Ticket 2 Ride

The custodians of David Bowie’s recorded material are wrapping up the release of box sets covering six periods of Bowie’s career. On September 12, I Can’t Give Everything Away, the last installment in the series hits the streets. The set includes: Heathen, Reality, A Reality Tour, The Next Day, The Next Day Extra, Blackstar, previously unreleased 31-track live set from the Montreux Jazz Festival and Re:Call 6 featuring 41 rare non-album tracks. Options are 13-CD, digital and audiophile 18-piece vinyl box sets.

I’ve heard a lot of buzz about this set, although no advanced reviews. What will history say about Bowie’s final years of music?

The other five sets consist of: David Bowie 1. Five Years (1969 – 1973), David Bowie 2. Who Can I Be Now? (1974 – 1976), David Bowie 3. A New Career in a New Town (1977 – 1982), David Bowie 4. Loving the Alien (1983-1988) and David Bowie 5. Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001).

Although I don’t own any of these sets, I have listened to them and they are wonderful offerings. I admit I like each of them differently, based primarily on the source material, particularly the studio albums.

There were periods in Bowie’s career when his work was weak and his creative spark misfiring. What bolsters these sets are the live recordings and the unreleased tracks. On these lesser studio albums, there are still a track or two that have that Bowie magic. The Recall discs in each set have all kinds of treasures.

David Bowie 2. Who Can I Be Now? (1974 – 1976) and David Bowie 3. A New Career in a New Town (1977 – 1982) are my favorites of these sets. David Bowie 1 and 4 have lesser interest to me, but are still worth sorting through for gems.

There was one set I hadn’t explored, until now.

David Bowie 5. Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001) was a period that admitted I wasn’t into Bowie. The albums that were immediately after Let’s Dance were uninteresting to me, so his 1990s output going forward wasn’t on my radio.

Going through the Brilliant Adventure albums was an adventure. Overall, not his best, but not his worst either, as I found a lot to like in this experimental period. Black Tie White Noise is difficult to describe, but I really like it. Nile Rodgers co-produced with Bowie. This album reminds me of Station to Station, which I now count as one of Bowie’s best.

Earthling is uneven. The raw, industrial sound can be off-putting. Weird synth sounds and the supercharged bass and drums are guaranteed to split your head. Whether the songs are any good, difficult to say. Hours is less weird, and much more accessible in production and song construction; a rather enjoyable album. The Buddha of Suburbia is an unusual album, not a traditional Bowie album, based on his soundtrack to a television series, and not available until this set. The album has some bright spots. The live discs for Live at BBC Radio Theatre, London, 27th June, 2000 are superb. Toy, well, it’s something else.

These box sets, if you are unfamiliar with several albums, take time to take in with your ears, and to read about. There’s a story with each Bowie album and reading the production notes is essential to learning about the project.

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I’m anxious to hear David Bowie 6, but it will be awhile before I can get my hands on a physical copy. I liked David Bowie 5 a lot more than I imagined. Listening to albums closely together of a certain era helps to understand how Bowie’s evolves, since some albums are separated by numerous years.