These boxes have been weird because there's this really brief window around release where you can find some decent pricing via third parties, but then the prices go up and stay up afterwards. A bummer.
Exactly. And honestly, this second box is even worse, imo. Sadly I have a medical condition called Everything Bowie-itus. I could rag on these boxes for days, but deep down, I know at some point I'm going to get them. I'm not excited about them, but I'll no doubt enjoy them. I mean, I have the Bob Dylan Complete box here, and the booklet in that - which some lauded - is basically trash. There's nothing really interesting in there that you can't get better elsewhere. Mind you, booklets, for me, are as good as the writing in them. I'm not all that interested in pictures, exclusive or not. But here I am, sounding like I hate these boxes, while having another tab open on my browser as I try to find one at a price I can accept. Such is life.
Speaking of Dylan, wish Bowie would have taken a clue from his Bootleg series. But apparently there is a really tight grip on his vault. I'd love to know how many unknown (but finished) songs are in there... stuff like "Sweet Head" that came out of the blue in 1990.
In life, Bowie didn't seem much interested in looking backwards. Ryko did a great job, but once their deal was over and it went to EMI, we took a huge step backward (EMI were incoherent in their handling of the catalog, be that down to Bowie himself, or label execs). For me though, the landscape is entirely different now. If Bowie were still with us, I can see that he'd not welcome a release of old songs from the vaults. It would, inevitably, require his time and attention, especially in the media, and deflect from his current work. Bowie wouldn't have enjoyed that at all. But now we're talking the curation of an artist lost to us. We're talking his legacy - which is likely far broader than we've experienced thus far. Bowie himself may have nixed these types of releases - but now the landscape is very different, and I think to honor his achievements, big and small, is a fitting testimony to his greatness.
It's impossible to say with any certainty, people change their minds about things, but it seems unlikely that we would have had much more vault releases from Bowie had he lived. His career was dormant for a decade, if ever he was going to dive into the past and issue some vault recordings the post Reality years would seem to have been the perfect time.
Agreed. As I wrote, he just wasn't someone to look backwards. I really don't think he was much interested, aside from a business standpoint - which is fair enough. Still, we all have bootlegs of things - all the demo's from the Scary Monsters sessions are great, there's a "Live Low" recording where he played the entire album, the famed Outside tapes etc. I have no idea what is in the vaults, but when they turned their minds to looking they came up with some wonderful stuff (the Ryko's, the bonus discs from the 30th Anniversary Editions of Ziggy and Aladdin Sane, the Black Shirt White Tie release etc.) On top of that, there are far too many surround sound mixes that aren't readily available: Young Americans, Ziggy, Stage, David Live, Station to Station, and probably some I'm forgetting. Would love to see these get a release at a reasonable price point.
Sorry to bump this thread, but can I get conformation that counterfeits of this set are also out there? I know it's true of Five Years, but I'm not sure of this set............
There are definitely fakes out there of this box set. I know, I make them! .... only joking, I ended up getting stung buying one on ebay, however I got a complete refund, so it's not all bad. They are actually slightly better fakes than some other box set fakes I've seen (eg. The Beatles Mono Box Set). The biggest give away when I opened it was that the plastic cd holders were those cheap ones, not the ones you get with the set. Actually, before that the give away was the plastic the set was wrapped in was a lot thinker than the one I've seen on unboxing videos. The Box is ok - the covering is not stuck down perfectly, so when you run your hand over it the thing bubbles a bit - then the outer box doesn't slide in and out easily. The vinyl replica covers are slightly faded and blurry, also not perfectly put together - so the gatefolds don't close perfectly, the text on the spines is a little wonky on some of them. The discs are cd'r, not genuine cds - I say this because my cd player wouldn't play 2 of them, but they would play on my computer - my cd player often has trouble reading cd-r discs I burn for myself sometimes, and it has never had a problem with genuine discs, even when scratched. Basically, I will keep it because I got my money back, and the whole thing is not too bad for a fake - but, I wouldn't pay for one (certainly not £60 I did pay, nor £30 or so they are asking for the obviously dodgy ones from china).
After much searching, messaging, and whatnot.... yes, the fakes are out there. On all the ones I've gotten replies on, the discs are standard silver, not "gold" as in the official box. Some Ebay sellers are passing them on sealed, so claim they can't tell - which is a bit of a smokescreen. On the other hand I did find one fellow who said he'd gotten both boxes from his wife for Christmas - all silver discs, so he was none too happy. Trying to buy this set, and it's worse for the Five Years box, on Ebay is - to be frank - a mistake. For members on this forum, we tend to want the best we can get. Ebay is just riddled with the fakes, you're always going to be in a crap shoot. I mean, I could claim refunds etc, but I don't want the damn aggravation. Better to pay more, and just enjoy the music.
Mine wasn't a box set with silver discs - they look like the proper discs (I bought the albums from the last set individually - the ones they released - and they have the same appearance to those, even with matrix numbers and manufacturing info the same as the genuine ones) however, I still think they are cd-r based on the fact a couple won't play on my cd player which never happens with genuine cds. So, it isn't proof it's genuine just because the seller says it's got the orange colour cds with it - mine is definitely a fake. The trouble is that it is a bit of a rip-off box set for £80 or so, which is probably why there are so many fakes - I now don't feel the need to buy a genuine one, even though this one isn't perfect, although, as I said before, if I'd ended up not getting my money back I might look upon it with more resentment. If they'd released The Gouster seperately I don't think I'd even be interested in the box set at all - I'd have just bought the individual albums. Then there's the fact that the mastering of Station To Station is not even as good as the Special Edition one . . .
I wasn't aware they had also counterfeited the gold discs. Bloody hell. If that's the case, then you've no hope at all buying them on Ebay - even with the stipulation that the seller send you pictures of the actual discs. This is so wide spread you've got to figure it's going to seriously dent sales of the official sets. Having said that, I wouldn't read too much into your player not working with some discs. I have a couple CD's (not Bowie) that will only play in 1 of 3 players I have. The last time this happened to me was the newest Brian Eno release. It happens.
The CD player in my old system (Denon DM-37) stopped reliably playing CD-Rs and newer discs (most things from the last 5 years), but would still play anything older without missing a beat. For the "bad" discs it would just fail to find a TOC. Early sign that the laser is on the way out, apparently. Plenty of those were from HMV, so I know they were definitely legit.
Perhaps they are proper cds then - although, the box set is definitely fake. Just the whole feel of it, blurry images, text on spines not lined up, wrong smell (these genuine box sets tend to have a certain smell!), missing 2 paper inserts to hold the discs, nothing fitting in the box quite right, everything is close to right but just a little off. So, yeah - there are definitely fakes with gold discs - also, most of these faults don't show up on photos, so you'll never know for sure unless you get it in your hands. Although, saying that the plastic cd holders look totally different from the genuine ones, so pictures of that will show up on a photo. The only good thing about taking a chance on ebay is that unless the seller does a runner and closes their account with them and paypal - you're pretty much guaranteed to get your money back, and probably get to keep the thing anyway - as was the case with me.
Don't PayPal and eBay have contingency plans in place to prevent this from happening? EDIT: I mean the "does a runner" part, not getting your money back.
I think I speak for many Bowie fans when I say how frustrating it is that the new RSD release will be a live 1974 recording (Cracked Actor (Live in Los Angeles 1974)) that really should have been in this box, instead. Rare and Unreleased David Bowie Albums Announced | Pitchfork
I'm up to here with the "vinyl-only" policy. And, I agree, it should have been included in last year's box set.
Can't wait for the 'made-to-order' limited transparent vinyl editions with an art-print and die-cut sleeve for just $199. And then the indie version on blue marbled vinyl. And of course the regular, unnumbered black vinyl version.
Good point and at the same time I speak for many other fans when I say I'm happy it wasn't. It would have been a box exclusive like the Gouster tempting us to buy it, packed with loads of quadruplicate discs we already own.
Yes, including something this truly rare and desirable in WCIBN, if anything, would have been MORE cynical and grubby than the WCIBN box in fact actually was (as frequently as it was somewhat unjustly maligned for those reasons). Making LA '74 available standalone is more democratic. That said, RSD vinyl exclusive is not exactly what I'd call "democratic".
Yes, I agree. If this upcoming release were available also on CD, I wouldn't care about it not having been included in the box set. But vinyl-only, and RSD...
8 vinyl discs just for the 1974 tour in a box set for built around his studio stuff? huh? No where does it say that for Cracked Actor. Everyone is expecting a later release.
