Best of Bowie – 2002
Best of Bowie is a career-spanning greatest hits album by English recording artist David Bowie. It was released on 22 October 2002. The songs range from his second self-titled album (1969) to Heathen (2002). It was released 35 years after his debut album, David Bowie.
In each of the 21 territories that the album was released, it was given its own track listing, based upon which songs were most popular locally. In a number of countries, there were two versions – a single-disc version, and a double-disc version. All in all 63 tracks appear in at least one of the 20 different versions. The country the edition came from can be identified by a small national flag on the spine, except for the Argentine/Mexican, Eastern European and UK editions, which are “flag-less”.
All the tracks are digitally remastered either from 1999 or, for the single edits, 2002, with the exception of “Under Pressure”, which is also at a lower volume than the rest of the disc.
A DVD version of the compilation was also released, containing 47 videos and live performances as well as alternate versions and easter eggs. Some of the videos on this collection, notably “China Girl”, “Loving the Alien” and “Day-In Day-Out” are the censored versions of the original videos.
Initially peaking at number 11 in October 2002 on the UK Albums Chart, the album entered the top 10 for the first time in January 2016, following Bowie’s death, and reached a new peak of number 1. It also became the first album to reach number 1 on the Official Charts due to streaming.
USA and Canada
CD
Virgin-EMI / 5 41929 2 (U.S.) // EMI 7243 5 42244 2 5 (Canada)
No. Title Length
1. “Space Oddity”
2. “Changes”
3. “Suffragette City”
4. “Ziggy Stardust”
5. “The Jean Genie”
6. “Rebel Rebel”
7. “Young Americans” (U.S. single version)
8. “Fame”
9. “Golden Years” (Single version)
10. “”Heroes”” (Single version)
11. “Ashes to Ashes” (Single version)
12. “Fashion” (Single version)
13. “Under Pressure” (Unique edited version; with Queen) 3:57
14. “Let’s Dance” (Single version)
15. “China Girl” (Single version)
16. “Modern Love” 4:46
17. “Blue Jean”
18. “Dancing in the Street” (with Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones)
19. “This Is Not America” (with the Pat Metheny Group)
20. “I’m Afraid of Americans” (V1 radio edit)