Golden Years: “Nothing Has Changed” Compiles 50 Years of David Bowie’s Best, Plus New Song

Less than a month ago, we reported on the upcoming reissue of David Bowie’s Sound and Vision, the box set covering the artist’s career from 1969 to 1997.  Today, Bowie’s official website has confirmed the November 18 release of NOTHING HAS CHANGED, an all-new career-spanning retrospective which for the first time collects music from the entirety of his 50-year career: 1964 to 2014.  In the U.K., this package – available in 2-CD, 3-CD and 2-LP configurations – will arrive from Parlophone; in the U.S., the label is Columbia/Legacy.

To sweeten the pot, NOTHING HAS CHANGED will feature the first new music from Bowie since his critically-lauded 2013 album The Next Day.  His new single “Sue (or In a Season of Crime)” was recorded with longtime producer/collaborator Tony Visconti specifically for this project.  It will also be featured (along with a never-before-heard B-side, “‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore”) on a special Record Store Day vinyl release set for the annual Black Friday RSD event on November 28; this 1o-inch release will be available at general retail in the U.K.!

“Sue” isn’t the only previously unissued music on NOTHING HAS CHANGED.  The set will also premiere the 2001 versions of 1967’s “Let Me Sleep Beside You” and 1971’s “Shadow Man,” both reportedly from sessions related to the as-yet-unreleased album Toy.  The download-only track “Your Turn to Drive,” from that same album/period, makes its CD debut on NOTHING HAS CHANGED.  (The official press release confirms “Let Me Sleep Beside You” as a part of Toy but oddly, not the other two tracks.)

The 3-CD version of NOTHING HAS CHANGED (which takes its name from “Sunday,” from the album Heathen) is arranged in reverse chronological order, while the truncated 2-CD edition (which begins with 1969’s “Space Oddity,” dropping five earlier songs) is presented chronologically.  The 2-LP set jumps around, beginning with “Let’s Dance” (1983) and ending with “Where Are We Now” (2013).  A number of remixes and edits are included on the anthology, further distinguishing the set from a standard “best-of.”  (Alas, “The Laughing Gnome” is absent from all iterations!)  Mix variations also occur between the various editions such as on “Young Americans.”

After the jump, we have more on this new retrospective, plus the complete track listing for all three editions!

Release Round-Up: Week of September 9

The Beatles, The Beatles in Mono (Apple/UMe) Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Here it is – a massive white box filled with 14 newly-remastered vinyl LPs from the Fab Four, all in original mono – just the way the boys intended all those years ago!

The Midnight Special various editions (StarVista/Time Life)

Deluxe 11-DVD Box Set: StarVista

6-DVD Set: Amazon U.S.

1-DVD: Amazon U.S.

The groundbreaking late-night music show is celebrated on a variety of releases featuring live performances from a galaxy of seventies superstars!

Queen, Live at the Rainbow ’74 various formats (Virgin/Hollywood)

1CD: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S. (TBD)
2CD: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.
DVD: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.
Blu-ray: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.
CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.K. (TBD) / Amazon U.S. 
2LP: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S. (TBD)
4LP: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.
2CD/DVD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.

Freddie Mercury, Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor stormed London’s Rainbow Theatre forty years ago for concerts in March and November ’74; now, these pivotal concerts have been released in a variety of audio and video formats!

Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills, Super Session SACD (Audio Fidelity) (Amazon U.S.)

Al Kooper’s long-awaited 5.1 mix of this quintessential jam record is finally here on hybrid SACD, courtesy Audio Fidelity!

The Seeds, Singles As and Bs 1965-1970 (Ace/Big Beat) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

This release marks the culmination of Big Beat’s Seeds reissue series – a 24-track anthology of every A and B side released by the band for GNP Crescendo and MGM including the Top 40 nugget “Pushin’ Too Hard” (which is also presented in its original, unedited form as a bonus track).  Most of these tracks have never appeared on CD in these versions, all sourced from original single masters!

Ringo Starr, ICON / John Lennon, ICON (Capitol/UMe)

Two Fabs headline this month’s batch of budget-priced 11-song ICON compilations – also including entries from Iggy Pop, The Ohio Players, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Slaughter, and Chante Moore.  The Ringo comp, on the Apple/Capitol label, is a fun one for completists, with a couple of recent, rarely-anthologized tracks (“Walk with You” with Macca, “King of Broken Hearts” with George Harrison) along with the expected hits and a live version of “Yellow Submarine.”  The Lennon title lacks some big hits (“Whatever Gets You Through the Night,” “Woman”) but both titles have new remastering credits.

Ringo Starr: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

John Lennon: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Iain Matthews, Stealin’ Home (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Omnivore gives a lavish expansion to the 1978 breakthrough LP from Iain Matthews (Fairport Convention, Matthews Southern Comfort), adding a 9-track live concert set previously available only in Japan!  Stealin’ Home features an eclectic tunestack ranging from John Martyn to Rodgers and Hammerstein, all filtered through Matthews’ folk, rock and pop sensibilities – plus new liner notes, rare photos and more!

Grateful Dead, Wake Up To Find Out: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY 3/29/1990 (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Rhino revisits the Dead’s memorable 1990 show – featuring saxophone great Branford Marsalis sitting in – on a new 3-CD set!

Various Artists, Don’t Make Me Over: The Songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David / Treat Me Nice: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller (Jasmine)

Bacharach and David: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Leiber and Stoller: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

In case you missed them: U.K. public domain label Jasmine has a couple of packed 2-disc sets drawing on pre-1963 recordings from two legendary songwriting teams.  The Bacharach and David set includes songs from the duo separately and together for a total of 60 tracks by artists including Dionne Warwick, Gene Pitney, The Shirelles, Johnny Mathis, Don Gibson and Sarah Vaughan.  The Leiber and Stoller package has 64 songs from Elvis Presley, Jay and the Americans, The Coasters, The Isley Brothers and Jerry Lee Lewis.  Both sets contain new liner notes and track listings with discographical annotation.

U.K. PD label Sepia has another quartet of vintage releases with many tracks and albums making their first appearances on CD.  The label has a two-fer of arranger Don Costa’s orchestral LPs Theme from ‘The Unforgiven’ and Hollywood Premiere featuring Costa-ized versions of popular movie themes.  Lawrence Welk’s Last Date is two-fered with the bandleader’s Moon River; the first LP features pop hits and the second collects Broadway and Hollywood themes.  A third two-fer comes from the great Bobby Troup.  Do-Re-Mi features Troup singing his own compositions such as the inevitable “Route 66,” while Here s To My Lady features standards like “That’s All” and “The Nearness Of You.”  Lastly, Sepia offers Movie Stars Sing!, collecting rare sides from expected (Julie Andrews, Rita Moreno) and unexpected stars (Mae West, Bette Davis) from Hollywood’s Golden Age!

Don Costa, Theme from ‘The Unforgiven’ / Hollywood Premiere : Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Bobby Troup, Do-Re-Mi / Here’s to My Lady: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Lawrence Welk, Last Date / Moon River : Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Movie Stars Sing! : Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.