David Bowie: Five Years 1969-1973 - 2015 12CD or 13 Vinyl Box Set

Yes - SM is the yardstick (even with Blackstar). I can remember Jonathan Ross saying Hours was the best since SM (wrong) and he did the same with Heathen IIRC. I think there are some pretty nondescript recordings after Hours to be honest.
I agree with you about the 70s rhythm section, but band - after the rhythm section there's Fripp - no argument, but Townsend doesn't really count. I'm not thinking of anything memorable from Roy Bittan. Bowie always had great guitarists - I like Reeves' style personally and credit him for saving Bowie's career by steering him away from the humdrum towards the daring. You cannot argue with GAD because apart from the bass her input to Under Pressure and O Superman was fricking great. She also looked good in a frock. Garson had a monumental part 2 to his Bowie career, and I still say Donny McCaslin etc are astonishing on Blackstar - that's the best thing about it after the title track and TAPSAW (although I prefer the demo).

 

The Outside tour band were my personal favourite [before the slimmed-down '96 shows]

 

I've got to give it to The Hype.

 

Go on then!

 

We're well off topic here!

 

CD or vinyl box set?

 

well Heathen was at least worthy of the comparison and my second favourite post-SM album after 1.Outside.

i can argue as i think she was there for her image more than her bass playing (note her absence on studio recordings) and i dislike Under Pressure regardless of who's singing it.

no argument there.

not sure i've ever been "astonished" by any musical performance, but again, i don't hear much in the way of personality from the Blackstar band. but i appreciate i'm the minority with my views on that particular album.

 

We are off topic, but 'best since SM' does deserve some space. My take (as a long time Bowie fan - bought from Changesone on day of release) is that SM is the end of what was a already a decline - Heroes isn't as good as Low, Lodger isn't as good Heroes and SM while terrific is patchy - the world didn't need two versions of It's no game or a cover of Kingdom Come. The magic was already ebbing away. And, it never came back - a few brilliant tracks here and there, but that was it. Any box set beyond the RCA years is going to be an interesting sell...

only my tuppence worth of course.

 

it's a reasonable claim although the decline took his work from 10/10 to 9/10 over four albums, if that isn't too trite a method for judging them. thereafter, yes, it was flashes of greatness but few, if any, consistently great albums.

 

I don't dislike it, but it loses it's gothic feeling.

 

Sometimes, reading this thread, I'm shocked that it's being contributed to by Bowie fans. So many here who appreciate so little.

 

Wow. I may have given off that impression, but believe me; Bowie has meant more to me in the last 28 + years than I'm happy to share on here.
I love this music far more than any other. That said, being a completest comes with that territory, so I'm bound to have a Never Let Me Down or a Tonight in my collection. But the high peaks cannot be touched by anyone IMO. And that special feeling you get just be a fan. I feel privileged and proud, without feeling smug, if that makes sense.

 

Not singling anyone out. It just gets to be a drag reading negative comment after negative comment. I don't like everything he did, either, but holy crap, it just gets to be a slog seeing nothing but complaining about how bad this, that, and the other thing was, especially when so much of it is needless.

As you said earlier, we're well off topic at this point.

 

Ever?! That happened to me with the Sue single A & B sides (the b side was just Bowie and I still can't get over how good it is) and the first time I heard the track Blackstar, but in that case it was for the composition not for the band's performance. The drumming on some of the Blackstar/No Plan tracks is astonishingly good IMO.
The price of No Plan clear vinyl on EBay is astonishing.

This is the generally accepted view but at times Lodger and Scary Monsters have been my favourite Bowie albums - Heroes not so much, but it depends what mood I'm in. I don't think SM represents even a start of a decline - just my opinion. I think Low is untouchable partly due to it being such a successful and radical change for Bowie.

CD and retain the 70s RCA records. The discs are a nice colour and are quite convenient. The dress cover TMWSTW record can be bought individually and is very nice.

 

90% of forum posts are needless. posts raving about how great everything is are of little use to me personally. at the end of the day it's all opinion and there's no reason to take any of it to heart. you also fail to realise that negative reaction to some material (and we're talking about someone with a 50 year career here) is a sign of passion for the artist. there's also plenty of ribbing and banter among the perceived negativity.

 

it's just not a word in my vocabulary for music... along with "genius". i can, of course, be surprised by music. my main response to the demo version of "Pity" was how horrible it sounded (unsurprisingly given it's a brickwalled mp3 file pressed to vinyl) and wondering how long i'd be waiting for a melody to appear (i'm still waiting). i like it more on the album but i'm not sold on Bowie's lyric MO on his last two albums.

 

There's a big difference between raving about how great everything is and making it a point to post a negative comment in response to every opinion one doesn't share.

 

I honestly don't see any problem with some tongue in cheek remarks primarily about his mid 80's output. Most regular posters in DB threads are knowledgeable, with different preferences and a healthy sense of humour.

 

funny that you responded to and quoted my post while neglecting to read or understand most of it.

 

That's OK - for me it's the best thing he's done since Scary Monsters - I mean 1.Outside.
We all have different responses to music as is plain to me when I post my opinions about Let's Dance. Perhaps the fact that they unusually made the mp3 demo an official release supports my view on its merits.

 

hmm, how to respond without upsetting sensitive souls who might be reading? you will of course consider me bonkers for preferring Let's Dance to Blackstar, but i'll qualify that by saying "prefer" over "think it's better", and track for track they're ranked similarly amid the canon. neither is among his best IMO. i think Sue was recorded as a one-off so the appearance of the Pity demo on the b-side was more to do with the thematic link between the two and it probably only existed in demo form at the time.

 

I totally agree. Some are incapable of responding to positively to any comment, though, and I don't just mean offering one's own opinion. Obviously, we're all going to have different opinions. Some want to make sure they point out that they disagree with virtually every opinion expressed.

 

yup, we get it, you mean me. i've changed my avatar just for you to show there's a caring soul underneath this harsh exterior.

 

Not bonkers - just misguided. I agree with you that Blackstar is overrated as an album (for obvious reasons) but that's nothing compared to how overrated I think LD is.