David Bowie - Serious Moonlight (DVD)

Advantages: The first three tracks...
Disadvantages: The rest of the album...

...Throughout music history, I doubt there will ever be another artist to will produce the same amount of albums as David 'dye my hair orange and call me Ziggy' Bowie. The controversial and predominately dance album, 'Let's Dance,' was his staggering 23rd album by the time it was released in April 1983. Since the days of strong make up and new romantic themes twenty years before Boy George, Bowie had never ceased to stun, shock and amaze audiences across the world. Taking on various visual characters over the years, the famous of these being Ziggy Stardust and The Thin White Duke, it would have seemed that these guises were now far behind him and that what we saw, standing in front of us in the early eighties was the real man himself. Notably, the best era of his life, (depending on how old you are) the eighties seemed to open up... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: all the hits and classics
Disadvantages: stops at 1987 and some excellent album tracks are missing

...Three Cds of the best of Bowie from 1969 through to 1987. Astonishingly good value for money and a very good overview of the period. Of course fans will debate whether of not these songs truly are the Best, but as an introduction for the newcomer, or as a handy round up of the singles for the fan (and many of the single edits are different from the album versions) you can't really go wrong with this set. The pacaking is minimal, and the slightly odd non chronological order doesn't work for me, but the individual tracks are all good and showcase the sheer breadth of talent that Bowie has. From the stright ahead rock of "The Jean Genie" to the shimmering funk of "Golden Years" to the European iciness of "Sound And Vision" to the glorious dance pop of "Let's Dance" and so much more, this is probably the best introduction to David Bowie... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: A huge improvement on previous Bowie efforts, possibly his best since 'Let's Dance'
Disadvantages: Dodgy covers

...Anybody with even the most rudimentary grasp of the history of pop music will be aware of one simple fact: David Bowie was better then than he is now. Simply put, Bowie's career can be carved into two neat sections: the Good Bowie (everything up to, and including 'Scary Monsters') and Bad Bowie ('Tonight' onward), with 'Let's Dance forming the bridge between the two, depending on your view on that particular album. After some pioneering work in the 1970's and turn of the 80's, Bowie suddenly found himself in a cultural wasteland of his own creation, gone from being feted as one of the prime architects of what passes for 'alternative' music to inhabiting the same space in the minds of the nation as the likes of middle-of-the-road monsters Phil Collins and Elton John. Try listening to a Bowie album after 'Let's Dance'. It's painful... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful