Bowie: Loving The Alien

BY: Zak Wojnar

Simply put, David Bowie is an artist without peer. Not even the likes of Cher or Madonna can compare to the sheer audacity of Bowie’s transformations. From the rock and roll rebellion personified by The Rise and Fall ofZiggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars, to the post-apocalyptic punk rock of Diamond Dogs, to the sage-like elder statesman of Hours…, and the frequent changes in between, David Bowie is one of the most legendary musicians of all time.

Starting in 2015, Parlophone Records has been releasing comprehensive boxed sets, encapsulating the disparate eras of Bowie’s canon. Beginning with The First Five Years (1969-1973) and continuing through Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976) and A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982), Parlaphone has been slowly working their way through the life, music, and numerous personas of the ultimate pop culture superstar.

The latest collection is Loving The Alien (1983-1988), which covers the era between Let’s Dance and the divisive Never Let Me Down. In addition to the studio albums, the collection contains live records from the Serious Moonlight and Glass Spider concert films. It also includes the songs he wrote for the hit movie, Labyrinth, as well as an 88-page hardcover book. By far, though, the most interesting feature on this set is the inclusion of Never Let Me Down (2018), a complete re-imagining of the 1987 record. While Bowie’s original vocals remain intact, the album’s instrumentation has been completely rebuilt from the ground up.

The legend goes that Bowie was never fully satisfied with the record, and he would openly look back at the album with a degree of melancholic regret. In 2008, he commissioned producer Mario J. McNulty to create a remix of “Time Will Crawl.” While the track is our favorite from the album, it does have an unmistakably late-1980s vibe to it, for better or worse. The MM Remix of the song notably included a brand new drum track, which veered away from the overly bombastic style of the original album release, giving the song a more timeless feel. With McNulty returning, along with fellow producer David Richards, Never Let Me Down (2018) is certainly one to watch. If all goes according to plan, the new version of the record could transform the album into something faintly familiar, yet still entirely new.

There’s little one can say about David Bowie that hasn’t already been said a dozen times in a hundred different ways. The best part about these all-encompassing collections, particularly the premium vinyl editions, is that they focus the spotlight solely on his musical talent, on the individual songs which make up every album. David Bowie is so many different things to so many different people, but first and foremost, at least to his adoring public, he was a musical artist. Even if you strip away his glamour, the stylish hair, his effortless swagger, and his fancy clothes, David Bowie was, and always will be, a musician for all time.