Description

An advance notice, not a review.
When this is released in its deluxe edition - 2 CDs and a DVD - it will be a necessary addition to any fan's Bowie collection, even if the DVD has the picture-quality problems noted in a previous review.
The 2 CDS will be drawn from a concert in Montreal previously broadcast on radio. As a collector, very familiar with the performance, I can assure Bowie-ologists that it's mostly terrific. I say "mostly" because Bowie's voice does flag toward the end ("Let's Dance" era). Also, at times the band's use of "very 1980s" instrumental timbres becomes a problem (onmore… songs like "Young Americans" and the aforementioned "Let's Dance").
It's the set-list that makes it great...Apart from focussing attention on some underrated NEVER LET ME DOWN-era material (the album/tour title songs certainly are due a revival, but so is "87 And Cry" - and call me mad but I like Bowie's version of "Bang Bang"), the Montreal show includes almost all the unique/unusual song-choices from this tour. Not only "Up The Hill Backwards" and "Sons Of The Silent Age", but also "All The Madmen" (strangely, the first half is given a `danceable' 4-4 beat and Cockney vocal), and, better still, "Big Brother" (played straight, except for sax/percussion solos during the `Chant' section). The versions of "Scary Monsters" and "Loving The Alien" are pretty good too...
For those who've never seen the show - the critics were sort of right. It IS ridiculous - because, unlike the Diamond Dogs and Ziggy Stardust tours there's no conceptual framework, no "story", just a lot of bizarre visual stunts. The glass spider itself is barely noticeable once the show gets started - the stage starts to look like a giant branch of Burger King, and the dancers' costumes make them look like extras from a 1980s Coca Cola advert. (Except for the robot-dancer on crutches, of course!) But if it's lacking in "theatrical" inspiration, that doesn't necessarily make the tour a waste of everyone's time.

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Info:

Category:

Music > Albums

Case Type:

CD

Release Type:

Retail

Comments:

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Cover Info:

Title:

David Bowie - Glass Spider (1988) Retail CD

Part:

CD

Dimensions:

1423 x 1423 px

Size:

238 KB

Downloads:

75 (0 today)

Uploaded:

Report a Problem Wrong Cover Duplicate Image Bad Quality Wrong Info

10/06/09 by heebee

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