Customer Reviews

ChangesBowie

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This was my first Bowie album. This man is a genius, and that's really all there is to say. Every song is a masterpiece, and he just keeps comming out with new ones. All I'd like to say is that he's great, and damn good looking for 52!

Bowie's carrier has to be one of the most varied and most interesting in rock history. With so many album and so many different songs, making a compilation is not the easiest thing to do. But this 1990 edition called "Changesbowie" is done fairly good.

All the better and most important songs in Bowie's carrier are here, chronologically listed. There are all - time greats in the likes of "Space Oddity", "Rebel Rebel", "Golden Years" and the unforgettable "Heroes" and "Ashes to Ashes". Dance hits "Let's Dance", "China Girl" and "Blue Jean" round up this compilation (it's a shame "The Man Who Sold The World" is not in here).

If you're not planing on collecting all of David Bowie's albums, then this is a good choice for you. However, it's just a tip of the iceberg in Bowie's carrier. Even if you do plan on getting all of his albums, get this one first. It'll be a good starting point and it'll show the way Bowie changed his sound through out the years.

When I found myself nursing a desire to really get to know David Bowie's music a good many years ago, Changesbowie was an obviously natural choice for me - one CD filled to the brim with 16 songs encompassing his entire career up to the point of the compilation album's release. Rather quickly after giving this disc a spin, I became a Bowie fan. Bowie has always gone his own way, evolving through some really quite weird metamorphoses over the years, but his music has always been consistently good. While I'm not that fond of the track John, I'm Only Dancing, I can honestly say that I enjoy the other 15 tracks almost equally. Space Oddity and Ziggy Stardust are as much fun to listen to as Bluejean and China Girl, and the consistency of the appeal of one man's music over such a long period of time strikes me as quite extraordinary. One should note that these songs cover a period of time between 1969 and the mid-1980s, although the version of the song Fame included here is a 1990 remix. This album offered the best of both worlds to me as a neophyte Bowie fan, combining the songs I was already familiar with from the 1980s (Fashion, Let's Dance, China Girl, Modern Love, Bluejean) with some of Bowie's powerful early material. While I hear some of these older classics on the radio from time to time these days, I was completely unfamiliar with them when I purchased this CD. I have yet to explore Bowie's early days in any great detail, so I cannot even speculate as to other songs that might have deserved a place on this album. All I know is that Changesbowie gave me a limited yet broadly impressive introduction to the work of a unique musical legend and will lead directly to my eventual purchases of albums from throughout Bowie's distinguished career. This compilation album remains the best introduction to the body of work Bowie produced in the first decade and a half of his still vibrant career.

DAVID BOWIE-CHANGESBOWIE: If ever a word aptly described the former David (Don't call me a Monkee!) Jones, the title of his ethereal classic CHANGES would be it. From the serenely eerie SPACE ODDITY to the wham-glam of JEAN GENIE and SUFFRAGETTE CITY, from the neo-soul of YOUNG AMERICANS and GOLDEN YEARS, to the coldly calculated club floor cut LET'S DANCE, Bowie has seldom repeated himself. A seamless combination of his CHANGESONEBOWIE and CHANGESTWOBOWIE anthologies, here is most everything you could ask for hit-wise, the lone downer being a jittery, flatulent remix of FAME. Throughout his career, the Thin White Duke has smartly partnered with a long line of stellar guitar foils, including Mick Ronson, Earl Slick, Carlos Alomar, Robert Fripp, even a pre-fame Stevie Rave On...yet it is Ziggy himself who is always the Starman.

RATING: FIVE OH BOWIES!

If your a new Bowie Fan this is where you shuld start a great Bowie for beginers CD. And even if you allready are a big bowie fan like my self, but not that big so you whant too buy all his CD's meby yust the realy great ones.
Then You dont have all this songs so this is stil a good CD for everybody. Only one question why is not Life on Mars and Sound and vision here this are two of hes best songs and they shuld be here.

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.

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.

Interesting blend of commercial hits. To clear things up, I believe China Girl was writen by Bowie's friend Iggy Pop. And it's about Iggy's then wife. Don't let a misunderstanding lead you to think the album or Bowie is racist.

So much soul & power in David Bowie belting out anguish & trials of life. Good listen. Great for road trip.

If you had all of Bowie's vinyl records and now want them on MP3 or CD then this is the best collection not worth missing if you want to have the early years of Bowie in digital format!