Though it is a sonically varied, there is an evident aural aesthetic here. Songs have a propulsive drive, beats to bop to and tap your toes, but often a hint of melancholy. The music comes from feeling, with evocative titles matching ambiguous music in tempting ways.

It’s an album that rewards a close listen but also shines in the background. It’s a soundtrack to your day, something to have on while doing other stuff (a strength of instrumental musical in general), but every time ... read more

Just listen to other Bowie live albums.

I do like that we have some chatter. I do not like that it's from the album tour for a record I don't like. I always support playing the new material, especially with established artists that can so easily coast on the hits... But the new material should be better. He keeps saying songs are new songs and I keep not liking them.

The other tracks are decent, but are not the best versions of them.

What a strange record. It has a weird setlist made up of atypical interpretations. It is always interesting, if sometimes just not very good. But, I do quite like it in spite of that, maybe because of that. It is Bowie sans direction and the traditional approach of putting the new aesthetic on the old material (as first showcased in David Live) is always fascinating. It doesn't hit here but it still intrigues.

A solid set list. It’s great to get a chance to hear wider tracks from Station to Station, the relative complexity and unique sound of the album meaning it never became a live staple. The songs do sound better on the record, though, the layered recordings and in studio experiments making it stand out.

This is a solid concert, one that would have been fantastic to attend, and a decent enough recording. Certain tracks don’t quite work, others find new life.

The sound of David Live is transposed into songs built for them, and given more soul. This album has such time given to jam out, making for some of the best musical moments. The sound is expensive, multilayered and intoxicating. Some of the tracks here are Bowie’s best (Fascination and Young Americans specifically).

The tracks are longer, the mood is different. It’s a fascinating album. It is also a touch uneven. The heights are stunning but there is inconsistency. It doesn’t ... read more

For me, this is one for he definitive live albums. Holding place in my mind with Stop Making Sense as definitional expressions of artists. This is encouraged by my father’s love of this record. I received it on CD one Christmas as a teen. I remember sitting up in bed at my grandparents’ house listening to it on a portable CD player and being blown away.

I knew Diamond Dogs and I knew Ziggy Stardust. This had familiar tracks and alien ones. The thing was, even the familiar tracks ... read more

This was my first Bowie album. For a Christmas, my parents got my brother Ziggy Stardust and myself this. In the knowledge that we’d both listen to both and as a conscious attempt to share music they loved with us.

At the time, I was also discovering 1984 — which would be my favourite book for a while. This album’s conversation with that book is fascinating. It takes the feel and emphasises the emotion. Even the songs not directly based on it seem gleaned from it, a ... read more

The famously bland covers album is… Bland. The cover of Sorrow is still great, and it’s a decent enough batch of songs. There are a few misses and it just feels so low energy and needless.

It doesn't quite feel as unified as the run of albums before it, but the Mike Garson piano sound is perfectly established. This free from but accessible jazzy background becomes one of the key Bowie sounds and is showcased expertly on this album. The jazzier tracks are the standouts, not always sitting perfectly alongside others.

There are no weak tracks, though and there are plenty of iconic sounds. It is not a transformative album as a whole but aspects of it are revelatory.

So brilliant that describing its brilliance has become cliché. It is an entertaining concept album with witty highs and profound depths. There is a great variety of emotion and sound here, but an overall cohesion.

There's enough story, with familiar and satisfying tropes, to sell the concept album framework. But, individual songs all stand alone and have great mini arcs. It feels, to an extent, like Hunky Dory's Queen Bitch and Life on Mars were expanded into an album. The theatrical ... read more

In terms of musical aesthetic, this is what people think about when they think about Bowie. It is a bold divergence from Man Who Sold the World (though some of the tracks would fit nicely on that album (Andy Warhol especially). This feels like light, accessible pop but it hides complex instrumentation and effortlessly brilliant lyrics.

This is an album of hits, but they don't feel like singles surrounded by album tracks. It is a cohesive album with an amazing sound, and coherent themes. It is ... read more

A full formed genre busting and defining album. This is folksy glam rock while also being pseudo-metal and definitely hard rock. The iconic ethereal scuzz to the production makes it still stand tall above the recent re-issue.

There are, conventionally, no real hits here. Though the title track has become as iconic as it should be. However, there are no misses (though there are some lyrical blemishes). Each song feels alive, progressive and fascinating. The complexity to the music is enticing, ... read more

A remarkable leap up from the first album. This contains a clearer glimpse of what is to come, with tracks that musically foreshadow future albums. It is still often a forgettable folk album but the lyricism and instrumentation starts to stand out. The updated 2019 mix brings in Conversation Piece, which I really like and enriches the album.

On this original cut, the most notable track is Space Oddity, its more expansive production signalling the ambition of Bowie to come. For me, it's not a ... read more

Bowie's first record is better forgotten. It is all forgettable, quirky folk that has the feel of an annoying old uncle singing songs only they know. Lyrically, it is often irritating, with 'We Are Hungry Men' being a true lowlight. This is just a new singer on the block getting some songs beneath them with no evidence of any distinct talent. I would call it generic, but it is below that. Even the instrumentation has the feel of a church fair.

Archival Bowie. Early '70s recordings that give a good insight into the artist at the time. It is an everything thrown in release, complete with repetition (but there's fun in that). Definitely only of historical interest, but that is buoyed by the John Peel announcements between tracks (for that section). Though, I continue to find Peel a touch annoying. It contextualises things nicely, though, and makes this feel like a step back in time.

There are some really good tracks here and, though ... read more

The same period as Ouvrez Le Chien but a markedly better record. The setlist is better but it is the quality of the recording that places it above. It is still not live Bowie at its best but it's another good chance to hear a less represented side of the Bowie catalogue in concert. There is an amount of stage patter that brings it to life, gives more atmosphere and makes it feel less like a rushed off random recording.

Stunning reinterpretations of classic tracks that, when placed together, feel like a unique record. The Aladdin Sane duet is especially brilliant, and is reflective of interesting changes made throughout these recordings.

The chosen songs give a nice cross section of a period, and of live staples, but also fit beautifully together.

A 2020 release of a 1995 performance leads to the question: why wasn't this released before? The answer becomes obvious upon listening, as this release feels incredibly optional. Though, on one hand, when surrounded by endless live releases and re-releases of the same couple of periods of Bowie (do you want Ziggy Stardust stuff and Berlin trilogy stuff? Well, do we have 35 albums for you), a live release from the Outside tour is at least a fun change.

The tracklist is interesting, there are ... read more

Occasionally, there is an instrumental break on this album that sounds like one of the old songs you remember. Occasionally, the specific instrument sounds remind you of why you used to like Muse. Mostly, this is just terrible.

The band themselves describe the album as ‘a greatest hits album — of new songs’. The phrase genre hopping has also been used. First of all, if this was a greatest hits you wouldn’t want to go near the wider album tracks. Secondly, this all seems ... read more

After an apparently successful Earthling tour, the plan was to put out a live record. This is a distinct musical period for Bowie, in a career defined by these. The difference here being a lack of both critical and commercial success (though the previous album, Outside, has been broadly reappraised).

That live album didn’t happen, what we have is this early internet artefact. The title hints at it, but this was distributed only through the net, specifically to subscribers to BowieNet. ... read more