David Live [Live, Original recording remastered]

I bought the vinyl double set as a 15 year old on its release in 1974.

This is one of my all time favourite live albums. This is a marvellous re-issue, with the running order in the correct sequence that the concert was originally performed at the Tower Theatre in Philadelphia.

A highly recommended purchase - it is beautifally packaged as well, in my opinion this is the better of his two official live releases, although Stage is recommended as well. A brilliant re-issue!

Stage is usually seen as the definitive polished live version of Bowie's work and the Santa Monica recording as the rougher 'official bootleg'.
I had to complete the collection with David Live, with no other excuse than the fantastic version of Panic in Detroit where Earl Slick lets fly with one of the best guitar solos on record (my humble opinion) - only available in the old days as a b-side to Knock on Wood and not on the vinyl version of Live.

David Live is a perfect set combining raw outings of earlier years with the new mood white soul boy direction that Bowie was moving in.
This is not an album just for the Bowie completeist - just one of the finest live albums ever.
TURN IT UP LOUD & ENJOY

What is remarkable about this live album is that Bowie reinvented himself before our very eyes for the first time. Not just his appearance (from bizarre outfits to formal suits) but also his music (from rock to soul) and most importantly of all, his voice. Prior to this album Bowie was known only to the British public as a sci-fi rocker with half a dozen rock'n'roll albums under his belt from Space Oddity to Diamond Dogs. No one would have suggested that Bowie was a remarkable vocalist, save a few stand out performances on Diamond Dogs (such as "When You Rock'n'Roll with Me"). However, on this record, Bowie finds an entirely new voice altogether: husky, soulful with an astonishing emotional range. This fact, coupled with radical rearrangements of all his classics, creates a completely new sound which he would later give full expression to on the Young Americans album released the following year. The opening tracks reveal his new funky Motown sound with saxophones, cow bells and lots of bass. "1984" betrays its Shaft soundtrack origins and Moonage Daydream becomes a heartfelt soulful plea. The medley of "Sweet Thing", "Candidate" and "Changes" however is truly monumental and is the best recording of these tracks available, for my money. Many of his songs fit surprisingly well into this new soul review such as "Aladdin Sane" and "All the Young Dudes" although others like "Cracked Actor" are less successful. Bowie also treats us to a few otherwise unavailable covers showing his influences openly with the Motown standard "Knock On Wood" and the Ohio Player's excellent "Here Today Gone Tomorrow". The second half also has many highlights, for me the best of them being "Panic In Detroit", "Big Brother" and "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide". The only frustrating thing about this album and tour is the absence of any video footage from of his ambitious stage show, surely the most inventive in the history of popular music at that point. As an audio testimony however, it is truly indispensible. This new direction may have alienated many of his rock'n'roll fans but who could have guessed that so many reinventions were still to follow? For example, after listening to this record consider this: only 2 years later (December 1976), Bowie had finished recording an album of German influenced electronic instrumentals called "Low".