Conversation Piece

LOVE IT!!!!

In recent years, I have been digging into the DB vaults of previously unreleased material and 'official' bootlegs. I have also heard many remastered editions of a number of artists, some okay, some great. This collection is no ordinary remaster.The book is beautiful and provides a history of his late sixties career. Included is personal correspondence between DB, his manager and record labels. I was really happy to read the notes by Tony Visconti. The book is a time capsule and dives deeply into his early career.The 5 CDs of music, remastered by Tony Visconti, are simply stunning. He's manages to pull elements out of the original tapes that provide a whole new depth. This is not a remaster where things are added or elements changed, but rather adds clarity that wasn't possible or even imagined in 1968. The collection itself, is a treasure. Yes, there is some repetition, but the newly mined material introduced me to songs and versions that I've never heard. The full album of David Bowie (Space Oddity), now 52 years old, pulled me right in. It just so happened that this purchase coincided with my new Audiolab 6000 CD transport.Conversation Piece was obviously put together with great care. It feels like a gift to his fans.

If you like Bowie...then you'll like this collection. Plenty of songs and versions of songs I've never heard before.

An in-depth peek at Bowie becoming a star. Great liner notes and sound quality.

I'm really happy to have this wonderful boxset, but the first Mercury LP is not my favorite Bowie period. The demos are nifty, as are the album remix. Bowie sure did like "When I'm Five", 'cause he recorded is many times! (Why did they leave off "Don't Sit Down" on the remix?)I hope they do the same job for "Man Who Sold The World", which should been expanded to include demos and the original "Holy Holy" in stereo!