It's this week's pick...
Nice to see that NME magazine in the UK has Stage as reissue of the week in the current issue. It's actually a great review worth reproducing in its entirety here. Keep reading for a few more reviews of both David Live and Stage.
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NME Reviewer: Rob Fitzpatrick
1978 was a long time ago. In 1978, a former folkie, turned cross-dressing pop-rock belter, turned alien sex fiend, turned cocaine-cadaverous soul crooner, turned Berlin-bound, cleaned-up synth-obsessive could take to the stage of Manhattan's enormous Madison Square Garden by playing an instrumental piece - 'Warszawa' - so full of sobering portent that it makes Spinal Tap's "little children of Stone'enge" number sound positively apologetic before launching headfirst into 'Heroes', a song so anthemic no other artist in the world would dare place it anywhere but the encore.
But this was 1978, and in 1978 David Bowie could do anything. He could invent '80s New Romanticism - 'Sense Of Doubt' and 'Beauty And The Beast' lay out the entire ennui-laden, art-funk blueprint for everyone from Japan to Talking Heads. He could invent mid-90s Blur - the fabulously bored, mockney snarl of 'Be My Wife' would have been right at home on 'Parklife' - and he could, now minus the cocaine, pull back from his own ego enough to let an instrumental like 'Speed Of Life' take up precious Me time.
Who today would have the balls to make an album like 'Stage'? Who would be as willing to reimagine some of their biggest hits in the way Bowie does? Massive, crowd pleasers like 'Fame', 'Five Years' and 'Stay' are either pitched down so hard you can hear the bones of the song creaking, or seen anew through the prism of a burgeoning avant-garde bent. At no point does Bowie simply kneel before the audience's open fly with his songbook-sized mouth open and make it easy for them.
So 'Star' is followed by 'Hang On To Yourself', which is followed by 'Ziggy Stardust' - featuring, naturally, a string ensemble where Mick Ronson's brutalist guitar used to be - well, you know how much those '70s US rock crowds loved a cello! Just as the audience is about to reach giddy satisfaction, Bowie hits them with the double whammy of 'Art Decade', an instrumental more suited to promoting good working conditions in a Korean lift factory and an unlistenably atonal 'Alabama Song'. Brilliant.
Modern pop types, that noise you can hear is a 27-year old gauntlet hitting the floor.
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Good stuff eh? Here follows a few excerpts from other reviews with links to the full online pieces.
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BBC Reviewer: Daryl Easlea
The Thin White One's reissue program progresses onward with these two '70s live artefacts. Often dismissed by Bowie critics, they remain his only contemporaneous official live solo albums to date. With these releases, the pair are, at last, done full justice; original set orders are restored, the sound is given pin-drop clarity and the picture-stuffed packaging is a joy.
Visconti has done a great job polishing up the silverware with David Live and Stage, and Bowie's voice is truly stunning throughout. If you're a newcomer, I wouldn't suggest that these reissues are at the top of your Thin White priority list. As a complement to the studio albums, however, they are absolutely invaluable. Read more here...
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HybridMagazine Reviewer: L. Keane
Why the re-issues, you may ask? Is there such a tremendous sound difference between my old cd versions of these awesome David Bowie live shows and these new re-mixed ones? The answer, my good friend, is yes. Tony Visconti, who originally recorded and mixed both Stage and David Live, is once again responsible for re-mixing the records into the 21st century. Sound quality is crisper, instrumentation clearer at times, and the actual running order of the live shows has been followed, rather than the chronological ordering of songs as on the initial releases.
Any fan of Bowie, or anyone that doesn't already own either David Live or Stage, needs to run out and get these re-issues. They are not only classic representations of live rock and roll perfection, but they are musical and much more contiguous with the new track lists. Read more here...
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AtomicDuster Reviewer: Nick James
But how to pick from these two albums, now that's a difficult one. Buy both! But if you couldn't, then perhaps decide between a Bowie, learning, growing and escaping his glitter spangles and heals far too high for safety and the Bowie inventing a movement that would later see Steve Strange and Boy George create music in his shadow, yet still playing to a wild guitar. Any the wiser, uh? No, these albums are just brilliant, porn the cat, forgo that lunch-time 'Pot Noodle' (well they're dangerous anyway) and throw all caution to the wind and just buy both! They each have their time and place anyway. Read more here...
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HipOnline Reviewer: Charlie Craine
Fans of Bowie?s will unite in their joy of this wonderful re-issue but it is those who have never dug deep into Bowie that will surely learn the most. David Live and Stage are a one-stop shop to the sheer genius of David Bowie. Rarely does a live record make a great addition to a record collection and it should be no surprise that Bowie worked it out. Read more here...
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So there you go...Surely, if you've not already done so, it would be churlish of you not to buy these masterpieces after reading that little lot!
