor) listen.

If you're somewhere in-between a hard-core Bowie fan (me) and a serious Bowie listener, and if you don't want to buy all of his mediocre later albums (like Tonight), what I advise you to do is make a "best of the worst" of Bowie via iTunes or Napster. So, although you'd have his classics from the 70's, you'd also have his better later tracks all on one (or maybe two) convenient discs.

Bottom line? Only the craziest of the crazy Bowie fans (such as myself) will find any reason to purchase this extremely short (and sometimes pathetic) Bowie album. I rate it 3 stars (what did you expect?). If you don't have his 70's albums, don't even touch this record. It may make you hate Bowie forever.

His Weakest Effort.......2006-01-18

There's almost no such thing as a bad Bowie album, but "Tonight" comes close. Recorded very hastily (reportedly the sessions concluded in less than a week), Bowie was clearly not that interested in the record, tossing it off as a quickie follow-up to "Let's Dance." Unlike the hit album, however, the production here sounds limp and lifeless, and the overall tone of the album is flat and dull.

The title track has a provocative concept, one that you don't notice unless you listen closely to the lyrics. However, it fails due to understated delivery. "Loving the Alien" is the one strong tune, while "Blue Jean" is worth including on the various greatest hits package, but which sounds more like a "Let's Dance" outtake than a full-fledged effort. The most interesting aspect of the song --- the 20 minute video --- has never been made available and is not included on the two-disc DVD which collects almost all of Bowie's videos.

Fortunately, Bowie never got worse than this. His next album was not a stellar effort but it was less formulaic, and by the end of the 1980s Bowie had gone back to basics with the formidable Tin Machine lineup. He hasn't made a bad record since.

I can forgive him this one. In fact, since "Loving the Alien" and "Blue Jean" are on the greatest hits packages, I don't own a copy.

Average customer rating:

Funkin' on the Soul Train
A 5-star Record if Ever There Was One
One of Bowie's Finest cd's.
Who Can He Be Now (and will they pay him for it)?
You Need To check The Meat When Your Pieces of Bread Are Stale

Young Americans [ECD]
David Bowie
Manufacturer: Virgin Records Us
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Station to Station
Heroes
Scary Monsters
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Low

ASIN: B00001OH7T
Release Date: 1999-09-28

Tracks:

Young Americans
Win
Facination
Right
Somebody Up There Likes Me
Across The Universe
Can You Hear Me
Fame

Amazon.com

With 1975's Young Americans, David Bowie chose to head in yet another "new direction," this time extrapolating on the slick disco-soul vibe that characterized 1974's David Live. Surrounded by an army of backup singers (including Luther Vandross) and smooth session players, Bowie actually makes the stylistic affectation work on three of the songs--"Fame," "Young Americans," and "Can You Hear Me." The rest of the record suffers from a dearth of quality songwriting; all the tasty licks in the world can't disguise the fact that "Fascination," "Win," "Somebody Up There Likes Me," and "Right" are basically empty-headed disco vamps. (And the less said about the overwrought cover of the Beatles' "Across the Universe," the better.) A necessary transitional step to Station to Station, perhaps, but not a great record. --Dan Epstein

Customer Reviews:

Funkin' on the Soul Train.......2007-07-15

I don't think this was one of Bowie's most critically acclaimed albums, but it is one of my favorites, right up there with "Ziggy", "Aladdin Sane" and "Diamond Dogs". While it doesn't have much in common with those classics technically, the "spirit" is the same: musical moods and lyrics that hint at darker, alternate worlds, vocals and arrangements that sound like no one else's. This time around, Bowie is singing soul, complete with "soulful" back-up singers. Most of the tracks are dance-oriented, but that's not surprising since the album was released right at the dawn of Disco. "Win" and "Somebody Up There Likes Me" are both positive and inspirational to a degree, and I like that. "Right" is a smooth-as-silk dance track that takes you on quite a ride. It contains an intricate vocal "debate" between Bowie and the back-up singers that is so tricky and precise, they must have needed about 100 takes to get it down, or else inspiration struck and they were lucky enough to improvise it. The first and last tracks, "Young Americans" and "Fame", have similarities. Both are strong, dynamic tracks, especially if you crank them up, with interesting lyrics. And both have a John Lennon connection. In fact, John Lennon is all over this album. In "Young Americans" we hear the back-ups sing "I heard the news today oh boy", an allusion to Lennon's "A Day In The Life", and "Fame" was co-written and co-sung by Lennon. There's more: "Across The Universe" is one of Lennon's songs from "Let It Be", and Lennon contributes guitar to this cut as well as to "Fame". Most reviewers don't like Bowie's version of "Across The Universe", and I admit it took me time to get used to it, but now I like it. Moving on, "Fascination" is another good dance track, and "Can You Hear Me" is a slower soul ballad, very effectively conveying the singer's desire to rekindle a relationship that was once meaningful and real.

Although I admit that the transformation seemed rather abrupt (Ziggy one day, Thin White Duke the next), still the songs on "Young Americans" strike me as genuine. We all go through changes (no pun intended), and this was a big one for David Bowie. I guess his huge success in America pointed him in this direction. All I know is, I never get tired of listening to this album.

By the way, I've seen this album compared unfavorably to "Station To Station", and I've heard it called just a transition to "S 2 S", but I like "Young Americans" MUCH better. Go figure.

A 5-star Record if Ever There Was One.......2007-05-19

I honestly can't believe that some self-professed Bowie fans are giving this CD fewer than four stars. Even if you're not a fan of soul music, just the "firsts" and the personnel on this album make it an essential record for all music fans, let alone Bowiephiles.

Bowie's 1975 reinvention as a blue-and-green-eyed soul singer was brilliant on a number of scores-- he went to Philadelphia to take advantage of the Sound of Philadelphia session musicians. There, he enlisted Luther Vandross, still in his late teens, to sing, arrange the background vocals, and co-write "Fascination." Vandross had studied music in New York with Bowie guitar player Carlos Alomar. The sax, featured prominently on "Young Americans" and "Somebody Up There Likes Me" was the debut of a young David Sanborn, and also his first recording. Add John Lennon playing, singing, and writing "Fame" and you've got a classic record before you've pressed the "play" button.

As for the songs themselves, "Young Americans" and "Fame" are flat-out classic hits. "Right" and "Win" are moody soul tunes, "Can You Hear Me," "Fascination," and "Somebody Up There" are more inspirational and traditional soul songs, very much influenced by the Philly recording environment.

Yeah, I could also do without the ill-advised remake of "Across the Universe," but I assume it was Lennon's presence that demanded its inclusion. Even 5-star albums can have a bumpy track.

One of Bowie's Finest cd's........2007-01-26

I know all the words to all of the songs on this cd. Beside's "Fame," and "Young Americans," this cd has awesome heavy sax and great grooves like "Somebody Up There Likes Me," that will have you dancin. Mr. Bowie I salute you!

Who Can He Be Now (and will they pay him for it)?.......2007-01-10

I listened to Young Americans today. I only listen to it about once a year, and that's only to try and convince myself that I am not overlooking something golden. I find it hard to believe that smack dab in the middle of Bowie's wonderful 70's catalog, a library of songs I simply cannot live without, there could be a release that I find so bland, lifeless and dull. It's hard to pinpoint what ingredient is missing here. I am unmoved by almost all the songs on this record, and that is strange. Maybe he rushed the songwriting process. Maybe he's just going through th motions, cashing in on a then current style. I don't know. I won't go as far as to say I hate it, but I do find it mostly dispensable. It's not all bad, though. It's just mostly bad....to me.

1. Young Americans - I won't lie, I cranked this mother up to 11 and found myself busting a move on the living room floor. Fantastic song. Infectious is the word.Highlight of the record. If he could have maintained this level throughout this record would have been a monster.

2. Win - My other favorite cut, mostly due to the Diamond Dog's residue that seems to be sticking to it. A little bit on the sinister side. This is the only reason I put the album on when I do.

3. Fascination - Good enough cut. I don't mind it that much. Pretty good. Memorable.

4. Right - Starts off promisingly but after a minute you realize the thing is going nowhere and if you can make it through the full 6 minutes you're a superstar. A riff being passed off as a song. A very long song.

5. Somebody Up There Likes Me - Pretty forgettable. Lacks any emotional impact.

6. Across The Universe - Ill advised remake of Beatle classic. Avoid at all costs.

7. Can You Hear Me - This cut is actually pretty decent. I don't mind this one.

8. Fame - I've heard it so many times through my life it's hard to be objective. I could probably live out the rest of my years without a hunger to hear it again.

Strangely, the best cuts are the ones he left off. The Ryko bonus cut "Who Can I Be Now" is better than almost anything on the finished record. He made a crucial mistake leaving it off. Maybe he felt the lyrics were too direct. These non-album cuts will be included on the upcoming "30th Anniversary" CD/DVD package, yet another re-re-re-release of the same old Bowie album.

I'm not very close to this record, but maybe that's a good thing. When I've had my fill of all my other more loveable Bowie albums I can turn to this and try to sniff out something new. I won't call it a bad record. More like a failed experiment. He perked back up for Station to Station.

You Need To check The Meat When Your Pieces of Bread Are Stale.......2006-09-14

I like that metaphor. Who says that custodians can't come up with a good metaphor? Well anyway I look at the two pieces of bread, and I've heard them time and time again. The title cut is pretty much a horrific sounding song that seemed to try, and pick up some girls, and I guess that problem was it was saying goodbye to Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, and the Diamond Dogs which were cornerstones in glitter rock. I know that "Diamond Dogs" it's so beautiful...meaning the song. Then there was "Fame" which was a stupid attempt at funk music especially the speeded up singing of the word "Fame", and then slowing it down which I'm glad happened because when I first heard it speeded up I was like "Yuuch". So as you can tell I hate both songs, and I guess it's fortunate that after the title track they had a stretch of 2 good songs with "Win" and "Fascination". Also look at "Somebody Up There Likes Me" is honorably mentioned. The only other bad song on here was the cover of the George Harrison song "Across The Universe". It was an interesting path Bowie took for himself, and it did pay off, but I still enjoy Bowie in his glitter days.

Average customer rating:

Gone but not forgotten. One of real gems from the 70's.

Nice Baby and the Angel
David Blue
Manufacturer: Wounded Bird Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Stories
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Com'n Back for More
David Blue
Me, S. David Cohen

ASIN: B000JVSWF0
Release Date: 2006-12-05

Tracks:

Outlaw Man
Lady O' Lady
True to You
On Sunday, Any Sunday
Darlin' Jenny
Dancing Girl
Yesterdays Lady
Nice Baby and the Angel
Troubadour Song
Train to Anaheim

Customer Reviews:

Gone but not forgotten. One of real gems from the 70's........2007-02-19

David Blue recorded seven solo albums in his short career as a songwriter which spanned from 1965 to his death in 1982. It is regrettable that so few people have heard and appreciated his music. This album, "Nice Baby and the Angel" was his finest recording.

After several excellent Dylanesque recordings which include the self- titled "David Blue" and "These 23 Days in September",the country-oriented "Me"(recorded under his real name S. David Cohen), and "Stories", David Blue found his voice and reached his zenith as a songwriter and recording artist.

This fantastic recording features 10 almost perfect folk/country rock tunes which stand out amidst the pack of country rock artists who dominated the scene in 1973 when this record was released.

Most listener's will immediately recognize the opening tune, 'Outlaw Man'
which Blue wrote for the Eagles' Desperado album. But, the essence of this recording is best realized on the ballads 'Lady O'Lady', 'On Sunday,
Any Sunday', 'Yesterday's Lady', 'Nice Baby'... and the terrific country rock tunes, 'True to You', 'Darlin' Jenny', 'Dancing Girl' and 'Train to Anaheim'.

Blue's poetic lyrics are wonderfully complimented by his tasteful musical arrangements that are propelled by his top notch studio band.

Blue is joined in the proceedings by the outstanding musicianship of
Dave Mason on guitar, Graham Nash on guitar and piano, John Barbata on drums, and the amazing David Lindley on slide guitar, viola, violin, and mandolin. The perfectly blended background vocals supplied by Jennifer Warren, Graham Nash, Dave Mason and Glen Frey are amazing

This is, by far, one of the best country rock records ever recorded and should be rated alongside records like Neil Young's 'After the Goldrush',
Poco's 'From the Inside', CSN's 'Deja Vu' and The Flying Burrito Brother's
'The Gilded Palace of Sin'.

If you enjoy "Nice Baby....", you'll want to buy David Blue's "These 23 Days in September" and Cupid's Arrow". Both are outstanding.

My thanks to Wounded Bird Records for realizing the importance of David Blues music and releasing his albums.

Average customer rating:

Soft pleasing music
Popular Music
Massage therapist on Maui
An Excellent Must Purchace CD!
My new favorite CD

Cello Blue
David Darling
Manufacturer: Hearts of Space
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Dark Wood
Eight String Religion
Cello
Musical Massage: Balance
Cello for Relaxation

ASIN: B00005NC2O
Release Date: 2001-08-28

Tracks:

Children
Prayer And Word
Cello Blue
Thy Will "Not Mine" Be Done
Serenity
Colorado Blue
Awakening
Morning
Presence
Solitude
Prayer

Product Description

1. Children
2. Prayer And Word
3. Cello Blue
4. Thy Will "not mine" be done
5. Serenity
6. Colorado Blue
7. Awakening
8. Morning
9. Presence
10. Solitude
11. Prayer

Format: CD

Amazon.com

David Darling, the "Lord of Largo," returns with another album of slow-motion melodies and cello textures. Although he's recorded many albums in the interim, this is really a follow-up to 1993's 8-String Religion. That CD, unlike his more austere recordings for ECM, was a highly produced affair, with electronically processed cello, overdubbed with piano, a touch of synthesizer, and some environmental sounds. Cello Blue follows suit as Darling creates a richly sonorous world, full of melancholy and yearning, an interior rumination that opens up into a world of cloud-strewn skies and refracted sunshine. Layering pizzicato cello against languid bowed lines with droplets of piano, Darling creates enveloping soundscapes only occasionally shortchanged by pedestrian synthesizer programming. However, one listen to the serene lullaby of Darling's title track or the delicate pastoral expanse of "Morning," and it's evident that Darling, along with Tim Story and a few others, forms the foundation of ambient chamber music. --John Diliberto

Customer Reviews:

Soft pleasing music.......2006-11-06

I use this CD in my yoga class. It's very soft, gentle, and soothing. A nice play in the car after a long day at work.

Popular Music.......2006-02-25

Excellent-I'm currently using it in my treatment room for therapeutic massage and my clients love it. I like working to it- it is soothing and melodic- I would highly recommend this for relaxation and/or background music. I also love the use of mostly real and not synthesized music.

Massage therapist on Maui.......2003-05-10

I buy music for massage almost every week and this is the one CD I would recommend over any other out there. I have been playing it almost every day for two years during my massage sessions and almost everyone on the table wants to know who the artist is and what the name of the album is. His other CD's are also beautiful, but I have not used them for massage for they are not quite as ambient. Other music I recommend for massage include Migration - Nakai, Afterglow - Wheater, Hoppe and Tillman and Shadowplay - Tim Story.

An Excellent Must Purchace CD!.......2003-02-17

This CD contains some great New Age music. I have been listening to "Echos" and "Hearts of Space" types of music for years and I highly recommend this disc. It is great for stress relief and calming down. It is also perfect for driving home after a nasty day at work. This album is a good investment!

My new favorite CD.......2002-10-22

I listened to about 15 seconds of a sample and ordered it. About 1 week later, it became the theme music for a romantic encounter.
Now, each night I drift off to blissfull slumber to the sounds of "Cello Blue." If you enjoy introspection and relaxation, do yourself a favor and get this one.

Bowie at the Beeb: The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions

Average customer rating:

More essential than you might think....
The best of early bowie in one inspiring collections
CHANGESBEEBOWIE
A sprawling triple CD effort
CD 2 still the best, but CD3 doesn't disappoint/Bowie Rocks!

Bowie at the Beeb: The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions
David Bowie
Manufacturer: Virgin Records Us
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Tin Machine II
Black Tie White Noise
David Bowie
The Man Who Sold the World
Low

ASIN: B00004Y7WV
Release Date: 2000-09-26

Tracks:

In The Heat Of The Morning
London Bye Ta Ta
Karma Man
Silly Boy Blue
Let Me Sleep Beside You
Janine
Amsterdam
God Knows I'm Good
The Width Of A Circle
Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed
Cygnet Committee
Memory Of A Free Festival
Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud
Bombers
Looking For A Friend
Almost Grown
Kooks
It Ain't Easy

Tracks:

The Supermen
Eight Line Poem
Hang On To Yourself
Ziggy Stardust
Queen Bitch
Waiting For The Man
Five Years
White Light/White Heat
Moonage Daydream
Hang On To Yourself
Suffragette City
Ziggy Stardust
Starman
Space Oddity
Changes
Oh! You Pretty Things
Andy Warhol
Lady Stardust
Rock 'N' Roll Suicide

Tracks:

Wild Is The Wind
Ashes To Ashes
Seven
This Is Not America
Absolute Beginners
Always Crashing In The Same Car
Survive
Little Wonder
Man Who Sold The World
Fame
Stay
Hallo Spaceboy
Cracked Actor
I'm Afraid Of Americans
Let's Dance

Amazon.com

Comprehensiveness isn't always a virtue, as this three-CD set proves. It gathers together everything David Bowie recorded for the BBC between the years referenced in its title, plus a third disc taken from a June 2000 London concert for the famed British radio broadcasting company. Head first to disc two, which focuses on Bowie's in-studio recreations of material from Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust, and marvel at the glam-rockabilly heat generated by Bowie's Spiders from Mars band. By comparison, the other two discs are a disappointment. The first reveals a musical chameleon uncomfortably changing his spots, from music-hall entertainer to free-festival folkie to sub-Dylan sage. The third and final disc betrays a different problem. By 2000, Bowie had calcified into a very slick entertainer. His performances here, particularly of later material such as "I'm Afraid of Americans" and "This Is Not America," are technically fine but a little bloodless--disappointingly human instead of wonderfully alien. --Keith Moerer

Customer Reviews:

More essential than you might think...........2005-11-05

`Beeb' is a British affectation for the BBC, the state-run media which plans (or planned) all television and radio for Great Britain. Bowie was around when the BBC was implementing its 4-station radio broadcasting, and he became one of the first guests in early 1968. BBC rules were strange and archaic by American standards, insisting that pre-recorded music represent only a fraction of airtime, the point being that this would provide employment for professional musicians. So it was that David Bowie appeared with a crew of musicians to perform his songs live a number of times over a four-year period.
I'm a very big fan of Bowie's early work (reference my review of Images 1966-1967 if you're interested), but the earliest sessions on this collection are the least fulfilling. Disk one holds interest to Bowie-philes for historic reasons, but it is disk two that presents the artist in full flight. Working with Mick Ronson, his Ziggy Stardust-era songs shine brilliantly here, in some cases rivaling the album versions. "Hang On to Yourself," "Suffragette City," and "Ziggy Stardust" all rock with authority and grace. "Queen Bitch" has more energy than the version on Hunky Dory, while the songwriting brilliance of songs like "Changes" and "Oh You Pretty Things" come through loud and clear. Most telling are the two Velvet Underground songs performed here. Both "White Light/White Heat" and "Waiting For My Man" are definitive, surpassing all Bowie versions that were previously available and perhaps even surpassing Lou Reed's original versions.
For those of you who are lucky enough to find it, a limited edition of this package comes with an extra disk of Bowie performing live at the BBC radio theatre in June of 2000. Search it out! The extra disk is extraordinary, featuring some of the best live Bowie ever recorded. The band is phenomenal, playing each song to perfection without sacrificing any energy. This version of "Stay" blew me away, forcing me to recognize the sheer funky power of this band. Just as mind-boggling are the versions of "Fame" (a new, `improved' version!), "Absolute Beginners" and "Man Who Sold the World". Every track on this extra disk is exceptional, making it an absolute must for even casual fans of David Bowie. A- Tom Ryan

The best of early bowie in one inspiring collections.......2004-11-23

David Bowie is indisputibally on of the most talented artists in music ever. His songwriting is always at a peak, and was always excellent in his early days, and that is proved on this fantastic collection from the BBC. All live, but you wouldn't know it because it's sounds as clear as his studio recordings. And how about those lyrics? Bowie is so inventive, and he's never gotten the due he's deserved. Look at the amount of work he's accomplished, and look how good he can still be; even better than most. He's amazing. One listen to this collection and you'll realize he's amazing too, i hope. If you're still in doubt listen to all of ziggy stardust, but trust me you'll love it.

CHANGESBEEBOWIE.......2004-09-09

CD2 - The first CD could be a symphony of (flatus) and I'd still give this 5 stars for the nearly immaculate performances on the second disk. In particular, "Hang Onto Yourself" (track 3), "White Light/White Heat," and "Suffregette City" (featuring Mick Ronson making this totally hot kissing noise with his guitar)crackle with energy. It is truly a thrill to hear these old favorites in such a new (as such) and exciting light. Bowie and Co. burn down the BBC studios. Repeatedly. Any rock fan (but especially an old Bowie fan, of course) is likely to meltdown in ecstacy upon hearing this.

CD1 - Many hardcore fans will surely (sweet milk) over CD1 as well although I'm not personally crazy about all of it. Some of David's early Brittish folk period is represented which can be a bit hippy-dippy at times. The first 4 tracks, recorded in May of '68, fit that description although they do feature brilliant in-studio orchestral accompaniment.

Much of CD1 does in fact rock. "Let Me Sleep Beside You" and "Janine" are very good, easy-going rockers recorded with Junior's Eyes who had a short-lived collaboration with Bowie and the session was never broadcast. Bowie delivers a stunning solo performance of Jacques Brel's "Port of Amsterdam" (vocal and guitar). The same session shows off Mick Ronson just a few days after hooking up with Bowie for the first time. They perform an intriguing, half-written version of "Width of a Circle." Ronson really cuts loose on "Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed" and "Cygnet Committee" is positively intense. Some studio hum can be heard on the session, an atmospheric reminder of the electric nature of these proceedings (that may or may not appeal to the listener). "Memory of a Free Festival" had sadly been edited for time and remains so.

Recorded in June of '71, the last session on CD1 features all of the future Spiders From Mars as well as some friends on vocals and guitarist Mark Carr-Pritchard who played for a phantom Bowie project called Arnold Corns. Early embryonic versions of "Moonage Daydream" and "Hang Onto Yourself" were recorded and released under that name. The group stomps through "Bombers," a rare HUNKY DORY-era cut that sounds better (and less cheesy) than the studio version which I have as a bonus cut from the RYCODISK release of HUNKY DORY. "Looking For A Friend" is a country-ish, Stones-y rocker and they also turn in a rousing cover of Chuck Berry's "Almost Grown." And Bowie performs "Kooks" solo on vocal and guitar which he had just written for newborn son Zowie.

Note: Those concerned about excessive voice-overs from BBC radio hosts (like the ones that marred the Jimmy Hendrix BBC release) can relax. There's very little talking over the songs and quite a bit of interesting Bowie banter on CD1. CD2 has nothing but back-to-back songs. Tracks begin with actual songs, not the preceeding dialogue.

Bonus Disk (June 27, 2002 live at BBC Radio Theatre) - ****1/2 Excellent line-up (Earl Slick, Mike Garson), great choice of songs, Bowie in top form. Still, something's missing. A little too slick and professional, maybe? But this is great stuff. "Seven" comes off really well. "Always Crashing In The Same Car" is excellent and much more organic than the album version. The studio wizardry of "Little Wonder" and "Hallo Spaceboy" is expertly reproduced. This album takes on more definition with repeated listens and sounds better over time too. (Many live recordings can initially sound "same-y" from song to song due to same background vocalists, etc.)

We can probably thank Kurt Cobain for reviving Bowie's interest in the post-apocalyptic "Man Who Sold The World," wonderfully played here. "Fame" is vamped-up with a slightly altered rhythm, still funky as ever. "Stay" rocks out. And on the final cut, "Let's Dance" is reimagined as a Carribean breeze before, suddenly, the beat kicks in and the audience "trembles like a flower."

This entire package is most worthy. Highly recommended!

A sprawling triple CD effort.......2004-05-16

I rarely listen to this although having said that I have been listening to it a lot more recently. The fact is is that this is a hard thing to recommend. You might not have some of the songs that are on here and for that you might want to top up. I bought it as an overview of Bowie's earlyish career ( I'm not going anywhere near The Laughing Gnome ). Which in hindsight was probably a bit of a mistake but I wouldn't buy this album if it didn't have the extra CD - call me banal if you will but that's what happens when you have collector tendancies in you!

Bowie's early stuff ( pre-Ziggy ) sounds anodyne and twee. The conversations you hear on the CD make Bowie seem genuinely nervous but pleasantly friendly. Of course he might not do one song " because to do it would be possibly over everyone's budget." You could take that as nerves if you will but this is the BBC we're talking about. Their budgets at the time were not astronomical.

I've said this before that when you see " Live At The BBC " it doesn't really mean it's really *live* if you've ever heard BBC radio presenters like John " that was quite tasty " Peel or any others you'll know that they say " and we have [musician's name] here live in the studio." It's in a studio and it will never give you a live feel for the songs. It's just BBC engineers working on Bowie's songs and in return you could I suppose think of them as session outtakes from his album. But one thing should be made clear - if you haven't got Bowie's version of Jacques Brel's Amsterdam, this is where you can get it. It's passion almost matches Le Grand Jacques in it's intensity

As the second CD moves and the classics come in you begin to think " this is more like it " and Bowie seems more at ease with everything. Notice his covers of White Light/White Heat ( " make me sound like Lou Reed ")

Now the third CD becomes even more sprawling since it tries to fill in all the places that the first two CDs left out. And it's not always a winner. Little Wonder and I'm Afraid of Americans are terrible songs but actually sound better than what they sounded like on their original album. Still doesn't make it good but at least you can probably tolerate it this time. But overall it didn't capture the gig very well since I saw this on TV when I was 15 and I thought the gig was fantastic. Bowie really had them going ( but then that was to be expected right? ), the CD just doesn't capture the songs well and though I like nearly all of the songs, it lacks the cohesion that the show actually had. Still, for the money I paid for this it's not too bad. But then, there's always a nagging feeling that it could be improved but whatever about that, the sheer amount of material you have here you can be somewhat happy if you want to buy this.....of course that is if you are a diehard fan. If you're not - try figuring out which compilation you want to get of Bowie. There's a lot of them around!

CD 2 still the best, but CD3 doesn't disappoint/Bowie Rocks!.......2003-02-11

I did track down this version that has the fine recently recorded third CD, HOWEVER, I would have been happy to have just heard the original two CD collection. On Disc 3, I was impressed with some of the old songs that were chosen such as "Man Who Sold The World" and some classics I have never heard done live like "Ashes To Ashes" and "Stay." The biggest and best surprise is the closer: "Let's Dance." Sweet!

This is certainly an interesting collection of songs! I can't say I love DISC 1 in general, but there are some nice surprises. "Kooks" is a lovely little song! The band playing with Bowie is quite good in "The Width Of A Circle" and "Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed." I heavily prefer Disc 2 because I have loved the "Ziggy Stardust" material for many years. The familiar songs sound different but as enjoyable as the released versions. Bowie was great at reworking good songs into even better songs, which is quite apparent on "I'm Waiting For The Man" and "White Light/White Heat." I can't say enough positive things about Disc 2 other than "Freak out, in a Moonage Daydream! Oh yeah!"

Music Review:

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