I always wondered if he had planned something like this. More to come if it’s real certainly, but wouldn’t it be something if it’s not just a posthumous decision?
I actually am not stoked to know this. Blackstar was such an intentional album, if not the most intentionally made album in Bowie’s catalog. It was in the form he wanted it released in before leaving this world.
Adding tracks posthumously serves the estate more than it serves artist and their vision for their work. If Bowie wanted another track on Blackstar, it would have been there in the first place.
There was other Lazarus material that got released after Blackstar too. As per Visconti, Bowie wasn’t done yet and wanted to plan future projects. The album doesn’t stop working if it isn’t the “final word”— Blackstar is untouchable as a great and cohesive work, and releasing other tracks from that period doesn’t undercut it in any way.
No reason to gatekeep. I’m sure Bowie didn’t want socks and grill aprons sold on his online store. If there is music out there, I would absolutely love to hear it, instead of the same bootleg music that has been around forever being packaged and sold as official tracks.
I wasn’t equating music with grill aprons and socks. And my personal opinion (which has no effect on the outcome let alone the dialogue) is not gatekeeping. Gatekeeping would suggest I had access to the track and denied it to others for the sake of gaining and/or maintaining cultural cachet.
From what I understood, anything that was to be released was under his consent and the family’s.
It’s going to be a bonus out take thing rather than an addition to blackstar. I don’t think of the outtakes to other albums as affecting the albums they were attached to
Each to their own and all but I'll take unreleased material from Bowie all day long over endless reissue programs. I doubt it would be tagged onto Blackstar but even if it was, it can be treated as a bonus track.
I’m kind of with you. I’ll always love Bowie but the way they have marketed and sold his catalog since his death makes me feel icky. I realize that it is likely providing his family with long term financial security but it still doesn’t sit right with me.
I guess I just find stuff like “new Visconti mixes” and overpriced vinyl boxes to be a total gimmick designed to repackage and milk old product.
I know there’s still a ton of unreleased music in the Bowie vaults and ideally it would be cool to see the bulk of it packaged into a box set similar to the old Sound + Vision. That I would pay for. But I’m not going to pay for overpriced reissues of songs and albums I already own
I think you are missing the fact that these Legacy Box Sets are David’s idea and wish. He approved them all before he passed - including each of the Visconti/Maslin/Scott remixes. He wanted the original engineers to handle the remasters wherever possible while they are still alive. And for the later material, John Webber’s remaster work has been revelatory. These aren’t simply “repackaged reissues” as you describe and making sure DBs official musical legacy sounds its best after his passing isn’t a “gimmick.”
They also aren’t “overpriced.” Not sure how much vinyl/CDs you buy, but do the math and add a coffee table book. They are priced perfectly in-line with retail prices across the globe.
Finally, there is not “a ton of unreleased music in the Bowie vaults.” Bowie didn’t even write that way.
It’s also how I feel about some sources counting Toy as an official studio album. I know this sounds petty, but Blackstar is a truly spectacular, intentional final statement to both a career and a life. There shouldn’t be anything after that.
Likewise, had Bowie wanted to release Toy as a full studio album, he’d have done so. As a sort of curio, it’s interesting, but putting alongside his later studio albums feels wrong.
Dude, why is your username so hard to credit?!? I’m embarrassed at how often I tried to edit the tag to give you your due before I finally gave up and pouted into my coffee.
Honestly... I wouldn't have ever seen it that way. Bowie had teased it around the 2001/02 mark, wanted it out there and the label didn't want to put it out there. It leaked in 2010 or thereabouts, and was then released as part of the penultimate box set, in the same way The Gouster was. It wasn't marketed as an album after Blackstar, his final album, or anything like that.
Bowie absolutely wanted Toy released. It’s not like it’s a posthumous compilation of various eras or like the songs had major significant changes. It’s a 2001 album that just didn’t get fully released (with one last polish) until later. Just slot it in before Heathen like he intended and Blackstar is still the finale.
I think Toy falls into the goodie section: it is an additional release of shelved material a lot like the bonus tracks of the boxes.
For all bonus material there are reasons it has not been released so far. These can be technical, commercial or ideological, and I think marketing them as extras kind of points that out. The company was 100% correct not to release Toy, but it is a great release in the context it happened. I would not count it as a studio album for that reason, very much like the Gouster or the MWFTE soundtrack, should it ever resurface.
Are you kidding? He submitted it to his label and they declined to release it. You remind me of the folks who were criticizing the cover art when it came out, not realizing that it was the art that Bowie himself designed for the record. Try and get your facts straight before you have such strong opinions.
His label refused to release Toy and he was not happy about it. He used half the album on Heathen and its B-sides. Bowie had **wanted** Toy to be a full studio album release.
I agree Toy shouldn't be considered part of his discography. But he very much did want to release it, and it was a huge blow to him personally when the label passed on it.
But even if you do put it in his discography, it wouldn't go after Blackstar. Regardless of when it finally dropped. You'd put it when it was intended to drop.
I always wondered if he had planned something like this. More to come if it’s real certainly, but wouldn’t it be something if it’s not just a posthumous decision?
WOW if true!! SUPER STOKED!!
Is it Blaze?
he didn't say anything besides that reply
What is Blaze? Enlighten me please
I heard an interview with Visconti a couple years where he said the only unreleased from that era are just instrumental demos
I actually am not stoked to know this. Blackstar was such an intentional album, if not the most intentionally made album in Bowie’s catalog. It was in the form he wanted it released in before leaving this world. Adding tracks posthumously serves the estate more than it serves artist and their vision for their work. If Bowie wanted another track on Blackstar, it would have been there in the first place.
There was other Lazarus material that got released after Blackstar too. As per Visconti, Bowie wasn’t done yet and wanted to plan future projects. The album doesn’t stop working if it isn’t the “final word”— Blackstar is untouchable as a great and cohesive work, and releasing other tracks from that period doesn’t undercut it in any way.
I doubt they’ll be bonus tracks - it’ll likely be a thing of its own.
No reason to gatekeep. I’m sure Bowie didn’t want socks and grill aprons sold on his online store. If there is music out there, I would absolutely love to hear it, instead of the same bootleg music that has been around forever being packaged and sold as official tracks.
I wasn’t equating music with grill aprons and socks. And my personal opinion (which has no effect on the outcome let alone the dialogue) is not gatekeeping. Gatekeeping would suggest I had access to the track and denied it to others for the sake of gaining and/or maintaining cultural cachet.
From what I understood, anything that was to be released was under his consent and the family’s.
It’s going to be a bonus out take thing rather than an addition to blackstar. I don’t think of the outtakes to other albums as affecting the albums they were attached to
But there was one song from those sessions that was never released. Its probably this one.
Wasnt the serveral i recall a song called blaze was one of them but i dont remember the names of the others.
You could be right but I think they would have highlighted it a bit more. Do you know what the booklet says about it? Maybe it gives us some insight.
I get that sentiment but it doesnt detract from blackstar by releasing these unreleased tracks imo.
Bad take. It is fine if you don't want it part of the original album, but it doesn't mean it shouldn't be released.
Each to their own and all but I'll take unreleased material from Bowie all day long over endless reissue programs. I doubt it would be tagged onto Blackstar but even if it was, it can be treated as a bonus track.
I’m kind of with you. I’ll always love Bowie but the way they have marketed and sold his catalog since his death makes me feel icky. I realize that it is likely providing his family with long term financial security but it still doesn’t sit right with me.
I guess I just find stuff like “new Visconti mixes” and overpriced vinyl boxes to be a total gimmick designed to repackage and milk old product.
I know there’s still a ton of unreleased music in the Bowie vaults and ideally it would be cool to see the bulk of it packaged into a box set similar to the old Sound + Vision. That I would pay for. But I’m not going to pay for overpriced reissues of songs and albums I already own
I think you are missing the fact that these Legacy Box Sets are David’s idea and wish. He approved them all before he passed - including each of the Visconti/Maslin/Scott remixes. He wanted the original engineers to handle the remasters wherever possible while they are still alive. And for the later material, John Webber’s remaster work has been revelatory. These aren’t simply “repackaged reissues” as you describe and making sure DBs official musical legacy sounds its best after his passing isn’t a “gimmick.”
They also aren’t “overpriced.” Not sure how much vinyl/CDs you buy, but do the math and add a coffee table book. They are priced perfectly in-line with retail prices across the globe.
Finally, there is not “a ton of unreleased music in the Bowie vaults.” Bowie didn’t even write that way.
A new track being released doesn't change the album.
It’s also how I feel about some sources counting Toy as an official studio album. I know this sounds petty, but Blackstar is a truly spectacular, intentional final statement to both a career and a life. There shouldn’t be anything after that.
Likewise, had Bowie wanted to release Toy as a full studio album, he’d have done so. As a sort of curio, it’s interesting, but putting alongside his later studio albums feels wrong.
u/_Waves_ is right. He teased Toy quite a bit on Bowienet. He wanted it out there, it was the label that shelved it.
And I get why - it’s very "hours 2.0" in places. I’m happy he developed some songs further into Heathen. I still like Toy for what it is, tho.
Dude, why is your username so hard to credit?!? I’m embarrassed at how often I tried to edit the tag to give you your due before I finally gave up and pouted into my coffee.
Eh, no need to credit me. But thanks. 💐
It’s a bit of a crap shoot the things I choose to care about on a daily basis. Today, it’s apparently this… which does not bode well for my laundry.
Hahaha.
I hereby absolve you from caring. ;) mentioning me is sufficient enough, no need for linkage.
He wanted to, the label rejected it. He spoke of it highly.
Fair enough; I still feel releasing it after Blackstar and marketing it as an album feels like it cheapens a perfect final album.
It’s an archival release that Bowie had intended to drop with the box-set, and then officially.
Honestly... I wouldn't have ever seen it that way. Bowie had teased it around the 2001/02 mark, wanted it out there and the label didn't want to put it out there. It leaked in 2010 or thereabouts, and was then released as part of the penultimate box set, in the same way The Gouster was. It wasn't marketed as an album after Blackstar, his final album, or anything like that.
He absolutely wanted Toy released - his label refused to put it out
Bowie absolutely wanted Toy released. It’s not like it’s a posthumous compilation of various eras or like the songs had major significant changes. It’s a 2001 album that just didn’t get fully released (with one last polish) until later. Just slot it in before Heathen like he intended and Blackstar is still the finale.
I think Toy falls into the goodie section: it is an additional release of shelved material a lot like the bonus tracks of the boxes.
For all bonus material there are reasons it has not been released so far. These can be technical, commercial or ideological, and I think marketing them as extras kind of points that out. The company was 100% correct not to release Toy, but it is a great release in the context it happened. I would not count it as a studio album for that reason, very much like the Gouster or the MWFTE soundtrack, should it ever resurface.
Are you kidding? He submitted it to his label and they declined to release it. You remind me of the folks who were criticizing the cover art when it came out, not realizing that it was the art that Bowie himself designed for the record. Try and get your facts straight before you have such strong opinions.
His label refused to release the Leon Suites, and I think they stipulated re-recording "Strangers When We Meet" for Outside to be released.
I hope you find happiness this festive season, friend.
He had plans for another album after blackstar. He also did want to release Toy as a proper studio album.
If Toy is an official studio album it goes between Hours and Heathen, it wouldn’t undercut Blackstar
His label refused to release Toy and he was not happy about it. He used half the album on Heathen and its B-sides. Bowie had **wanted** Toy to be a full studio album release.
I agree Toy shouldn't be considered part of his discography. But he very much did want to release it, and it was a huge blow to him personally when the label passed on it.
But even if you do put it in his discography, it wouldn't go after Blackstar. Regardless of when it finally dropped. You'd put it when it was intended to drop.
😭😭😭😭😭😭
Oooooh