Changestwobowie, the follow-up to 1976's
Changesonebowie, was released as
David Bowie's RCA contract entered its final months, and a certain rancor began to permeate the relationship. The label did not even consult the star over the makeup of this collection, and the result is a strangely disjointed ragbag of tracks scraping through the past decade with little regard for either continuity or, perhaps surprisingly, the hits. Any cohesion that might be detected, then, tends to be in the eye of the beholder, although there's no denying that, with songs the quality of "Aladdin Sane" and "Oh You Pretty Things" onboard, there should be little room for rubbish. As with
Changesonebowie, RCA appealed to collectors via the inclusion of one non-LP cut, in this case the 1975-era remake of "John, I'm Only Dancing" -- long legendary as an outtake, a single had finally appeared in 1979. Further attention was garnered after "Wild Is the Wind" was lifted as a single. With
Bowie agreeing to cut a very striking promotional video to accompany it, this most un-Top 30-like ballad reached number 24 in the U.K. ~ Dave Thompson