Americans can rest easy tonight because "The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987," the Bowie compilation they have undoubtedly been waiting their entire lives for, has finally been released, or actually, re-released. All jokes aside, this is a great album. It's perfect for people low on either cash or Bowie albums from the '80s. The compilation features some of Bowie's best tracks outside of "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars" (1972). "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)" (1980), "Let's Dance" (1983), "Tonight" (1984) and "Never Let Me Down" (1987) are all represented in the 19 songs on the disc, along with a separate DVD featuring music videos and a handful of singles. Don't worry -- "Under Pressure" is included, too.
This compilation begins after David Bowie's flamboyant and extremely glam phases as Ziggy Stardust and The Thin White Duke. It follows his progression as he began to push himself away from themed personas and into the mainstream British and American music scenes where one can definitely feel a poppy dance vibe not present in his earlier work. This style change turned out to be exactly what Bowie needed to reinvigorate his music and take it in a new direction. The album features songs that are noticeably catchier than the majority of his previous work, making it more accessible to Bowie virgins and those unprepared for his deeper compositions.
The songs selected from "Scary Monsters" are probably the weakest part of this compilation. In 1980, Bowie still had a distinctive rock flare in his style, which frankly leads to some boring guitar riffs and unimpressive vocals. That said, "Ashes to Ashes" is a great song, maybe even one of his best. On the other hand, this period also gave us songs like "Alabama Song," which is perhaps one of his worst and is really weird even by Bowie standards.
"Let's Dance" is one of Bowie's best albums, and the tracks taken from this album are some of the finest he's ever written. The rock in "Scary Monsters" is gone, replaced with upbeat tempos and bright pop music. "China Girl" and "Modern Love" stand out as two of the most refined and well-rounded tracks ever released by Bowie, featuring perfect pacing and great lyrics.
Released the year after "Let's Dance," "Tonight" attempted to follow up on the commercial success of Bowie's new dance sound. While good, some of the energy from his earlier albums is lost. "Blue Jean" is still a great song, featuring the lusciously low singing that only Bowie can pull off.
While Bowie himself considers "Never Let Me Down" to be the worst album he has ever released, the tracks chosen from the album for this compilation are actually pretty good. "Day-In Day-Out" is a more-than-passable song by Bowie standards and is a great sing-along.
In addition to songs from albums, some epic singles are included in the compilation with, of course, "Under Pressure" leading the way. One of the true gems of Bowie's career, "Underground," is saved for the compilation's final song.
"Underground" debuted during the opening credits of Jim Henson's "Labyrinth" (1986), when a CGI owl flies around looking really, really fake. The song hasn't received very much attention, not to mention the points it earns for beginning a movie starring Bowie as the goblin king, who apparently has an enormous pocket filled with socks suggestively positioned at the front of his tights. Come to think of it, "Labyrinth" might just be the best movie of all time. But that's a different review.
While there is a surplus of David Bowie compilations out there, this is probably the best bet assuming listeners have a couple of his key albums in full. The progression of styles in the compilation showcases Bowie's genius in making music that large and diverse audiences adore. It has been six years since Bowie's last album, which one can only hope means that the next one will be his best yet. Either that or he's working on a sequel to "The Prestige" (2006). Honestly, both sound good to a Bowie fan.
