I have decided that David Bowie is the next artist that I'm going to dive into after my past two dive-ins which were the far less famous Beggars Opera and Renaissance. Both of which were a while ago.

Articulate for me, if you would be so willing, those of you who like a bit of Bowie, which of his CDs I shoudl begin my dive with. For an artist of his level of fame and influance I am basically, utterly blank listening slate, all I really know is Space Oddity and Starman.

Thank you in advance.

start from the beginning.

This is the best advice.

start from the beginning.

This is the best advice.

cowards.

"Heroes" and "Low".

That's a bit like asking, whats the best colo(u)r for a Chameleon?

You could do worse than the pop-tastic The Singles Collection as a starting point.

But he's so much more than that. David Bowie - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Starting at the beginning and working chronologically lets you appreciate the ch-ch-changes.

Or you can just make fun of him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4zV4pJ8MwM

In my opinion Bowie needs to be heard album by album. His singles are very good, but they aren't even remotely near the entire experience.

And there isn't a single song from The Man Who Sold the World which is one of his best albums

Start where a lot of us did who grew up with him - Ziggy Stardust. Follow it with Hunky Dory to get an idea of how he got to Ziggy. Then Man Who Sold The World would be my next step. After that Alladin Sane. You then have the early to mid 70's covered. After that, choose a persona. Soul man? Station to Station or Fame. Electronic German Expressionism? Low & Heroes.

And don't forget The Idiot & Lust For Life by Iggy Pop. They owe as much to Bowie (who played on them and even toured with Iggy) as Iggy himself.

Don't waste your time with anything else, just go straight to The Box Set.

I mildly prefer the Rykodiscs -- since he had a big hand in their remastering, himself -- I greatly prefer the bonus tracks. Plus, you know, Gold. 'Shiny'.

Sound + Vision is another great box set to get; unfortunately there are multiple versions, only one with which I'm familiar. There are enough great tracks on there to get one started, and enough bonus tracks and alternate version to warrant keeping it after you start collecting the albums.