David Bowie
TOY:Box (6 X 10” box set)
(ISO Records/Parlophone)
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the David Bowie TOY:Box (6 X 10” box set) After David Bowie’s death in 2016, the singer proved to still be able to make news with the series of releases that he had intended to see come out – and were actually followed through upon [the titles of Bowie’s post-humous releases include Who Can I Be Now?, A New Career in a New Town and Brilliant Adventure –ed], but the amount of content for future releases has grown much leaner, in recent years. Even with less to work with though, the singer’s record label has dutifully begun the task of clearing shelves and the first “clearing house” release proved to be TOY:Box – itself an expanded vinyl version of the album which was scheduled and then shelved by EMI/Virgin in 2001, was included on the Fantastic Adventure box set in 2021 and also finally saw a standalone release in 2021.
Such confusion regarding the set’s concept, construct and release has done nothing to really help it over time but, if listeners/fans take a minute to at least partially separate Toy:Box from its own history, they’ll discover that it is a surprisingly engaging listen because it pulls both from the earliest sounds and ideas in Bowie’s career as well as having the craft and discipline of the final moments of his career as well. For this project, for example, the singer convened a solid team of his favorite latter-period bandmembers (guitarist Earl Slick, keyboardist Mike Garson, drummer Sterling Campbell and bassist Gail Ann Dorsey) and collected some of his earliest demo cuts, and went into the studio to capture the urgency of the inspiration as well as not a whole lot of pre-production.
The urgency so integral to the set is made apparent as soon as needle catches groove and “I Dig Everything” propels TOY:Box ambitiously up to speed. While the title of “I Dig Everything” may cause a few eyebrows to raise on sight (be honest, reader – the title is just too vague and blurry to really catch the attention of a modern Bowie fan on its own), the song itself is unmistakably stable in form and both refreshing and exciting as a result. Right off, the stomp which propels the song is both coupled and tempered by a great vocal melody and, while Bowie really leans on the nasal aspects of his own voice throughout the song, the additional background vocals really help to enrich the presentation. The final result is a really good song which doesn’t really sound like a David Bowie composition; presumably because “I Dig Everything” originated while the singer was still finding his voice, none of the elements which would eventually come to define or characterize Bowie’s music (the existential longing for the unknown, isolation, distance et cetera) are present. For any other singer, such an absence of familiarity would be cathastrophic but, because it’s Bowie – himself a famous character chameleon – the changes [ahem] that are both obvious and present are easy to accept.
With listeners settled in early, the movements presented on TOY:Box slide through easily and offer few in the way of frustrating moments (although “few” is still more than “none”). “I Dig Everything” segues smoothly into an almost nouveau “Young Americans” kind of soul styling which contrasts ear-catchingly against the heart of “You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving” (and sounds like it should be more bitter of annoyed, in theory, than it is, in fact) and leaves the side a little off-balance because “Te London Boys” keeps a resigned sadness in play, and the horns and harpsichord in “Karma Man” are just too slick and smooth. “Conversation Piece” holds a great surprise in that it chooses not to redeem the first plate of the set, and the very nearly Elton John-identified “Shadow Man” handily keeps listeners guessing and ready to switch records and keep the vibe moving as the needle lifts. If one chooses to play the set in order (and it really does make sense to do so, even on repeated plays through the set), “Let Me Sleep Beside You” echoes the more rockist moments which were found on Blackstar in that it aims to succinctly push energy levels up without offering a “Rebel Rebel”-sized hit, and “Hole In The Ground” plays similarly – even if it really doesn’t sound like Bowie was finished developing the song quite yet, before the set closes with “Baby Loves That Way.” Again, “Baby Loves That Way” doesn’t sound completely finished; while the song isn’t bad, a sense of juvenalia haunts both the beat and the arrangement of the song (while David Bowie’s songs normally sounded ageless, in listening, this one sounds far more of its moment – specifically, of The Sixties – before Bowie “went to space”) and it’s a sensation which proves to be impossible to shake. Even so, the warmth which dominates the song holds listeners nicely throughout and keeps listeners engaged – even when they recognize that, again, the song’s form is pretty left field-identified for its singer.
On the third plate of TOY:Box, listeners will finally begin to find more familiar fare, opening with “Can’t Help Thinking About Me” – which some fans may recall from the singer’s performance on VH1 Storytellers. Here, the energy levels in Bowie’s voice jump up significantly to match the song as he nearly howls in the lines right before the title lyric, and those listeners who have followed along through the set may actually feel their eyes widen in excitement at the beginning of each chorus. Again, the song does feature some weak lyrics (and Bowie discussed this in Storytellers) and those who know will find themselves rolling their eyes a little when the words, “My girl calls my name “Hi, Dave”/ Drop in, see you around, come back/ If you’re this way again” but also smiling warmly at the thought and the memory. That smile will undoubtedly fade a little through the far, far more subdued “Silly Boy Blue” – which features a poorly placed flute but well-placed strings and a fade in the song’s end which may actually find listeners sighing, warmly as “Your Turn To Drive” extends the end of the side (somehow) without feeling self-indulgent.
After the D-side closes out, TOY:Box begins trolling into its’ collection of Alternatives and Extras which, while capable of easily holding fans’ attention, can begin feeling repetitive after the bloom of a first play comes off. Different versions of almost every aforementioned song play through (some of them are alright, whether they’re essential is questionable) and eventually begin to bleed together. That isn’t to say the songs are bad at all, they’re just not essential when stacked next to the other versions of them which are also in TOY:Box. Could it be said that too much of a good thing is still too much? Maybe…. [Bill Adams]
Artist:
https://www.davidbowie.com
https://www.facebook.com/davidbowie
https://www.instagram.com/davidbowie/?hl=en
Album:
David Bowie’s TOY:Box limited edition box set is out now, in very limited numbers. Buy it here on Amazon.
