I’ll give this a body swerve. Being charitable, all I’ll say is it gathers the stinkers in one place, so the next set(s) should be all the better for it.
I can’t see it selling much. I hope the price is adjusted accordingly but there is a lot that’s interesting. The singles and B sides were excellent during this phase and there are the soundtracks. I like the fact that Labyrinth is represented only by the Bowie songs. The Dance CD should be good. I love the remix of Time Will Crawl, so the whole of Never Let Me Down sounds promising. I thoroughly enjoyed the Serious Moonlight tour, so that live album is a draw for me, Glass Spider not so much.
There are only three studio albums here. The other eight CDs could be fun.
To be fair, they’ve managed to come up with quite a compelling package, bearing in mind this is probably the trough of the canon for most fans, so there’s enough “new” stuff to make it worthwhile to completists, and it seems to have been intelligently compiled…
No Chilly Down? Bowie wrote it but the vocal is by Kevin “Elmo” Clash so I suppose it’s not canonical. It’s properly good tho’, isolated from a particularly crap part of the film.
Aye, TM2 is (mostly) fab. I was lucky enough to see them at Newcastle Mayfair on the tour. To see Bowie up close and personal was a real thrill…Hunt’s sweaty, nekkidtorso, not so much. And then he took the mic – the horror, the horror!
Oh great drummer, yes. He was a twerp in Tin Machine though. He set up his kit on a 20-foot-high riser in the studio so that it DOMINATED the room. Gabrels and Bowie are struggling to be heard above his LISTEN TO ME!! playing all the way through the album. Bowie needed at that point to work with people who would give him shit , but not that bloody much.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: democracy doesn’t work.
It’s 1989 and you’re not supposed to like David Bowie because he’s old and a big joke. Do as you’re told and listen to Birdland instead, you’ll be telling your grandchildren about them…
I’ve lost interest in Lets Dance these days, but the other two really have grown on me. Hopefully the re-jigged Never Let Me Down will get released as a stand alone album once the collectors have lost interest. If nowt else it should be a boost to Mr Osterberg’s bank account with all those co-writes.
Almost the entire purpose of the Tonight album was to help the Popster out of a financial trough. It worked, of course – as did Blah Blah Blah which, like The Eejit, is almost a Bowie album with Iggy singing. DB’s demos for that? Me wantee hearee!
I fear you’ll have a very long wait for a stand alone rejigged Never Let Me Down. All the remasters from these box sets have been released individually but not The Ghouster nor the Lodger remix. I suspect NLMD will remain exclusive to the box. Except digitally, which doesn’t count, obviously.
Ordered sets 2 and 3 on vinyl as soon as they were announced, but can’t really bring myself to buy this one. There are a handful of decent songs on Tonight and Never Let Me Down, but I really can’t see myself listening to them enough to warrant owning this, especially if it’s on Spotify.
I suppose it must have been in Afterword v1 but I am sure older viewers may remember I positioned the idea of a Bowie compilation of his least essential work. It was to be called “Howlers”.
This would involve the “Heroes” artwork on the cover but with Bowie wearing a gas mask – or alternatively – photoshopped to show Bowie with palms outward so now the “Heroes” photo looks like he’s saying “what am I like??!”.
Readers suggested many tracks and this reissue features much of the material suggested then.
Much as I wanted to both at the time and now, I don’t like Tin Machine and I don’t think his heart was in the second one.
This set is clearly not aimed at the “I saw Starman on Top Of The Pops” brigade. I’m really glad to get the 80s albums in one high quality package, along with all those soundtrack and single versions.
(There’s still about twenty dance or dub mixes that are missing, though.)
And yes, I’m looking forward to the Tin Machine box with all those BBC sessions and cover versions.
Conservative Bowie dads will surely wait till 2021 and the “Return to form” set with “Heathen” and “Reality” 😉 …
I’ve always wondered how they can claim to be into safety when they don’t have hats. Dancing with an unprotected head? Insane. After all, it’s 1983 and you may be breakdancing.
The next set is very mouthwatering indeed whichever way you cut it. The BBC Tin Machine sessions are indeed excellent, better than Oy Vey Baby or many of the boots out there.
Black Tie White Noise is better than most people remember, notwithstanding the pointless cameo by Al B Buggered on the title track. And then there are the fradulent bit nonethless fascinating tracks appended to the Rykodisc CDs like Some Are and I Pray Ole.
Will we get the Leon suites etc in the next set? Will we fer-huck.
There are interesting speculations on the inter web about the contents of the forthcoming sets. They included “The Gouster” alongside “Young Americans”, so there’s hope that The Leon Suite (and the “Toy” album) will be included on future boxes.
i must admit i tend to listen to ’90s and( onwards) Bowie more than the classic period , so the next Bowie -only set should be really interesting ..Black Tie to Earthling plus extras sounds very nice.
You can pre-order on the tax dodgers for a penny shy of £100.
Come to think of it, these were Bowie’s most commercially successful years. He made a mint during this period. Will this box be as big a hit? I suspect its moment has passed.
I guess this set will sell way more than the previous boxes. He had his biggest selling albums during this time, and he made 50 million from the “Serious Moonlight” tour alone. Nothing from this era has been properly compiled before (apart from standard album reissues every time he changed record companies). Plus, the box is standard requirement for Tina Turner, Mick Jagger and Iggy Pop completists… 😉
From what I’ve heard only the first box sold out its initial pressing. The Berlin era box is a very slow seller (the budget “Zeit” compilation is still widely available). And – although it seemed like “everyone” on the net was angry about the faulty “Heroes” mix, only around 100 people actually requested a replacement disc.
Wow! I’m one of those hundred. Not because I was angry but because it was an opportunity to acquire more Bowie for free. I’ve put it in the box with the other one.
Bowie always referred to Low as the one that didn’t sell.
I got the vinyl “Berlin era” box set last week for half price in an Amazon Prime sale. It was $136 (Canadian) which is 79 quid. Now that was a bargain (currently about 200 pounds on amazon uk). So far can’t say I am massively impressed with it, Low sounds weird, it did not need 2 copies of Stage and I dislike Visconti’s Lodger remix. Packaging is good though and the book is very nice.
On the other hand, Scary Monsters has never sounded better and a lot of Recall 3 is stunning (Baal EP, Space Oddity and Cat People in particular). I actually like the Lodger remix but I see your point about the remastering of Low and 2 Stages are a bit much.
Haven’t played Scary Monsters yet. Have played Recall 3, but one of the records was warped and I had to get a replacement. Will listen more this weekend.
I think the re-recording of Never Let Me Down is obviously a draw – I guess there’ll be a lot of coverage of that, given that Mario McNulty seems to have basically created a new recording, retaining only the vocals from the originals, in some cases. But paradoxically, I think that it won’t be an especially big seller as the fans who prefer the Let’s Dance era might not be the type of fans who’d shell out significant bucks for collector box sets with oddities, b-sides, remixes etc. Then again, who knows.
“…the fans who prefer the Let’s Dance era might not be the type of fans who’d shell out significant bucks for collector box sets ….”
The editor of the Superdeluxe Edition website wrote a good piece on that over the last weekend: these 80s fans are just a different generation to the 60s/70s fans – they are the ones who buy expensive Eurythmics, Human League and Simple Minds box sets now, and a good part of them used to collect 12″ mixes and double 7″ limited editions. The new Bowie set is targeted at them.
I can’t speak for the 80s, but from BTWN onwards Bowie was extremely well served by remixers. His collected remixes 1993-2003 would be almost as good as the “proper” albums.
In the eighties, they were more extended versions than radical remixes but that was true of most dance music. People still liked to hear the original tune. The Dance disc here should be a cracker.
garyt says
I’ll give this a body swerve. Being charitable, all I’ll say is it gathers the stinkers in one place, so the next set(s) should be all the better for it.
fentonsteve says
I won’t be pre-ordering, much as I like the 80s Chic of Let’s Dance. One to pick up cheap via SDE, methinks.
Tiggerlion says
I can’t see it selling much. I hope the price is adjusted accordingly but there is a lot that’s interesting. The singles and B sides were excellent during this phase and there are the soundtracks. I like the fact that Labyrinth is represented only by the Bowie songs. The Dance CD should be good. I love the remix of Time Will Crawl, so the whole of Never Let Me Down sounds promising. I thoroughly enjoyed the Serious Moonlight tour, so that live album is a draw for me, Glass Spider not so much.
There are only three studio albums here. The other eight CDs could be fun.
ip33 says
The completist in me says buy it, but my heart and wallet are saying no.
The first three were must-buys but this not so much, not enough interesting stuff in there.
This will be fairly easy to pick up cheap later on I guarantee.
Lunaman says
Sounds bright. Goes with summer sun (;
timtunes says
On the plus side, there is some ‘new’ material here.
dai says
It’s a Canadian bonanza! Two live albums from Montreal and Vancouver (6 LPs) and Tonight was also recorded just north of Montreal.
Moose the Mooche says
The problem with NLMD wasn’t the production, it was the songs. However I’ll listen to this new version with interest.
But then… it’s me innit.
metal mickey says
To be fair, they’ve managed to come up with quite a compelling package, bearing in mind this is probably the trough of the canon for most fans, so there’s enough “new” stuff to make it worthwhile to completists, and it seems to have been intelligently compiled…
Moose the Mooche says
Quite a compelling package… it includes Labyrinth then?
Tiggerlion says
Only the Bowie tracks, not the whole thing.
Moose the Mooche says
No Chilly Down? Bowie wrote it but the vocal is by Kevin “Elmo” Clash so I suppose it’s not canonical. It’s properly good tho’, isolated from a particularly crap part of the film.
Tiggerlion says
I agree. I’m starting saving up now. Can’t wait for the Tin Machine years.
Moose the Mooche says
Hopefully they can rerecord TM without that twerp of a drummer banging and crashing everywhere like a bull in a china girl.. er, shop.
Black Type says
The drumming wasn’t the problem, it was his ‘singing’…
Moose the Mooche says
See my comment below. His singing was a problem BECAUSE of the drumming.
If in doubt, blame the drummer.
Black Type says
I wasn’t on about Bowie’s singing – as if – but Hunt’s.
Moose the Mooche says
Word… His two songs on TM2 are the nadir of Bowie’s recorded career. Or would be if he was on them, rather than offstage having a crafty Marlboro.
Most of the rest of that album is splendid though.
Reappraisal in the pipeline… and not just from Pravda types like me.
Black Type says
Aye, TM2 is (mostly) fab. I was lucky enough to see them at Newcastle Mayfair on the tour. To see Bowie up close and personal was a real thrill…Hunt’s sweaty, nekkidtorso, not so much. And then he took the mic – the horror, the horror!
Tiggerlion says
Wait a minute. This is the same drummer that livened up Iggy Pop’s Lust For Life no end. He’s no twerp.
Moose the Mooche says
Oh great drummer, yes. He was a twerp in Tin Machine though. He set up his kit on a 20-foot-high riser in the studio so that it DOMINATED the room. Gabrels and Bowie are struggling to be heard above his LISTEN TO ME!! playing all the way through the album. Bowie needed at that point to work with people who would give him shit , but not that bloody much.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: democracy doesn’t work.
Mavis Diles says
I feel like I have to listen to this. It sounds great!
Moose the Mooche says
Actually, in many ways it is!
My work here is done.
Mavis Diles says
I just played it. I might have heard it when it came out, but don’t recall. I’m struggling to see what’s wrong with it.
Moose the Mooche says
It’s 1989 and you’re not supposed to like David Bowie because he’s old and a big joke. Do as you’re told and listen to Birdland instead, you’ll be telling your grandchildren about them…
Iggypop1 says
I’ve lost interest in Lets Dance these days, but the other two really have grown on me. Hopefully the re-jigged Never Let Me Down will get released as a stand alone album once the collectors have lost interest. If nowt else it should be a boost to Mr Osterberg’s bank account with all those co-writes.
Moose the Mooche says
Almost the entire purpose of the Tonight album was to help the Popster out of a financial trough. It worked, of course – as did Blah Blah Blah which, like The Eejit, is almost a Bowie album with Iggy singing. DB’s demos for that? Me wantee hearee!
Black Type says
That’s a fantastic album.
Tiggerlion says
I fear you’ll have a very long wait for a stand alone rejigged Never Let Me Down. All the remasters from these box sets have been released individually but not The Ghouster nor the Lodger remix. I suspect NLMD will remain exclusive to the box. Except digitally, which doesn’t count, obviously.
John Walters says
Oh My God !
This means the worst version ever of “God only Knows” will be infecting this collection with it’s odious pong.
Tiggerlion says
Skip it!
Moose the Mooche says
Nick Knowles has read your post and is taking it as a challenge.
I hope you’re pleased with yourself.
Mavis Diles says
Alexander Armstrong must have already ‘done’ it then?
Moose the Mooche says
“If you should ever leave me, it would be totally against my human rights and shit”
Mavis Diles says
“Isn’t it?”
LightsOut says
Ordered sets 2 and 3 on vinyl as soon as they were announced, but can’t really bring myself to buy this one. There are a handful of decent songs on Tonight and Never Let Me Down, but I really can’t see myself listening to them enough to warrant owning this, especially if it’s on Spotify.
LightsOut says
Just checked the track listing in detail. I’m not paying good money for Dancing In The Street again.
Black Celebration says
I suppose it must have been in Afterword v1 but I am sure older viewers may remember I positioned the idea of a Bowie compilation of his least essential work. It was to be called “Howlers”.
This would involve the “Heroes” artwork on the cover but with Bowie wearing a gas mask – or alternatively – photoshopped to show Bowie with palms outward so now the “Heroes” photo looks like he’s saying “what am I like??!”.
Readers suggested many tracks and this reissue features much of the material suggested then.
Much as I wanted to both at the time and now, I don’t like Tin Machine and I don’t think his heart was in the second one.
duco01 says
Re: the “Howlers” compilation
I trust that Bowie’s “That’s Motivation” off the Absolute Beginners soundtrack was on it…
Black Celebration says
Very much so. God Only Knows and Ricochet also.
duco01 says
“Ricochet”? Did Bowie ever cover an entire Tangerine Dream live album? Now that I’d like to hear…
fatima Xberg says
This set is clearly not aimed at the “I saw Starman on Top Of The Pops” brigade. I’m really glad to get the 80s albums in one high quality package, along with all those soundtrack and single versions.
(There’s still about twenty dance or dub mixes that are missing, though.)
And yes, I’m looking forward to the Tin Machine box with all those BBC sessions and cover versions.
Conservative Bowie dads will surely wait till 2021 and the “Return to form” set with “Heathen” and “Reality” 😉 …
Iggypop1 says
Return to form started with 1.Outside i reckon, takes a while to really get into but without doubt, it’s a stunning album.
Tiggerlion says
No. It didn’t. Buddha Of Suburbia is a brilliant, brilliant album. So good, he reused one track for Outside.
Moose the Mooche says
I’m glad he did – out of place as it is, I prefer the Outside version.
Tiggerlion says
Get lost!
Moose the Mooche says
1. You. 1. Outside. 1. Now!
Tiggerlion says
Give me a moment.
Now 100, Now 99, Now 98, Now 97, Now 96….
Moose the Mooche says
Wouldn’t it be great if DB was on the first Now album – Modern Love or China Girl?
But he isn’t.
There is, however, both Limahl and Kajagoogoo. Rather puts the alleged awfulness of Bowie’s 80s output in perspective, dunnit?
Black Celebration says
I notice you gloss over the mighty presence of Men Without Hats. It’s been a while – I don’t recall which one of their hits featured.
Moose the Mooche says
I’ve always wondered how they can claim to be into safety when they don’t have hats. Dancing with an unprotected head? Insane. After all, it’s 1983 and you may be breakdancing.
Black Celebration says
I have a picture of the band wearing hats. Fake news! Sad!
Moose the Mooche says
The next set is very mouthwatering indeed whichever way you cut it. The BBC Tin Machine sessions are indeed excellent, better than Oy Vey Baby or many of the boots out there.
Black Tie White Noise is better than most people remember, notwithstanding the pointless cameo by Al B Buggered on the title track. And then there are the fradulent bit nonethless fascinating tracks appended to the Rykodisc CDs like Some Are and I Pray Ole.
Will we get the Leon suites etc in the next set? Will we fer-huck.
But still…
fatima Xberg says
There are interesting speculations on the inter web about the contents of the forthcoming sets. They included “The Gouster” alongside “Young Americans”, so there’s hope that The Leon Suite (and the “Toy” album) will be included on future boxes.
Moose the Mooche says
If we don’t get Toy I will be taking to the streets.
slotbadger says
I am sure we’ll get Toy. As sure as a nobody who knows nothing can be
Iggypop1 says
i must admit i tend to listen to ’90s and( onwards) Bowie more than the classic period , so the next Bowie -only set should be really interesting ..Black Tie to Earthling plus extras sounds very nice.
Tiggerlion says
You can pre-order on the tax dodgers for a penny shy of £100.
Come to think of it, these were Bowie’s most commercially successful years. He made a mint during this period. Will this box be as big a hit? I suspect its moment has passed.
fatima Xberg says
I guess this set will sell way more than the previous boxes. He had his biggest selling albums during this time, and he made 50 million from the “Serious Moonlight” tour alone. Nothing from this era has been properly compiled before (apart from standard album reissues every time he changed record companies). Plus, the box is standard requirement for Tina Turner, Mick Jagger and Iggy Pop completists… 😉
From what I’ve heard only the first box sold out its initial pressing. The Berlin era box is a very slow seller (the budget “Zeit” compilation is still widely available). And – although it seemed like “everyone” on the net was angry about the faulty “Heroes” mix, only around 100 people actually requested a replacement disc.
Tiggerlion says
Wow! I’m one of those hundred. Not because I was angry but because it was an opportunity to acquire more Bowie for free. I’ve put it in the box with the other one.
Bowie always referred to Low as the one that didn’t sell.
dai says
I got the vinyl “Berlin era” box set last week for half price in an Amazon Prime sale. It was $136 (Canadian) which is 79 quid. Now that was a bargain (currently about 200 pounds on amazon uk). So far can’t say I am massively impressed with it, Low sounds weird, it did not need 2 copies of Stage and I dislike Visconti’s Lodger remix. Packaging is good though and the book is very nice.
Tiggerlion says
On the other hand, Scary Monsters has never sounded better and a lot of Recall 3 is stunning (Baal EP, Space Oddity and Cat People in particular). I actually like the Lodger remix but I see your point about the remastering of Low and 2 Stages are a bit much.
dai says
Haven’t played Scary Monsters yet. Have played Recall 3, but one of the records was warped and I had to get a replacement. Will listen more this weekend.
slotbadger says
I think the re-recording of Never Let Me Down is obviously a draw – I guess there’ll be a lot of coverage of that, given that Mario McNulty seems to have basically created a new recording, retaining only the vocals from the originals, in some cases. But paradoxically, I think that it won’t be an especially big seller as the fans who prefer the Let’s Dance era might not be the type of fans who’d shell out significant bucks for collector box sets with oddities, b-sides, remixes etc. Then again, who knows.
fatima Xberg says
“…the fans who prefer the Let’s Dance era might not be the type of fans who’d shell out significant bucks for collector box sets ….”
The editor of the Superdeluxe Edition website wrote a good piece on that over the last weekend: these 80s fans are just a different generation to the 60s/70s fans – they are the ones who buy expensive Eurythmics, Human League and Simple Minds box sets now, and a good part of them used to collect 12″ mixes and double 7″ limited editions. The new Bowie set is targeted at them.
Moose the Mooche says
I can’t speak for the 80s, but from BTWN onwards Bowie was extremely well served by remixers. His collected remixes 1993-2003 would be almost as good as the “proper” albums.
Tiggerlion says
In the eighties, they were more extended versions than radical remixes but that was true of most dance music. People still liked to hear the original tune. The Dance disc here should be a cracker.
fentonsteve says
Tin Machine session coming up on 6Music. Get those fingers paused over the ‘record’ button.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bff8zl
Bargepole says
Glastonbury 2000 set to get a 2cd plus dvd release at the end of November.
Moose the Mooche says
Hurrah! After all this has been impossible to get hold of all these years.
…er…