DAVID BOWIE – The Rise & Fall Of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars [40th Anniversary Edition]

Shane | 4 September 2012 | Reply

EMI, 2012
9.5/10

By Shane Pinnegar

In 1972 Bowie was a space age glam god, taking rock n’ roll in new directions and blowing minds around the world – Ziggy Stardust was his most vibrant and perfect creation, both uniquely of it’s time, and timeless.

Let’s assume for a moment that anyone who is into great music already has a version of this iconic album (if you don’t, then you know what to do!). It’s a work of rarely paralleled genius that was quite rightly shocking at the time of its release, and influenced countless musicians, writers, artists and lives.

What we need to know is – what’s so special about this 40th Anniversary Edition?

Firstly – neat packaging in a cardboard foldout sleeve, with outtakes from the iconic phone booth photo session which features on the cover, and a pull out sleeve with original band photos and song lyrics.

There’s no bonus tracks, demos, outtakes or live renditions. Some will see this as a downside – why should you spend the money for a product you already own, just reissued without any gifts on it? Personally, this glut of re-releases sometimes trouble me with their dodgy and half arsed early demos, or poorly recorded live tracks. I’m all for adding on some rare b-sides as a bonus, or a bonus disc with formative or alternate versions of the songs, but is there anything worse than pinning 3 or 4 bottom of the barrel inferiorities onto the end of a classic album? Most of these “bonus” tracks are worth one listen at best and don’t belong on the same disc as iconic work such as this.

The album though, has never sounded better – remastered with aplomb, you can hear every instrument with crystal clarity, and in this form it reveals hidden depths like Salome removing her veils. Put simply, I’ve never heard it sound better, and I have the vinyl and the Thirtieth Anniversary CD.