Welcome to Reality… (again)
There are lots of Reality-related releases on the horizon, all high-lighted in this handy cut-out-and-keep guide.
Extra bonus for Tour Edition of Reality
David Bowie’s rendition of the Kinks‘ Waterloo Sunset has now been added to the Reality Tour Edition as a bonus track on disc one. The Tour Edition is the version with the Bonus DVD of the live performance of Reality that we told you about a couple of weeks back. (10/14/03 NEWS: SPECIAL DVD EDITION OF REALITY DUE NEXT MONTH) This release will be released in Europe on November 17th.
Online download and German 3″ CD single
Those of you that prefer to purchase music the modern way, will be pleased to learn that Never Get Old and Waterloo Sunset will be offered for purchase as downloadable files at some point. However, any old-fashioned gits, like me, who prefer a tangible product in their hands, will be gladdened to hear that the two track single will be made available as a limited edition 3″ CD release in Germany for one week only… release date TBC.
Tony Visconti talks about North American 5:1 mix of Reality on new Sony hybrid disc format
Columbia have also announced their intention to release Reality on the brand new Sony hybrid disc format in North America on November 25th. The new Reality disc is part of an industry wide campaign which features approximately fifteen titles by other artists.
This hybrid disc format comes as a double-sided disc which will include the stereo mix of Reality on side one, while side two will feature the 5:1 surround-sound mix of Reality, plus a Bowie Biography, a photo gallery, lyrics, and the Steven Lippman film that the Reality EPK was taken from. Tony Visconti has very kindly explained the process for us once again:
Okay, about the 5.1 mix. It’s f***ing amazing! No, I guess you can’t put that. (Yes we can Tony, open-minded lot are BowieNetters, with some of the foulest mouths on the planet and a very sweary hero to boot!)
Well, like Heathen I wrapped the instruments around the listener and put David stage center for most of the mixes. In 5.1 you can hear every part more distinctly, including heavy breathing from David. With 5.1 mixes I tend to walk around the room rather than sit in one ‘sweet spot.’ This can give you an ever changing perspective of the music.
The mixes were done by myself and Hector Castillo, who assisted me on the Heathen mixes. We were assisted by engineer Mario McNulty who was on Reality from ‘day one’ and even played some percussion on the new CD. The 5.1 is on the new Sony hybrid disc and it also contains the stereo mixes in high definition SACD format and regular 16-bit CD format.
The delay in getting this version released was because the hybrid disc is brand new technology. In other words you can buy this even if you don’t have an SACD player, because it will play on normal CD players and boom boxes (unlike former SACD 5.1 releases, such as Heathen). But the 5.1 will spring to life if and when you upgrade your CD/DVD player in the future. Oh yes, virtually all SACD players can also play DVDs, as well as normal music CDs.
Thanx for clearing that one up for us Tony. Can’t wait to hear that 5:1 mix.