Zeit! 77-79

With the ongoing interest in the solid "The Next Day" it comes as no surprise that the record label EMI determine to strike while the irons hot when it comes to all things Bowie by releasing a five CD box set entitled "Zeit! 77-79" covering that miraculous halcyon period badged loosely under the name of the "Berlin Trilogy". In addtion they add a copy of the 1978's live double rather tediously entitled "Stage". The price of the set in a five disc package comes in 50p cheaper than the current selling price of "The Next Day" on Amazon signalling a budget release with no bonus tracks, the approach of CDs all residing in a jewel case (rather tightly fitting in the box) with the original sleeves but no new remaster. They do however have the merit that "Stage" is the 2005 Tony Visconti remaster with "Stay" and "Be My Wife" added. Thankfully the running order is also corrected to reflect the order the songs were played at the actual gigs (the original release and subsequent CDs had a chronological running order). The other albums use the 1999 EMI remasters as their sound template. As for the "Berlin trilogy" substitute that label for another threesome the names of Bowie, Eno and Visconti and more accuracy can be achieved for these albums are "Team" Bowie at their magisterial and creative peak. "LOW" 1977 - It is the collaboration on the album that counts. On "Low" not only did Brian Eno play keyboards on six of the eleven tracks and co-write "Warszawa," but he acted as the rigorous intellectual challenger to Bowie at the height of musical powers and craft having fled from the cocaine blitz of his years in Los Angeles. Visconti's sheer precision in terms of production duties does to some extent make any remastering exercise superfluous. "Low" stands today as an astounding musical intervention. As the BBC has rightly stated "without Low we would have no Joy Division, no Human League, no Cabaret Voltaire, and no Arcade Fire". It is one of those era defining albums which requires mandatory ownership for any self respecting music lover and a respectful wink to the great Guardian Angels of music. It is probably best to start from the icy shades of ambient soundscapes like the beautiful "Art decade", the tinkling melodic synths of "Weeping Wall" and then gravitate to the cool funk of the title track, the almost Tony Newley sounding hard rock of "Be my wife" and one of Bowie's best songs "Always crashing in the same car". This album is a veritable feast of modern sounds for modern days and easily one of the best of the latter part of a defining musical era.. Is it any surprise that the great composer Phillip Glass reconfigured its wonders in his own brilliant interpretation of constructing the Low Symphony? "HEROES" 1977 - This reviewer can still happily recall the shock of listening to this album a few months after falling in love with "Low" and sitting in in awe and rapture. John Lennon was quoted as saying just before his death in 1980 his ambition was to "do something as good as 'Heroes". Recorded with Eno at Hansa Tonstudio in what was then West Berlin this album succeeded, as much as any piece of music can, in capturing the chill of cold war tension of what then appeared to be the eternally divided German city and its huge granite wall of separation. Even more than "Low" it drew on the German innovators like Neu, Can and Kraftwerk but also drew in sounds of world music before it was invented such as the rare beauty of the Japanese sounding "Moss Garden". The magisterial title track inevitably is the key which unlocks the whole record, but soon your love for songs like the brilliant rock of "Joe the Lion" about performance artist Chris Burden and with Robert Fripp on fire on guitar grows exponentially. Add in the imposing grey darkness of "Sense of doubt" and the superb funk of "The Secret life of Arabia" and a masterpiece unfolds in front of your eyes. "STAGE "1978 - This is David Bowie's second live album after 1974s "David live", recorded on the Isolar II world tour and capturing concerts from a number of large US cities. It sees the emergence of the ace ex-Frank Zappa sideman Adrian Belew on guitar who later filled Fripp's shoes in King Crimson. It contains great versions of "Station to Station" and a huge metallic funk version of "TVC15". "Low" and "Heroes" tracks are done proper justice but unsurprisingly none sound quite as good as the originals. The Dame hams it up on Brecht's "Alabama Song" although it sounds out of tune in parts and the inclusion of five crowd pleasing Ziggy tracks is ok but not essential. Nonetheless "Stage" is not the waste of space that many critics derided at the time and captures the Bowie stage act in all its wondrous flaws and brilliance. "LODGER" 1979 - This album was largely written off by critics at the time. It was recorded not in Berlin but actually put together from sessions in September 1978 at Mountain Studios, Montreux, Switzerland and March 1979 at Record Plant Studios, New York City. It is for many Bowie aficionado's one of his most underrated album and has over time grown to be recognised as a truly great album. During the period Eno has just returned from producing Talking Heads and according to one critic "Lodger" is "the record where David most wholeheartedly adopted Brian's oblique strategies and embraced errors and random events". The glam single "Boys keep swinging" is fine, but what sucks you into "Lodger" is the strength of songs that grow on repeated listens. The Talking Heads sound is all over the brilliant "Red Sails", the almost spoken "African night flight" is great fun, while the pounding "Look back in anger" is proof that Bowie rocks as good as the best. Edging all others is the standout "Repetition' later to be covered by the Au Pairs and which owes a clear debt to the Velvets. While "Lodger" is not as good as Low or Heroes there is no shame in this for in its own right it stands as a brilliant album in the Bowie canon. If David Bowie had prematurely passed away after the period 1977-79 he would be hailed as greatest rock innovator of modern times. Like many great artists he blotted his copybook in the 1980s with horrors like "Tonight" and "Never let me down" plus the horrible Tin Machine, but recovering from sad failures are the touchstone of true genius and better was to come. In any case it was always going to be downhill from the lofty heights reached in the German Capital. These albums radically expanded the boundaries well beyond the label of "rock music" and even with seminal albums such as Television's "Marquee Moon', Wire's Pink Flag" and the Clash's debut album released in 1977 nothing can remotely touch the double combination of the pure sound and vision of Low and Heroes.

Great music

Great value - I originally only wanted to buy Stage but for a few euros more, also got Lodger, Low, and Heroes.

Given the way that David Bowie metamorphosed musically throughout the 1970s, it's almost impossible to yoke three albums together in a coherent way - apart from the 'Berlin' trilogy of 'Low', 'Heroes', 'Lodger', and the in-concert double set, 'Stage'. That's what makes 'Zeit! 77-79' such an attractive purchase. The three studio albums mark a real creative high-water mark for Bowie, in a remarkably productive time, and the remastering of the albums is superb - 'Sound and Vision' sounds weighty, with an almighty snare drum crunch that doesn't sound brittle as some digital remastering can do. Tony Visconti's production work, Bowie's incredible vocals and songs, and the tremendous musicianship make for a trio of brilliant albums, although 'Lodger' is the weakest of the three. 'Stage' is an absorbing live recording that is much, much more than the usual contractual obligation concert souvenir. This set is well worth your investment. Some of the best music of the seventies, or any other era, for that matter

These (with StationToStation) are, surely his finest albums and everyone is very well acquainted with them. The music data, on the three studio albums, are the 1999, EMI remasters. Personally, I have no issue, with the quality of the music, from these remasters. To my ears and many others, who have heard them, they sound great and are not subject to the "flaws" accredited to the most recent remasters. This version of Stage, is the 2005 remaster, where Tony Visconti, addressed the running order, to make it the same as the actual concerts and this makes this album make much more sense. It's now a pleasure to listen to this and immerse yourself into the sublime musicality and atmosphere of the original concert. I also own the 2017 remaster, on vinyl and this is compatible. Either of these two versions should be the "go to", as far as Stage is concerned. My only gripe (and it's a small, humorous gripe) is: the only bit of this set, which is anything to do with the 2013 "release date" is; the cardboard slip case, which the albums are packaged in. Oh, and also the cover art / booklets and printing on the CDs, for the studio albums, here is awful! They look, exactly, like poor quality colour photocopies! Not good enough. However, the music is quality is faultless and these 3 albums plus this version of Stage are a treasure.

En una bonita caja se incluye la “trilogía de Berlín” (“Low”, “Heroes”, “Lodger”) y el doble CD en directo “Stage”. Poco se puede decir de “Low” y “Heroes” que no se haya dicho ya. Dos obras maestras. “Lodger” es un disco fantástico, que no desmerece, en absoluto, de los dos anteriores. En este disco, Bowie se adentra en algunas canciones en las músicas de otras culturas, mientras que los demás temas, si bien no presentan novedades estructurales son endemoniadamente buenos (“Fantastic Voyage”, “Boys Keep Swinging”, etc.). Yo me hubiera conformado con un box set que trajera estos tres CDs, pero además los acompaña “Stage”, un doble CD en directo extraordinario, en el que despacha versiones magníficas, con muy buen sonido y excelentemente cantadas de los dos primeros álbumes de la trilogía (“Low”, “Heroes”), de la etapa glam y de “Station to Station”, esencialmente. Y a todo esto: no incluye cartoncitos con la portada y el disco dentro, incluye los CDs tal cual los comprarías, con su carcasa de plástico y su libreto. Un chollo.

J’avais les vinyles mais m’en suis séparé. Magnifique coffret avec un live.

Ótima aquisição

This set has so much value! The Berlin Trilogy is Bowie's greatest era, and you get all of it plus a concert for an insanely low price. This is the easiest way to get these albums, so snatch it up while you can!

ボウイのベルリン時代の生活と作品がタンジェリン・ドリームの総帥エドガー・フローゼの協力があって初めて成立している事を知らない日本人があまりにも多い事に愕然としている（特に外国語が出来ない人）。ボウイのベルリンでの生活が成立するように世話したのはフローゼだし、一時はフローゼ家族の家にボウイは居候さえしていた。シンセサイザーによる音の構成の仕方の手解きをしたのはフローゼとタンジェリン・ドリームである。ボウイのベルリン三部作を共同制作したブライアン・イーノがアンビエント路線を打ち出すのはこの後のことであり、タンジェリン・ドリームの総帥エドガー・フローゼとの出会いが無かったならばあり得なかったことを知らない人が専門家も含めて多すぎる。当時のドイツの電子音楽の進展とポップスへの応用に、ボウイもイーノも、このベルリン三部作の制作を通して驚嘆した。その後のイーノの作品の傾向性の変化に如実に確認できる。そんなベルリン三部作をまとめて入手出来るのは有り難い事である。