David Bowie: Is It Any Wonder?
This is another streaming-only release from 2020, available to access via streaming platforms. It contains some interesting, eminently listenable rarities taken from sessions dating from 1997.
The first version of The Man Who The Sold The World is also included on the Changesnowbowie streaming only release and is a beautifully subtle version of the song, featuring a simply sumptuous bass line from Gail Ann Dorsey. Bowie's vocal is much slower and ethereally plaintive and this, in tandem with the bass and gently strummed guitar brings out the haunting beauty of the song. The Brian Eno-produced version of the song is even slower, with a "chilled-out" soft dance beat and a ghostly feel to it. It has some fine, industrial guitar near the end too. Once more, it is a most intriguing re-working.
The acoustic vibe continues on a lovely reading of Tin Machine's I Can't Read that features an almost Spanish-sounding guitar. Once again, Bowie's soft, smoky voice is at its best, really enhancing the song. The original, full band-backed electric version is good too and this stark interpretation highlights Bowie's ability to make one song sound like two, the versions being so contrasting.
The funky Stay, originally from 1976's Station To Station, is re-worked here as an electro-dance number with some heavy, beaty drums and seriously deep bass and lots of guitar interjections. I have always loved the song and love this version of it, with its spacey vocals, buzzy guitar and electric funk breaks.
Tin Machine's Baby Universal is given a frantic, dance-ish makeover with lots of Earthling-style programmed drums rolling around all over it, together with scratchy, buzzy guitars and some sweeping keyboard rushes. The original is more direct and rocking and, on balance, I think I prefer that one.
Nuts is an interesting rarity, dating from the sessions for the 1997 Earthling album. It is an instrumental, broken only by the occasional muttering of "what you rather be doing?". Its sound is that of ambient dance-style relentless drum programming and gentle, throbbing bass. It is basically performed by guitarist Reeves Gabrels and keyboardist Mark Plati, with Bowie's only contribution his vocal interjections. It is less full-on than much of Earthling's material and would have provided some nice contrasting moods if it had been included on that album.
Overall, this is a short but worthy compilation that deserves more than just the occasional listen.
* The track listing below is for the CD release and is slightly different to the digital-only release reviewed above.
