David Bowie

★★★★ The Width Of A Circle PARLOPHONE. CD/DL

Two-disc compilation of live performances and radically enhanced studio fare.

David Bowie’s pre-Hunky Dory output has many a devotee enchanted by his folky, whimsical early catalogue, and this compilation will not disappoint. CD1, Bowie’s 1970 performance on BBC1’s Sunday showcase for new music, Top Gear, is compered by a snoozy prog-rock version of John Peel. Yes, Bowie’s live vocal is excellent on a cover of Jacques Brel’s Amsterdam, and the sound is seriously beefed up by the addition of Tony Visconti (bass) and Mick Ronson (lead guitar) partway through the set, but massively new or consistently brilliant it is not. CD2, a mix of live cuts and restored studio tracks, does indicate that Bowie was indeed becoming the special one: the single edits of Memory Of A Free Festival and All The Madmen, along with the possessed Nietzschean The Supermen, are blueprints for Bowie’s radical musical future. David Buckley