Entertainment For Lively Minds
any David Bowie live CDs worth having?
Posted by another Iain on 17 July 2011 - 12:19am.
In Fopp today they had a fistful of reasonably-priced live David Bowie CDs - Stage, Live, Ziggy Stardust, Santa Monica. Given that I already have all the relevant studio albums, any opinions on whether any of these live CDs are worth having also?
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Oh yes!
Different beast to the studio recordings, and no consistently great album in my view, but each has some terrific highlights.
If you like the Berlin albums, Stage is excellent, despite a slightly brittle sound.
David Live would be my next choice - cabaret soul revue band, but good setlist and top Diamond Dogs track versions.
Santa Monica does it for me over Ziggy Stardust.
Aside from these, the Nassau 76 concert, released with the deluxe Station to Station, is really good, as is last year's Reality Tour document.
Live ...
... is my favourite, it's the Diamond Dogs tour but he's already moving into his soul phase - good cover of "Knock On Wood" and great version of "All The Young Dudes" - and a very good recording. Everyone's raving about "Stage" now but it wasn't well-reviewed on release - and may have only been released in order for him to end his contract with RCA. Not a great live album IMHO.
Stage
Brilliant, get it!
Stage
that is all
No, David Live! And 'Nassau Colosseum' extra disc.
Let me explain: yes, this seems enervated at times. But the sheer scope of the re-arrangements makes this fascinating, even though the performances can be dicey. I listened to this countless times in my early rock anorak years (75 to 78) and still find some of these renditions amazing - 'Width of a Circle', 'All the Young Dudes' and 'Rock and Roll Suicide' are strange beyond belief.
'Stage' is perfunctory. You won't find anything interesting or challenging here, despite what appears to be a top-notch track list. Haven't listened to it in over 30 years, and don't think I will ever again.
The live Nassau Colosseum show on the 'Station to Station' expanded set beats everything. Chilling stuff.
If you haven't heard 'Stage' in 30 years
...maybe you should. The current CD version was completely revamped and remixed by Tony Visconti, comes with bonus tracks and has the audience applause reinstated.
Fair enough
the original vinyl version I had was a depressing affair - glossy but flat production, no audience interaction.
Buy the lot
But if you want to be selective, then I'd go for Stage. The tracklist is good and the idea of him playing those Low tracks to an audience is really quite interesting given the venues and the rest of the set. He also revisits soem of the Ziggy material in a way I like.
And, if you can get it last years Reality Live album is a pretty spot on attempt to mix classic and then the late revival stuff.
Sir, I refer you to
http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/can-anybody-recommend-a-live-album...
for some sage advice.
At the Beeb
The 3cd version of Bowie at the Beeb has a cracking June 2000 concert recorded for the BBC with an outstanding vocal performance on "Wild is the Wind".
Also the Reality Tour re-worked version of "Loving the Alien" proves the eighties period songwriting wasn't a complete write-off.
Bowie at the Beeb
REally emjoy the extra CD of contemporary performance of classics that came with this. I play this a lot; but from the past the David Live was a fantastic trip in its time.
Agreed.
The BBC concert in 2000 was superb. "Always Crashing In The Same Car" and "I'm Afraid Of Americans" are particularly good on it.
I love the versions of the Low and "Heroes" stuff on Stage
because they remind me of seing Bowie live at Earls Court on that tour. The versions of "Station to Station", "Speed of Life" and "Warszawa" are particularly fine, I think - even better than the studio originals.
I never listen to the Ziggy songs on "Stage", though. They simply don't do it for me.
thanks everybody
very much appreciated.