The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (2012 Remaster)

As close as you will get to the band in the studio. Spooky. I would have liked more weight in the bass and more heft to the drums but we cannot have everything. Bowie's in the room vocals presense is the main thing here and it's wonderful to hear and savour.

bit pricey, but so what?

This is how this album should be heard.Crank up the volume on your home theatre amp , close your eyes and get blown away.Had Bowie had access to the Atmos sound field he would have run with it and welcomed it with open arms.SIMPLY AMAZING.

What can I say. If you thought the previously available 5.1 mix of the Ziggy album was fantastic ( I thought it was and I still do ) then when you listen to this in Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio it’s going to blow your socks off! Honestly this is something really special. If you want to have an idea of what it felt like to be in the studio with Bowie and the Spiders when this album was recorded, back in the early 70s remember, then this will give you a pretty good idea. I think Bowie himself if he was still with us would also be suitably impressed. If you’re a Bowie fan or even someone just wanting to hear how a Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio album should be done ( Kudos to Ken Scott and Emre Ramazanoglu 👍🏻 ) Then you would be extremely foolish to miss out on this. As a side note, if your audio equipment is unable to process Dolby Atmos then it folds down into a 5.1 mix that is different to the previously available one. Also included is a 2024 stereo remix of the album, a hi- res version of the original album 1972 mix and the 2012 remaster of the original 1972 album. Which of these different versions you prefer or think is worthwhile is subjective depending on what your preference parameters are. Me I like the 2024 stereo mix but I will always be a sucker for the original 1972 album mix that I have actually grown up with. Worth a mention is there is a constantly rolling and constantly changing full screen saver of the albums Ziggy photos taken in Heddon Street. This is great and saves you having to knock your TV screen off in order to prevent shadowing / damage etc. Via the Atmos version though Ziggy Stardust really will live forever that in a way is quite scary from a realism point of view.

Well I loved this been a bowie fan since 1969 one of my faverate Albums .Plays beautifully pictures in title headng of the songs on screen nice touch and sounds like Bowies in the room a must get for Bowie fan 👨‍🎤⚡️

Good

This review is for the Remastered Hybrid SACD. After owning the stereo version in various formats this surround version brings out more layers in the album. If you find the `sweet spot' and close your eyes you could be in the studio.I met Bowie in early '67 at a Traction Engine Rally in Pickering, North Yorkshire. He was still Davie Jones at that time and a member of the group `Riot Squad'. He was clearly confused and trying to find himself when I first saw him licking the rear tyre on a Massey Ferguson 35X. Even in those days he was gathering a crowd, but sadly for the wrong reasons. I took him for a mug of Bovril and a sit down and we discussed our shared love of tractors and farm implements in general.As it turned out this meeting was to have a gargantuan impact on Bowie's career and his meteoric rise into superstardom. Although never credited or even mentioned in the history of David Bowie I am content in knowing I had an influence.I suggested a name change as people were confusing him with Davy Jones from the Monkees. What about Piggy Corndust? I said. David spat hot Bovril all over my wellingtons and started to laugh uncontrollably. I didn't know whether to be offended or pleased. Thinking back to the tyre licking incident I realised there may have been some substances involved so I let it pass. My suspicions were confirmed later on when David asked if I'd like to "...toke on his fatty" Luckily he then produced an expertly rolled joint which wiped the shocked look from my face.We wandered round taking in the sights and sounds, stopping briefly to finger a magnificent looking A.J International Rotovator and Seed Drill. Little did I know at the time, David was gathering ideas for songs, although we did discuss an idea about a five year farming almanac set to music called `Five Years'. It was meant to contain useful information on crop rotation, inter-planting and how to avoid carrot fly. However, David was in a morbid phase and chose to ruin the song by making it about the last five years on earth. Alas, looking at the lyrics I can see where his influence sprang from:Pushing through the market square (Farmers Market section of the Rally)So many Mothers sighing (They'd sold out of Jersey Royals)News had just come over (Over the Tannoy)We had five years left to cry in (Market was closing so there was five minutes left to buy in)And it was cold and it rained so I felt like an actor (Felt like a tractor more like)Similarly the chorus to the track `Soul Love' takes me back to an incident with a stall holder. David was adamant he wanted to buy a dove but the seller wouldn't let David touch it until he showed him the money.Inspirations have I none (I'm not going to hurt it)Just to touch the flaming dove (He just wanted to touch the flaming thing)All I have is my love of love (I love all creatures)And love is not loving (I'm not feeling the love back, otherwise clueless)I sympathised with David over the dove incident, I just think the stall holder took a dislike to him because of all the makeup he was wearing. David calmed down after rolling another herbal cigarette which he dragged down like a vacuum cleaner. He quickly became paranoid and kept shouting about an electric eye being on him and someone putting a ray gun to his head. David was becoming a real handful so I thought about getting him home before he freaked out any more.There was clearly a reference to this in the track `Moonage Daydream'Keep your `lectric eye on me babePut your ray gun to my headPress your space face close to mine, loveFreak out in a moonage daydream, oh yeah!David said he was proper hungry and had something he called `the munchies' so we bought all the burgers and hot dogs left on a stand that was packing up. I suggested that we get a bus to my place so he could have a rest but David insisted on driving his Austin Morris 1100. I had a sense of foreboding about this but didn't want to leave him in the state he was in. Inevitably we were pulled over by the local constabulary and David being David started rambling on about a starman. David was charged for public order offences and I put up surety guaranteeing he would be in court on the following Monday morning.I must confess I was one of many people stifling laughter when the policeman read out David's statement in the County Court with a broad Yorkshire accent:There's a starman waiting in the skyHe'd like to come and meet usBut he thinks he'd blow our mindsThere's a starman waiting in the skyHe's told us not to blow itCause he knows it's all worthwhileHe told me:Let the children lose itLet the children use itLet all the children boogie.......Your HonourThe three magistrates were not as amused but luckily David was only bound over to keep the peace for 6 months.

First things first. If you've bought the Rock'n'Roll Star boxset, this ISN'T in it. This might seem like a cash-grab, but hear me out. It could've been included, increasing the already hefty £150 by another £20 or so, but if you don't want the boxset, just the original album, which ISN'T in the boxset, this is the one to get. The 2024 remasters in Dolby Atmos and stereo remixes and the 1972 stereo 2012 remasters in 48kh and 192kh/24 bit PCM stereo mixes. For Bowie obsessives such as myself, this is the perfect companion piece to the boxset and essential for your collection. And believe me when I say, despite what you may have heard or read to the contrary, blu ray audio is the best way to hear this and the way forward for classic artists to re-release the old masters.Let all the children,(and OAPs like me) boogie!