David Bowie
David Bowie [deluxe edition] - Legacy
FILTER Grade: 79%

Much has been made of the incongruence of this eponymous 1967 debut compared to the rest of Bowie’s already dizzying diversity. Even Bowie suggested that he doesn’t know if he was channeling Elvis Presley or Max Miller. But the album’s theatrics and psychedelia fit nicely with the other Deram label material of the period, including The Moody Blues and Procol Harum—especially on ethereal odes like “Silly Boy Blue” and loopy waltzes such as “Little Bombardier,” whose unreleased BBC versions are included on this vault-cleaner. Also included are mono and stereo versions of the original tunes, as well as newly dusted reels of Decca mixes, mono remixes and other marginalia that will probably round out the collections of worldwide Bowie loyalists. If you want to hear four versions of the vaudeville weirdness of “Rubber Band,” an audition track that originally got Bowie signed, then you’ve hit the jackpot. Searching for the open-hearted serenade “Love You Til Tuesday,” which Bowie eventually made into a film? You’ll find four versions here. The rest of us might find solace in other strange corners of Bowie’s back alleys already traveled by the diehards, but then again, maybe not.