ostensibly this post concerns the most recent box set of tapes (discs) to be released at the time of writing. for clarification that's Rock N Roll Star!, look you see. not sure i would call this a review as such, primarily because i don't think i am as skilled or as clever as to be able to write such. mostly i just hope this isn't all too much of a whine.
full well i recall when news of this box set - two books, 5 CDs (not tapes) and 1 blu ray - was announced. indeed i was filled with much merriment and excitement, pledging to all who were near, whether they were interested or not (they were not), to purchase it. obviously this i did. but oddly not upon its release. quite nearly placed the order, but found myself inexplicably hesitating. instead i made some sort of quasi, internal pledge to wait a few weeks (or a month entire) and if i still wished for it then to proceed. which i did.
any particular reason for the hesitation, or if you will sense of doubt? well, the set was/is an awful lot of money. risking sounding like "hey look at me", thanks to some quite hard verk i did have enough to get it as a treat, or some great reward. my question was if i was getting value for it.
rather than run up the cost of this set any further it was so that, when i resolved to buy, i went into an actual proper music shop to do so. something of a ritual happened. i pointed to the set behind the counter and asked the member of staff if i could please have it, but would she be so kind as to not say the price of it out loud. to this she consented. when it came time to pay i sort of put my hand over the screen part of the card machine so as not to see the price. but, for the sake of clarification (or context, maybe), i paid a flat, straight, on the nose £150 for it. no that's not missing a decimal place.
did i get £150 value, in the form of David Bowie stuff, from this purchase? at this stage i am still not certain that i have. i mean, it's a beautifully put together set, with the books being of a very high quality for a start. my interest, though, would be the music. and bewilderingly this is where it all falls somewhat short.
perhaps some of this shall be a whine. it is not intended as such. however, to start with, if i am spending that kind of money on compact discs related to the album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars then i wouldn't have thought it too much to ask for, you know, the actual album itself. indeed i have at least three (3) copies on CD, the vinyl and what have you, but still. also it was somewhat confusing that this "new" version of the album, Waiting In The Sky, wasn't included as a CD in the set. yes, both are there on the blu ray, but more on that in a bit.
to instead concentrate on what you do get on CD, well, that amplifies the problem. whereas i do not have a complete Bowie collection, for many box sets i have gone "no" to, it is a fairly extensive one. with forever thanks to my Dad i am lucky enough to have the original Ryko Sound+Vision USA only box set which features nearly all of the live in Boston tracks you find here. also i have the 89 or 90 reissue of Ziggy Stardust which features the best of the rare / unreleased songs to feature in this set, and the Bowie At The Beeb set. the latter has nearly all of the songs you find on discs two and three here.
it is so that discs (or tapes) two and three on Rock N Roll Star! make you feel as though you have somewhat been taken advantage of, that this set isn't well thought out at all. these two discs feature a whole load of performances recorded for and broadcast by the BBC during what you would call the Ziggy era. barely a handful of them were previously unreleased, and you soon work out why that was so as the sound quality is really, really bad.
were you to go up to someone and say (or ask) "what was the best thing about Ziggy Stardust" i would suggest that few, if any, would at any point in any conversation that followed say "oh, easily all those BBC radio shows he did". it's not that they are bad, they are just standard. there's no realistic reason i can think of as to why anyone would think two discs covering the BBC broadcasts was a worthwhile venture with this set.
breaking briefly from the music and there's a look, or insight, into the books. whereas the images in the main book are lovely, one feels a little let down (if not depressed) that the first thing you see on opening it is an advert for another book of pictures of Bowie, taken by Mick Rock. it's like "thank you for all that money but we would like some more, thanks". also exactly how "definitive" is this Ziggy Stardust box set if not all the best or most significant pictures are in it? as for the recreation of Bowie's journal from the time, well, it's got a certain curiosity value, but mostly it's lyrics and some vague ideas for the tracklisting.
going back to the music, and what would i have liked to have had instead? well, i do appreciate that not everyone has the already released recordings i do, but i wouldn't think someone would buy this just to get the BBC sessions. if you are going to sell me something twice (or, admittedly, four or five times) then come on, make it worthwhile. far more better (and relevant) would have been to include the legendary Santa Monica 71 live album. also, as mentioned, Waiting In The Sky as a standalone CD in the set would have been appreciated. i think you can kind of make a tape of it with some of the tracks included here, but then one buys a CD set with the not unreasonable expectation of it being ready made and all set to go.
yes, some of what i suggested should be there is in the set, on the "blu ray audio" disc. you get the original version of Ziggy Stardust, a reasonably recent "remastered" version and indeed the Waiting In The Sky variation. plus, from what i could tell, all the tracks off of the CDs that are not live. unfortunately, or regrettably, i don't have a massive, expensive sound system with a blu ray player as part of it. whereas i have a decent tele it's certainly not high end. playing this disc through the player and tele was all right, but not particularly practical.
no, oddly, i don't feel ripped off, cheated or in any way f****d over. i am not so stupid as to not know i was buying a set that was a bit "hmn". there is no doubt that the money is there, this is a beautiful, well produced set. it's just a "why bother" kind of thing, really, when the books are not going to get looked at too often and it's unlikely the discs shall be played much. right now i can pretty much guarantee that the BBC discs, two and three, are unlikely ever to go near the stereo again.
ultimately i suppose i felt i simply had to buy this set. not to underline any sort of "proper fan" credentials, or just because it was affordable. were it not for Ziggy Stardust then there would be no Bowie as we know of him today. that in itself made it feel necessary to purchase this set. if anything, it has vindicated my decision not to buy the Divine Symmetry box set, which seems to just feature more and more BBC sessions recordings.
right, well i think that about covers most of what i could say on this set. no regrets and i am happy to have it sat there looking pretty, even if it is only moi in my place of exile likely to ever cast eyes over it. mostly it feels like this set exists to emphasise that all you really need to know (or more importantly hear) about Ziggy Stardust is all right there in the album as it was released.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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