Episodes
Saturday Jul 03, 2021
Thru These Architects Eyes Redux: One Fan‘s Idle Speculation
Saturday Jul 03, 2021
Saturday Jul 03, 2021
Bowie Vs. Dylan may have largely run its course but that doesn't mean an obsessive Bowie fan can't obsess over the possible contents of an upcoming release. After a miss in both 2019 and 2020, a fifth Bowie "era" box set was confirmed by Parlophone to be released in 2021. It will cover the years 1993-2001 which makes it largely similar to the predictions I made last year. There's plenty more info available now though so it's time to take another stab at it.
In the past, these sets were announced in June-July for a September-October release. That seems plausible again this year. Let's ride.
As a reminder, past sets have included official studio albums, previously released live albums from the era, compilations of non-album tracks, and full album remixes (some previously released and some new). Here's my guesses in seeming order of likelihood.
100% Chance - Re:Call 5
If they do another one of these box sets and if they even pretend to keep it consistent with the ones that came before, there's going to be a couple discs of odds and ends- single edits, b-sides, compilation appearances, etc.
100% Chance - Black Tie, White Noise; Buddha of Suburbia, 1. Outside, Earthling, hours...
Bowie released five studio albums between 1993 and 2001 so they're guaranteed to be included. And yes, Buddha of Suburbia is indeed a proper studio album rather than a soundtrack. Read up on it if you don't believe me.
85% Chance - Alternate Mix/Version of an Existing Album
This one is a big question mark. The last four sets have all contained at least one alternate version of an existing album (Who Can I Be Now? had three!). No such exact alternate versions currently exist but it's become such a fixture that for the last two sets, a new mix/version was commissioned (see Lodger and Never Let Me Down). There is rumored to be a rougher different mix of hours..., possibly including the versions of the songs that appeared in the Omikron: The Nomad Soul video game. That would be my best guess.
80% Chance - Remix Compilation
In the 90s, Bowie released dozens of official remixes by a wide variety of talents. There are far too many to present an exhaustive selection and frankly, virtually no one who would even want that. As in the Loving the Alien set, I'm expecting a compilation of some of the best. The only reason this is a little lower is because the live albums from the period have already been given their own box... it doesn't seem impossible that the same would happen to remixes.
60% Chance - Toy
Kudos to whoever made the awesome bootleg cover above.
Bowie's truest "lost album", Toy is primarily made up of new versions of obscure songs that Bowie wrote in the mid-60s to early 70s. It was completed with an expected release for 2001 but never happened due to apparent record label problems. Bowie moved on to 2002's Heathen instead and Toy never got an official release, though a (probably) early version was leaked in 2011. Parlophone is going to need some good box bait for this set and with the date range specifically going up to 2001, this feels likely. On the other hand, it has some strong connections to Heathen, which definitely won't be included. Here's hoping.
50% Chance - Leon/Inside/2. Contamination
Another completed but unreleased album, Leon is made up of fascinating, meandering 20 minute-long songs that are hands down the strangest, most avant-garde music Bowie ever made. Leon was roundly rejected by multiple record labels and Bowie was forced to drastically rework it, the end result being 1. Outside. A 3-track version has leaked and a 5-track version is rumored but an official release would be amazing. While there is a precedent of sorts in the form of The Gouster, this one is feeling less likely at this point. With that said, most hardcore Bowie fans would give a tooth for an official release of this.
Alternately, Bowie talked about several different Outside follow-up projects that never materialized including Inside and 2. Contamination. It's unclear what these would have looked like exactly and how far along any of them came, so they seem like vague possibilities as well.
40% Chance - Any live album whatsoever
There are no less than nine official Bowie live albums from 1993-2001. Here's why only one of them stands a good chance of being included.
In one of Parlophone's more unexpected moves (and there are plenty of them), a box set of live albums from 1993-1999 called Brilliant Live Adventures was released piecemeal across late 2020 and early 2021. It includes the previously released live compilation Liveandwell.com along with new 2020 streaming releases Ouvrez Le Chien and Something in the Air and three more previously unreleased shows. That's six live shows with really recent releases right there.
Meanwhile, Glastonbury 2000 received it's first release back in 2018 and VH1 Storytellers was reissued on vinyl in 2019. It seems unlikely they'll be reissued so soon.
The only official live album left is BBC Radio Theatre, London, June 27, 2000, which was recorded two days after Glastonbury 2000. So far, it has only been released on CD as part of the 3-disc edition of Bowie at the Beeb back in 2000. Will they bother to include this? I have absolutely no idea. It seems ripe for a reissue (especially on vinyl for the first time) sometime soon... I'm just doubting the era box set is where it will happen.
20% Chance - The actual Buddha of Suburbia soundtrack
The album Buddha of Suburbia (see above) isn't the actual soundtrack to the TV mini-series of the same name. Bowie did write incidental music for the series but then used it as a basis for his album, making a huge number of changes. It seems vaguely possible that the actual soundtrack could be included in the box but it's never been released before- it feels pretty unlikely.
10% Chance - Excerpts from Outside
When Outside was originally released, the vinyl version was condensed down to fit on one LP. I've read speculation online that this will make the cut but it feels extremely unlikely. Never Let Me Down was also originally released in a shortened version for vinyl but in the Loving the Alien set they made it the same as the CD. In fact, they put all seven edited songs on the Re:Call collection. Excerpts only featured two edited songs (along with six missing songs) so I can't imagine why they wouldn't just throw the edits on the Re:Call discs.
So, with all that said, here's my guess for the contents of the next set, which I'm hoping will be titled Thru These Architect's Eyes after the 1. Outside track. Keep in mind that past sets have featured 13-15 LPs and 11-12 CDs.
Black Tie, White Noise (2 LP/1 CD)
Buddha of Suburbia (2 LP/1 CD)
Leon (2 LP/1 CD)
Outside (2 LP/1 CD)
Earthling (1 LP/1 CD)
...hours (1 LP/1 CD)
...hours (Alternate Mix) (1 LP/1 CD)
Toy (2 LP/1 CD)
Remix Compilation (2 LP/2 CD)
Re:Call (3 LP/2 CD)
That's a total of 18 LPs and 12 CDs. Leon, in particular, may be wishful thinking, but if they want to sell this set, they're going to have to throw in some enticing extras (like they did with Loving the Alien). Keep your eyes on the official Bowie news pages to see what we end up with!
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