David Bowie: ANCIANT Box Set Review

★★★★ (4/5)

The new compilation box set A New Career In A New Town (1977-1982) came out today and of course I had to listen to it!! Bowie's iconic Berlin Period is legendary. His experimental sound and vision pushed the boundaries of rock music forever, and although celebrated, at the same time this period of creation remains stubbornly "uncommercial" and rather mysterious. Rolling Stones gave a great review about it all here.

For my part, I agree with the nitpicks of the review. Although all the music is superb (as always), the track listing could've been increased with other songs from the era - if not with "new" previously unreleased songs, then it could have at least consolidated all the previously released and scattered tracks together. For instance, one of my personal favourites from the period, "Some Are", still doesn't appear on the compliation even though it was chosen by Bowie as one of his favourite tracks on his 2008 compilation album iSelect. Of course most of this critique is from the fact that I am a completionist who also wants as much Bowie as possible.

I do want to note, however, that I greatly appreciate "The Jean Genie" and "Suffragette City" being added to the (unfortunately still) incomplete Stage album (from his 1978 ISOLAR II Tour). And that they included his bizarrely endearing Christmas duet with Bing Crosby of "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" that he only did because his mother was a huge fan of Crosby's. But most importantly I love that they added the earlier version of "Cat People (Putting Out Fire), which is truly a chillingly seductive piece and some of Bowie's finest vocal work. I much prefer it to the album version on Let's Dance (1983).

Meanwhile, Visconti's remix of the much under-rated Lodger was fun to listen to. I'm glad he chose to focus on revamping a hidden gem rather than attempting to change the behemoth albums of the era which stand fine on their own. And having Bowie himself give his blessing to most of the remix before his death definitely didn't hurt. However, I personally still didn't like it as much as the original version.

The echo on the lead vocals didn't lend much to the work other than on "Yassassin (Turkish for: Long Live)", and even though I appreciated the instrumental work, I felt like the increased drums, bass, etc. overpowered rather than complimented Bowie's vocal work (although to be fair the original mix doesn't let the nuanced musical work shine through as clearly). The only track I preferred in the new mix was "Move On" due to the fact that the louder underlying beat allowed me to hear more of the ingenius "All the Young Dudes" (of which "Move On" is essentially sung over, but played backwards). Yet despite all of this, I am still happy to have an alternate, Bowie Approved version of a great album that seldom gets the spotlight.

The best part of the compilation by far is the general "remastering" the entire Bowie team did. Each track sounds great - fresh and clean - as if it was just made yesterday. I loved hearing more musical nuances and subtle thematic work in Low than in previous releases, and the screaming art rock of my fifth favourite Bowie album Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) absolutely shines with the long overdue remaster (seriously, since 1999!) - definitely cementing it in my Top Five forever.

In conclusion, although this compilation set still doesn't top the original Five Years (1969-1973) box set release from 2015 (with a lot of new content as well as being a good resource for Bowie's early formative years), it's still better than the Who Can I Be Now [1974-1976] compilation from 2016 (which featured some excellent Gouster alternatives to the superb Young Americans tracks, but the lack of new content from Station to Station - like my favourite bootlegged performance of "Sister Midnight" from the ISOLAR I 1976 tour - was unfortunate. And the fact that they failed to include bonus songs like "Alternative Candidate" from the Diamond Dogs 30th Anniversary Release. Not to mention that they also chose to remaster David Live instead of breathing a new vitality into it like they did on their separate album release earlier this year of Cracked Actor (Live, Los Angeles '74). And the cover. Why did they decide to do a different, incongruous design for the cover of a three-set compilation series?).

So a solid 4/5 Blackstars for A New Career In A New Town (1977-1982). It does a great job of showcasing some of Bowie's finest work by allowing the listener to hear every nuance of an incredible era while also providing a fun new take on an old classic, and it also brings a few buried tracks back to the light once more.