In other words, Bowie wasn't there to say, "I'm not sure about that" or "I really like that drum pattern." It's not Bowie, I trusted his ears.
Vancouver is the same show used for the live VHS/DVD. Looking at the Serious Moonlight tracklist, it appears to be the same songs/running order for the DVD, plus "Modern Love". Hopefully they've restored the intro to "Station to Station", and hopefully "Modern Love" isn't the same live recording used from the b-side (which derives from the July 13, 1983 Montreal show, not Vancouver)... but my guess is that the mix we'll get will basically be what you get by ripping the audio from the DVD. A little lame. I'm really bummed they haven't restored any of the encores to this show beyond "Modern Love", like "TVC15", "Star", "Stay", and "The Jean Genie"...
Bowie wasn’t the only one making decisions on his albums. Ken Scott, Tony Visconti, Harry Maslin, Brian Eno, Reeves Gabrels, Nike Rodgers... they weren’t just names in the credits. Bowie was always a collaborator, and judging by NLMD, didn’t always make the best decisions. Yes, he’s gone. But they are still his songs, based on his arrangements. Again, I’m reserving judgement until I hear it all, but if it works, it works.
Doesn’t has the soundtrack of the dvd a lossy audio track and no PCM ? The prospect of a proper sound quality is appealing enough for me to seek for the vinyl. I’m not interested in the rest of the box as I feel the songwriting is weak.
44 minutes in Shaun Keaveny - Shaun has new music from David Bowie's upcoming box set - @bbc6music http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b94x6q They talk about new NLMD
According to the interview with Reeves posted by ShayLaB above, Bowie left detailed notes including who he wanted to play on what. Plus he obviously trusted the people he left this to.
Yes I am not overly enamoured with the new Zeroes but I’m going in with an open mind.and if it isn’t any good. I’ve still got the original, which I enjoy anyway.
Listen to the McNulty interview later in the program – his description of the project and Bowie’s “involvement” is much more hypothetical than how Reeves speculates.
Well the original was guided by Bowie's ear and by his own estimation it didn't work out too well. The thing about NLMD is that, unlike its 2 predecessors, he put a lot of work into it and felt there was a good album in there that was badly executed. Preferably Bowie would have had another go at it while he was alive But that didn't happen so we're left with two choices a) leave it as is (a largely unappreciated corner of his discography) or b) try and bring out some of the potential that Bowie saw in it. I'm happy they've chosen the second option. It won't replace the original as Bowie's NLMD but the approach has already justified itself Imo by giving us a respectful version of 'Zeroes' that puts his vocal performance front and centre in a way that the (fantastic) original doesn't.
The live version from Montreal of NLMD (song) seems quite different to the album...probably already knew it wasn't great...not that this is much better, in fact it's probably worse. Personally if Bowie had lived I think he would of redone the album, probably the Tonight album as well as he'd already performed Loving the Alien in a very different form during the Reality tour, even mentioning that it probably should of been recorded that way. David Bowie Loving The Alien Live - Reality Tour
It's interesting that even after his death, Bowie has a group of musicians at his beckon call ready to assemble and re-record an album because their names were pulled out of his hat.
'Beck and call'. I don't see why its such a stretch to think he might have had a list of musicians he wanted to work on the new version.
As a huge fan of this era I'd love if it the box was further expanded to include this stuff. Even without it this is the first box I'm truly excited about. I grew up with and like 70s Bowie but I really love this era - 12" singles, remixes and soundtrack songs included!
I'm finding it hard to agree with the general consensus which accepts NLMD as a sort of joke. It's not a bad album. It's nowhere near the level of his 70s albums but not much is. That doesn't make it bad. Yes, Glass Spider is a stupid Spinal Tap/Peter and the Wolf style monologue and the album has a lot of stereotype 80s production (understandable since it was recorded at the height of Live Aid era self-indulgence), but I'd still rather have that album than a whole lot of other artists' overrated drivel that sold by the bucketload. I'm not going to put it down. I like it. Also, in my opinion the title track is quite classy - especially since it's about Coco Schwab. It's a very good track. Coco Schwab | Tumblr 1988 - on the Ryko Lodger David Bowie Look Back In Anger (USA) RARE 1988 peformance w/ la La La Human Steps 1988 David Bowie with La La La Human Steps - Intruders At The Palace
I'm quite happy with the idea of the 2018 version of NLMD. I really like the way he sings on some songs (Time Will Crawl, Zeroes, Never Let Me Down…) so I'd be curious to hear that.
Okay - that means it is considerd as a Bonus Track and because of that, look back in anger 88 is not in the box. Thanks for clarifying this for me. Another question: Loving The Alien on ReCall 4 is labeld as Remix. Is this the single version from the 7'' (together with Dont look down) ? If yes - are there notable differences in the mix? I always thought that this was a single edit...
