once upon at time it was so that, more or less, all they had to do was place the name "Bowie" on an item and i would purchase it. not so much no more, look you see. and this is not for me being prudent, or sensible. strangely i am in a position where i could probably purchase all they sell in his name, but it would appear they seek money different from mine these days.
for practical reasons i tend to only want new vibes (tunes) on compact disc. i don't have a record player to hand, i really loathe streaming and tape is, well, tape. yet the last few special anniversaries for Bowie albums have seen them launch all virtually on vinyl only. oh. the only not to people who quite like discs was the frankly absurd Divine Symmetry set, in a package so heavy you struggle to pick it up, and containing discs that contain everything but the Hunky Dory album itself, which it supposedly celebrates. hey ho, if they don't want me buying stuff, ok, it's not like i have a shortage of his music.
there's also, if we are honest, the bitter and sour taste left by the whole Brilliant Live Adventures debacle, featuring a set of less than brilliant (mostly) live recordings and "limited" so that the majority ended up for sale on ebay at vastly inflated prices. sure, eventually they said sorry and (very eventually) made more copies available, but by the time those came quite a few were just totes f****d off with them and figured if they don't want our money, fine.
and then i ended up with the Brilliant Adventure EP in my hands. i was down at one of my favourite market stalls, if not uber favourite, and the new and sealed vinyl edition of it was there. on release, for Record Store Day 2022 (if i am not mistaken) i had precisely zero (0) interest in it, for it was a ludicrous price and the tracks featured (mostly) fell short of "brilliant". but for a flat and agreeable £15, well, i figured why not.
yes, indeed i have opened it up. i am aware of how the overwhelming majority of vinyl records sold these days are never touched, opened or played. beats me why people buy them to store, but if it is to show off, why not. i couldn't care less (or "fewer") that it has now "lost value" being opened, for it is not like there was any chance of me selling it.
so, just how bad is this ep? quite, but not the very i had maybe feared. true, someone out there probably thinks that the mid to late 90s era of Bowie was his bestest and most greatest, but not me, thanks. effectively very nearly everything and anything to do with Earthling was boring and, if we are honest, more than a little sh!t. certainly not "brilliant" as the Bowie Estate appears to keep on being keen to market or brand it.
for fun, then, a "track by track" thing on all four (4) tracks on this ep. which suspiciously plays at 33 1/3 speed, rather than at 45rpm which would be traditional for an ep.
Johnny Downloader - sigh. yet another "early" version of I'm Afraid Of Americans. blimey, he was really, really keen for the (admittedly great) dour, menacing sound of the music (a constant across all versions) to work with the correct lyrics. for other versions, there's I'm Afraid Of The Animals, and if not that one then another was used on a Verhoven film somewhere.
I Have Not Been To Oxford Town - listed here as an "alternative single mix", but i wasn't aware this got released as a single? if there were a song i wished Bowie had redone and redone it's this one. quite a bit of the music is brilliant and lyrically interesting......except for the bits of the song which relate purely and exclusively to the "plot" of 1.Outside, and the "Nathan Adler Hyper Diary Murder" thing that no one really ever followed or understood. like vast swathes of 1.Outside something that could have been a great song, but ended up being part of some idiosyncratic, artsy statement. which is like.......
A Small Plot Of Land - one of two (2) live tracks on the ep. probably the single greatest example of the rather indulgent jazz odyssey elements of (to mention it again) 1.Outside. i mean, lyrically, wow, this is truly Bowie at his best. musically, however, just a headache inducing piano piece, free flowing jazz experimentation and every now and then Bowie trying to make absolutely certain you have a headache with some odd high pitch mixing. if you were going to set about convincing someone of the greatness of Bowie it's unlikely you would present them with this.
My Death - which you may well have worked out is the second (2nd) of two (2) live tracks. Bowie revisiting this one was the only point of interest i had with this release. it was right proper brilliant in or on the Ziggy Stardust film and soundtrack. here he has a go at it as a piano thing. alas, it doesn't really work so good, not even with the great Mike Garson on piano. halfway through or so i swear you can hear in Bowie's voice that he's also clocked it's not such a good way to do the song.
pretty much what i had expected (or anticipated) from the release, then. quite a bit of ho hum, with the only real "win" from owning this, the only true "brilliant" aspect, being the self-portrait on the glorious full tilt 12" record cover.
one other plus is that, i think, this is a release i have what has the "Bowie 75" sticker on it. can't remeber if the equally underwhelming Toy box set had one on, and no i am not going to check. don't believe it did, for surely i would have remembered.
do people even say they know that they are "late to the party" these days? maybe it is an old, antiquated statement, apt for me to use. yes, i do wonder how my love and devotion to Bowie survived that era of his just after 1.Outside and before hours......, in truth. then again, you could always trust him to more or less do something different for his next release, so a poor album could always just be put on a shelf safe in the knowledge the next would likely be better.
believe you me, i would love nothing more to showcase here not only further Bowie purchases, but ones that i may even like. even if just a little. over to you, Iman and / or who(m)ever is in control of the Bowie Estate, oh yes it's EMI after that deal. how peculiar that they seem to have no immediate wish to recuperate their investment...........
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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