It is the first album to showcase Bowie's entire career up to that point, from his first single "Liza Jane" in 1964 to "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)", a new composition recorded specifically for the compilation.
The three-disc version of Nothing Has Changed received critical acclaim, with many praising its reverse sequencing as offering a different way to enjoy the artist's career.
A revised version of the two-disc Nothing Has Changed, re-titled Legacy, was released on 11 November 2016 and includes selections from his final album Blackstar (2016).
All formats contain what biographer Nicholas Pegg calls the "loud" single mix of "Starman", while the one- and two-disc versions contains the 4:46 promotional edit of "Absolute Beginners".
The 'UK stereo mix' of "Space Oddity" found on the vinyl and one-disc versions is actually a new edit sourced from the 2015 remaster (Pegg also notes that the song was recorded in mono).
Pegg further notes that Bowie's Tin Machine period is completely absent from the compilation, his Berlin Trilogy is only represented by one track per album, and there is a huge absence of live recordings.
"[18] Evan Sawdey of PopMatters agreed, writing that the sequencing of the three-disc version creates "a fascinating aural experience", giving the listener a sense of Bowie's "out-there weirdness" early on, as well as a taste of the artist's influences.
[25] Similarly, Cody Ray Shafer of Under the Radar praised the sequencing of the three-disc version, finding that this allows the listener to appreciate the artist in an entirely different way.
"[23] Many have considered the three-disc version one of Bowie's finest compilations, including Erlewine, who praised it as "[an album] that makes us hear an artist we know well in a whole new way.
"[18] Andrzej Lukowski of Drowned in Sound further called it, "a monument to an extraordinary 50-year-career" and "a statement of self-belief in Bowie's post-superstardom work that surely stands as the most pugnacious best of ever released by an artist of his stature.
"[20] Similarly, Sawday called Nothing Has Changed "a thrilling go-to for the semi-casual Thin White Duke observer, and is about as damn close to perfect as a Bowie anthology can get.
"[27] Lukowski felt that the absence of Tin Machine was the collection's "only real fault",[20] while Wolk agreed that the exclusion was a weak point.
[18] Sawdey noted the absence of more Berlin tracks a disappointment, especially when compared to including rarities from the unreleased Toy project.