iSelect

David Bowie | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 14, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Astralwerks
• ASIN: B001CVMDBK
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #189,445 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

DAVID BOWIE iSelect (2008 US 12-track CD - David Bowie was asked by a UK newspaper to select 12 songs from his catalogue for a limited giveaway CD titled iSelect: Bowie this was bundled withthe 29th June 2008 edition of The Mail On Sunday newspaper. The CD was sold out and unavailable by the next day so to meet demand for the eclectic and personal collection Virgin/EMI released this compilation on the 14th October 2008 complete with picture sleeve)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars New Take on Time Will Crawl, October 14, 2008

By 

Brandon J. Smith (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: iSelect (Audio CD)

For the most part, this collection is pretty useless. It's cool to have Bowie's take on what from his career stands out in his mind. But, if you're like me, you already own all these songs, including "Some Are," which has been available as a bonus track on the cd reissue of Low for years.

So, my rating of three stars is a mix of 5 stars (for the great songs) and 1 star (for the fact that this collections is rather unnecessary). There is one thing that really is noteworthy here, and that is the remake of "Time Will Crawl." I've always liked that song, and this new take is worth checking out. (It's available as an Amazon mp3 download.) It has live musicians instead of the synthesized stuff from the original version on Never Let Me Down. I don't know if it should be considered an improvement, but it does have a different feel, and I think it works well.

If you're looking at this collection as a possible introduction to Bowie's catalogue, I'd say you're better off elsewhere. The Best of Bowie or ChangesOneBowie are better options for an intro to this brilliant artist. Another good route to take would be to pick representative albums from his extremely varied career: Ziggy Stardust, Station to Station, Low, and Scary Monsters are all great places to start (as would be Heroes, Let's Dance, Hunky Dory, Young Americans ...) In other words, there's no shortage of amazing, classic albums by David Bowie. iSelect is more of a footnote.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for hardcore Bowie fans, November 17, 2008

By 

Dr. S. Giedzinski (Long Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: iSelect (Audio CD)

I already have every one of the songs from iSelect on other CDs. But this is an interesting glimpse into what Bowie thinks about his career and catalogue. His own liner notes are also interesting. For the hardcore Bowie fan, this is a must. For someone just wanting the "hits" get ChangesBowie or ChangesOneBowie and ChangesTwoBowie. This is not that collection. This is a diverse and eclectic collection of music spanning the career of one of the best artist/musicians in the history of rock.

3.0 out of 5 stars Makes the argument for downloadable liner notes & artwork, July 15, 2009

By 

Phil (San Diego, CA) (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: iSelect (MP3 Download)

As an ardent Bowie fan it's good to see a compilation that includes tracks I only have in my collection three or four times over instead of five to seven times over. As a set of mp3 downloads though it's hard to say why this would sell. The committed fans already own the tracks apart from the one remix, and the curious non-fan wouldn't really have a reason to get this when so many other compilations exist.

As for the music, who could complain about so many enjoyable Bowie tracks in one place? The "Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (reprise)" sequence was my favorite Bowie recording for many years. "Lady Grinning Soul" closes out the excellent "Aladdin Sane" album on a high note, trumping most of the other songs from that release. "Win" is a winner from "Young Americans" that really deserved recognition on one of the Bowie box sets. The live version of "Hang Onto Yourself" sounds like it was taken from the "Santa Monica '72" performance. "Fantastic Voyage", the lead track from "Lodger", is one of Bowie's most moving songs; either this studio version or the live recording from the 2003 "A Reality Tour" DVD would have worked well.

The one "new" track, the remix of "Time Will Crawl" is worth downloading as an individual track for fans who already own everything else. It's not a groundbreaking reinterpretation of the song but with material as strong as this number that's not necessary.

Really, though, this set as a batch mp3 download begs the question, when are liner notes and booklets going to be available as part of the download? Such is precisely the value of this compilation. I can't imagine shelling out for the physical media but if the booklet was listed as an additional item for the usual price of a download, that might be worth the while.

Here's hoping that the release of this collection and the VH1 Storytellers CDs are Bowie's way of priming the channel for his first album of new material in six years.