David Bowie
The Best Of 1974-1979
[Virgin]
Rating: 8.6
Everyone's got a different opinion as to when Bowie was at his peak.
Some say his early '70s work-- The Man Who Sold The World,
Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane--
are his best works. The rest of us are sticking with late '70s
Bowie-- Station To Station, Low, Heroes,
and Lodger.
Best of 1974-1979 brings together 14 brilliant tracks from
this period, along with two mediocre tracks, and two embarrassingly
bad ones. "Hey now," some of you say. "What did Bowie do during that
period that could ever be classified as 'embarrassingly bad?'" Well,
how about "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)," the disco nightmare sequel
to the brilliant Ziggy Stardust number? And how about his live
(and only) version of the '60s blues classic (turned disco smash for
Amii Stewart) "Knock On Wood?" Well, yeah. Every artist has some duds
in their repertoire (though, I've gotta say, those two seemed preventable
via the use of a little something I like to call "common sense").
Regardless, how many artists' greatest hits collections can you name
that present 14 awesome tracks culled from just five years of their
career? Aside from Bowie, there aren't many. And Best of 1974-1979
does an excellent job of putting the truly amazing songs alongside
the unforgettable hit singles.
Here's the thing, though: I can't really imagine a use for this record.
As with most "best of" albums, if you're a fan, you've already got this
stuff; if you're looking for an introduction into this period of Bowie's
career, any four of the aforementioned classics are far superior, if only
because this record's got a severe lack of continuity; if you want all
the songs you already know and love in one place, you're going to be
much better off spending a few minutes on a mix tape. But it's out there
if you want it.
-Ryan Schreiber
"Sound and Vision"
[Real Audio Stream]