David Bowie
Waiting in the Sky (Before Starman Comes to Earth)
Parlophone/Rhino
April 23, 2024
Web Exclusive
by David Bowie Waiting in the Sky (Before Starman Comes to Earth) billed as an album “derived from December 1971 tapes, for the then tracklist of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars.Released for Record Store Day 2024, Half Speed was created from Trident Studio 1/4” stereo tapes for the album and features four tracks that did not make the album's final cut, Waiting in the sky it's kind of like an alternative Ziggy Stardust.
“Five Years”, “Soul Love” and “Moonage Daydream” kick off the album, duplicating the track list of the original. But this is where things start to diverge. An impressive version of Chuck Berry's “Round and Round” and a mysterious acoustic guitar and bold arrangement of Jacques Brel's “Amsterdam” round out Side A. Side B finds things even more unsettling, with “Hang on to Yourself” to open the side before moving on to “Ziggy Stardust”, originally the third and fourth songs on side two of the original LP. Then two more songs that didn't make the final cut of the landmark Ziggy Stardust The album features the famous 'Velvet Goldmine' and 'Holy Holy', both iconic tracks in Bowie's catalogue, the latter here being a re-recording of his original 1971 recording. 'Star' and 'Lady Stardust' complete the process, out of order from the original but still pieces that made the final cut for Ziggy.
Notably absent from this December '71 tracklist are “Starman”, “Rock 'N' Roll Suicide” and “Suffragette City”, none of which were even recorded at the time this original tracklist was compiled. Of course, these three tunes are famous The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars and are part of what makes this album such an iconic artistic statement. However, the inclusions here envision a different, but equally powerful album. The “new” tracks on this version of the album were finally released shortly after the original Ziggy Stardust release—”Round and Round” and “Amsterdam” as B-sides in 1973, the B-side version of “Holy Holy” on “Diamond Dogs” in '74, and “Velvet Goldmine” a year later. Yet here they are in all their glory, adorning what they once believed to be The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars. It wasn't to be. Its release now is even more special. (www.rhino.com)
Author Rating: 8.5/10
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