Customer Reviews

David Live

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Not trying to be a jerk, but while this album is good, it's crap compared to the re-issue, which has remastered sound (finally, an album that could really use it and you can tell the difference) and has the songs in the original order. Plus there are two bonus tracks and cool new packaging. If you want to hear Bowie Live from '74, buy the re-issue. (Sorry Rykodisc; I do love all the Morphine records you put out in the 90s).

I attended Bowie's concert at the Universal Amphitheatre in 1974 and saw the show that became this album. I did not particularly enjoy the show, nor did my friends who saw it. Bowie's cold, cadaverous persona was so different from what we had been expecting, the more one was a Bowie fan, the more disappointed one was. It was a very dark show.

Later, a friend who had also seen the concert purchased the David Live album (on vinyl). When I asked why he bought the album when he didn't like the show, he didn't really have an answer, except to say that he enjoyed the record.

I purchased the record also, and found that it grew on me, too.

Over the years my music collection converted to CD, and I stopped listening to vinyl all together. I went for years without hearing the album. Then, one day, I found it on CD.

It is still one of my favorite albums, and I find myself listening to it over and over. I believe the album is exactly what Bowie intended. Dark and decadent, but great rock 'n' roll.

Bowie rocks! And he does so nowhere better than this!
The people who wrote "reviews" disparaging this album have rocks in their heads!

David cuts loose on this album and you can hear his tortured frame of mind in his singing and soulful performance.
The guitar is magnificent, the sax sublime, and the whole thing is an extravaganza of music.

He produces marvellous renditions of songs from his album 'Diamond Dogs' that are longer and truly inspired. Earl slick on guitar has never sounded better and Bowie's untrained voice is just spectacular.

Bowie is awesome live and this would have to be one of his *best* efforts.

This album was apparently recorded under less than ideal circumstances with Bowie's band threatening to quit unless the boss gave them a raise. Where to get the money? A LIVE ALBUM! The tension is evident as a hoarse sounding Bowie performs fairly rudimentary versions of assorted classics and all but one track from the then current "Diamond Dogs" album.

Only one track is a standout: Bowie's Anthony Newley-ish rendition of "Sweet Thing" packs a wallop that the studio cut does not. Otherwise, "Rock and Roll Suicide" and "Moonage Daydream" are respectable, performed with a power that most of these performances lack, and there's "All the Young Dudes," otherwise unavailable by Bowie (at least not in 1974), and an energetic "Knock on Wood."

But there's something uncomfortable about this album, not the least of which is Bowie's cadaverous appearance on the cover photo. It's no wonder that Bowie claims he's never been able to listen to it.

(P.S. A truncated one-disc version of these performances were released by RCA in the 80s as "David Bowie at the Tower Philadelphia.")

HUH? Well, I need to explain. In 1975 my brother gave me the
primative cassete version of this album for Christmas (still have it!). My dad had previously banned Dave from our house because my brother happened to mention one night that "the dude wears a dress". I guess Dad thought I would end up the same way, but I didn't.

That is why I always associate this CD with Christmas. Lots of
people get music for Christmas and make that connection.

As for the CD, it is not a great live album. Yes, the band sometimes sounds like they just woke up, Dave's voice is OK then
bad then OK, but it was over a period of 3 nights. But this CD
is like a brick in the wall of my life, I gotta play it during
the holidays.

The picture of Dave on the cover will scare the hell out of you!
Taken in 1974, this was his walking corpse on cocaine phase.

So it turns out I have a very rare CD, cool! Rock on, Ziggy!

I felt I had to write because of other bad reviews. I have always loved this record. Being a Bowie fan all my life I have listened to all his stuff, and some I have not liked. This record is one of his best. Yes the quality of the recording my not be up to todays standard but the energy is there. To me the amazing part of this record is Earl Slick. His guitar work here is some of the best live work I have ever heard. "Moonage daydream" is amazing, "Width of a circle" has incredible guitar solo's, Cracked Actor is again wonderful. If you can find it, you will enjoy it if you like Bowie and wonderful solo guitar work.

This was the "Diamond Dogs" tour despite the 'thin white duke' cover. I admit that the quality of the sound is not perfect, but it is as real as one can expect from 1974. Bowie sings his classics and what you hear is NOT what you see. Fortunate enough to have been there, I cannot tell anyone how fantastic the sound, light, the crowd and the showmanship was in tha tiny theatre. However, this is just sound and if you want to hear Bowie as he truly was in concert - it's here. For a better live Bowie recording, check out "Stage", which was much better produced. For a song concert song collection, I'd stay with "Live".

David Bowie live is always a very enjoyable treat that puts to shame many modern day rockers who seem bereft of the knowledge that theatrics, stage presence, and technique all factor into what an audience feels: both there and in their own space listening to the sound.

Bowie captures the essence of these songs the way that they hit him at the moment, rare moments of brilliance that are never repeated. Each song takes on an individual interpretation that will remind those of us who have seen him live what makes him such an amazing performer.

Kick back and dream that you were there.

No one has mentioned this song. The performance is worth the price of the cd. Whether or not Warren Peace overdubbed the backing vocals or not, the song is quintessential Bowie. Those who don't care for the record haven't turned it up loud enough. Please do. And I know that recommendation is bandied about a lot, but that might be the problem. The sheer desperation of the whole thing can be heard in his voice. The pressure leaks into the performance on "sweet thing" and "here today gone tomorrow." There is emotion here and its real. There's a percussion section and Mike Garson is tinkering in the background. Slick is ripping on "Cracked Actor"- the early hammering on style that presaged Eddie Van Halen. Slicks an odd one- a technically proficient guitarist with a nack for soul and good tone as well. God I wish I could see a visual version of this performance. Is there one out there in any form?

Given the ridiculous amount of Bowie re-issues over the past several years (since the 'Bowie Bond' deal of '97 to be exact), I'm not sure why EMI hasn't bothered to re-release this relic, along with Dave's other 'official' live record, Stage, from the 1978 tour. Also, have to correct one other reviewer - this is NOT a photo from the Thin White Duke era. The cover is indeed a photo from the Diamond Dogs tour, but I will concede that it's perhaps from the 'Philly Dogs' part of the tour as Bowie started getting into his own brand of plastic soul and even previewed some of the music from the forthcoming 'Young Americans' LP.

And that's a good place to start the review - this record shows Bowie in one of his many transitions - Diamond Dogs, the record and the tour, after all, was the final death of Ziggy and this tour/record documents his moving away from rock and expanding his own personal canvas - soul & R&B first, then techno (in this respect, David Live is akin to Station to Station as the latter record marked a transition from soul/r&b to techno, paving the way for the magnificent Low and Heroes).

Musicianship is first rate, especially Earl Slick. If you like radically altered versions of studio recordings, this is a fascinating record. A bit difficult to listen to, perhaps, and definitely one of those records you needed to have been around for upon its first release, but it certainly rocks, albeit in a twisted, doomsday sort of way. Special mention to 'Width of a Circle' - a screamer live on this record (also, check out the version from the Ziggy Stardust - The Movie soundtrack).

Don't expect this record, however, to showcase Dave's vocal power. I assume the cocaine was really taking its toll on this tour - his voice sounds ravaged.

In summation, a record for the Bowie super-fan, not the casual or relatively new listener. I remember blasting the record on Philly street corners with my friends of the time, but we're all 40+ years old and we'd listen to anything by Bowie, and we were all stoned (this is a great 'stoned' record).

But back to the beginning of this review - EMI's milking the stuffing out of all of Bowie's work, pre-Outside anyway, so why not give this a release and add some bonus tracks? I know for a fact that a live version of 'Panic in Detroit' from this tour is out there somewhere....buried as it was on the flip side of a 45 from way back when...and later released on an RCA vinyl copy of something called 'Rare.'

Rare indeed....David Live is such a record.