Album · Live
Glass Spider
Glass Spider is a concert film and live album from David Bowie, released in 1988. It draws on eight shows played in the first two weeks of November 1987 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, near the end of the Glass Spider Tour. That tour ran to 86 dates across Europe, North America, New Zealand and Australia, in support of Never Let Me Down (1987). Toni Basil choreographed, David Mallet directed and Anthony Eaton produced.
It is the tour's big-stage spectacle on tape: Bowie, a band that included Peter Frampton, and a troupe of dancers working on what was billed as the largest touring set ever. Reviews were mixed at the time, but later writers noted its influence on the way Madonna, U2 and Britney Spears staged their own shows. One critic in 2016 recommended it for anyone wanting to see Bowie deliver a rock-theatre spectacular. A cut-down version aired on American television in June 1988, and the full concert reached DVD in 1999.
Glass Spider: tracklist and credits
25 tracks · 2:05:10Tracklist
- Disc 1
- 1Up the Hill BackwardsDavid Bowie3:52
- 2Glass SpiderDavid Bowie5:56
- 3Day‐In Day‐OutDavid Bowie4:34
- 4Bang BangIvan Král and Iggy Pop4:02
- 5Absolute BeginnersDavid Bowie7:09
- 6Loving the AlienDavid Bowie7:15
- 7China GirlDavid Bowie and Iggy Pop4:55
- 8Rebel RebelDavid Bowie3:30
- 9FashionDavid Bowie5:05
- 10Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)David Bowie4:53
- 11All the MadmenDavid Bowie6:39
- 12Never Let Me DownCarlos Alomar and David Bowie3:56
- Disc 2
- 1Big BrotherDavid Bowie4:47
- 2’87 and CryDavid Bowie4:08
- 3“Heroes”David Bowie and Brian Eno5:10
- 4Sons of the Silent AgeDavid Bowie3:10
- 5Time Will Crawl / Band IntroductionDavid Bowie5:23
- 6Young AmericansDavid Bowie5:07
- 7Beat of Your DrumDavid Bowie4:37
- 8The Jean GenieDavid Bowie5:23
- 9Let’s DanceDavid Bowie5:02
- 10FameAlomar, Bowie, Lennon7:05
- 11TimeDavid Bowie5:12
- 12Blue JeanDavid Bowie3:27
- 13Modern LoveDavid Bowie4:53
- Produced by
- David Bowie, Anthony Eaton
- Recorded at
- Olympic Park of Montreal
- Recorded
- November 1987
- Mixed by
- Bob Clearmountain
- Mixed at
- The Hit Factory
- Label
- EMI
- Length
- 2:05:10
Line-up
- Carlos Alomar · guitar
- David Bowie · guitar, vocals
- Alan Childs · drums (drum set)
- Richard Cottle · keyboard, saxophone
- Peter Frampton · guitar
- Erdal Kızılçay · congas, keyboard, trumpet, violin
- Carmine Rojas · electric bass guitar
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More from David Bowie
Full discography →
David Bowie
1967
David Bowie
1969
The World of David Bowie
1970
The Man Who Sold the World
1970
Hunky Dory
1971
Do Anything You Say
1972
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
1972
Rebel Rebel / Queen Bitch / Sorrow / Amsterdam
1973
Images 1966–1967
1973
Aladdin Sane
1973
Pin Ups
1973
Diamond Dogs
1974
David Live
1974
Young Americans
1975
Station to Station
1976
ChangesOneBowie
1976
Low
1977
“Heroes”
1977
David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf
1978
Stage
1978
Lodger
1979
David Bowie
1980
Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps
1980
The Best of Bowie
1980
Christiane F.: Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo
1981
ChangesTwoBowie
1981
In Bertolt Brecht’s Baal
1982
Rare
1982
Supergroups
1983
Serious Moonlight
1983
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars: The Motion Picture Soundtrack
1983
Let’s Dance
1983
Golden Years
1983
Fame and Fashion (David Bowie’s All Time Greatest Hits)
1984
Love You Till Tuesday
1984
Tonight
1984
Labyrinth: From the Original Soundtrack of the Jim Henson Film
1986
Never Let Me Down
1987
Sound + Vision
1989
Changesbowie
1990
Early On (1964–1966)
1991
Black Tie White Noise
1993
The Singles Collection
1993
The Buddha of Suburbia
1993
Live Santa Monica ’72
1994
RarestOneBowie
1995
1.Outside: The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper Cycle
1995
Earthling
1997
The Deram Anthology 1966–1968
1997
The Best of David Bowie 1969/1974
1997
The Best of David Bowie 1974/1979
1998
‘hours…’
1999
Liveandwell.com
2000
Bowie at the Beeb: The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions 68–72
2000
All Saints (Collected Instrumentals 1977–1999)
2001
Heathen
2002
Best of Bowie
2002
Reality
2003
Club Bowie: Rare and Unreleased 12″ Mixes
2003
Live EP (live at Fashion Rocks)
2005
The Collection
2005
The Platinum Collection
2005
Bowie 1965!
2006
The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987
2007
Outside / Earthling / Hours / Heathen / Reality
2007
iSELECT
2008
VH1 Storytellers
2009
Space Oddity
2009
A Reality Tour
2010
The Next Day
2013
Pin-Ups Radio Show
2013
The Next Day Extra EP
2013
Nothing has changed.
2014
Five Years 1969–1973
2015
★
2016
Who Can I Be Now? 1974–1976
2016
Lazarus
2016
Legacy
2016
No Plan
2017
Live Nassau Coliseum ’76
2017
Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles ’74)
2017
A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982)
2017
Welcome to the Blackout (live London ’78)
2018
Loving the Alien (1983–1988)
2018
Glastonbury 2000
2018
Conversation Piece
2019
Is It Any Wonder?
2020
ChangesNowBowie
2020
I’m Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74)
2020
The Width of a Circle
2021
Toy
2021
Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001)
2021
Brilliant Adventure EP
2022
Toy E.P.
2022
Fun Mix
2022
Moonage Daydream: A Film by Brett Morgen
2022
Divine Symmetry
2022
Rock ’n’ Roll Star!
2024
Ready, Set, Go! (live, Riverside Studios ’03)
2025
I Can’t Give Everything Away (2002–2016)
2025
The Shel Talmy Recordings
2026
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date sources disagree on the year (1988, 1989)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 1989 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 1988 | |
| Wikidata | 1988 |
3 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | FR | EMI | 094639100224 | other |
| 15 February 2019 | XW | Parlophone | 0190295671297 | remaster |
| 15 February 2019 | XE | Parlophone | 0190295511135 | other |
Cover art sources
deezer · native: native 1800x1800
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1800×1800 | native: native 1800x1800 |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| coverartarchive | 424×600 | rejected |