Recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, England in 1973. Includes liner notes by D.A. Pennebaker.

Personnel: David Bowie (vocals); Mick Ronson (guitar); Trevor Bolder (bass instrument); Mick Woodmansey (drums).

Recording information: Hammersmith Odeon, London, England.

When David Bowie killed off his fatalistic rock-star character Ziggy Stardust, he also announced his retirement from live performance. His "final" concert was filmed and the soundtrack sat on a shelf for a decade before its release in 1983. ZIGGY STARDUST -THE MOTION PICTURE is an interesting audio snapshot that represents the Ziggy Stardust arc and incorporates a few different facets of Bowie's career up to that point. Starting with the ragged, garage-rock meter of "Hang on to Yourself," Bowie introduces his beloved alien ("Ziggy Stardust"), and flirts with his flamboyant side (the medley of "Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud/All The Young Dudes/Oh! You Pretty Things").

From here, Ziggy's transition ("Changes") into messianic figure takes him through a host of rock-star realities ("Let's Spend The Night Together," "White Light/White Heat") before his meteoric rise gets snuffed out in a flash ("Rock 'N' Roll Suicide"). Throughout the performance, it is easy to see how Bowie's combination of solid rock & roll aesthetics and over-the-top theatricality eventually spawned and shaped everything from glam-rock to later developments such as punk and Madonna. This is one of Bowie's best and most underrated live performances.

Q (12/92, p.144) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...sounds as exciting and as dramatic now as it did then...a remarkable document of an unforgettable time..."

Magnet (11/03, p.112) - "...ZIGGY STARDUST is the essence of rock 'n' roll's escape..."

Mojo (Publisher) (5/03, p.116) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...A little piece of history....This is heaven for Bowie fans..."

NME (Magazine) (10/3/92, p.41) - "...a time when Bowie was a needle-thin bisexual alien far stranger than anything his legions of subsequent copyists could ever hope to emulate...a gloriously bonkers piece of cynical showmanship..."