Who Can I Be Now? (1974 To 1976)

• Track Listing

Didn’t "Rebel Rebel" seem galaxies away from "Space Oddity," Bowie’s previous hit on the U.S. charts? And yet those two hits were separated by just one year. Only David Bowie, one of the most protean artists ever to be loosely filed under "rock," could move so quickly from interplanetary glam to earthbound soul—and still delight his fans and critics on both ends of the journey. Of course, Bowie being Bowie, he couldn’t take on the moniker of "soul" without attaching "plastic" to it; avant-garde choices arose often during his mid-’70s odyssey, and the whole fascinating trip is chronicled in this new set. Let’s start with the released albums of the period; you get (all remastered) the pivotal LPs "Diamond Dogs" and "Young Americans," the double album "David Live" (original mix and 2005 Tony Visconti mix), the proto-post-punk classic "Station to Station" (original mix and 2010 Harry Maslin mix) and the double-disc "Live Nassau Coliseum ’76" (previously released in the "Station to Station" super deluxe edition). Now, on to the rarities. First, there’s the "Re:Call 2" disc: original single edits of "Rebel Rebel," "Young Americans," "Fame," "Golden Years," "Station to Station," "TVC 15," "Stay," "Word on a Wing," live versions of "Panic in Detroit," "Rock ’n’ Roll with Me" and more. Then, we have the much-talked-about arrival of the previously unreleased album "The Gouster," which comes with a replica of David’s handwritten note about its running order. "The Gouster" includes "John, I’m Only Dancing (Again" (12" A-side), "Somebody Up There Likes Me" (alternative mix), "It’s Gonna Be Me," "Who Can I Be Now?," "Can You Hear Me" (alternative early version), "Young Americans" and "Right" (alternative early version). The gold-colored CDs in the CD edition come in replica sleeves with a 128-page booklet full of unpublished photos, archival press reviews and album notes by Visconti and Maslin. The vinyl version, which includes a 84-page book, is 180-gram. Within one of the most consistently compelling careers in pop, 1974–76 was a particularly enthralling phase—one that’s documented here as never before! Parlophone.