Young Americans

Another Surprise From Bowie!:
"Young Americans" still surprises me to this day with it's amazing R & B. The sound was more clearly mixed than "Diamond Dogs" and it was a real departure for Bowie. The regular remastered CD with, "John, I'm Only Dancing", "Who Can I Be Now?" and "It's Gonna Be Me" sounds even better than the original CD. The extra three tracks are on par with the other songs and its bewildering that in an era when 12 songs per album were standard, Bowie released an eight song album. "John, I'm Only Dancing" is a much more improved R & B version than the rock version. The 5.1 mix surprised me. It is not perfect and I like it that way. Luther Vandross's back-up vocals come mostly from the rear speakers and you can hear him much more clearly. The congas on "Young Americans" are a little loud for the mix, but it makes the whole experience seem more like a live studio recording instead of a carefully remastered remix. In fact, Bowie mentioned in the liner notes that he liked recording this album with all the instruments playing at once while he sang. There are other surprises. On this DVD you can hear John Lennon speak briefly after one song and the finale of "Fame" has each word of 'fame' descending going around the room from speaker to speaker, but the loud shout of 'fame!' before, 'what's your name, what's your name, what's your name...' is missing. It catches you! The Dick Cavett interview is a treat, with Bowie sniffing and wiping his nose while fidgeting with his cane. So he did a lot of coke during this period. Who cares? The album is a perfect choice for surround sound. And that sound will vary from system to system.

mastering issues?:
young americans as an album is great - my reason for this review is to find out if i'm just hearing things or if there are a couple mistakes on the standard cd of this album (not the 5.1 mix) at 3:45 in the song young americans, the background singers seem to drop completely out of the mix for a full second in the right speaker. also, maybe 5 to 10 seconds or so before this, there is a click that kind of sounds like skip in the cd but its not - these aren't huge things but for an audiophile, they're distracting at the least, esp. with headphones - can anyone else verify that this is on all of the copies of the special edition album? its not just mine, right?

No surround problems at all:
I'm not sure why anyone would have a problem with this surround mix. It doesn't jump out at you like others I've heard (particularly on some of the Depeche Mode Special Editions), but it's perfectly adequate without distracting too much from the straightforward soul, rock and dance/disco sounds that Bowie explores on this album. I completely disagree with what another reviewer wrote about the mix on Fame; that song is a real treat in surround. It's no drastic reinvention or alteration - just Fame nicely spread across all 5 speakers in your surround setup like any fan would expect, and like any great song, it makes me want to crank the volume as much as possible even if it means pissing off the neighbors. Thank god I'm not in an apartment. That being said, as everyone knows Young Americans finds Bowie comfortably entering his blue-eyed soul period. Back when it was released, this must have thrown everyone for a loop. But looking back, consider this a warmup for what eventually would become the perfect distillation of Bowie's unique sound with funk and soul: Station to Station. Young Americans isn't quite as good as that disc, but it certainly holds its own in the Bowie catalog. There are no weak tracks here, and besides the obvious hits, check out Bowie's wild, soulful take on Lennon's Across the Universe (way better than it should be), as well as the great bonus cut It's Gonna Be Me. The remastering does a nice job bringing out how tight the background singers and musicians were on all these tracks, which again shows new life in full suround on the bonus disc. In an age where honing music to perfection is the norm, it's nice to hear the raw skill of these musicians and singers behind Bowie's impassioned vocals. If anything, buy this set simply for the bonus videos. Besides two excellent live performances, Young Americans and 1984, from the Dick Cavett show, you get a full one-on-one session between Cavett and Bowie. Talk about intense - here's Bowie playing nervously with his cane, wiping his nose, and obviously a bit too young to take much of it too seriously. Besides the apparent side effects of coke, he's as amused at our reactions to him as we are to his ever-changing personnas. Frtunately, Cavett doesn't take him too seriously either, and the two strike a fun and easy rapport. This is priceless stuff - with the only thing missing being a reunion between the two to offer some commentary. Guess I can wish. Let's hope this special edition is just the start of the entire Bowie catalog being released in this format. I know Bowie fans have been inundated with rereleases and remasters, and it's gotten a bit ridiculous. But if surround-sound, videos and vintage interviews are part of the offering, I'll sell my set of Virgin remasters and come along for the ride.

Lots of Bang for the Buck:
This is the fourth Bowie CD to be repackaged as a double-disc Anniversay set, and in many respects is the best value of the bunch. This time, in addition to a wonderfully remastered CD of "Young Americans" we get a DVD that contains the entire CD in a 5:1 mix (DTS is my favorite flavor), as well as two great videos from the Dick Cavett show and an interview that is interesting albeit painful to watch. While "Young Americans" is nowhere near the top of my list of Bowie CD's, the five stars goes for the quality and value of the package as presented. While some others have complained about the surround mix, I enjoy it immensely. If I want the original mix, it is on the CD in wonderful quality; if I want the surround mix, it is there as well. The surround mix is very active without feeling gimmicky. Frankly, I much prefer this mix to the SACD of Ziggy Stardust. The Dick Cavett footage is a great bonus, and includes live performances of "1984" and "Young Americans"(the latter appeared on the DVD Best of Bowie"). The interview segment was taped when Bowie was in the darkest hour of his well-publicized cocaine addiction, and as such is painful to watch but hard to turn off. Anyone who has seen Bowie in an interview since 1980, and is accustomed to listening to an exceptionally lucid, witty man, will be shocked by this segment. If you are a fan of Bowie's and are sitting on the fence about this release, I encourage you to try it out - it is a great package and well worth the purchase price. Now, if anyone out there is paying attention - please, please, please put together a special edition of Station to Station with the 1976 Nassau Coliseum concert as a bonus disc....

Amazing new 5.1 surround mix!!:
Bowie's longtime producer Tony Visconti strikes again! After the wonderful DVD-Audio and CD re-releases of David Live and Stage, Mr. TV has worked his magic on the classic Young Americans album. If you've never heard this album, it will rock your world. If you know this album well, the new version will rock your world even harder! I was simply amazed at how great the sound is, especially the surround effect in 5.1. I heard instrumentation and vocal arrangements that got lost in the earlier stereo album mix. It was like hearing the album for the first time all over again! If you don't have surround sound yet, the included stereo CD is just as exciting. The mix is much brighter and more powerful than before, so you won't be disappointed. Also, the DVD includes the rare video of Mr. Bowie's completely coked-up appearance on the Dick Cavett show -- absolutely essential viewing for any Bowie fan!