時代を開拓し続ける伝説、デヴィッド・ボウイが1972年に発表した傑作『THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS』。
ジギー・スターダストというキャラクターを創造し、この傑作を世界に放った当時のボウイの姿を紐解くボックス・セット『ROCK 'N' ROLL STAR!』に収録されている、アルバム収録曲のオルタネイト・テイクやミックス音源を1枚のアナログ盤にまとめた単独アナログ盤作品が登場!

常に時代の先端を開拓し続けた伝説、デヴィッド・ボウイ。彼は1971年2月、新たな表現方法として架空のキャラクター、ジギー・スターダストを創造し、翌1972年に時代を象徴する名作にして音楽史に燦然と輝く傑作『THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS』を発表した。ジギー・スターダストというペルソナは、アルバム発表とそれにともなうテレビやラジオでの露出、そしてワールド・ツアーを通して世界中で大きな反響を呼び、世界を席巻していった。

このロック史上最大のペルソナの誕生から世界を席巻していくまでの姿を多数の未発表音源を含む貴重な音源の数々で紐解いていく、5枚組CDとBlu-rayの6枚のディスクからなる豪華ボックス・セット『ROCK 'N' ROLL STAR!』のDisc 5に収録されている、アルバム収録曲のオルタネイト・テイクやミックス音源を一つの作品としてまとめあげた楽曲集が、単独アナログ盤作品となって登場することとなった。

ここには、アルバム『THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS』に収録されている楽曲の、初期セッション・テイクやオルタネイト・ミックス、アウトテイクや未発表となるトライデント・スタジオ・ヴァージョンなど、全14曲が収録されている。

発売・販売元 提供資料 （2024/03/22）

The fourth in an ongoing series of box sets chronicling the creation of a classic David Bowie album, Rock n Roll Star! documents the making of the most celebrated Bowie album, 1972s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Like the Conversation Piece and Divine Symmetry sets before it, Rock n Roll Star! doesnt contain the parent album among its CDs; Ziggy is relegated to the Blu-ray, where it sits in a high-res stereo version and 5.1 mix alongside singles and Waiting in the Sky (Before the Starman Came to Earth), an early version of the album that was released separately on Record Store Day 2014. That leaves the five CDs to gather various demos, outtakes, stray songs, and especially, live performances recorded around the whirlwind of Ziggy Stardust. The five discs roughly break down into a disc of early demos, augmented by recordings from Bowies short-lived group the Arnold Corns and a clutch of rehearsals from Haddon Hall; two discs of BBC performances, including sessions hosted by John Peel and Bob Harris as well as a spot on The Old Grey Whistle Test; a disc of well-known Ziggy outtakes ("Round and Round," "Velvet Goldmine," the original single version of "John, Im Only Dancing") plus live recordings from Boston in October 1972; finally, a collection of stray songs that features a number of new mixes. The preponderance of previous Ziggy Stardust reissues and Bowie at the Beeb collections does rob this set of some of its surprise because so much of this music has been in circulation. That said, this set does indeed contain some excavated rarities, highlighted by "So Long 60s" -- Bowie would rewrite this folky number into the bracingly modernist "Moonage Daydream" -- and two unheard songs from the albums early days. "Shadow Man," which Bowie would later revisit for Toy, is an acoustic dirge that threatens to achieve liftoff, while the sprightly "Its Gonna Rain Again" veers toward the sunnier side of Hunky Dory ("Only One Paper Left," another known Bowie tune of this era, remains undiscovered). Ultimately, that handful of genuine rarities function as attractive accents on whats a familiar story -- namely, how the conception of the Ziggy Stardust character helped focus Bowie, letting him lean into the roar of guitarist Mick Ronson, drummer Mick Woodmansey, and bassist Trevor Bolder. All three were present in the Arnold Corns but as the Spiders from Mars they sounded seductive, sinewy, and sometimes sinister, a chemistry thats as palpable on Rock n Roll Star! as it is on the proper Ziggy Stardust album itself. That energy, undiminished by either the passage of time or repetition, is reason enough for an immersion into this box set. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Rovi