SPACE ODDITY (Ryko) Those who weren't quite quick enough to snap up the hastily deleted RCA Records CD releases of this LP have had an unexpectedly long wait for them to reappear in CD format. But, like Major Tom, here they come circling into view once more, remastered by Rykodisc Records and, as if to compensate for the delay, each boasting bonus tracks.

....Space Oddity (once called David Bowie (1969), a handful of ditties from the Beckenham Arts Lab and a couple of extravagant exclamations of post-hippy disenchantment bundled haphazardly with the hit title track, was repackaged in September 1972 to cash in on the Ziggy star-days. Omitted from the rerelease, the less frantic version of Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed with its silly 20-second coda, Don't Sit Down, is here restored to its original place, while tagged on as over-matter are both sides of the seemingly interminable single version of the embarrassing Memory Of A Free Festival and Conversation Piece, originally the b-side of the Prettiest Star single. But is the Prettiest Star single itself here? No, it isn't. Neither is Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola, the Italian language version of Space Oddity, nor the original acoustic version of one of the LP's best tracks, The Wide-Eyed Boy From Freecloud, once to be found on the flip of the Space Oddity 45.

....Each time, then, the extra tracks come as undesirable adjuncts, serving only to spoil the listening experience. Far better, surely, to have bumped the lot of them, along with the handful of contemporary tracks that remain unheard (including a 1970 song to David Bowie's recalcitrant old car, Rupert The Riley), on to a special Rarities CD and left the original tracks to stand alone. It would mean minutes lopped off the playing time, sure, but sometimes more doesn't necessarily mean better.
Q Rating: **

And the legend that is (so recently) David Bowie marches on. Bowie is the shimmering glimmer of what tomorrow holds, his past meshing with all our futures in impenetrable linkage. In the annals of time this album first received life in 1968 and was christened "Man of Words, Man of Music" a good enough name but hit singles are better. So it takes henna hair and "dual sexuality" to make the masses listen.

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 psychedelicized 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."