The Platinum Collection - David Bowie

Advantages: all the hits and classics
Disadvantages: stops at 1987 and some excellent album tracks are missing

...Three Cds of the best of Bowie from 1969 through to 1987. Astonishingly good value for money and a very good overview of the period. Of course fans will debate whether of not these songs truly are the Best, but as an introduction for the newcomer, or as a handy round up of the singles for the fan (and many of the single edits are different from the album versions) you can't really go wrong with this set. The pacaking is minimal, and the slightly odd non chronological order doesn't work for me, but the individual tracks are all good and showcase the sheer breadth of talent that Bowie has. From the stright ahead rock of "The Jean Genie" to the shimmering funk of "Golden Years" to the European iciness of "Sound And Vision" to the glorious dance pop of "Let's Dance" and so much more, this is probably the best introduction to David Bowie...

adams66 16.09.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Platinum Collection - David Bowie

WOWIE ZOWIE BOWIE

Advantages: A huge improvement on previous Bowie efforts, possibly his best since 'Let's Dance'
Disadvantages: Dodgy covers

...Anybody with even the most rudimentary grasp of the history of pop music will be aware of one simple fact: David Bowie was better then than he is now. Simply put, Bowie's career can be carved into two neat sections: the Good Bowie (everything up to, and including 'Scary Monsters') and Bad Bowie ('Tonight' onward), with 'Let's Dance forming the bridge between the two, depending on your view on that particular album. After some pioneering work in the 1970's and turn of the 80's, Bowie suddenly found himself in a cultural wasteland of his own creation, gone from being feted as one of the prime architects of what passes for 'alternative' music to inhabiting the same space in the minds of the nation as the likes of middle-of-the-road monsters Phil Collins and Elton John. Try listening to a Bowie album after 'Let's Dance'. It's painful...

Ryan74 08.07.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Heathen - David Bowie

The Reality Tour-David Bowie

Advantages: great music
Disadvantages: having to share with rude people

...Last night 17/11/03 I was honoured and privaleged to see a rock legend perform. And want a honour it was , a while ago prompted by an advert in the local rag and begged and pleading with hubby to take me to see the great man . Rather relunctantly hubby parted with £36.00 a head to go to the gig , even though he is not a Bowie fan . ahhh bless , the things he will do anything for a bit of peace. Although I felt the tickets were a bit pricey , it was worth every last penny , Bowie was in great form and entralled us fron start to end . I have see Bowie before , but the last tour i saw was the Glass Spider tour in the late 80's , but I knew that this was going to be a totally different experience. Do not get me wrong I enjoyed the Glass Spider tour , it displayed Bowie as a great performer , who put serious thought into his performance...

dustypan 18.11.2003 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of David Bowie

Breaking Bowie's record

Advantages: Some good tracks, very successful
Disadvantages: Not traditional Bowie

...From a very early age I heard snippets of David Bowies music emanating from my brothers bedroom and right through to my late teen years I became increasingly enamored with his music to the point where I now have just about every track and album he ever released. Whilst my brothers music taste changed notably towards the heavy rock scene and beyond, my taste simply absorbed the newer sounds I was hearing resulting in a wide and vast appreciation of many styles of music ,David Bowie however stayed as one of my firm favorites right up until now , into my mid thirties. Although many of his albums impress upon me as the best of his music this album stays closest to my heart as it reminds me of times in my youth when life was good, summers long and warm and the dance scene occupied much of my spare time. From long hot seasons spent...

babajane32 14.08.2003 (16.08.2003) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Let's Dance - David Bowie

Bowie's triumphant conclusion to his Glam period!

Advantages: Great set of songs, My personal favourite from his Glam period
Disadvantages: Not everyone will like the concept

...After both Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane had been and gone, David Bowie approached George Orwell?s Widow in the hope that she would allow him the rights to use the title of Nineteen Eighty- Four for his next LP. Bowie had imagined a concept album that would be built around the Big Brother future that Orwell had conjured up for his iconic novel. Fortunately, Orwell?s widow refused the proposition which allowed Bowie to have a re-think and ultimately come up with a far more interesting and poignant version of his very own dystopian future. The themes of Big Brother run through the very lifeblood of Diamond Dogs, not least in the track titles and lyrics, but make no mistake that this is first and foremost Bowie?s ingenious vision. The spoken intro of Future Legend sets the scene, Bowie describing Hunger City, where ?fleas the size...

DanielKemp 13.04.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Diamond Dogs [Remastered] - David Bowie

For casual, die hard, and future Bowie fans alike.

Advantages: Hip, upbeat rock music from a talented master!
Disadvantages: One sluggish song.

..., especially "1. Outside," but I'm not at all surprised when people say that they find the mid-ninties Bowie strange and virtually inacessible. But good news! With the 2001 release of "Heathen," Bowie seemed to have stopped his musical flirting with various quirky genres, and returned to his roots: rock music. And now his latest, "Reality," shows him at his unique, rocking best. Most of the songs on the CD are what Bowie describes as "thrusty." Crank up the volume and you'll find yourself bopping your head to the beat. (Or in my case, dancing.) But in no way is "Reality" just another manufactured rock album! Remember, this IS David Bowie, and he fills the album with thoughtful lyrics (such as the allusion to 9/11 in his opener, New Killer Star) and interesting experimentations (the extremely rhythmic and catchy recitations in Pablo Picasso...

hallospacegirl 30.09.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Reality - David Bowie

The enigmatic Mr Bowie

Advantages: Bowie, Bowie, Bowie
Disadvantages: It ends (eventually)

...And in the death of the Twentieth Century, there rose a shining star, a veritable chameleon who bestrode the rock and roll world like a shimmering colossus, towering over the petty men and women who tilted at his crown. DAVID BOWIE - a law unto himself and a wonderful creature. Few other artists in the 1970's had as great an influence as Bowie or were as successful and popular over as long a period. He seemed to be eternally bored and flitting from craze to craze yet proving himself the master of every style to which he turned his eye. Starting off as a folksy outsider, he soared to fame in 1969 with the amazing Space Oddity single, then went throuigh his glam rock incarnation (Ziggy and all that), before settling down into middle age as a serious rock performer. This wonderful album captures all the phases of that amazing...

dave27 20.05.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Singles Collection, The - David Bowie

David Bowie The Man Who Sold The World

Advantages: Bowie at his uncompromising best, seemingly oblivious to all commercial constraints.
Disadvantages: The most recent reissue doesn't have the non-LP single from the same era 'Holy Holy' (but then the previous reissue had the wrong version of this song !

...There are far more celebrated albums in the Bowie back catalogue, but this one has probably seen more active service on my record deck/tape deck/CD player than most in the past couple of decades than most. That being said, this album is not for the faint-hearted. By 1970, Bowie had hopped on and off of most musical genres, from r n'b to jazz-tinged mod, from Anthony Newley- style whimsy to Dylan-tinged folk-rock. With a new live band, The Hype, Bowie was ready to deliver to the masses a harder-edged sound, perhaps in order to break the lucrative US market, with their current penchant for English heaviness. And 'The Man Who Sold The World' is a VERY heavy album. Bowie had recently acquired the services of young guitarist Mick Ronson, whose powerful Jeff Beckisms are omnipresent throughout the nine tracks. With producer Tony...

WEARTUPPER 26.04.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Man Who Sold The World, The [Remastered] - David Bowie

best of bowie

Advantages: Old Bowie hits
Disadvantages: probably got to be a `Bowie` fan

...Probably going to show my age here, but having been bought up in the days of Rod Stewart, Elton John, Marc Bolan and the like, like any generation, the music and artists `stop` with you for evermore. While doing the weekly shopping in Asda on Saturday, I came across a DVD called the `BEST OF BOWIE`. Now my wife is not a great lover of Mr Bowie, so it was a quick pick up, and hidden discretely under the fruit! When I got home, I was transported back to the 1970?s and upwards. I always did like his music, and like many of this era, he was a musical genius. If you listen very carefully to his words, especially in his `Ziggy Stardust` days, he was light years ahead of most people. This album, put on two DVD?s, shows all his early television appearances , to right up to date videos. The DVD?s have as follows ; DVD `1` has 27...

PJAYS 26.10.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of David Bowie

Ashes to Ashes - Goth Tribute to David Bowie

Advantages: It's a bit different...
Disadvantages: It's a bit bad....

...I bought this album (before sample tracks for it were available on Amazon) thinking that there would be some nice dark versions of some Bowie tracks. I was prepared for a few strange noises and slightly discordant sounds - some goth music is like that. What I wasn't prepared for was the droning nature of all these tracks! For a start, a lot of the songs don't lend themselves to the moody, atmospheric goth sound (in hindsight, I should have realised this). Admittedly, Time, Always Crashing, The Man Who Sold The World and Look Back In Anger could be done well in the gothic style, but there are so much better options in 1984, Stay, She Shook Me Cold, Lady Stardust and even Space Oddity. I think this album would interest only a certain niche of the goth market - the songs are in a similar somewhat un-tuneful style (to my ears). I would...

maskedfan 29.06.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Ashes To Ashes (A Goth Tribute To David Bowie) - Various Artists