This album proves, if nothing else, that in 1973 Bowie had one hell of a taste in music, and that Mick Ronson is a pretty damn versatile guitarist. There are however quite a few drawbacks to having a full cover album. You’re always going to disappoint some fans and slaughter some already very good songs. The album starts with Rosalyn by the Pretty Things. While Bowie might not be able to pull of the vocals of the original, the whole fuzzy guitar sound is maintained brilliantly by Ronson.
I’d like to take a moment to comment on the actual flow on the album, this has been done surprisingly well. There has been some form of effort here with the track listing and transitions to keep the album coherent. Here Comes the Night by Them always feels like it could have been done a lot better. You’ll quickly forget this though, as the brilliantly done I Wish You Would Yardbirds cover redeems the start of the album.
An interesting point here is of course that I Wish You Would was actually a Billy Boy Arnold Song, so it’s a cover of a cover. Again Ronson seems to outshine Bowie on the recording. This transitions into a very good yet very bad cover of Pink Floyd’s See Emily Play. The chorus has been murdered, but Bowie’s performance on the verse is very good. In the end the song not only runs to long, but simply becomes annoying, a disappointment as you’d think Bowie covering Floyd would be quite awesome.
Everything’s Alright by The Mojos features one of Bowie’s best vocal performances on the album. And always makes for a refreshing change in the album. The Cover of I Can’t Explain by the Who is an awesome slab of glam helped along massively once along by Ronson. The whole song is done in such a cheesy fashion you can’t help but smile. Also done well is Friday On My Mind, which is far more in Bowie’s style, which I feel is the type of cover he does much better.
Sorrow surprisingly got Bowie a charting single from the album, reaching number 3 on the UK singles chart. Having been a relatively popular song by the Merseys, it’s not a bad song, it just doesn’t seem to make much of an impression. Don’t Bring Me Down marks the second Pretty Things song that is done very well by Bowie on the album. The riff is infections and Bowie manages to do the song justice.
The second Yardbirds cover, Shapes of things (Incidentally my favourite Yardbirds song) is done incredibly well, with some nice innovations. Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere is a great Who cover which really does translate a lot of the same energy of the original. The original album ends with a rather lacklustre version of the Kinks’ Where Have All The Good Times Gone.
However the re-issue includes two brilliant covers far more suited to Bowie’s style in Growin’ Up and Amsterdam. Both of which increase the whole appeal of the album, and as such I will consider them in the rating. The whiole album is good, but dissapointing, some of the choices aren't that appropriate for Bowie. But a very large part of the album is saved by Mick Ronson's guitar
6/10