HUNKY DORY (Ryko) Those who weren't quite quick enough to snap up the hastily deleted RCA Records CD releases of this LP have had an unexpectedly long wait for them to reappear in CD format. But, like Major Tom, here they come circling into view once more, remastered by Rykodisc Records and, as if to compensate for the delay, each boasting bonus tracks.

....There's a further source of annoyance too. You may confidently recall that Hunky Dory wibbles its way homeward with the babblings of The Bewlay Brothers. Nope. As the brothers come away into what would be an acceptable silence, in blasts Bombers, a track left off Hunky Dory in favour of Fill Your Heart (yes, it's that bad), to be plodded after by the Glastonbury LP version of The Supermen, an inferior demo version of Quicksand and a (not very) different mix of The Bewlay Brothers.

....Each time, then, the extra tracks come as undesirable adjuncts, serving only to spoil the listening experience. Far better, surely, to have bumped the lot of them, along with the handful of contemporary tracks that remain unheard (including a 1970 song to David Bowie's recalcitrant old car, Rupert The Riley), on to a special Rarities CD and left the original tracks to stand alone. It would mean minutes lopped off the playing time, sure, but sometimes more doesn't necessarily mean better.
Q Rating: **

After the freakish hard-rock of The Man Who Sold The World, David Bowie returned to singer-songwriter territory on Hunky Dory. Not only did the album boast more folky songs ("Song for Bob Dylan," "Bewlay Brothers"), but he again flirted with the Anthony Newley-esque dancehall music ("Kooks," "Fill Your Heart"), seemingly leaving heavy metal behind. As a result, Hunky Dory is a kaleidoscopic array of pop styles, tied together only by Bowie's sense of vision -- a sweeping, cinematic melange of high and low art, ambiguous sexuality, kitsch and class. Mick Ronson's guitar is pushed to the back, leaving Rick Wakeman's cabaret piano to dominate the sound of the album. And the subdued support accentuates the depth of Bowie's material, whether its the revamped Tin Pan Alley of "Changes," the Neil Young homage of "Quicksand," the soaring "Life on Mars?," the rolling, vaguely homosexual anthem "Oh! You Pretty Things" or the dark acoustic rocker "Andy Warhol." On the surface, such a wide range of styles and sounds would make an album incoherent, but Bowie's improved songwriting and determined sense of style instead made Hunky Dory into a touchstone for reinterpreting pop's traditions into fresh, post-modern pop music.

The British composer-performer comes up with a heavy debut for RCA, loaded with the kind of Top 40 and FM appeal that should break him through big on the charts. Along with vocals, Bowie plays piano, sax and guitar. Strong material, his own, for programming include "Changes," "Oh You Pretty Things," and "Life On Mars." His "Andy Warhol" material is also a standout.