General Article name: Space Oddity
Genre: Rock englischsprachig Product type: LP (Vinyl) Label: Parlophone Label Group (PLG) Number of tracks: 14 Tracklist LP - 1 1. David Bowie - Space Oddity 2. David Bowie - Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed 3. David Bowie - Letter to Hermione 4. David Bowie - Cygnet Committee 5. David Bowie - Janine 6. David Bowie - Occasional Dream 7. David Bowie - Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud 8. David Bowie - God Knows I'm Good 9. David Bowie - Memory of a Free Festival   Tracklist - 2 Bowie, David - Janine (2009 Digital Remaster) 3:21 Bowie, David - An Occasional Dream (2009 Digital Remaster) 2:54 Bowie, David - Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (2009 Digital Remaster) 4:46 Bowie, David - God Knows I'm Good (2009 Digital Remaster) 3:17 Bowie, David - Memory Of A Free Festival (2009 Digital Remaster) 7:09   Description Album Review (en)

Originally released as Man of Words/Man of Music, Space Oddity was David Bowie's first successful reinvention of himself. Abandoning both the mod and Anthony Newley fascinations that marked his earlier recordings, Bowie delves into a lightly psychedelic folk-rock, exemplified by the album's soaring title track. Bowie actually attempts a variety of styles on Space Oddity, as if he were trying to find the ones that suited him best. As such, the record isn't very cohesive, but it is charming, especially in light of his later records. Nevertheless, only "Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud" and "Memory of a Free Festival" rank as Bowie classics, and even those lack the hooks or purpose of "Space Oddity." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Release Review (en)

The expanded double-disc 40th Anniversary reissue of David Bowie's Space Oddity -- for all intents and purposes, his first true album, originally appearing in 1969 as Man of Words, Man of Music and following a largely forgotten 1967 debut for Deram -- contains 15 bonus tracks, all gathered on a second disc. Eight of these tracks are previously unreleased, highlighted by a pair of demos -- billed as never bootlegged -- that open the disc: one of the first versions of "Space Oddity" followed by "An Occasional Dream." The other unreleased cuts are largely different mixes: an unreleased stereo mix of "Conversation Piece," alternate album mixes of "Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud" and "Memory of a Free Festival," an alternate stereo mix of "London Bye Ta Ta," and a full-length Italian version of "Space Oddity." There's also a BBC session of "Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed" that somehow escaped compilers of 2002's Bowie at the Beeb and that, along with the other two BBC sessions, are a highlight here. Like the proper album, this bonus disc is a little bit of a hodge-podge but enjoyably so, as the formative moments and alternate-take repetition are goosed along by several true gems: those kinetic BBC sessions, the glamtastic "London Bye Ta-Ta," the alternate "Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud" with a Paul Buckmaster intro, and a longer version of "Memory of a Free Festival." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Contributors Artist: David Bowie Record Label: VCT Record Label: Virgin Guest Artist: Rick Wakeman Guest Artist: John Lodge