Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74)

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Cracked Actor
(Live Los Angeles '74)
Album cover "Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74) by David Bowie.jpg
Live album by
Bowie
Released22 April 2017 (2017-04-22)
Recorded5 September 1974
Venue Universal Amphitheatre, Universal City, Los Angeles, California
Genre
Length97:04
Label Parlophone
Producer David Bowie
Bowie chronology
Live Nassau Coliseum '76
(2017)		Cracked Actor
(Live Los Angeles '74)
(2017)		 A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982)
(2017)

Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74) is a live album by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was released posthumously as a Record Store Day release on 22 April 2017 through Parlophone record label. Produced by Bowie and mixed by Tony Visconti, [1] it was recorded on the Diamond Dogs Tour in September 1974, some material from which appeared in the BBC documentary Cracked Actor . [2]

Contents

The full show spans across five sides of vinyl, with the sixth featuring an etching of Bowie. The album differs from the first Bowie live album, David Live , recorded on the same tour. [3] It features a different and more R&B-oriented lineup, [2] including long time collaborators Earl Slick and Carlos Alomar, [1] as well as backing singer Luther Vandross. The setlist also includes material recorded for The Gouster , an album which later would turn into Young Americans . [3]

The album received a wider release on CD through the same label on 16 June 2017. [4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Pitchfork 8.0/10 [5]

Pitchfork critic Chris Randle wrote: "Hearing drums here distinct from murk, you can tell how complex the rhythm of '1984' was, its groove swerving in circles to welcome every new element. Bowie spent the mid-‘70s obsessed with power, wielding it through deeper and deeper timbre, until his seductions seemed purged of emotion: a ballad sung by a vampire. Cracked Actor shows he was already using his phrasing to command attention." [5]

Track listing

All tracks written by David Bowie, except where noted.

  1. "Introduction" – 1:47
  2. "1984" – 2:55
  3. "Rebel Rebel" – 2:31
  4. "Moonage Daydream – 5:17
  5. "Sweet Thing / Candidate / Sweet Thing (Reprise)" – 7:41
  6. "Changes" – 3:47
  7. "Suffragette City" – 3:49
  8. "Aladdin Sane" – 5:01
  9. "All the Young Dudes" – 4:09
  10. "Cracked Actor" – 3:20
  11. "Rock 'n' Roll with Me" (Bowie, Warren Peace) – 4:54
  12. "Knock On Wood" (Steve Cropper, Eddie Floyd) – 3:16
  13. "It's Gonna Be Me" – 7:11
  14. "Space Oddity" – 5:23
  15. "Future Legend/Diamond Dogs" – 6:58
  16. "Big Brother/Chant Of The Ever-Circling Skeletal Family" – 4:05
  17. "Time" – 5:44
  18. "The Jean Genie" – 5:45
  19. "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" – 5:10
  20. "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)" – 8:41

Personnel

Charts

Chart (2017)Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [6] 73
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [7] 50
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [8] 83
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [9] 49
French Albums (SNEP) [10] 191
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [11] 88
Irish Albums (IRMA) [12] 19
Italian Albums (FIMI) [13] 51
Scottish Albums (OCC) [14] 11
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [15] 95
UK Albums (OCC) [16] 20

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References

  1. 1 2 Woj, Rob (11 May 2017). "David Bowie's Special Rsd Release Of Cracked Actor To Be Re-issued". Gigwise . Archived from the original on 15 May 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  2. 1 2 Cush, Andy (10 March 2017). "David Bowie Live Album, Rare EP to Be Released on Record Store Day". Spin . Archived from the original on 24 June 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Bowie vaults open as two unreleased albums hit shops for Record Store Day". The Guardian . 10 March 2017. Archived from the original on 24 May 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  4. ↑ "New releases round-up". DavidBowie.com. 16 June 2017. Archived from the original on 22 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  5. 1 2 Randle, Chris (29 June 2017). "David Bowie – Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74)". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on 11 July 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  6. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – David Bowie – Cracked Actor - Live Los Angeles '74" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  7. ↑ "Ultratop.be – David Bowie – Cracked Actor - Live Los Angeles '74" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  8. ↑ "Ultratop.be – David Bowie – Cracked Actor - Live Los Angeles '74" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  9. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – David Bowie – Cracked Actor - Live Los Angeles '74" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  10. ↑ "Lescharts.com – David Bowie – Cracked Actor - Live Los Angeles '74". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  11. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – David Bowie – Cracked Actor - Live Los Angeles '74" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  12. ↑ "Irish-charts.com – Discography David Bowie". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  13. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – David Bowie – Cracked Actor - Live Los Angeles '74". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  14. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  15. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – David Bowie – Cracked Actor - Live Los Angeles '74". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  16. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
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