We are told:
The CD box set will include faithfully reproduced mini-vinyl versions of the original albums, and the CDs will be gold coloured rather than the usual silver.
CD Box Set:
128 Page hardback book
Let’s Dance (remastered) (1CD)
Serious Moonlight (Live ’83) (previously unreleased) (2CD)
Tonight (remastered) (1CD)
Never Let Me Down (remastered) (1CD)
Never Let Me Down 2018 (previously unreleased) (1CD)*
Glass Spider (Live Montreal ’87) (2CD)
Dance (1CD)*
Re:Call 4 (non-album singles, edits, single versions, b-sides and soundtrack music) (remastered) (2CD)*
* Exclusive to ‘Loving The Alien (1983-1988)’
The box contains newly remastered versions of David’s most commercially successful period ‘LET’S DANCE’, ‘TONIGHT’, ‘NEVER LET ME DOWN (ORIGINAL and 2018 VERSIONS)’, the live album ‘GLASS SPIDER (Live Montreal ’87)’, the previously unreleased ‘SERIOUS MOONLIGHT’ live album, a collection of original remixes entitled ‘DANCE’ and the non-album / alternate version / b-sides and soundtrack music compilation RE:CALL 4.
The highlight of this latest box is the brand new production of the 1987 album ‘NEVER LET ME DOWN’ by Bowie producer / engineer Mario McNulty with new instrumentation by Bowie collaborators Reeves Gabrels (guitar), David Torn (guitar), Sterling Campbell (drums), Tim Lefebvre (bass) as well as string quartet with arrangements by Nico Muhly and a guest cameo by Laurie Anderson on ‘Shining Star (Makin’ My Love)’.
The seeds of this new reimagining of the albums were first sown in 2008 when David asked Mario McNulty to remix the track ‘Time Will Crawl’ and record new drums by longtime Bowie drummer, Sterling Campbell along with strings. The track was issued on the iSelect compilation to much acclaim, and in the notes, for that record, David remarked ‘Oh, to redo the rest of that album’.
The new re-workings have revealed ‘Never Let Me Down’ as a very strong collection of songs with a dark thematic thread running through them. Fans listening to ‘NEVER LET ME DOWN (2018)’ would be forgiven for thinking that they were listening to a brand new ‘lost’ Bowie record.
Also in each box is the never before released ‘SERIOUS MOONLIGHT’ live album recorded in Montreal in 1983. Originally mixed at the time by Bob Clearmountain, the double album captures Bowie on what at that time was his most successful tour. The artwork features shots taken by photographer Denis O’Regan.
Exclusive to each box is ‘RE:CALL 4’ and ‘DANCE’. The former a new compilation featuring remastered contemporary single versions, non-album singles, album edits, b-sides and songs featured on soundtracks such as Labyrinth, Absolute Beginners and When The Wind Blows. ‘DANCE’ features 12 contemporaneous remixes some of which are appearing on CD and vinyl for the first time and is named after an unreleased Bowie remix album that was originally slated for release in November 1985.
The box set’s accompanying 128 page book features rarely seen and previously unpublished photos by photographers including Denis O’Regan, Greg Gorman, Herb Ritts and many others as well as historical press reviews and technical notes about the albums from producers/engineers Nile Rodgers, Hugh Padgham, Mario McNulty and Justin Shirley-Smith.
