Album Review: David Bowie - ChangesNowBowie (2020)

In November 1996, as he prepared for his 50th birthday celebration show at New York’s Madison Square Garden, David Bowie recorded a handful of rehearsal tracks for a radio special called ChangesNowBowie. That show, and those recordings, circulated in bootleg form for many years but were, in April 2020, set for an official Record Store Day release on a newly sanctioned (or official) album with the same title as the radio show itself.

That plan, of course, hit a snag when RSD was postponed in wake of the Covid-19 global pandemic outbreak which has pretty much brought the entire planet to a standstill. That 
setback didn’t prevent ChangesNowBowie being released in digital format (only) however, with a more extensive release (including vinyl, CD) earmarked for the rescheduled RSD date of June 20.

Unlike the three previous ‘Changes’ offerings - ChangesOne (1976), ChangesTwo (1981), and the 1990 hybrid compilation, erm, Changes - ChangesNow isn’t really a “Greatest Hits” type set. But it does include a few gems. Nine quite special tracks, and something of a pick n mix assortment of mostly stripped back acoustic takes on (again, mostly) older 1970s material.

For the ChangesNow sessions Bowie was supported by revered guitarist Reeves Gabrels (Tin Machine, The Cure*), bassist and co-vocalist Gail Ann Dorsey, and keys man, Mark Plati, but rather typically, the minimalist nature of these versions means its all about the man himself, and that incredible voice.

The radio interview itself and the general chit-chat narrative of the original broadcast has been omitted from the album, naturally. If you want that, you’ll just have to dig deep for the aforementioned bootleg editions. 

Highlights include fantastic takes on standards like ‘The Man Who Sold The World’, ‘Aladdin Sane’, and the live/cover favourite ‘White Light/White Heat’, which is easily the most uptempo, or straight up rock track of the bunch. There’s also the Hunky Dory sleeper, ‘Andy Warhol’, Ziggy’s ‘Lady Stardust’, and the Lodger-era ‘Repetition’. But for me, the pick of the bunch is Tin Machine’s ‘Shopping For Girls’, which is given new life on this. 

All up, it’s a cool addition to the wider Bowie discography. I’ve got the digital version of the album, which does quite nicely for now, but completists will want this on vinyl, so don’t sleep on RSD’s June 20 release date. 

* Incidentally, Bowie’s 50th birthday bash at Madison Square Garden was pivotal in Reeves Gabrels eventually joining The Cure. It was there, in early 1997, where Gabrels met Robert Smith, who performed a track alongside Bowie at MSG, with the pair going on to forge a close friendship. Years later, in 2012, Gabrels guested with The Cure for a few festival shows before later becoming a permanent member of the band. He remains a member of The Cure at the time of writing.