The sixth installment of a series of archival David Bowie box sets will focus on the late rock legend’s 21st century musical output, leading up to his death in 2016 at age 69. The expansive collection, titled I Can’t Give Everything Away (2002–2016), will be released on September 12.
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The box set, which can be pre-ordered now, will be available as a 13-CD package, a 18-LP vinyl collection, and digitally. I Can’t Give Everything Away is named for the final track of Bowie’s last studio album, ★ (Blackstar), which was released on his 69th birthday, January 8, 2016, two days before his passing.
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The box set features Bowie’s final four studios album—Heathen (2002), Reality (2003), The Next Day (2013), and the aforementioned Blackstar—as well as a previously unreleased live album recorded at the 2002 Montreux Jazz Festival; a resequenced version of the 2010 live album A Reality Tour (recorded in 2003); the 2013 EP The Next Day Extra; and the posthumous 2017 EP No Plan. The collection also boasts the multiple-disc compilation Re:Call 6. Re:Call 6 features rarities, non-album singles, B-sides, soundtrack songs, live performances, radio and single edits, collaborations, and more from the 2000s and 2010s.
Reality, A Reality Tour, The Next Day, The Next Day Extra, and the tracks on Re:Call 6 have all been newly remastered with input from Bowie’s longtime co-producer Tony Visconti.
The CD and vinyl versions of I Can’t Give Everything Away include a book featuring previously unseen notes, drawings, and handwritten lyrics from Bowie, as well as photos, images of memorabilia, and technical notes about the albums penned by Visconti.
Here are more details about the albums featured in the box set:
Heathen
Heathen, Bowie’s 23rd studio album, was released in June 2002. Bowie co-produced most of the tracks with Visconti, marking the first time David had worked on a full-length project with the producer since 1980. Visconti went on to co-produce all of Bowie’s ensuing studio recordings.
Heathen reached No. 14 on the Billboard 200. It featured the single “Everyone Says ‘Hi’,” which peaked at No. 20 in the U.K. The album also included covers of Neil Young’s “I’ve Been Waiting for You,” The Pixies’ “Cactus,” and the Legendary Stardust Cowboy’s “I Took a Trip (On a Gemini Spaceship).”
The Who’s Pete Townshend and Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl made guest appearances on the album.
Montreux Jazz Festival
The previously unreleased Montreux Jazz Festival album was recorded on July 18, 2002, at the famed Swiss music extravaganza. The album features 31 songs, including a nearly complete performance of David’s classic 1977 record Low.
Montreux Jazz Festival’s tracks are spread across two CDs and four LPs.
Reality and A Reality Tour
Reality was released in September 2003, and reached No. 29 on the Billboard 200. The album includes covers of Jonathan Richman’s “Pablo Picasso” and George Harrison’s “Try Some, Buy Some.”
The A Reality Tour album was recorded at two concerts Bowie played at the Point Theatre in Dublin in November 2003.
The version of the album featured in the box set boasts a track list reseqeunced to more closely reflect the order in which David performed the songs at the Dublin shows.
The vinyl version of A Reality Tour is pressed on blue vinyl.
The Next Day and The Next Day Extra
Released in March 2013, The Next Day marked Bowie’s return to recording after a nearly 10-year hiatus. David kept the project a complete secret until it was released.
The album topped the U.K. chart and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The song “Where Are We Now?” reached No. 6 on the U.K. singles tally.
Bowie had recorded many additional songs during the album sessions. Those tunes were gathered together on the companion EP The Next Day Extra, which was released in November 2013.
Blackstar and No Plan
Bowie recorded Blackstar while he secretly battled terminal liver cancer. He worked with New York City jazz musician Donny McCaslin’s quartet on the project, which was released on David’s 69th birthday, January 8, 2016. Following Bowie’s death on January 10, Blackstar topped the U.S. and U.K. albums charts that same month.
The No Plan EP was released on what would’ve been Bowie’s 70th birthday—January 8, 2017. The five-track collection features songs recorded during the Blackstar sessions that were written for David’s Off-Broadway play Lazarus.
Re:Call 6
All of the installments of Bowie’s archival box-set series have featured a Re:Call album that compiles miscellaneous tracks from the time period associated with the corresponding collection.
Re:Call 6 features 41 tracks spread across three CDs or four LPs. The compilation includes studio collaborations with Lou Reed, Earl Slick, and Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan; performances with Arcade Fire at the 2005 Fashion Rocks event in New York City; a guest appearance at a 2006 David Gilmour concert in London; and a cover of The Kinks’ “Waterloo Sunset.”
The album also features an updated version of “Rebel Rebel” from the 2003 Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle film soundtrack.
One track from Re:Call 6, a live version of the Reality tune “New Killer Star” recorded in September 2003 for the Sessions @ AOL Live program, has been released as an advance digital track.
(Courtesy of Rhino/Parlophone Records)
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