David Bowie
A Divine Symmetry (An Alternative Journey Through Hunky Dory) PARLOPHONE
Demos, concerts and more from Bowie’s ’71.
Bowie’s on sale again. And this time it’s Hunky Dory; or rather An Alternative Journey Through Hunky Dory (everything’s a ‘journey’ nowadays). And just as The Beatles’ career is posthumously revisited, remixed and rejigged, so David Bowie’s back catalogue looks set to be endlessly revisited, in a seemingly endless series of little boxes. Unlike the Beatles ones – in which not enough demos are trickled down and too many new mixes are delivered – the Bowie boxes have been curated almost from a fan’s point of view. Yes, there are alternative mixes, but these are not excessive in number or degree. Yes, there are repeats, but only because full sessions and so on are now included. Divine Symmetry for once does what it promises to do, which is track Bowie’s progression in one extraordinary year.
From demos of Hunky Dory material and other songs (including King Of The City, a fantastic song, previously unknown to most people) to BBC sessions and concerts (the full John Peel concert with Bowie and friends, including Mick Ronson and Dana Gillespie, is here, in both mono and stereo), this is a comprehensive trawl through 1971 – and an extraordinary one. Gone is everything from the proto-metal apocalypse of The Man Who Sold The World bar The Supermen; now there are piano ballads, acoustic musings and a lot of Biff Rose. This Bowie is a singer-songwriter, and he’s about to be very good at it. What’s also fascinating
