By Isabelle Link/ Staff reporter
REVIEW-To celebrate what would have been David Bowie’s 73rd birthday, Parlophone Records released an unheard, revised rendition of one of Bowie’s more-beloved songs under the album “Is It Any Wonder?” titled ‘The Man Who Sold the World (ChangesNowBowieVersion).’
This song release not only marked Bowie’s birthday, but also the 50th anniversary of when this song was originally written and recorded.
The original release of ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ has more of a quirky sound to it right off the bat in comparison to the new release, the older song having the reverb effect of it being under water and the instrumentals resembling more of a classical Egyptian influence.
With the revised version, you can tell that the audio sounds like it has been cleaned up with more current technology and feels like it is more framing Bowie’s vocal talents and less about the oddball sound Bowie played around with in his earlier days. This track is the first of six that will be gradually releasing over the course of six weeks.
All the songs being debuted have never been heard and some are unreleased to the public so far. The first track dropped Jan. 8, 2020, shortly followed by a cover of Tin Machine’s ‘I Can’t Read’ that dropped Jan. 17.
Tin Machine is covered more in this album and is an interesting throwback in memory of Bowie’s career because it was a super group he was a part of that formed in 1988 with Bowie on lead vocals, sax and guitar.
The band stayed together until 1992 and after that Bowie returned to his solo work. He would later state that he felt this band helped revitalize his career.
By Jan. 24, about half of the album had been shared with the public, with the release of ‘Stay ’97,’ which was released one day after the 47th anniversary of the original release back in 1973.
The most recent release was Jan. 31 of another Tin Machine cover of ‘Baby Universal ’97.’ Interestingly enough, this song was recorded with Tin Machine collaborator Reeves Gabrels back when Bowie was working on ‘Earthling’ although Bowie decided last minute to remove the song, and until now was unknown to the masses.
The rerelease of ‘Stay ’97’ sounds more electronic and pop, which is a different change of pace from the earlier tracks on this new album, with the song before it ‘I Can’t Read ’97’ having a slower tempo.
To me as the listener, it sounds reminiscent to sitting on a beach at sunset. The entire song stays mostly acoustic, more than the original Tin Machine version. This song was also recorded at the same time as ‘Baby Universal’ in 1996.
The song was originally supposed to be released on ‘Earthing’ but Bowie ultimately ended up replacing it with ‘The Last Thing You Should Do.’
The last two song releases will be Feb. 7 and 14. Stay tuned for updates on the latest releases online at https://isabelleswork.wordpress.com/
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