Decided to check out this new career retrospective on Bowie. I won’t have a whole lot to say, because all I should need to say is “59 David Bowie songs.” That’s if you get the three-disc edition and you should. The set moves in reverse chronological order, which is different. It starts with Sue, a brand new Bowie song (and, unfortunately, a real dud), then has a couple from The Next Day, his last proper album and thenmoves back through time, ultimately ending up with a few songs from when he was still going by his real name, David Jones. The set wants to be a greatest hits compilation and also a rarities collection and it succeeds as well as any set since Dylan’s Biograph. Even on the classic hits, the album will throw you a curve ball by giving you an alternate take, like with All the Young Dudes, or a single version, like on Heroes, or a modern remix, like a 2007 remix of Young Americans. And it contains some songs from the sessions for Toy, an abandoned project that Bowie worked on back around 2000. All in all, this is just a stunningly great compilation; it’s one the Bowie fanatic will love and it’s also a perfect introduction to Bowie. Highly recommended. 4 stars.
tl;dr – wonderful compilation album features the hits, quite a few rarities and an intriguing reverse chronological sequence; Bowie fanatics and neophytes alike will love it. 4 stars.