Changesbowie

Absent from this 18-song greatest hits is anything from The Man Who Saved The World, Low, and Lodger. However, the essentials are here, such as "Space Oddity," "Changes," "Ziggy Stardust," "Rebel Rebel," and the three Let's Dance singles that catapulted him to a new audience, myself included.

Well, if there's going to a single disc of Bowie's greatest hits, this would probably be it for me. This is available only as an import and is the best place to get "John I'm Only Dancing," which was added as a bonus track on one of Bowie's Ryko reissue albums--I think it was Ziggy Stardust. Also included here is "Fame 90," which is perfect if you don't want to buy the Pretty Woman soundtrack.

This is a mere condensed pocket history of David Bowie. Small wonder that in order to get the full effect of Bowie's material, the Singles Collection 1969-1993, a more complete but less portable collection, was released three years later.

Bowie's "Golden Years" Best Represented In This Hits Set.......2001-02-14

Rykodisc Records originally released "Changesbowie" in 1990 to take advantage of David Bowie's "Sound and Vision" world tour that year. The tour itself was to promote Bowie's catalogue being released on CD by the small, then-independent label.

Despite being docked one star for its pointless re-mix of the #1 hit "Fame," this Bowie hits collection remains the best career-spanning, one-disc retrospective of his career. Taken together, Bowie's stylistic ch-ch-ch-ch-changes form a template of 70s rock; "Rebel Rebel," "Suffragette City," and "Jean Genie" constantly shift and evolve while never edging closer to the listener. Even after nearly 30 years they remain cool, strange; lyrics vaguely out of reach with music updating the hybrid British soul ("Fashion," "Golden Years"), British blues ("Ziggy Stardust"), British music hall. Few other than Bowie could kidnap American music styles to match such free-flowing lyric imagery. Even with the personal, painful vignettes of "Young Americans," this remains among the least sensitive, least intimate music any solo performer has ever made (at least until Nile Rodgers comparatively warm but trademark style on 1983's huge hits "Let's Dance" and "China Girl.")

The exciting time of discovery between Bowie fans and the CD format has come and gone. Bowie shifted his copyrights to Virgin Records, re-released his catalogue on the original LP form (at full price), and removed the bonus tracks that made those Rykodisc sets a revelation. This import remains faithful to Ryko's original approach; it, and the other Bowie CDs Ryko released, are of better value than either the new Virgin releases or RCA Victor originals, worth picking up wherever available. "Changesbowie" was victim to record company changes, but remains David Bowie's essential compilation.

Solid look at Bowie's career (up to 1984).......2000-12-29

Ziggy played guitar and much more...........2000-12-16

This great snippet of Bowie hits should give one a taste of what this genius did for the music of today. He is truly a part of rock and roll history, and I don't mean that in some sort of old farty way - this guy still rocks, and went through so many 'changes' as this CD depicts, yet he is still out there...

Enjoy his peak moments, and listen, and you will soon realize that his influence never really stopped. Can one 'dance the blues'? Who knows, but after tasting this music, one has to stop and ponder at what this guy really started...and it's good!