David Bowie: Rock 'n' Roll Star! Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

David Bowie: Rock 'n' Roll Star! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 6, 2024

Maybe the only good thing you can say about a legend like David Bowie dying is that his death has resulted in some truly spectacular retrospective releases, including another effort distributed by Rhino and Warner Music Group, Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars: The Motion Picture. Add to that list this even more impressive, almost overwhelming, release from Parlophone that is extravagantly and rather beautifully packaged and comes with such a wealth of content that even diehard Bowie fans will have a veritable field day poring over things. As a result, this is another release where regular readers of this site may feel like the Blu-ray disc is the "main attraction", and all of the accoutrements, both disc based and otherwise, are the "bonus content", while those more attuned (no pun intended) to CDs and/or written material may find the Blu-ray the "supplement". One way or the other, there is a fantastic history lesson to be had here for Bowie aficionados and perhaps even those either unacquainted with or heretofore not all that interested in Bowie.

While there is written and other documentary material galore in this release that provides some chronology from approximately February 1971 through Bowie's creation of Ziggy Stardust that provide undeniable interest, the real allure for lovers of hi-res audio will be the Blu- ray which itself is a sonic history lesson of various pathways Bowie took to get to the Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars album release.

The contents of the CDs are as follows, with asterisks denoting previously unreleased material:

CD Disc 1

So Long 60s (San Francisco Hotel recording) *
Hang On To Yourself (early demo) *
Lady Stardust (demo)
Ziggy Stardust (demo)
Star (Aka Stars) (demo) *
Soul Love (demo and DB spoken notes) *
Starman (demo 1 excerpt) *
Starman (demo 2) *
Moonage Daydream (The Arnold Corns version)
Hang On To Yourself (The Arnold Corns version)
Looking For A Friend (The Arnold Corns version – rough mix) *
Haddon Hall Rehearsals Segue: Ziggy Stardust / Holy Holy / Soul Love *
Star (Aka Stars) (Haddon Hall rehearsal) *
Sweet Head (Haddon Hall rehearsal) *

CD Disc 2

Sounds Of The 70s: John Peel
Session recorded on 11th January, 1972 and broadcast on 28th January, 1972

Ziggy Stardust *
Queen Bitch *
Waiting For The Man *
Lady Stardust *

Sounds Of The 70s: Bob Harris
Session recorded on 18th January, 1972 and broadcast on 7th February, 1972

Hang On To Yourself
Ziggy Stardust
Queen Bitch
Waiting For The Man
Five Years

Old Grey Whistle Test Performance
Filmed on 7th February, 1972 and broadcast on 8th February, 1972 except ‘Oh! You Pretty Things’ which was not broadcast until 1982.

Oh! You Pretty Things (take 1)
Queen Bitch
Five Years

CD Disc 3

Sounds Of The 70s: John Peel
Session recorded on 16th May, 1972 and broadcast on 23rd May, 1972

White Light/White Heat
Moonage Daydream
Hang On To Yourself
Suffragette City
Ziggy Stardust

Johnnie Walker Lunchtime Show
Session recorded on 22nd May, 1972 and broadcast from 5th – 9th June, 1972

Starman
Space Oddity
Changes
Oh! You Pretty Things

Sounds Of The 70s: Bob Harris
Session recorded on 23rd May, 1972 and broadcast On 19th June, 1972

Andy Warhol
Lady Stardust
White Light/White Heat
Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide

Top Of The Pops Performance
Filmed on 5th July, 1972 and broadcast on 6th July, 1972

Starman

CD Disc 4

Round And Round
The Supermen (Ziggy session version)
Holy Holy (Ziggy session version)
Velvet Goldmine (Ziggy session outtake)
Starman (original single mix)
John, I’m Only Dancing (original single version)

Recorded Live At The Music Hall, Boston
Recorded on 1st October, 1972

The Supermen
Changes
Life On Mars?
My Death *
John, I’m Only Dancing

CD Disc 5

Looking For A Friend (The Arnold Corns version 2022 mix) *
Hang On To Yourself (early Ziggy session take) *
Star (take 5 alternative version) *
Lady Stardust (take 1 alternative version) *
Shadow Man (Ziggy session version) *
The Supermen (Ziggy session version 2023 Mix) *
Holy Holy (Ziggy session version alternative mix) *
Round And Round (alternative mix)
It’s Gonna Rain Again (Ziggy session outtake) *
Looking For A Friend (Ziggy session version) *
Velvet Goldmine (Ziggy sessions outtake 2022 mix) *
Sweet Head (Ziggy sessions outtake 2022 mix) *
Starman (Top Of The Pops version 2022 mix)
John, I’m Only Dancing (alternative Trident Studios version) *
I Can’t Explain (Trident Studios version) *

Bonus Mix

Moonage Daydream (2003 instrumental mix)

The Blu-ray disc's contents are shown in the accompanying screenshots of the menus and submenus, but can basically be boiled down to five separate offerings:

The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
Original album mix (96khz/24bit Stereo)

The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars And Extras
2003 5.1 Mixes (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 - 96khz/24bit)

Waiting In The Sky (Before The Starman Came To Earth)
Early Ziggy Stardust album tracklisting – December 1971 (96khz/24bit PCM stereo)

The Singles
(96khz/24bit PCM stereo)

Outtakes And Alternative Versions
(96khz/24bit PCM stereo)

The track listing for The Singles is shown in screenshots 9 and 10 and the track listing for Outtakes and Alternative Mixes is shown in screenshots 11 and 12.

David Bowie: Rock 'n' Roll Star! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Despite this being an ostensible "audio Blu-ray", Parlophone has offered fans completely animated menus, which change not only when initially selected (as seen in the screenshots), but which then lead to further ongoing content once an individual album or bonus item is selected, with, for example, stills of Bowie or shots of some of the original tape reels and other information (some seen in stills in the hardback book that is part of this package) playing out within the "frame" of what is initially the original album cover or bonus item thumbnail image. Some of these sub-sub-menu animations are shown in screenshots 13 through 19. I've intentionally left the video score above blank since this doesn't have music videos and the like, but Parlophone is to be commended for not taking the video side of an "audio Blu-ray" for granted.

David Bowie: Rock 'n' Roll Star! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The original Ziggy Stardust album is presented here in LPCM 2.0 from a 2013 master, and in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 from a 2003 master, both at 96/24. These are exceptional sounding, despite being relatively "ancient" masters by modern audiophile standards. Some may chafe at not hearing "new, improved" masters and/or having an Atmos mix, but I have to say listening to the original album in both of these versions was a completely thrilling experience for me. Bowie and his original engineering team obviously wanted some wide imaging even in the stereo version, and you can hear some of the fantastic discrete channelization from the virtual get go on Five Years , even with regard to various toms and other drums being utilized, but that immersive quality is only increased in a rather sumptuously enveloping DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. Some of the intensity of tunes like Suffragette City are only made more aggressive sounding in the surround version in my estimation, and there's some interesting quasi-quadraphonic approaches with regard to Bowie's voice at times, with vocals spilling through the front and rear channels simultaneously. The stereo audio on all the non-original album material features stellar fidelity, even if in some instances production luster may be lacking.

David Bowie: Rock 'n' Roll Star! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

I guess it's up to each individual to determine what exactly is a supplement with this gargantuan release. Aside from all the disc content above, this comes housed in a nicely designed slipbox measuring approximately 10 1/4" wide by 12 3/4" high by 1 3/4" deep. The slipbox houses an oversized hardback which is kind of like a modified mutant DigiBook, in that the "endpieces" are heavy cardboard with pockets holding the CDs and Blu-ray disc. Within those "endpieces" is a veritable glut of Bowie-ana, including a ton of archival writing and some absolutely fantastic photographs. What is evidently a reproduction of a "student's notebook" Bowie used on the project is also included.

David Bowie: Rock 'n' Roll Star! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

David Bowie: Rock 'n' Roll Star! is an absolute goldmine of material, both recorded and printed, and despite it being on the spendy side, I can't imagine any devotee of Bowie not being over the moon with what's included here. The Blu-ray has superb audio quality and some kind of fun animated menus. The rest of this package is quite simply staggering. Highly recommended.