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Help me with David Bowie

post #1 of 56
3/6/05 at 3:26pm
Thread Starter 
I've been listening to The Life Aquatic - Soundtrack lately like crazy, and I'm addicted to the 2 Bowie tracks on there, Queen Bitch and Life on Mars?. I'm looking for some advice on where to start with his music, and also I believe there's a few DVD-A titles available, if anyone could give some feedback on those, that'd be great. Thanks-
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post #2 of 56
3/6/05 at 5:31pm
Matt,
Those 2 songs you like are from Hunky Dory, so why not start with that?
Ziggy Stardust is also a favorite of mine.
The sountrack to Cat People includes Cat People (Putting Out Fire)...a version I much prefer to the one he did with Stevie Ray Vaughan later.
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post #3 of 56
3/6/05 at 6:13pm
Or you could cover all your bases and get the 2-disk Best of Bowie album HERE

Space Oddity, man who sold the world, lets dance, under pressure, scary monsters..... how can you go wrong with the album?
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post #4 of 56
3/6/05 at 6:27pm
Thread Starter 
Henry - thanks I'm gonna look into it.

Garrett - As a personal rule, I generally like to stay away from 'best of' albums when introducing myself to a new artist. If a best of is done right, it will be the best material, which means everything else I start listening to won't be as good. I like to find a song or 2, and work around it on its album. If I like 2 or 3 albums and there's still a fair number of unheards on the best of, I'll go for it, thank you though.

Oh and any comments on the DVD-A's?
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post #5 of 56
3/6/05 at 7:46pm
If you'd like to try some of his more recent stuff, both Heathen and Reality are excellent efforts with Heathen being my fave of the two. The SACDs of both releases are excellent. Heathen is single layer and Reality is a hybrid.
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post #6 of 56
3/7/05 at 4:13am
Start out with THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD and work forward from there.
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post #7 of 56
3/7/05 at 7:18am
Matt, to scratch the surface either the singles collection, or 2 disc best of might be agood start. I'm holding out for sacd/dvd-a versions before buying the back catalog.

I have ziggy stardust, lets dance, scary monsters and heathen on SACD. Reality on DualDisc(not highres, but in DD 5.1), and all the 90's-00's on CD.

He has no DVD-A's out yet, the first 2 will be David-Live and Stage, due 3/15, both surround highres dvd-a, but they are live recordings.

As far as surround titles, I'd say Heathen is great, and Ziggy is good too(especially for its age). LD and SM are stereo only on sacd.
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post #8 of 56
3/7/05 at 7:50am
Just saw this. This was pulled from Tony Visconti's website:

"Now that the news has been announced on Bowienet, I can tell you that it hasn't been quiet around our studio in the past month (or two). EMI and DTS are really hot on releasing David Bowie's classic albums in newly mixed 5.1 Surround Sound. I have mixed David Live and Stage, which are available now. I've just finished mixing the amazing Young Americans in 5.1 Surround Sound, too, for its 30th anniversary (has it been that long?). The release will be in a few months. There will be bonus tracks and a surprise.

All the tracks have been mixed from the master tapes to 96khz high definition digital audio."
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post #9 of 56
3/7/05 at 8:50am
AricB, that is amazingly good news!

My years of avoiding the CD reissues is finally paying off!
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post #10 of 56
3/7/05 at 8:56am
Lets just hope they dont all wait for a 30 or 35th anniversary to release them... I'd like to see them mix in some newer material re-releases along with the classics.
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post #11 of 56
3/7/05 at 9:29am
awww, someone I can add my 2 cents to

I have all of Bowie's albums. It all depends what you're into:

all these albums are great for starters:
The Man Who Sold The World
Hunky Dory
Ziggy Stardust
Aladdin Sane
Diamond Dogs
Station To Station
Scary Monsters
The Singles 1969-1993
Heathen
Reality

these are great, but acquired tastes:
Young Americans
Low
Heroes
Lodger
Black Tie White Noise
Outside
Earthling

I'd avoid these until I have everything else:
Early On
The Deram Anthology (Bowie singing caberet)
Space Oddity (the title track is a classic, but the album as a whole lacks)
Tonight
Never Let Me Down
Tin Machine 1 and 2
Hours (a few great songs, but also probably his weakest 90's album)

and then Let's Dance, which is an entity all to itself. Loathed by Bowie fans, loved by 80's pop fans, it's all your call. I think the album really isn't all that bad myself, but it is far from Bowie's finest work.
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post #12 of 56
3/7/05 at 1:44pm
If I where you, I would buy a SACD player just for the Surround Layer of the Ziggy Stardust SACD. Freaking amazing!! It has more than 30 years and sounds great. Lady Stardust..I could cry in that song.
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post #13 of 56
3/7/05 at 2:06pm
Matt, in short, be prepared for a variety of styles when you get into Bowie. Be prepared to buy several albums.

Some fools buy one album by Bowie, don't like it, and conclude that they don't like the artist.

You can't make that mistake with Bowie, because each album is different (with the exception of "Lodger" "Low" and "Heros" which are seen as one thematic set, pretty much).

So bravo for your reluctance to buy a best-of.
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post #14 of 56
3/7/05 at 2:06pm
Quote:
(avoid) Tin Machine 1 and 2


AKA the mid-life crisis years.
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post #15 of 56
3/7/05 at 2:10pm
I love Bowie.

The Sound+Vision set is a fantastic overview of his career, not at all a Best-of compilation, but a flowing, evolving set that tells you who and what he was at each stage of his career up to 1980.

If you like Queen Bitch and Life On Mars, I really would highly recommend Bowie At The Beeb -- the second disc is almost entirely material from that period, all of it live in studio and full of fire and energy.

Between the two live albums, David Live and Stage, I'd go for Stage -- David Live is great if you can get into it, but it's definitely over-the-top crazy. I find it works better for me a bit at a time than all in one sitting (though the versions of Watch That Man, Cracked Actor and Sufragette City are, IMO, some of the very best things he's recorded). I love Stage -- grandiose, brittle, magnificent. I think Stage will be the first DVD-A I buy.

Personally, my favourite album is Station To Station, but I'm a weirdo. I was overjoyed when my wife took me to see Bowie last year for my birthday (the concert was three days before it) and he played literally everything I wanted to hear, some of it stuff that he rarely plays live, like Station To Station, Ashes To Ashes, Hang On To Yourself... it was heavenly.
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post #16 of 56
3/7/05 at 2:15pm
I'll dissent on Tin Machine I -- Tin Machine II is godawful, but Tin Machine I is brilliant and was ahead of its time by about five years.

If you haven't spun it lately, give it another shot.
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post #17 of 56
3/7/05 at 2:22pm
Quote:
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(avoid) Tin Machine 1 and 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



AKA the mid-life crisis years.



No - AKA the career-resurrecting years. I truly believe that TM revitalized Bowie after his pop wasteland time of the Eighties.

"Tonight" and "Never Let Me Down" represent "the mid-life crisis" years...
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post #18 of 56
3/7/05 at 3:39pm
Quote:
Personally, my favourite album is Station To Station, but I'm a weirdo.

Not weird at all. I like Station to Station and Heathen the best, myself. The extra tracks on the Ryko version of Station to Station are ESSENTIAL IMO.
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post #19 of 56
3/7/05 at 7:12pm
Thread Starter 
Wow just picked up Hunky Dory and I love it, I think I'm gonna give myself some time to let this settle in and then maybe go for one of the DVD-A's coming out next week, thanks for all the help.
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post #20 of 56
3/7/05 at 7:21pm
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post #21 of 56
3/7/05 at 8:00pm
You're in for a wild ride, Matt.

Don't dismiss Tin Machine I (just titled Tin Machine, with the band in black suits against a white background on the cover) -- definitely worth a listen.

I agree about the live tracks on the Ryko Station To Station -- I love all of the Ryko issues, which sound fabulous and have all kinds of interesting bonus stuff.

Do any of you guys have the bonus 2000 concert disc that came with the initial issue of Bowie at the Beeb? I thought it was really a lot of fun, especially the rock version of I'm Afraid of Americans, and Let's Dance with the Spanish guitar intro.
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post #22 of 56
3/7/05 at 8:31pm
Quote:
Do any of you guys have the bonus 2000 concert disc that came with the initial issue of Bowie at the Beeb? I thought it was really a lot of fun, especially the rock version of I'm Afraid of Americans, and Let's Dance with the Spanish guitar intro.


I have that and also like some of the versions on it. I could go the rest of my life without ever hearing "I'm Afraid..." again. I've seen Bowie 44 times (seriously) since 1995, and I'd bet he's played that song at almost all of the shows...
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post #23 of 56
3/7/05 at 8:32pm
Quote:
Not weird at all. I like Station to Station and Heathen the best, myself. The extra tracks on the Ryko version of Station to Station are ESSENTIAL IMO.


Station to Station is probably my favorite Bowie album. The two bonus tracks are great - KILLED "Stay" - but why not give us more? I'd love an officially-released version of the 1976 concert...
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post #24 of 56
3/7/05 at 8:41pm
Could be that those two are the only two that are in releaseable shape, or that are "great" from that show. Like that legendary Who show where everyone was crying out for an official release, and when the band finally tracked down the source of the bootleg and heard the original materials, there was no recording at all of the bass. Whups!

Have you heard an unofficial release of the rest of the show? Is it all as good as Stay?

I have to admit, I still haven't got around to picking up Heathen or Reality yet. Keep meaning to, keep forgetting...

I've only seen him once, to my chagrin, and it was last May. Great show, though. Is the DVD of that tour any good?
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post #25 of 56
3/7/05 at 10:02pm
"I've only seen him once, to my chagrin, and it was last May. Great show, though. Is the DVD of that tour any good? "

No. Sadly, the DVD of the Reality Tour is an exercise in using a video mixing board's special effects to absolutely obliterate all traces of the actual concert, and to hide the age of Bowie. I think it is some kind of statement a la "This is Not Reality" but it ruins the DVD.

However if you buy the Korean (I think) CD of Reality, it comes with a bonus DVD of another Reality concert, with NO SPECIAL EFFECTS added. And that is FAN_FING_TASTIC.



"Have you heard an unofficial release of the rest of the [Nassau 1976] show? Is it all as good as Stay?"

I have it (had it), but it is also the only CD I own that actually got the infamous CD rot. Guess that's what you get for going underground. The show could best be described as having a lot of gusto, but also having some dated moments: I remember that Panic in Detroit went on far too long because it also served as the bathroom break. There's a wacky 1970s sort of drum solo in the middle of it which goes on to Spinal Tap proportions.
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post #26 of 56
3/8/05 at 4:45am
Hey, Will, thanks for the tip! Since I own neither, I'll see if I can find that Korean CD/DVD. Any idea of where to find it?
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post #27 of 56
3/8/05 at 7:20am
Yeah, I'd like to know too... I hated the video editing on A Reality Tour DVD, the audio is good and the live performance was great, I saw all 3 chicago shows, but the cheese ball effects were rediculous. but for 11.99 at BB it's hard to not pick it up.

I'm interested in some of the TM stuff, I think they do a Pixies cover on one disc, I'll likely track it down at some point in time.

Aaron, you should pick up Heathen it's a very good disc, especially on SACD in surround, it's one of my top 5 for 5.1 music discs.

Yeah, the 2000 disc from the Beeb is great, since I'm in my 20's the 90-2000 material is some of my favorite. The other discs are very good too.
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post #28 of 56
3/8/05 at 7:52am
has anyone gotten the DualDisc of Reality yet?
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post #29 of 56
3/8/05 at 8:34am
I have it. What would you like to know? It's not high res, but in Dolby Digital 5.1. i havent gone through the extras yet.
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post #30 of 56
3/8/05 at 9:31am
Quote:
Hey, Will, thanks for the tip! Since I own neither, I'll see if I can find that Korean CD/DVD. Any idea of where to find it?


Aaron, I got my CD+DVD set (not talking about the DualDisc) on ebay, but I dont see any listed at the moment. There used to be many of them available for about $20 each. Now I am really sad to see that places like Tower Records and even Amazon.com are asking for $50 to $60 for it. That shouldn't be -- it wasn't rare.

Checked mine, and the country of origin is Singapore by the way, not Korea. It is a legitimate product by the way, Sony Europe. The DVD in this CD + DVD package is in NTSC which is useful. Though it does have subtitles in some kind of asian language for the between-song banter.

Known as the "Asia Tour Edition", it has a silver/grey slipcase with the Reality artwork (grey instead of white).
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