DAVID LIVE

I´ve got to admit that I like this album. More than in 1975, I should say. The CD version sounds a little brighter than my old vinyl copy. Still, it is quite below expectations for Bowie´s first ever live offering, especially if you consider the set list. Clearly, something is not right with most of the songs. And it´s hard to point where or what.

Actually the album starts very well, with a stunning, powerful, better-than-studio version of 1984. This track really soars and give me goose bumps everytime I hear it even today. Everything works on this song and it´s the album highlight for me. Moonage Daydream is also very good, but Rebel Rebel starts the letdown. This rocking tune should work perfectly live, but this rendition just pales if you think about the original one. And so it goes. Sweet Thing even drags on for over 8 minutes (even if is partially saved by Mike Garson elegant piano).

All the muscians involved are very good, but the band just does not seem to click. The backing vocals are fantastic, but they alone can´t save the show. Bowie was in a transition state, between his space age character and his new, thin white duke persona (soon to be presented to the world with his Young Americans LP that was released a few months after DL). So the song arrangements reflected that, because they show definitive schizofrenic playing. Not soul enough, not too rocking either.

This is not to say David Live is a bad record. Bowie´s talent as songwriter and perfomer was too big to give a less than a good performance. It was only disappointing when compared to his live shows before that, especially the ones he played along with his former sidekick Mick Ronson and the Spiders From Mars. The album has its moments, but could be a lot better ( and I mean, a LOT better). My rating keeps swinging somewhere between 2 and 3 stars. So a 2,5 star rating is more fitting.