Recorded on August 23, 1999, David Bowie’s Storytellers could have been a classic, instead it falls far from greatness in many ways. I wonder why VH1 decided to release this edition instead of others that are in the can such as CSN&Y or Steely Dan? Bowie’s Storytellers has some good tracks, but none that will leave you begging for more. Unless you are a Bowie maniac, you may want to pass on this live CD for the only one or two decent songs.

Bowie opens with “Life on Mars” from his 1971 album Hunky Dory and is off to a promising start. He then teases us with arguably the best song in this performance, “Rebel Rebel.” Unfortunately, either in good fun or because he is bored with performing the song after all of these many years, he ends it abrubtly a short way into the number. David! Please cut something else, something that isn't “Rebel Rebel.”

Next is “Thursday’s Child,” a good, but unimpressive newer song, followed by one of the best songs on the album, “Can’t Help Thinking About Me.” It’s a song from early is his career and Bowie has fun with what he believes are less then perfect lyrics. It’s at this point though that I begin to wonder what was going through his mind when he chose this track listing. I can dig obscure Bowie songs, but for Storytellers I want to hear and learn about the nuggets, those great Bowie tunes that everyone knows and loves.

I understand that he has distanced himself from a lot of the hits but Bowie fans never tire of them and this would be a great opportunity to learn more about their origins. Something that could of elevated this live record, "China Girl,” unfortunately is not up to par with the original, but is a welcome addition to the set list.

After the uninteresting and unnecessary song, "Seven," from his newest album (at the time), is the noteworthy, "Drive-In Saturday." This is an interesting choice because it was originally written for Mott the Hoople but rejected after the success of “All the Young Dudes.” From Bowie’s rendition you can actually imagine Mott performing the song, and I wish they would have recorded it. The last song on the album is “Word on a Wing” from Station to Station, and David’s voice is unusually deep and pitchy, especially at the beginning, He almost sounds like a David Bowie impersonator as though he needed to drop the original key down to reach some of the higher notes in the song. This is just one more instance of what could have been a great performance on this album, but falls short.

Article Author: Cody Conard

Just a kid who started a fanzine because he didn't want to pay for them.

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