David Bowie - David Bowie Box (122 tracks) +Album Reviews

More than just for completists

Charles A. Miller | Baltimore, Maryland U.S.A. | 12/05/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"No need to review the actual music on this new box set as it has all already been released. Just check out the various reviews that have gone before. The question is, why this new format and is it worth it?

Yes, it is a reissue of material that has for the most part, already seen the light of day, but what great new packaging! All of those inconvenient CD singles can now come off the CD rack, clearing up about 10" worth of space and be replaced with this one 2" wide box.

And perhaps even more importantly, instead of having to change CDs to hear 2 or 3 remixes or outtakes contained on the singles every 15-20 minutes, all relevant remix material and outtakes to each of the five most recent David Bowie releases are contained on the second disc of each new double-disc album.

Another advantage is the mini-LP packaging, which can cost anywhere from $20 to $40 each if purchased from Japanese sources. On this new 10-CD box set, the cost works out to $6.10 per disc. Hardly a catastrophic expense for old fans or new-comers (and by the way, recommended to both).

While these albums should have been originally released in this manner, it is certainly welcomed now, again:

[1] to save CD rack shelf space;

[2] to be able to hear all the CD singles for each album combined into a single convenient disc; and

[3] to have all of these albums in neat, collectable mini-LP format."

Underrated Bowie Era!

JIM G. | FLORIDA | 04/22/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 10 CD boxset comprises of the last five Bowie studio CD's: Outside, Earthling, Hours, Heathen, and Reality. They're presented as 2CD set editions in album type sleeves (with the original cd booklets). One CD is the original cd and the second disc consists of "b" sides, alternate mixes, and rarities from the time period. For those of you looking for feedback and reviews of the individual CD's I will suggest you research them individually. For the die hard Bowie fans who own the original cd releases, I highly recommend this set.

Trying to collect the individual singles and various versions in which alot of these rarities have appeared on is insane, as well as expensive.

This boxset puts it all together and I consider this a must own for any Bowie fan. If you don't have any of these CD's and are thinking of purchasing them, I suggest that this is the way to go. This is a great deal for the money as well as being a great package.

I consider this era of Bowie music very underrated and overlooked. Upon purchasing this set, I was able to rediscover and enjoy these CD's again and develop a new appreciation for them. The bonus disc's with the rare material and "b" sides was real treat as well. Get it while you can, you won't be sorry.

"

For completists?

J. Berner | Oakland, Ca | 12/04/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This box set is strictly designed for the fans who want to obtain the rarities and b-sides from this era of Bowie's career. Considering that you can find the majority of this stuff, if not all, seperately does not make this set essential to Bowie fans. Both Earthling's and Hour's remixes can be found outside of this set is testemant to that, (I own both two disc sets that have all of that material on it)

This is simply a way to obtain the rarer tracks from each album and nothing more. each album is presented in a mini sleeve and contains the same book as was included with each disc individually.

The music is great, and in my opinion worth owning, but it comes down to whether you want to spend the money on the set if you already own all the albums in their single disc forms."

Review of the bonus material discs

Said Head | MN, USA | 10/17/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Aside from a collection of Bowie's albums from 1996 to 2001, what's really valuable in this set are the bonus material discs. Instead of having to buy single after single for outtakes, remixes, demos, alternates, etc., this release allows you to not only get the best of that kind of material, but nearly all of it! You do miss out on a few tracks from singles, like certain edits and whatnot, but it isn't much to freight over.

1st bmd: Outside

What is disappointing about this disc is that Bowie created hours of material for this album that never got released... officially. Instead of hearing all that material, except for the newer tracks 'Nothing To Be Desired' and 'Get Real', all this CD contains are remixes, some good, most not outstanding.

2nd bmd: Earthling

This is another rather uninteresting disc filled with remixes and little else; fortunately, though, there really aren't any b-sides or outtakes from this album, only remixes and edits, so you're not missing out. The 'I'm Afraid of Americans' remixes done by Trent Reznor are incredible, but other than that and the Tao Jones Index performances, this disc is a miss. It also could have included the newer version of the Tin Machine song 'I Can't Read'.

3rd bmd: 'Hours...'

The original album in my opinion was rather dull; some good tracks throughout, it made Bowie sound like he was 80. I especially disliked the track 'If I'm dreaming my life', ugh, that song is so boring. On the other hand, the extra material is awesome! All the remixes are fantastic, including the Beck and Marius De Vries versions. An edit of 'The Pretty things...' is thrown in oddly, but it's actually not a bad edit. The other mixes of this song are good listens as well. I actually first heard of Bowie from his remix on the film 'Stigmata', which really had an impact on me. The Omikron versions really don't sound much different than they do on 'Hours...', but it's good to have them on here. Also, you get to hear a rock version of 'Thursday's Child' and the demo of 'Seven' which are both stand-out tracks. But of most value are the 4 (four!) superb outtakes which, in my opinion, all should have made it onto the album either to add more length or replace some of the album's dullards, but Bowie seemed to want a more down to earth mix of songs, which the outtakes wouldn't really fit into, except for 'We All Go Through', an incredible song.

4th bmd: Heathen

The closest you'll ever get to hearing the unreleased 'Toy' album is all right here on this disc. The 'Toy' project was originally going to be made of reworked songs from Bowie's 60's material, along with a few new tracks most of which ended up being placed on the Heathen album. The two remixes are very good and unique; great additions to the Heathen project. But there is a reason this older material wasn't successful back in the 60's/early 70's, because it doesn't display Bowie's talented songwriting, so it feels somewhat like a devolution with tracks 'Baby Loves That Way', 'Shadow Man', and 'You've Got a habit...'; the other reworkings, namely 'Conversation Piece' and 'Wood Jackson' are great and definitely worth repeated listens. A newer song, 'Safe', was originally for a Rugrats movie, but the scene in which the song appeared was dropped, along with the song (it's actually not the same version, but was handed over to producer Visconti after being dropped); I really like this track personally, and I think it should've been put either on Heathen or made into its own single. And don't forget another lost gem, the 1979 reworking of 'Panic In Detroit'; this version is honestly the best, because it combines the glam rock Bowie with the eclectic, eccentric progressive rock Berlin Bowie, very cool track. What's really bothersome though is that a number of unreleased 'Toy' tracks still have not seen the light of day, a very unfair call.

5th: Reality

I'm surprised this one is so short, only 8 tracks, but is still packed with awesome tracks. First are a few outtakes, all great tracks, with the super fun cover of 'Love Missile F1-11', the 'Rebel Rebel' re-version and a few mixes of 'Rebel Never Gets Old', a cool fan-made mix of 'Rebel Rebel' (both original and newer versions) and 'Never Get Old'. Still, this Cd could've/should've included the Underworld film remix of 'Bring Me The Disco King', but oh well.

Overall, some misses, some major hits, and a ton of necessary material for any Bowie fan."

Double the listening pleasure at more than half the price

Pizza | Cleveland, OH | 12/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Great deal on 5 double CD albums. I collected all the single CD mini-albums from Japan on Bowie but passed on the final five because I haven't heard much from this later period and they were more expensive to boot. Then, I stumbled on this Europe-produced box set that completed my mini collection for about $12 a title rather than $30 or more. The extra tracks vary from great to OK and I've greatly enjoyed listening to this set. The mini-sleeves are nicely produced and are the same size as my single ones from Japan. I don't know how the design of these sleeves compares to the ones produced from Japan, but I'm happy."

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