Tag: David Bowie Live Albums

Live Albums By David Bowie

David Bowie became one of the most iconic rock stars from the 1970s with legendary studio albums like The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust, Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane, Diamond Dogs, Station To Station, Low and Heroes.

He created a soundtrack for millions of teenagers with hit singles including Space Oddity, Starman, Life On Mars, Young Americans, Heroes and Ashes To Ashes.

What made David Bowie so astonishing was how his music progressed in first one direction and then another. You never knew what his next album was going to sound like and that made him both exciting and unpredictable.

Some times, he astounded you and some times he disappointed as he left a musical style that you loved and headed off elsewhere.

Just how big a star he was in his heyday was very well demonstrated in January 2013 when he announced he was back with a single and planned to release a new album. It was front page news in the UK press and a big item in the BBC news.

Studio Albums By David Bowie

1967 – David Bowie
1969 – Space Oddity
1970 – The Man Who Sold the World
1971 – Hunky Dory
1972 – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
1973 – Aladdin Sane
1973 – Pin Ups
1974 – Diamond Dogs
1975 – Young Americans
1976 – Station to Station
1977 – Low
1977 – Heroes
1979 – Lodger
1980 – Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
1983 – Let’s Dance
1984 – Tonight
1987 – Never Let Me Down
1993 – Black Tie White Noise
1993 – The Buddha of Suburbia
1995 – Outside
1997 – Earthling
1999 – Hours
2002 – Heathen
2003 – Reality
2013 – The Next Day
2016 – Black Star

David Bowie died on 10 January 2016, two days after Black Star was released. His death again dominated the news reporting and started a resurgence in the popularity of his albums and singles. Most of his studio albums jumped back into the top 100 album chart in the UK but I didn’t see any live albums listed.

Bowie had plenty of material to build a great live act but it’s debatable if he’s ever released a recognised classic live album. This is partly because what was released in his heyday wasn’t presented as well as it could have been. David Live had a murky sound before it was remastered.  With Stage, the running order was changed from the concerts to try to create a popular vinyl album and a Low/Heroes vinyl disc but that has also been fixed.

The next problem which stops Bowie from having one classic live album is that there are a few that are very, very good so that causes votes to be split. You’ll see what I mean in the poll further down the page.

Live Albums by David Bowie

1968 to 1972 Bowie at the Beeb – this is a two CD collection of live in the studio sessions. There is also a rarer 3 CD version with a live concert recoding as an extra disc.
1972 – David Bowie Live Santa Monica ’72

1973 – David Bowie Live in Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture (the film was based around the concert)

1974 David Bowie David Live

1976 David Bowie Live Nassau Coliseum 76 – this very popular bootleg has now been officially released as a bonus for the remastered Station To Station album.

1978 David Bowie live in Stage

1987 – David Bowie in Glass Spider Live

1991/92 Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby
1999  – VH1 Storytellers

2003 – David Bowie live in A Reality Tour

David Bowie has also released a number of live in concert DVDs

1983 – Serious Moonlight

What Are The Best David Bowie Albums?

I have put together two readers polls to vote for what you think are the best David Bowie live albums and studio albums.

Best David Bowie Live Albums Poll

Please vote.

Buying Live Albums By David Bowie

You can get these David Bowie albums from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

The Best David Bowie Studio Albums

I also started a poll to find the best studio albums.

You can get these David Bowie albums from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

My Personal Favourites Of David Bowie

My favourite song is Heroes although I’m not keen on much else from his Berlin trilogy and his work with Brain Eno. I was pleased to see him back to move some way back to more mainstream rock with the Scary Monsters album.

My favourite studio albums are Station To Station and Ziggy Stardust. In my university days, I used to love Hunky Dory too but I hardly play it these days as its more singer songwriter style doesn’t lead me to think of it as a typical Bowie album.

My favourite live album is the Nassau concert from 1976 but I keep playing David Live and I think it is getting better and better.

The Best Live Albums Of All Time

David Bowie’s albums feature in two main categories – art rock and classic rock

Please vote in the poll to find the best art rock live albums.

You can get these albums from Amazon.com – Amazon.co.uk.

Please also vote in the poll to find the best classic rock live albums.

Because there are so many excellent classic rock live albums I have split the poll into two and you may find some of your favourites in the second division. Albums will be promoted when they get enough votes.

You can get these albums from Amazon.com – Amazon.co.uk.