David Bowie - Changesonebowie (1976/2018) [Hi-Res]

Released in May 1976, Changesonebowie begins where Bowie the artist begins in the collective imagination: not with his 1964 debut single "Liza Jane," but with his 1969 hit "Space Oddity." Even in 1976, it was already a bona fide classic, but it was the odd man out when it originally appeared on the singer's second (and second self-titled) album. David Bowie was a hippie, acoustic singer-songwriter album featuring song titles like "Memory of a Free Festival" and "Unwashed and Slightly Dazed." Especially in the post-Ziggy Stardust "Starman" era, casual fans didn't have much use for the flaxen-haired pseudo-Bob Dylan vibe of David Bowie. It was perceived as your standard "buy it for the hit" fare, so finally being able to pick up "Space Oddity" on a compilation was a treat. Today the inclusion of an unreleased track or two is mandatory for greatest hits packages, but that wasn't always the case. For U.S. fans, Changesonebowie was their first chance to own "John, I'm Only Dancing" as anything other than an import. The track hadn't appeared on an album previously, having only been released as a U.K. single back in '72. (RCA refused to release the track upon its initial release due to its possibly homoerotic lyrics.) While the Beatles' Hey Jude (which features tracks that hadn't been compiled on studio albums), beat Changesone to the market by a good six years, this was still an unusual move for an artist of Bowie's stature in 1976.

"David Bowie's first official compilation album, released in the wake of Station to Station and sharing that album's odd typography, Changesonebowie is a handy one-stop roundup of the last four years of hits, plus "Space Oddity" -- an American smash in 1973, but unavailable on a U.K. single since its first appearance in 1969. It soared to the top of the British chart, dragging Changesone with it -- the album eventually peaked at number two. The album's main charm for confirmed fans was the inclusion of "John, I'm Only Dancing." Never previously included on LP, the song was also making its American debut here, with the excitement soaring even higher when it was discovered that the "wrong" version had been included -- the regular 1972 U.K. single version was omitted in inadvertent favor of a 1973 re-recording. The error was corrected for subsequent pressings of the album. An unadventurous-looking track listing should not deter the keen fan. As with so many pre-CD age Bowie compilations, it's very easy to overlook Changesonebowie in favor of the more-bang-for-your-buck career-spanning collections that have since emerged. It remains, however, a charming time capsule, a reminder of the days when Bowie was as much a chart-topping pop star as an iconic idol." (Dave Thompson, AMG)

Digitally remastered