Bowie was in the prime of his art rock phase at the time of this recording, co-writing with Eno and King Crimson's Robert Fripp. Stage captures 3 different phases of his career in one recording. The reworkings of the "Ziggy Stardust" material as well as the Station To Station" period are just plain brilliant. "Heroes" is sung much more passionately here than on the original studio recording. David's voice was at it's prime here. It had deepend just a bit, but his falsetto was very much intact.

The only guitar player capable of doing Fripp's parts any justice is Adian Belew. This is actually when I first heard of him. He's an incredible guitarist who can coax sounds out of a guitar like nobody on Earth. It's no wonder that Fripp would later seek him out to reform King Crimson with two guitarists.

Now on to my complaint. Why on Earth would Ryko drop this from their catalog? In my book, this is essential Bowie. It deserves to be available. If anyone out there who has not heard this disc has an opportunity to purchase it used, don't blow it!

This was recorded in Philadelphia, PA in April 1978. I was very, very lucky to attend these shows! I was just a kid then, but I still clearly remember that Bowie was just so incredibly AWESOME! His voice was so dynamic and so strong! Heroes was #1, the whole band was so tight, the entire audience was totally into it all the way, and the whole show was just so totally excellent in so many ways! By far, THE very best concert I have ever seen period - no doubt about it. And I have seen so many. So very many.

In addition to Bowie's incredible vocals, dancing, mime, keyboards (he also played a small harp!) on those nights, I'll never forget Adrian Belew's awesome lead guitar performances. He kept racing around the stage behind Bowie, doing Chuck Berry style duckwalks, wild spins, running back and forth while playing these absolutely amazing lead riffs which just tore the house down! I remember how no one knew who he was at that time, but we soon found out after that as he went on to work with The Talking Heads, Robert Fripp, King Crimson, Bill Buford, Stanley Clark, Stewart Copeland, Jean-Michel Jarre, Laurie Anderson and the list goes on and on. For sure, Mr. Adrian Belew is, indeed, one of the very, very best guitarists this world has ever seen.

Also, IMHO, 'Stage' marks a very significant turning point in time when Bowie went from a freaked-out, cult-like lead singer and moved on to become a world-wide major legend in the history of rock music. It also marks a time when rock music went from straight up, in your face 'hard rock' to a more mainstream type of music which many, many grew to accept and still enjoy today.

I highly recommend purchasing a copy of this CD as soon as possible. It is getting harder to find and really is one of the very best live recordings ever made! Five stars is not enough to rate this - should be more like ten or twenty! Get it NOW!

This CD was unavailable for many years. It is superbly recorded with fantastic classics, the best being "Station To Station", "Heroes" (a rousing guitar piece) and all the "Ziggy Stardust" classics. If you've ever wondered how a slow song like "Warsawza" could have ever been good in concert - just take a listen. It's hypnotizing! This double CD is tough to find and will not last long here at Amazon, so I recommend getting it while you can.

Stage is by far the best live performance /album by David Bowie. At a new artistic peak in his career he toured the world with an impressive voice and supporting band. You'll never forget the 10 minutes of Station to Station with the superb guitar imitation of a train by Adrian Belew and the undercooled voice of Bowie, distancing himself from his turbulent American years. And the Bowie performs Heroes really gets to you. Unfortunately the CD is hard to get, I've been looking for it for years.

I used to listen to my parents copy of this album and I was always amazed by the performances of "Warsawza" and the rest of that side and hearing it on CD is sooo much better. This really is music to make your heart cry or sing!

Listening to most of the CD, including the bonus track, makes you realise just how versatile Bowie, as a musician and performer, really is. This is a must obtain CD for anyone who lvoes music. It mightn't be commercial and the renditions of many of the more famous tunes may not sound like the original studio recordings but the performances captured here are magnificient.