David Bowie: A life reviewed

From hippie singer/songwriter, Ziggy Stardust, the ‘plastic soul’ phase, experimental electronic albums to 1980s global megastar, David Bowie’s musical reinventions have rarely been predicted. On top of this, he has confounded the critics by taking on serious acting roles (with good notices), becoming an internet pioneer, venturing onto Wall Street with his Bowie bonds, and dabbling in the art world.

Bowie: A life reviewed, tells the ever-changing Bowie story as reported by the Guardian and the Observer. Starting with his elevation to pop stardom via 1969’s Space Oddity it covers most of the classic albums and tours through contemporaneous reviews, interviews and features. The book gives an insight into what critics really thought at the time, rather than the nostalgia-tinged selective memory occasionally favoured by pop historians. As such, releases that have attained near-mythic status sometimes receive less than glowing write-ups.

The book closes with a review of the The Next Day - and the beginning of a new chapter in the life of David Bowie.