David Bowie
David Bowie - The Best of David Bowie 1969/1974 (Virgin)
1997
1. "The Jean Genie"
(4:08)
2. "Space Oddity" (5:15)
3. "Starman" (4:18)
4. "Ziggy Stardust" (3:16)
5. "John, I'm Only Dancing" (2:42)
6. "Rebel Rebel" (4:30)
7. "Let's Spend the Night Together" (3:07)
8. "Suffragette City" (3:27)
9. "Oh! You Pretty Things" (3:14)
10. "Velvet Goldmine" (3:11)
11. "Drive-In Saturday" (4:29)
12. "Diamond Dogs" (6:05)
13. "Changes" (3:34)
14. "Sorrow" (2:55)
15. "The Prettiest Star" (3:14)
16. "Life on Mars?" (3:52)
17. "Aladdin Sane" (5:10)
18. "The Man Who Sold the World" (3:56)
19. "Rock & Roll Suicide" (3:00)
20. "All the Young Dudes" (4:11)
Have been a casual fan of Bowie since I was a kid. I was always more into 'heavy metal' bands like Aerosmith and Thin Lizzy in the 70's but I always liked Bowie as well. Certainly Bowie has been an influence on some of my favorite bands; nobody can deny that he has been once of the most imitated personalities in rock. Marilyn Manson owes his entire image to that of Bowie. Many metal bands have certainly taken some influence from Bowie, if not musically, certainly from his theatrical performances. Many also credit Bowie with helping to start the entire 'punk' movement of the 70's. In anycase, I wanted to get a Bowie disc forever. Being that I am most familiar with his early material, this retrospective is an excellent collection, featuring mostly his radio hits, but some more hardcore fan favorites as well. One odd inclusion is the Rolling Stones cover "Let's Spend the Night Together." The packaging is ok, but sadly has not lyrics, and does not include a discography or a description of what song came off what album. This is one thing I certainly would have liked to have seen.
Still need to find a cd with 'Heroes,' 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'Fame', 'Young Americans' and 'Under Pressure' on it, all favorites of mine that are post 1974.
Helloween covered "Space Oddity" on their Metal Jukebox CD.
David Bowie - The Best of David Bowie 1974 - 1979 (EMI) 1998
1. "Sound and Vision"
(3:05)
2. "Golden Years" [Single Edit] (3:29)
3. "Fame" (4:14)
4. "Young Americans" [Single Version] (3:15)
5. "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)" (7:00)
6. "Can You Hear Me" (5:07)
7. "Wild Is the Wind" (6:00)
8. "Knock on Wood" (3:00)
9. "TVC 15" [Single Version] (3:34)
10. "1984" (3:29)
11. "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City" (3:49)
12. "Look Back in Anger" (3:08)
13. "Secret Life of Arabia" (3:48)
14. "DJ" (4:02)
15. "Beauty and the Beast" (3:36)
16. "Breaking Glass" (1:53)
17. "Boys Keep Swinging" (3:20)
18. "Heroes" [Single Version] (3:33)
Part two of the EMI "The Best of David Bowie" series. This time around Bowie's mid-to-late 70's material is included. Four of Bowie's albums from this era are represented by 3 songs each, so his collaborations with Brian Eno are featured prominently. "Fame", Bowie's collaboration with John Lennon and his first #1 single in the U.S. is one of my favorite Bowie tracks. Like the 1969-1974 CD, this one also has two cover songs, a live version of "Knock on Wood" and an interesting take on Bruce Springsteen's "It's Hard To Be a Saint in the City". My only major complaint about this particular compilation is that it did not go up to 1980 and include songs from "Scary Monsters". Also, the chopped radio edits of some songs are a bit annoying. They cut out the long saxaphone solo in the middle of "Young Americans", as well as the end of "Heroes". Otherwise this is a decent collection of Bowie material for the casual fan.
Apparently there is now a 3-CD, 57-track set available called "The Platinum Collection". This collection includes both 1969-1974 and 1974-1979, as well as a 1980-1987 disc. The disc of 80s material is not available as a single disc by itself. This sucks for those of us who already have the first two. "The Best of David Bowie 1980-1987 contains four songs from Scary Monsters, as well as the awesome "Under Pressure".
So now I have to find a CD with 'Under Pressure' and the full versions of "Young Americans" and "Heroes".
Deliverance covers "Beauty and the Beast" on their Camelot in Smithereens CD. Celtic Frost covered "Heroes" on their Vanity/Nemesis CD. Angel cover "All the Young Dudes" on their Live Without a Net album.