Customer Reviews

Sound + Vision

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The problem with this box set is that it is neither a greatest hits collection nor a rarities one. The first edition was released in 1989 as a sort of sampler for the upcoming Rykodisc reissues. Ryko probably chose not to include the best tracks to avoid hurting the sales of the individual albums, when they came out. Yet, at a time when the CD format was booming and the RCA albums had been long out of print, fans were hungry for Bowie's 70's material on CD. So this set was welcomed at the time even though it was a seemingly random selection of tracks with a few rarities thrown in for good measure. These rarities would not reappear as bonus tracks on the regular releases, so they were the very reason for buying and keeping this set.

Now that the original albums have been reissued to death, this box set is released again. It includes a fourth CD and adds a few more rarities to make it desirable even to those who had bought the original edition. But the "mixed bag" concept is still there and it is totally pointless, now. I'm not complaining about the rarities, but they should have gone for an entirely different approach instead of just releasing an expanded edition of the old box. So casual fans beware: this is by no means a "definitive" Bowie compilation. Apart from the rarities, tracks seem to have been chosen by luck of the draw.

Okay. I just received my anxiously awaited David Bowie Box Set and I have to say, it is not what I expected. I was hoping for a nice fold-out single piece like the "Moody Blues Time Traveler", or "ABBA's" box set or anything in one piece for the mantle. This is completely different and you may or may not like it.

The box is 11" X 6" and 1" thick covered in a thick plastic see-through like in the photo here. The box slides out and is gray silver. There is a 50 page glossy booklet that covers Bowie's entire history and includes all the song titles with the band members, the date of release, the producers, the publisher, the mixers, the writers (if not Bowie) and the date of the remixes. There is a ton of trivia. Then there are four 6" X 10" 'postcards' of Bowie in collage style through the years that you can - stick on your wall? There is a 24" X 33" glossy poster of the cover with Bowie and all the song titles. AND! Underneath of this stuff in a little cutout are four discs in thin plastic sleeves. Each disc cover has the title of each song on the disc.

Now. What about the sound? Well, you can see what songs are here on the list. They go from 1969 to 1993 and are all remastered and sound fantastic. Sure, its all a remix of the 1986 box set that is so hard to find plus a fourth disc of great songs, but it's still about time. Am I happy? Yup. But, hey, it's all about the music. And it DOES sound great!There are so many hard to find songs here that I am glad to own them ("Helden" is my favorite). However, somehow I feel a bit ripped off for all the extra stuff I don't need and certainly paid for. The booklet is nice, but I'll probably only read it twice and I've already read all this stuff before. In essence, it is a fan collection. It's a good one, but I think I'll just take out the discs and put them in jewel boxes where I can get to them anytime I want. Enjoy!

I am a huge Bowie fan, I have all of the RCA/EMI albums on vinyl, but my "classic" Bowie cd collection has been lacking because I'd rather find the Rykodiscs with the bonus tracks instead of the current Virgin's. This set picks a lot of the best songs that aren't on the out of print Rykodisc The Singles 1969-1993 (which I believe is still the definitive Bowie compilation, the albums since should be bought seperately). This by no means a "Definitive" Bowie cd (both of his #1 singles are missing, but haven't we heard Fame and Let's Dance enough?), 4 discs frankly cannot tell the story from the 1969-1993 era... However, if you have this, and also track down the 69-93 on [web site], those 6 discs is as good a summation of Bowie's RCA/EMI/Savage years without actually owning the studio albums.

Also check out his recent stuff. Bowie hasn't been commercially successful since the late 1980's, but I think Heathen and Reality both count among the best albums he's ever recorded bar none. He has definately bounced back after having a few awful years in the 80's

As a Bowie fanatic since 1972, it sure is tempting to quibble over some of the inclusions/exclusions here, as it always is with these mega sets. In fact, I agree with an earlier reviewer that it is unconscionable to not include "Always Crashing In the Same Car." And where's "Heroes" and "Fame"? Overplayed, sure, but still exciting tracks. If they're going to include two "PinUps" tunes in addition to "Sorrow," why not "See Emily Play" and "Friday On My Mind" instead of these two (IMO) less entertaining ones? Even better, how about the "Rosalyn/Here Comes the Night" medley?

However, let's not throw out the Bowie with the bath water. Any box that is such a stellar collection to include the acoustic "Space Oddity" demo, the vastly superior 45 mix of "Rebel Rebel" (with additional percussion and backing vocals, making the LP mix sound barren), and excellent live versions of tracks like "Cracked Actor" and "Station to Station," has a heads-up on most releases.

Add the resurrection of three live cuts from the abominable "Ziggy Stardust" motion picture for completion purposes, along with a sweeping overview of some superb tracks that are less familiar to the casual U.S. Bowie fan wanting this kind of set ("John I'm Only Dancing," "Fascination," "Wild Is the Wind," "Speed of Life," "Joe the Lion," etc.) and a flyover of more recent work on CD 4, and it's a spotty collection but well worth holding down four slots in the CD changer.

Ultimately, for me, it's the "Space Oddity" demo and the long-lost "Rebel Rebel" remix that make this whole set worth the price. Some of the omissions and inclusions are a bit too weird to warrant a 5-star rating, but hey, close enough. A truly inclusive set would need about 10 CDs, as a capsule of this genius's career is nearly an impossible task.

This has to be one of the strangest box sets ever assembled. It's not a greatest hits collection, nor is it a live set, nor a collection of rarities or a selection of neglected album cuts, but it appears to want to be a little of all these things; well, it fails on pretty much all counts. It seems the compilers have tried to avoid duplicating tracks found on other collections - a good idea - but they offer no rationale for the tracks chosen and it sounds like the aural equivalent of a dog's breakfast. There's some great music here but you'd have to be an absolute fanatic to find all of it compulsive (or even worth hearing more than once).
As already mentioned by other reviewers, the packaging is also less than stellar. The poster and photo cards are both unattractive and pointless. The soft plastic printed cd sleeves are a nice design concept which render the box redundant - why not package them in a wallet with a compact, informative booklet? It would have looked far better than the purple and silver brick the record company deemed "attractive". Kurt Loder's plodding biographical liner notes also deserve special mention as the most sycophantic and inane I've read in a set such as this. And given this is an update of the original Sound+Vision box set, why not include a dvd?
On the plus side, the remastering is good and all the tracks sound excellent. Unless you really need this I'd recommend the double disc Bowie Collection.

I've been reading all the reviews as I usually do and this is my two cents worth. I've recently gotten into Bowie in a big way. I'm by no means one of the biggest fans out there but, in my own way, I'm a fan and consider Bowie a corner stone of my collection. For me, it all started with Best of Bowie, the 2 disc set. That started the fire for me. Once I started really digging that set I started thinking about getting the remastered albums, which I've picked up: Space Oddity, The Man Who Sold The World, Ziggy Stardust, Hunky Dory, Pin ups, Diamond Dogs, Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture (2 cd set) and now Sound + Vision. Everything sounds incredible. I've got several more on order now as well.

I did some comparisons between Best of Bowie and this box set and noticed that for the most part, they compliment each other. Some songs are the same but many that are on either one are not on the other. For example, you might get the album version, single version, demo, previously unreleased or live version on either set. It's cool to hear the contrasts. So whether you already own the original studio albums or not these two sets make fine additions to your collection.

Now usually I think 2 CD Best of's are a bit much because they detract from you playing the original albums. But it just depends on your needs. If you don't need but 1 or 2 discs by an artist then a Best of does nicely. If you want a bit more then the box set does the job nicely. And from there you can buy each album one by one if you're really into the artist. Over time I'll probably play Best of Bowie less and the original remastered albums more, especially if I notice every single track is represented elsewhere. But for a new fan the Best of was a nice blue print for tracing back to the original albums.

Well, I love David Bowie and I own most of his releases, but this box set has disappointed me. As other customes have said, "Sound and Vision" isn't neither a gratest hits nor a rarities collection. Where are classic songs as "Life on mars", "Starman", "Jean genie", "Fame", "Under pressure", "Let's dance", "Absolute beginners" or "This is not America"? There are few rarities really interesting, for example "Dodo" or "It's hard to be a saint in the city". EMI / Virgin could do better.

all the great versions of all his great classics..
just to name a few ..
space oddity demo ?...
wild eyed boy from freecloud. b-version
bewlay brothers...
station to station live...
sound and vision....
wild is the wind ..
tcv15....
all great original songs
with a great box set and book included...
recommended..

This is a very odd re-issue. I have the original. The thing I think is odd is that I believe the original got a Grammy (?) for its package design, and from what it looks like, they have scrapped it....odd. Oh well. Well its a great box set none the less with some very tasty rarities and some great standards.

This was so-so since this 4 CD collection had it's moments and down points! I enjoyed the "Singles Collection: 1969-1993" 2 CD set much better.