David Bowie

Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture has always been a bit of a troublesome artifact. As the one official live album and live movie capturing Bowie and the Spiders from Mars, it was certainly of considerable historical and musical value -- not just because it's the one Spiders live album, but also because it captures the notorious July 3, 1973, concert at the Hammersmith Odeon where Bowie announced at the end of the show that it was the group's final concert, to the surprise of not only the audience, but his bandmates. Historically, this is of great importance, especially since that unexpected farewell was one of the great grand gestures of rock, but the presentation and the performance itself had their problems. It was a very good show, no question about it, but it wasn't as good as some concerts circulated then and now on bootleg -- and it's not nearly as good as the Santa Monica 1972 show that has floated in and out of semi-official release -- but it wasn't as epochal as the event itself. Similarly, the movie looked a little too down and dirty for the spectacle it was capturing, while its accompanying double album was presented out of sequence and sounded muddy. The deluxe 30th anniversary DVD and accompanying double CD attempt to restore the film and album to glory, and they both are lavish, impressive packages, but don't correct the inherent flaws with the end result of the project.

In the case of the CD, the mini-box is exquisitely rendered on the surface, containing two individual sleeves for the discs, a reproduction of the ticket stub, a mini-poster with newspaper articles covering the event, and a booklet containing an essay by filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker, along with a complete Spiders from Mars tour itinerary. Upon closer inspection, the packaging seems a little lacking, since Pennebaker's essay does not cover as much ground as a historical package like this should (there should have been an impartial essay giving an overview of Ziggy Stardust and the importance of the live shows, particularly this one). Then, there's the music itself, presented in a new Tony Visconti mix, along with a restored running order that mirrors the concert itself. The change is sequencing is slight, as is the Visconti mix, as it turns out. The original tapes simply must not be in great shape since, while this is an improvement, it's not a dramatic improvement, the kind that leaps out of the speakers (or perhaps these ears are simply spoiled by SACD). The recording still sounds flat and a little dreary (much like the Pennebaker film, strangely enough), which unfortunately makes the very good performance seem slightly less captivating than it really is. All this means that this 30th anniversary edition of Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture, no matter the deluxe presentation, retains the same flaws of the original album and, instead of providing a revelation, it remains the province of the very dedicated who will like the surface of this repackaging but wish that the end result was as lavish as it seems. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide