well, this was likely or most decidedly bound to happen, look you see. in an ideal world it would have been so that i would have taken delivery of the sixth (of six) and final edition of Brilliant Live Adventures off of David Bowie. with thanks to the ludicrous decision to impose a self-defeating limit on the number the press, and the fact that they appeared only to email their mailing list that it was available after it had sold out, i missed out on it. oh.
hey ho, time, then, for a delayed reflection, listen and consideration to volume five of these Brilliant Live Adventures of varying qualities of brilliance. which is (as i shall moan, whine or complain about later) the final one in my set, then. and what a way for it to (unexpectedly) finish, for this, Something In The Air, recorded in Paris (of all places) during 1999, is true, sheer brilliance.
it's just beautiful. on first hearing it i commented to a friend (no, i don't have too many, but still there are one or two who remain) that my honest reaction was, with a tear in my eye, to fall in love with David Bowie just that little bit more, all over again. this is just unrelentingly excellent (brilliant, if you like) from start to finish, and oh how if only all live albums were woven from the same as this.
just why is it so good, so f*****g good, if you insist on using strong words so as to underline the point? to an extent the set list helps, but mostly - dominantly - this recording is the sound of David Bowie being perfectly comfortable, at ease and at one with with being David Bowie in a universal sense. here stands a Bowie not channelling a persona, not playing what he presumes an audience wants, not seeking to go on a jazz odyssey to showcase how he will do what he likes. just a Bowie aware that he has composed some pretty amazing songs over the years and has taken great delight in finding, by this stage at last, that the ones he loves are (were) those we loved too, and hearing him enjoy them just as much is the only expectation there ever was.
but also, mind, what one hell of a set this is. gone, now, are the audience testing experiments of Outside and Earthling. left behind is the compulsion to reclaim The Man Who Sold The World as his own. most generously represented here is hours....., the then new album for which the tour was in support or if you like promotion of. a very perfectly selected five, and each of them sends a message of how that album is perhaps better, more complex and worthy of rediscovery than anyone may have considered in the last twenty or so years.
a large (substantial) chuck of what is in the set here turned up in the VH1 Storytellers thing, which once more i say is a CD & DVD set which absolutely anyone should go out and seek, watch, listen to and enjoy. in fact i think, without going and getting it off of the shelf, all on that is here.
highlights of a musical nature is an interesting one. i think the tear formed in my eye at first when Word On A Wing commenced, one of the most beautiful moments on what, if i was absolutely forced to select one as such, is what i'd consider his magnum opus, Station To Station. but if i had to take just one album to a desert island, or my grave, i don't know how i would choose between that and The Buddha Of Suburbia, so let us hope i am not forced to decide any time soon.
perhaps the "strongest", or most significant, performances here are of the songs from hours....., with Survive and borrowed to be the titular track Something In The Air being the finest. that is not to take anything at all away from the remainder. the stripped down, perhaps borrowing in concept from Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense opener, Life On Mars? is frankly astonishing. reworked and re-imagined (or as he would have no doubt said "subverted") renditions of Always Crashing In The Same Car and I Can't Read (yes, the Tin Machine one) are extremely noteworthy.
now i find myself glancing at the tracklisting to see what else i should highlight. and now all i can think of to say is there is not a single wasted moment here. each and every song is a cracker, each and every performance is, within the context of a live recording, perfection. of the large number of official Bowie live releases, this one immediately sits in the "essential" box, nicely next to Santa Monica 72 and Welcome To The Blackout.
one major, big plus here is the sound of him engaging with the audience. he, Bowie is just so damned relaxed and having fun, clearly enjoying the awe, adulation and admiration of the audience but at last knowing a context for it, and just being himself with it all. there is absolutely no way at all this should have been limited down in number, being merely "number five" of a set. fuss and fanfare is what i hear demanded every time i play this disc, and it has been played a lot.
go on then, moan and groan. so, i missed out on volume six. which turned out to be him live in his beloved New York, at something called the Kit Kat. most of us were expecting the recorded but never released Astoria gig, but no matter. a great shame not to have the full set, but hey. it is not like i have every single release by him. what i do have, however, for over thirty years is a strong track record for buying anything they wish or care to put the name "Bowie" on. should his Estate no longer wish for my money, then that is fine, it is not like i am short of recordings off of him to play.
just left baffled (to continue the moan) by the decision made here. why, exactly, did they limit the number available. leave aside not letting people know before the scalpers bought most if not all of them. fans like me are sat here perfectly happy to give them money for the disc, and they say no. don't hate the players, hate the game, but all that has happened here is some opportunists have pre-ordered it and are now relisting it on the great car boot sale of the internet for prices north of £50. for a single CD, which features a much shorter but same songs still appear track list that's found on Something In The Air. perhaps they will be able to sell to the desperate to complete the set for such prices; from me the answer is best of luck but get f****d if you think i am paying that much for it.
as i commented on one of the previous Brilliant Live Adventure things, this live compact disc a month was getting exhausting, and felt like it had reached a saturation point. what a wonderful way to finish it off all early, then. whereas the first one was somewhat underwhelming, this (in my case) final one exceeds all expectations of brilliance.
where next for us fans, at the mercy of the Bowie Estate and what they choose, or elect, to release next? i have no idea. stacks and stacks of high quality concert recordings remain on the shelf. also, the 50th anniversary of two iconic, incredible albums (Hunky Dory and of course Ziggy Stardust) looms in the next twelve or so months. my wallet is already starting to bleed.
i see no sense in doing a complete overview of (ahem) all five releases of this six edition Brilliant Live Adventures business. my comment along the way have probably said all that could be said to anyone who wished to listen. but, for a short view, of them really it was just numbers two, four and very much five that came in at a standard one would not disagree with the "brilliant" label being applied. one and three can just sit on the shelf, unlikely to be damaged by means of excessive play.
be brilliant to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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