David Bowie’s Final Years Chronicled in New Box Set

The last 14 years of David Bowie’s life was a whirlwind of creativity that’s been compiled in the sixth volume of Parlophone’s incredible box set series.

Named after the closing number from his seminal swan song ★ (Blackstar), I Can’t Give Everything Away [2002-2016] is a testament to the Thin White Duke’s final run that — quite honestly — deserves just as many accolades as his incredible run in the late 70s, which was the last time he had worked with producer Tony Visconti.

And it was Visconti — returning to the fold after a 22 year absence from the Bowie-verse — who helped make these final four studio albums, rounded out by 2002’s Heathen, 2003’s Reality and 2013’s brilliant The Next Day, such late period triumphs for Bowie.

Recorded in a residential studio in upstate New York, working on Heathen reminded Visconti of his time with Bowie 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.”

That band, comprised of such David all-stars as Gail Ann Dorsey on bass, pianist Mike Garson and the great Earl Slick on guitar, was then put to the test with a historic world tour that would end up being his last. The trek was immortalized on the 2010 live album A Reality Tour, which has been re-sequenced to more accurately reflect the two shows at the Point Depot in Dublin, Ireland, where the recording was sourced.

This box comes with another live set — the previously unreleased recording of Bowie’s performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in July of 2002, where he and an early version of the Reality touring band (with the addition of multi-instrumentalist Mark Plati) delivered a stellar set flush with expansive versions of such deep Bowie faves as “Stay,” “Warszawa” and “Breaking Glass” along side canonical cuts like “Ashes To Ashes,” “Life On Mars?” and “Changes.”

It took Bowie and Visconti another 10 years before revealing The Next Day, which the duo recorded in secret to create one of rock’s biggest surprise album drops.

“We vowed not to tell a soul that David and we were making a new album — and that even included our domestic partners,” Visconti explains in the exhaustive liner notes that accompany this collection within a 128-page hardback book. “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.”

Also included is The Next Day Extra, a 10-song collection of eight additional songs from these sessions, along with two remixes in James Murphy’s “Hello Steve Reich Mix” of “Love is Lost” and the “Venetian” Mix of “I’d Rather Be High.”

★ (Blackstar) was released on Bowie’s 69th birthday: Jan. 8, 2016. Two days later he would be gone. But what he left behind was a jazzy, artful swan song that only furthered the theory that he was a level above most humans on this planet.

Instead of his now-longtime touring group, Bowie chose to work with saxophone great Donny McCaslin and his quartet — rounded out by drummer Mark Guiliana, bassist Tim Lefebvre and on keyboards Jason Lindner — along with guitarist Ben Monder. It was after Bowie and Visconti caught the McCaslin quartet playing a gig in New York that they knew they had their studio band.

“Donny’s quartet was no ordinary jazz band; they were super musicians at the same level as classical musicians in top symphony orchestras,” writes Visconti. “David told me that this band…will be the band for the recording of ★.”

Accompanying ★ in this box is the No Plan EP, which was released on Bowie’s 70th birthday and featured songs that were written for an Off-Broadway play surrounding ★’s key single “Lazarus,” which is joined by songs recorded during the ★ sessions, including “No Plan,” “Killing A Little Time” and “When I Met You,” serving as a fitting postscript to a genuine Bowie masterpiece.

In lieu of bonus tracks tacked on at the end of each album, I Can’t Give Everything Away contains the sixth volume of the Re:Call series, which gathers together 41 non-album tracks, alternative versions, B-sides, soundtrack songs and collaborations across three CDs or four LPs. For fans of this final period of Bowie’s living years, there is much to dig into, especially if you are a fan of Heathen and Reality.

Highlights include the Lou Reed collaboration “Hop Frog,” Air’s remix of Heathen’s “A Better Future,” the “Loner Mix” of the Reality epic “Bring Me the Disco King” featuring Maynard James Keenan on vocals and John Frusciante on guitar, a pair of Kinks covers (“Waterloo Sunset” and a live version of “Days”) and a 2014 version of the ★ track “Tis A Pity She Was A Whore,” which was later cut in one day during the Donny sessions.

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.”

This is such a fantastic collection for those of us who are genuine fans of these final Bowie albums, which deserve to be considered as canonical as Space Oddity, Ziggy or Let’s Dance. An essential addition to any music library.

DAVID BOWIE 6. I CAN’T GIVE EVERYTHING AWAY (2002 – 2016)

LP Box Set:

84-page hardback book

Heathen (Remastered) (1LP)

Montreux Jazz Festival (4LP) (Previously unreleased)*

Reality (Remastered) (1LP)

A Reality Tour (Remastered & Re-sequenced) (3LP)

The Next Day (Remastered) (2LP)

The Next Day Extra (Remastered) (1LP)

★ (Blackstar) (1LP)

No Plan (1LP)

Re:Call 6 (Non-album singles, edits, single versions, b-sides and soundtrack music) (Remastered) (4LP)*

* Exclusive to I CAN’T GIVE EVERYTHING AWAY LP box

 

CD Box Set:

128-page hardback book

Heathen (Remastered) (1CD)

Montreux Jazz Festival (2CD) (Previously unreleased)*

Reality (Remastered) (1CD)

A Reality Tour (Remastered & Re-sequenced) (2CD)

The Next Day (Remastered) (1CD)

The Next Day Extra (Remastered) (1CD)

★ (Blackstar) (1CD)

No Plan (1CD)

Re:Call 6 (Non-album singles, edits, single versions, b-sides and soundtrack music) (Remastered) (3CD)*

*Exclusive to I CAN’T GIVE EVERYTHING AWAY CD box

 

DAVID BOWIE 6. I CAN’T GIVE EVERYTHING AWAY (2002 – 2016)

CD & DIGITAL TRACKLISTING

HEATHEN

1. Sunday

2. Cactus

3. Slip Away

4. Slow Burn

5. Afraid

6. Iʼve Been Waiting For You

7. I Would Be Your Slave

8. I Took A Trip On A Gemini Spaceship

9. 5:15 The Angels Have Gone

10. Everyone Says ʻHiʼ

11. A Better Future

12. Heathen (The Rays)

 

MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL

CD1

1. Sunday

2. Life On Mars?

3. Ashes To Ashes

4. Cactus

5. Slip Away

6. China Girl

7. Starman

8. I Would Be Your Slave

9. Ive Been Waiting For You

10. Stay

11. Changes

12. Fashion

13. Fame

14. Im Afraid Of Americans

15. 5:15 The Angels Have Gone

 

CD2

1. ‟Heroes”

2. Heathen (The Rays)

3. Everyone Says ‟Hi”

4. Hallo Spaceboy

5. Let’s Dance

6. Ziggy Stardust

7. Warszawa

8. Speed Of Life

9. Breaking Glass

10. What In The World

11. Sound And Vision

12. Art Decade

13. Always Crashing In The Same Car

14. Be My Wife

15. A New Career In A New Town

16. Subterraneans

 

REALITY

1. New Killer Star

2. Pablo Picasso

3. Never Get Old

4. The Loneliest Guy

5. Looking For Water

6. She’ll Drive The Big Car

7. Days

8. Fall Dog Bombs The Moon

9. Try Some, Buy Some

10. Reality

11. Bring Me The Disco King

 

A REALITY TOUR

CD1

1. Rebel Rebel

2. New Killer Star

3. Reality

4. Fame

5. Cactus

6. Sister Midnight

7. Afraid

8. All The Young Dudes

9. Be My Wife

10. China Girl

11. The Loneliest Guy

12. The Man Who Sold The World

13. Fantastic Voyage

14. Hallo Spaceboy

15. Sunday

16. Under Pressure

17. Life On Mars?

18. Battle For Britain (The Letter)

 

CD2

1. Fall Dog Bombs The Moon

2. Ashes To Ashes

3. The Motel

4. Loving The Alien

5. Breaking Glass

6. Never Get Old

7. Changes

8. I’m Afraid Of Americans

9. ‟Heroes”

10. Bring Me The Disco King

11. Slip Away

12. Heathen (The Rays)

13. Five Years

14. Hang On To Yourself

15. Ziggy Stardust

 

THE NEXT DAY

1. The Next Day

2. Dirty Boys

3. The Stars (Are Out Tonight)

4. Love Is Lost

5. Where Are We Now?

6. Valentine’s Day

7. If You Can See Me

8. I’d Rather Be High

9. Boss Of Me

10. Dancing Out In Space

11. How Does The Grass Grow?

12. (You Will) Set The World On Fire

13. You Feel So Lonely You Could Die

14. Heat

 

THE NEXT DAY EXTRA E.P.

1. Atomica

2. Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix By James Murphy For The DFA)

3. Plan

4. The Informer

5. I’d Rather Be High (Venetian Mix)

6. Like A Rocket Man

7. Born In A UFO

8. I’ll Take You There

9. God Bless The Girl

10. So She

 

★ (BLACKSTAR)

1. ★

2. ’Tis A Pity She Was A Whore

3. Lazarus

4. Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)

5. Girl Loves Me

6. Dollar Days

7. I Can’t Give Everything Away

 

NO PLAN E.P.

1. Lazarus

2. No Plan

3. Killing A Little Time

4. When I Met You

 

RE:CALL 6

CD1

1. Slow Burn (Single Edit)

2. Wood Jackson

3. When The Boys Come Marching Home

4. Safe

5. Sunday (Moby Remix)

6. A Better Future (Remix By Air)

7. Slip Away (SACD Mix)

8. Slow Burn (SACD Mix)

9. I’ve Been Waiting For You (SACD Mix)

10. 5:15 The Angels Have Gone (SACD Mix)

11. A Better Future (SACD Mix)

12. Safe (SACD Mix)

13. Everyone Says ‘Hi’ (Radio Edit)

 

CD2

1. Sunday (Tony Visconti Mix)

2. Everyone Says ‘Hi’ (Metro Remix Radio Edit)

3. Heathen (The Rays) (Live In Berlin, 22/09/02)

4. Hop Frog — Lou Reed Featuring David Bowie

5. Saviour — Kristeen Young Featuring David Bowie

6. Isn’t It Evening (The Revolutionary) — Earl Slick Featuring David Bowie

7. Bring Me The Disco King (Loner Mix) — David Bowie Featuring Maynard James Keenan And John Frusciante (Taken From The Underworld Motion Picture Soundtrack)

8. New Killer Star (Radio Edit)

9. Love Missile F1-11

10. Fly

11. Queen Of All The Tarts (Overture)

12. Never Get Old (Single Edit)

13. Waterloo Sunset

14. Rebel Rebel (2003 Re-Record) (Taken from the Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle Motion Picture Soundtrack)

15. New Killer Star (Sessions @ AOL Live Version, 23/09/03)

 

CD3

1. Days (Live)

2. 5:15 The Angels Have Gone (Live)

3. Rebel Never Gets Old (Radio Mix)

4. (She Can) Do That — David Bowie With BT (Taken From The Stealth Motion Picture Soundtrack)

5. Life On Mars? (Live At Fashion Rocks, 08/09/05)

6. Wake Up (Live At Fashion Rocks, 08/09/05) — David Bowie With Arcade Fire

7. Five Years (Live At Fashion Rocks, 08/09/05) — David Bowie With Arcade Fire

8. Arnold Layne (Live At The Royal Albert Hall, 29/05/06) — David Gilmour Featuring David Bowie

9. Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix By James Murphy For The DFA Edit)

10. Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) (2014 Version)

11. ’Tis A Pity She Was A Whore (2014 Version)

12. Lazarus (Radio Edit)

13. I Can’t Give Everything Away (Radio Edit)