Just in time for the 75th birthday of David Bowie, who died at the beginning of 2016, the eagerly awaited, long-lost song collection “Toy” comes onto the market.
“Toy: Box” contains songs that Bowie actually wanted to release in 2001 – following a phase of occasionally aimless experimentation and commercial failure. After triumphing at the Glastonbury Festival in 2000, the superstar played new interpretations of songs with a fantastic rock band that he originally wrote between 1964 and 1971.
After an argument with his record company, he put the “Toy” project in the safe, it seemed lost. The recently published work presents Bowie once more as a terrific singer (“Silly Boy Blue” or “Karma Man” are pure revelations), but also when you look unfamiliar in the rearview mirror.
The retro touch of 60s songs like “I Dig Everything”, “The London Boys” or “Baby Loves That Way” benefits the accessibility of the material. The “Toy” box set with alternative mixes and B-sides as well as the “Unplugged & Somewhat Slightly Electric” versions on additional sound carriers provide further information on a previously underestimated Bowie phase.
In sum, “Toy” shouldn’t add anything really sensational or completely new to a fabulous artist biography. These 20-year-old pieces are definitely a reasonable consolation for fans on Bowie’s birthday today and on the upcoming anniversary of his death (January 10th).
