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DAVID BOWIE
Live Santa Monica 1972
EMI
****
Hang on to yourselves, space cadets, because the Commander has landed on the West Coast and he's not afraid to blow your minds. The date is October 12th, 1972, and Bowie has just unleashed his greatest creation, Ziggy Stardust, on the teenage population of Los Angeles. This live recording has been hailed as one of the rock's best-ever bootlegs, and it certainly has more sparkle than the official live album from the period, the soundtrack to Ziggy Stardust and Spiders from Mars. The tracklisting's a dream, pulling heavily from Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, with Space Oddityand John, I'm Only Dancing(the proper version, not the disco one) thrown in for good measure. The Spiders are in fine fettle, particularly guitarist Mick Ronson, and the man himself is in world- conquering form throughout.
KEVIN COURTNEY
Download tracks: Ziggy Stardust, Life on Mars?, The Width of a Circle