The new set is the latest instalment in the award-winning and critically acclaimed series that includes 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) and will be released on 12th September.
DAVID BOWIE 6. I CAN'T GIVE EVERYTHING AWAY (2002 - 2016) is a twelve-CD, eighteen-piece vinyl and standard digital download/streaming box set named after the closing track on (BLACKSTAR), Bowie's final studio album. The box sets include newly remastered versions (except and No Plan), with input from David's co-producer Tony Visconti.
2002's HEATHEN was the first album Bowie and Visconti had worked on together in twenty-two years. Recorded in a residential studio in upstate New York, it reminded Visconti of his time with David in Berlin in the 1970s, ''There was no control room. The console was at one end of the studio and the band was placed at the other end. The acoustics were quite live and from my experience of making ''Heroes'' at Hansa Studios in Berlin, in the huge Grand Hall (known as Meistersaal recording hall), I wanted to make these acoustics work for us.'' For the follow-up REALITY, released in 2003, Visconti recalls, ''David said he wanted to write for his new touring band, who would also record the album'', giving the record a more ''Thrusty'' sound as Bowie put it at the time. That band then took to the road for A REALITY TOUR, one of the best-loved tours of David's career, it is represented here for the first time in its re-sequenced order to better reflect the set lists of the Dublin shows. The vinyl version of the album is pressed in transparent blue, echoing its initial release.
After a decade away from the studio, the sessions for THE NEXT DAY happened in secret; Visconti says of that time, ''We vowed not to tell a soul that David and we were making a new album - and that even included our domestic partners. His two-fold purpose was to write and create without pressure from the outside, plus he wanted its release to be a complete surprise. It all worked out great, except when he was spotted a few times walking to and from The Magic Shop studio in Noho, Manhattan, raising quizzical eyebrows. I was stopped once by a fan who recognised me and asked, ''Is David Bowie making a new album?'' I said, ''Absolutely not!'' Later, when we had rough mixes of our efforts, I was walking around Manhattan with a big smile on my face. No one could possibly know that I was listening to new Bowie songs on my earbuds.'' Those sessions produced so many songs that those additional tracks along with two remixes were included on THE NEXT DAY EXTRA.
(BLACKSTAR), David's final studio album, was released on 8th January, 2016. Bowie and Visconti went to Donny McCaslin's jazz quartet playing live in New York after working with him on the track 'Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)'. Tony Visconti: ''Donny's quartet was no ordinary jazz band, they were super musicians at the same level as classical musicians in top symphony orchestras. David told me that this band, with Mark Guiliana - drums, Tim Lefebvre - bass, and Jason Lindner - keyboards, will be the band for the recording of .'' Every one of the tracks for (BLACKSTAR) were each recorded in one day; Visconti recalls, ''The first song for the album began with '''Tis a Pity She Was a Whore,'' on 7th January. With a couple of rehearsals with David singing in the isolation booth, we were ready to go. Take one was perfect. We told Donny the take was fabulous. He thanked us and asked, ''What's the next song?'' I forgot that jazz musicians are one-take experts. This was not a normal thing for people who make Rock and Pop music. It usually takes many hours to get that great take. Just to play it safe we asked for another take and Donny complied.''
On Bowie's birthday in 2017, the NO PLAN EP brought together the original songs written for Bowie's Off-Broadway play, LAZARUS, including the titular 'Lazarus', 'No Plan', 'Killing A Little Time', and 'When I Met You', all recorded during the sessions for (BLACKSTAR).
Exclusive to each of the box sets are MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL and RE:CALL 6. The former was recorded on the 18th of July 2002 at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival and among the 31 tracks features a full performance bar one song of one of Bowie's most revered albums, LOW. RE:CALL 6 features 41 non-album / alternative versions / b-sides and soundtrack songs, including tracks never previously available on CD or vinyl over 3CDs and 4LPs.
The physical box sets accompanying book, 128 pages in the CD box and 84 in the vinyl set, feature previously unseen notes, drawings and handwritten lyrics from Bowie and photos by Sukita (who took the set's cover shot), Jimmy King, Frank W. Ockenfels 3, Markus Klinko, Mark 'Blammo' Adams and more as well as memorabilia, technical notes about the albums from co-producer Tony Visconti and design notes from Jonathan Barnbrook.
The CD box set will include faithfully reproduced mini-vinyl versions of the original albums where applicable, and the CDs will be gold-coloured rather than the usual silver. The vinyl box set has the same content as the CD set and is pressed on audiophile quality 180g vinyl.
Track list
1. LP Heathen (Remastered)
Sunday
Cactus
Slip Away
Slow Burn
Afraid
I’ve Been Waiting For You
I Would Be Your Slave
I Took A Trip On A Gemini Spaceship
5:15 The Angels Have Gone
Everyone Says ?Hi?
A Better Future
Heathen (The Rays)
2. LP Montreux Jazz Festival
Sunday
Life On Mars?
Ashes To Ashes
Cactus
Slip Away
China Girl
Starman
I Would Be Your Slave
3. LP Montreux Jazz Festival
I’ve Been Waiting For You
Stay
Changes
Fashion
Fame
I’m Afraid Of Americans
5:15 The Angels Have Gone
?Heroes”
4. LP Montreux Jazz Festival
Heathen (The Rays)
Everyone Says ?Hi”
Hallo Spaceboy
Let?s Dance
Ziggy Stardust
Warszawa
5. LP Montreux Jazz Festival
Speed Of Life
Breaking Glass
What In The World
Sound And Vision
Art Decade
Always Crashing In The Same Car
Be My Wife
A New Career In A New Town
Subterraneans
6. LP Reality (Remastered)
New Killer Star
Pablo Picasso
Never Get Old
The Loneliest Guy
Looking For Water
She’ll Drive The Big Car
Days
Fall Dog Bombs The Moon
Try Some, Buy Some
Reality
Bring Me The Disco King
7. LP A Reality Tour (Remastered & Re-sequenced)
Rebel Rebel
New Killer Star
Reality
Fame
Cactus
Sister Midnight
Afraid
All The Young Dudes
Be My Wife
China Girl
The Loneliest Guy
The Man Who Sold The World
Fantastic Voyage
8. LP A Reality Tour (Remastered & Re-sequenced)
Hallo Spaceboy
Sunday
Under Pressure
Life On Mars?
Battle For Britain (The Letter)
Fall Dog Bombs The Moon
Ashes To Ashes
The Motel
Loving The Alien
Breaking Glass
Never Get Old
9. LP A Reality Tour (Remastered & Re-sequenced)
Changes
I’m Afraid Of Americans
?Heroes”
Bring Me The Disco King
Slip Away
Heathen (The Rays)
Five Years
Hang On To Yourself
Ziggy Stardust
10. LP The Next Day (Remastered)
The Next Day
Dirty Boys
The Stars (Are Out Tonight)
Love Is Lost
Where Are We Now?
Valentine’s Day
If You Can See Me
I’d Rather Be High
11. LP The Next Day (Remastered)
Boss Of Me
Dancing Out In Space
How Does The Grass Grow?
(You Will) Set The World On Fire
You Feel So Lonely You Could Die
Heat
So She
Plan
I’ll Take You There
12. LP The Next Day Extra (Remastered)
Atomica
Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix By James Murphy For The Dfa)
The Informer
I’d Rather Be High (Venetian Mix)
Like A Rocket Man
Born In A Ufo
God Bless The Girl
13. LP Blackstar
Blackstar
’Tis A Pity She Was A Whore
Lazarus
Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)
Girl Loves Me
Dollar Days
I Can’t Give Everything Away
14. LP No Plan EP
Lazarus
No Plan
Killing A Little Time
When I Met You
[Etching side 2]
15. LP RE:CALL 6 (Remastered)
Slow Burn (Single Edit)
Wood Jackson
When The Boys Come Marching Home
Safe
Sunday (Moby Remix)
A Better Future (Remix By Air)
Slip Away (Sacdmix)
Slow Burn (Sacd Mix)
I’ve Been Waiting For You (Sacd Mix)
5:15 The Angels Have Gone (Sacd Mix)
16. LP RE:CALL 6 (Remastered)
A Better Future (Sacd Mix)
Safe (Sacd Mix)
Everyone Says ‘Hi’ (Radio Edit)
Sunday (Tony Visconti Mix)
Everyone Says ‘Hi’ (Metro Remix Radio Edit)
Heathen (The Rays) (Live In Berlin, 22/09/02)
Hop Frog — Lou Reed Featuring David Bowie
Saviour — Kristeen Young Featuring David Bowie
Isn’t It Evening (The Revolutionary) — Earl Slick Featuring David Bowie
Bring Me The Disco King (Loner Mix) — David Bowie Featuring Maynard James Keenan And John Frusciante (Taken From The Underworld Motion Picture Soundtrack)
17. LP RE:CALL 6 (Remastered)
New Killer Star (Radio Edit)
Love Missile F1-11
Fly
Queen Of All The Tarts (Overture)
Never Get Old (Single Edit)
Waterloo Sunset
Rebel Rebel (2003 Re-Record) (Taken From The Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle Motion Picture Soundtrack)
New Killer Star (Sessions @ Aol Live Version, 23/09/03)
Days (Live)
5:15 The Angels Have Gone (Live)
Rebel Never Gets Old (Radio Mix)
(She Can) Do That — David Bowie With Bt (Taken From The Stealth Motion Picture Soundtrack)
18. LP RE:CALL 6 (Remastered)
Life On Mars? (Live At Fashion Rocks, 08/09/05)
Wake Up (Live At Fashion Rocks, 08/09/05) — David Bowie With Arcade Fire
Five Years (Live At Fashion Rocks, 08/09/05) — David Bowie With Arcade Fire
Arnold Layne (Live At The Royal Albert Hall, 29/05/06) — David Gilmour Featuring David Bowie
Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix By James Murphy For The Dfa Edit)
Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) (2014 Version)
’Tis A Pity She Was A Whore (2014 Version)
Lazarus (Radio Edit)
I Can’t Give Everything Away (Radio Edit)