David Bowie: Sound + Vision

This reissued compilation should add to the Bowie buzz that began with 2013’s comeback The Next Day and continued in 2014 when Showtime cablecast David Bowie: Five Years. In 1985, Bowie’s CDs sounded so thin they were pulled from stores. After purchasing the rights to his pre-1983 masters, the rocker signed with Rykodisc to remaster his catalog, and Sound + Vision emerged in 1989 as a 50-track, three-CD/one-CD-V box. It was reissued in 1995 (the CD-V replaced by a CD-ROM) and, in 2003, as a 67-track expanded edition, with the video disc replaced by a fourth CD of songs from 1982-1997. This newly remastered reissue mimics the out-of-print 2003 edition. With Sound + Vision Bowie provided a fresh perspective to his career by opting in many instances for rarities—including demos, single mixes, and B-sides—and live versions of familiar studio hits. The set starts with a 1969 acoustic demo of “Space Oddity.” It also features the German-language version of “Heroes,” Springsteen’s “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City,” and live tracks from Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture as well as 1974’s David Live and 1978’s Stage. This collection remains among the best anthologies of a major rock musician.