David Bowie Sound + Vision CD box of 4 cd’s (1988)
Ziggy Played Guitar: David Bowie’s “Sound + Vision” to Be Reissued
As part of the breakup of EMI that left most – but not all – of the former monolith controlled by Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group acquired the venerable Parlophone label, founded in 1896 and onetime home to The Beatles. Though Universal kept the Fab Four, Warner obtained current artists like Coldplay and the back catalogues of classic ones like The Hollies and Matt Monro…and a certain David Bowie. Parlophone hasn’t announced any major plans for Bowie’s albums as of yet; in-print titles such as The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars were simply repressed with the new label logo (replacing that of EMI label Virgin Records, now controlled by Universal). Parlophone has also offered a number of Record Store Day vinyl exclusives bearing the Bowie imprimatur. On September 23, the label has a repackaged version of the artist’s out-of-print, 4-CD Sound + Vision anthology returning to stores.
Named for the track on Bowie’s album Low, Sound + Vision was first issued in 1989 by Rykodisc. That independent label, now also controlled by Warner, had just gained the rights to the Bowie-controlled masters of his pre-1983 albums formerly available on RCA. Housed in an LP-sized box, the original Sound + Vision boasted three CDs (or six LPs or three cassettes) spanning the period between Bowie’s second, self-titled album in 1969 and 1980’s Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps). It blended familiar songs and rare or previously unissued alternate versions of familiar songs with rarities, and also included a CD-Video disc with three previously unreleased recordings and the video of “Ashes to Ashes.” This impressive set won a Grammy Award for Best Album Package and racked up staggering sales for an expensive box set, eventually being certified Gold in the U.S. (and entering the Top 100 of the Billboard 200), Platinum in the U.K., and 4x Platinum (!) in Canada.
Rykodisc reissued Sound + Vision in 1995, streamlining the packaging and replacing the disc in the defunct CD-V format with a standard CD-ROM. The next iteration of the set came in 2003, by which time Bowie had moved his catalogue from Rykodisc to EMI’s Virgin Records label. This version of Sound + Vision dropped the “Vision” (the CD-V/CD-ROM!), added a fourth CD to cover the period of 1982-1997, and moreover, tweaked the original track listing. Though the original’s 50 tracks (including the bonus video disc) had grown to 67, a few of the original tracks were replaced with alternate versions of the same songs (“The Wild-Eyed Boy from Freecloud,” “London Bye Ta-Ta,” “Round and Round,” “Fascination”) and all four performances from the CD-V were dispensed with entirely.
What can you expect on the new version? Hit the jump for details including the complete track listing and pre-order links!
The new, 2014 Sound + Vision replicates the contents and remastering of the 2003 version but further shrinks its packaging into what appears to be a CD-sized slipcase containing the four discs and a thick booklet (which presumably will reprint the contents found in the 2003 edition’s book). With this downsizing, however, commendably comes a reduction in price. As of the time of this writing, Sound + Vision is available from Amazon U.S. for 36 dollars and change and from Amazon U.K. at just £13.48 . No new content is being added to the box; the Bowie story continues with Sony’s 2007 10-CD box set featuring expanded versions of Bowie’s five studio albums between Outside and Reality (1995-2003) and, of course, on 2013’s “comeback” The Next Day.
The new Sound + Vision arrives on September 23 from Parlophone/Rhino, and can be ordered at the links below!
David Bowie, Sound + Vision (originally released as Rykodisc RCD 90120/90121/90122/RCDV 1018, 1989 – expanded as Virgin/EMI 72435 94511 2 1, 2003 – second edition released as Parlophone/Rhino, 2014) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
Disc 1
01. Space Oddity (Demo)
02. The Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud (with Spoken Intro) *
03. The Prettiest Star (Single Version)
04. London Bye Ta–Ta (Stereo Mix) *
05. Black Country Rock
06. The Man Who Sold the World
07. The Bewlay Brothers
08. Changes
09. Round and Round (Alternate Vocal) *
10. Moonage Daydream
11. John, I’m Only Dancing
12. Drive-In Saturday
13. Panic in Detroit
14. Ziggy Stardust (Live @ The Hammersmith Odeon, London – 7/3/1973)
15. White Light White Heat (Live @ The Hammersmith Odeon, London – 7/3/1973)
16. Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide (Live @ The Hammersmith Odeon, London – 7/3/1973)
17. Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
18. Sorrow
19. Don’t Bring Me Down
Disc 2
01. 1984/Dodo
02. Big Brother
03. Rebel Rebel (U.S. Single Version)
04. Suffragette City (Live @ The Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA – 7/8-7/12/1974)
05. Watch That Man (Live @ The Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA – 7/8-7/12/1974)
06. Cracked Actor (Live @ The Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA – 7/8-7/12/1974)
07. Young Americans
08. Fascination *
09. After Today
10. It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City
11. TVC 15
12. Wild is the Wind
13. Sound and Vision
14. Be My Wife
15. Speed of Life
16. Helden (1989 Remix)
17. Joe the Lion
18. Sons of the Silent Age
Disc 3
01. Station to Station (Live)
02. Warszawa (Live)
03. Breaking Glass (Live)
04. Red Sails
05. Look Back in Anger
06. Boys Keep Swinging
07. Up the Hill Backwards
08. Kingdom Come
09. Ashes to Ashes
10. Baal’s Hymn *
11. The Drowned Girl *
12. Cat People (Putting Out Fire) *
13. China Girl *
14. Ricochet *
15. Modern Love (Live) *
16. Loving the Alien *
17. Dancing with the Big Boys *
Disc 4 *
01. Blue Jean
02. Time Will Crawl
03. Baby Can Dance – Tin Machine
04. Amazing – Tin Machine
05. I Can’t Read – Tin Machine
06. Shopping for Girls – Tin Machine
07. Goodbye Mr. Ed – Tin Machine
08. Amlapura – Tin Machine
09. You’ve Been Around
10. Nite Flights (Moodswings Back to Basics Remix Radio Edit)
11. Pallas Athena (Gone Midnight Mix) – Tao Jones Index
12. Jump They Say
13. The Buddha of Suburbia
14. Dead Against It
15. South Horizon
16 Pallas Athena (Live, from “Seven Years in Tibet” B-side, 1997)
Disc 1, Track 1 and Disc 2, Tracks 1, 9 and 10 from original version of Sound + Vision
Disc 1, Track 2 from B-side to “Space Oddity” (Philips, 1969) – version is new to 2003 edition
Disc 1, Track 3 from Mercury single, 1970
Disc 1, Track 4 released in mono on Sound + Vision. Stereo mix is new to 2003 edition
Disc 1, Tracks 5-6 from The Man Who Sold the World (Mercury, 1970 (U.S.)/1971 (U.K.))
Disc 1, Tracks 7-8 from Hunky Dory (RCA, 1971)
Disc 1, Track 9 from B-side to “Drive-In Saturday” (RCA, 1973). Alternate vocal is new to 2003 edition
Disc 1, Track 10 from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars(RCA, 1972)
Disc 1, Track 11 from RCA single, 1972
Disc 1, Tracks 12-13 from Aladdin Sane (RCA, 1973)
Disc 1, Tracks 14-16 from Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture (RCA, 1983)
Disc 1, Tracks 17-19 from Pin Ups (RCA, 1973)
Disc 2, Track 2 from Diamond Dogs (RCA, 1974)
Disc 2, Track 3 from RCA U.S. single, 1974
Disc 2, Tracks 4-6 from David Live (RCA, 1974)
Disc 2, Tracks 7-8 from Young Americans (RCA, 1975). Track 8 released in alternate mix on first edition of Sound + Vision
Disc 2, Tracks 11-12 from Station to Station (RCA, 1976)
Disc 2, Tracks 13-15 from Low (RCA, 1977)
Disc 2, Track 16, the German version of “Heroes,” from RCA single, 1977. Remix is new to 2003 edition
Disc 2, Tracks 17-18 from “Heroes” (RCA, 1977)
Disc 3, Tracks 1-3 from Stage (RCA, 1978)
Disc 3, Tracks 4-6 from Lodger (RCA, 1979)
Disc 3, Tracks 7-9 from Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (RCA, 1980)
Disc 3, Tracks 10-11 from Baal (RCA, 1982). Previously unreleased on CD
Disc 3, Track 12 from Cat People: Original Soundtrack (MCA, 1982)
Disc 3, Tracks 13-14 from Let’s Dance (EMI, 1983)
Disc 3, Track 15 from B-side to “Modern Love” (EMI, 1983). Previously unreleased on CD
Disc 3, Tracks 16-17 and Disc 4, Track 1 from Tonight (EMI, 1984)
Disc 4, Track 2 from Never Let Me Down (EMI, 1987)
Disc 4, Tracks 3-5 from Tin Machine (EMI, 1989)
Disc 4, Tracks 6-8 from Tin Machine II (Victory Music, 1991)
Disc 4, Tracks 9 and 12 from Black Tie White Noise (Savage, 1993)
Disc 4, Track 10 previously unreleased
Disc 4, Track 11 from B-side to Savage/Arista 12″ single (U.K.), 1997
Disc 4, Tracks 13-15 from The Buddha of Suburbia (BMG, 1993)
Disc 4, Track 16 from B-side to “Seven Years in Tibet” single (BMG, 1997)
(*) indicates tracks new to 2003 edition
