Bowie's "Golden Years" Best Represented In This Hits Set

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.

ChangesBowie

For years, I never liked David Bowie. You know how it is when you're young, you tend to never listen to the music your parents listen to or to the music your aunts and uncles listen to. My father and my uncle (on my dad's side) have been huge Bowie fans since they can remember. About a month and a half while over my uncle's house, my father, my uncle, and my uncle's brothers were watching some interviews with Bowie and from that point on, I became a huge fan. Funny how the older you get, the more you open up to things.

Anyway, this album was the first album I started out with. My father gave me his copy since he rarely gets a chance to listen to anything. I was blown away with what is on this album. It is a greatest hits album and it contains some of his biggest hits from the late sixties to the early eighties. I have to say that the hits from the 70s were his absolute best. David Bowie has become my third favorite recording artist, right behind George Michael, who is my second favorite, right behind Madonna, who is my first favorite.

SPACE ODDITY
From the album Space Oddity (1969). This was Bowies first #1 hit and what a #1 hit it was. This has to be one of my favorite songs. It's one of his undestroyable classics.

JOHN, I'M ONLY DANCING
Not available on any album, released only as a single. Not that much of a great song.

CHANGES
From the album Hunky Dory (1971). An okay song.

ZIGGY STARDUST
From the album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (1972). Definitely another one of Bowie's best songs. You can't deny it, even if you tried to.

SUFFRAGETTE CITY
From the album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (1972). Another great song.

JEAN GENIE
From the album Aladdin Sane (1973). Amazing song and it should not be skipped.

DIAMOND DOGS
From the album Diamond Dogs (1974). If you are a huge Bowie fan, as I am, then you know better to not skip this one. If you do skip this one, then you all should be shamed like you've never been shamed before.

REBEL REBEL
From the album Diamond Dogs (1974). This is a song that I cannot stop listening to. My father doesn't like it as much, but who cares? I don't care because this song is definitely another one of my favorites. I listen to this song at least five or six times in row before turning off the album.

YOUNG AMERICANS
From the album Young Americans (1975). Not that great, but, in the same token, not that bad.

FAME ('90 Remix)
Original version from the album Young Americans (1975). This is yet another one of my favorite Bowie songs. I remember when Copycat came out in 1995, which would be nine years ago now. There is a scene where the killer in that one is in a club tormenting Sigourney Weaver's character over the phone and then hangs up. As he hangs up, this classic song is being played by the club's DJ.

GOLDEN YEARS
From the album Station To Staion (1976). Although this is a great song, I think his other hit single STATION TO STATION, which is also from the album Station To Station (1976) is a more incredible song and would have fit perfectly on this album.

HEROES
From the album Heroes (1977). Another song that I cannot resist listening to. An awesome song that should not be skipped by anybody. If you watch the hit movie musical, Moulin Rouge, you'll see that when Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman sing the track ELEPHANT LOVE MEDLEY, they include this song.

ASHES TO ASHES
From the album Scary Monsters (1980). My father does not like this one either, but again, I don't care because I'm the one who does like it. Another amazing song.

FASHION
From the album Scary Monsters (1980). Just as good as ASHES TO ASHES.

LET'S DANCE
From the album Let's Dance (1983). An okay song, but not one of my favorites.

CHINA GIRL
From the albun Let's Dance (1983). Although, by this point, Bowie started going a little downwards with his music, this is a song that I find hard for me not to listen to. If you watch The Wedding Singer, you'll see that this song is mentioned and even sung a little by Drew Barrymore and Christine Taylor.

MODERN LOVE
From the album Let's Dance (1983). Not that much of a great song, like I said, this is a point where I thought he started to go a little downwards.

BLUE JEAN
From the album Tonight (1984). Okay, I said he was going a little downwards and the album Tonight (1984) shows that, just like the Let's Dance (1983) album did, but BLUE JEAN is a song that will win all fans of Bowie over. No one David Bowie fan can deny it, whether he or she wants to deny it.

This album is a must-have and it's definitely worth the time and the money. When Amazon picks up more copies, you all better get a move on buying a copy. I'll see to it that you all do.

Great Start

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.

Optimal one-disc Bowie compilation

Label changes can create headaches not only for the artist but for the music buyer. During Bowie's RCA years, there was ChangesOneBowie and ChangesTwoBowie. When Ryko bought his back catalogue, (Space Oddity to Scary Monsters) a single Changesbowie CD, consisting of his old RCA singles and EMI singles came out in 1990, and this is what launched the discovery of old Bowie for me.

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.

Outdated

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.

Solid look at Bowie's career (up to 1984)

Bowie's most popular work is well-represented in this collection ranging from Space Oddity to the early 80's. Those who are looking for his more challenging and adventurous work will have to delve more deeply. This is purely a surface collection, for people who like what they hear from Bowie on classic rock radio. Not a bad song in the group (well maybe Let's Dance)and well worth the purcahse for the casual listener.