David Bowie/London,UK 4.4.1978

LP “SLAUGHTER IN THE AIR”. That is David Bowie’s 1978 “Isolar II”, a masterpiece among masterpieces that conveys the early stages of the American leg. The sound source that captured the stage at the LA Forum on April 4th, the third day of the tour, with the highest quality sound is the ultimate high-quality sound that makes you want to call it “this is the sound board”, and it is a high quality that still remains unchanged even in 2019. It was an audience album. Because of its exceptional quality and its appearance on the LA Forum, in the 2000s there was speculation that it was recorded by Mike Millard. However, in reality, it was a release from a person (Ken Douglas) who continued to work under the name of labels such as TMOQ and TAKRL, and the sound source was obtained independently by him. In the first place, the sound source of Millard was released as a bootleg in the 1980s, after the release of “LISTEN TO THIS EDDIE”. The original tapes of such Ken Douglas-related sound sources are often discovered later, but the original tape source of this “SLAUGHTER IN THE AIR”, along with Led Zeppelin’s “GOING TO CALIFORNIA”, is difficult to find. I have come to this day without it. So, over 10 years ago, we carefully transferred this mint condition LP and put it on CD, and it received great acclaim, with people saying, “This is finally the masterpiece that everyone wanted to hear on CD.” I’ll put it away. After that, a version appeared on the internet that pretended to be the tape source of the main disc, but it was nothing more than equalizing the LP and correcting the pitch. What’s more, the original sound lost its freshness due to excessive equalization. Will the vintage LP “SLAUGHTER IN THE AIR”, whose value has not faded at all even in the 21st century, remain immortal forever? Just as I was thinking about it, in November, a shocking discovery shocked enthusiasts all over the world. What a genuine audience recording tape of April 4th by Mike Millard appeared on the internet. This time, the best version of his masterpiece “LISTEN TO THIS EDDIE” will be released, but strangely, his unknown masterpiece recording will be released at the same time! The “SLAUGHTER IN THE AIR” source (hereinafter referred to as “LP source”) has an unusually balanced sound image, and in 1978 it would have been mistaken for an AM radio broadcast. On the other hand, there were parts where I felt the lack of realism that could only be expected from audience recording. However, as expected, it is a mirrored recording. The realistic feeling of being immersed in the atmosphere of the day, which was lacking with the LP source, is outstanding. What’s more, it’s an audience recording that was also done at the LA Forum less than a year after “Eddie”, so the texture is similar. Just being able to enjoy Bowie’s ’78 forum with that feeling of the eternal masterpiece “Eddie” will give a big shock to enthusiasts. The LP source that conveyed the contours of the performance at a level comparable to a soundboard had truly wonderful sound quality, but there is an amazing new audience that can be compared to it. And what makes me happy is that it is the first complete recording of April 4th, which includes everything from the opening song “Warszawa” that was not recorded on the LP source! If it’s the “Isolar II” tour recording disc, we can’t talk about it unless we start with it. This was the biggest drawback of LP sources. Furthermore, the member introductions that were not included in the LP and the beginning of “Rebel Rebel”, which was slightly missing, are also included this time. As expected, it does a good job with Millard and Bowie. The reason why “SLAUGHTER IN THE AIR” has been treated as such a masterpiece is because the official “STAGE” originally released was recorded at the end of the American leg of “Isolar II”, but it was far from the actual stage. Another point is that the LP was recorded as it was on the actual stage, whereas it was edited and released. Nowadays, “STAGE” has been remixed and a new version has been released that is based on the actual concert, but the editing that arranged the songs in the order in which they were recorded at the time felt strange. What was even more important was that this disc perfectly captured the free and “aggressive” staging of the early stages of the “Isolar II” tour. Add to that the detailed sense of realism and closeness of the sound image that is unique to mirrored sound sources, and you’re in for a treat. Originally, the “Isolar II” tour had a very easy-to-understand structure with Berlin songs in the first half and Ziggy songs in the second half, but on the other hand, in the first half, new songs at the time including instrumentals were played all at once, making it an “aggressive” structure. It ended with the huge hit “Fame”. However, from the European leg after this, “Fame” moved to the front of the first half, and this made the hurdle of “continuing new songs” a little lower. What is more noteworthy is that at this point, the cover song “Alabama Song” representing 1978 had not yet been added to the repertoire, and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide” was being played instead. In 1974, this song was sung as if to disappear as a nightly finale, but now it’s sung powerfully by Bowie, who has come out of the cocaine vortex. It is also attractive that you can enjoy the passionate singing here with the highest sound quality unique to Millard. On the other hand, at this point, I felt that the jiggy tone of the second half of the set had become too strong (after all, even “Star”, which was not featured in real time, was played), and the official “STAGES” recording live. I guess it’s no wonder that the set list dropped at that point. And with the LP source, the Berlin corner in the first half, which appeared to be as if the audience were listening with bated breath, was interesting to find out that it was even more exciting when listening to the mirrored sound source, which has a good sense of realism. Does this mean that if the place changes, the product will change? Naturally, the LP source will be distributed as a gift, so even though both are extremely high-level audience albums, you will be able to hear and compare the feel of the completely different sounds. Also, it is good to listen to and compare the start and finish of the American leg with the already introduced masterpiece “MADISON SQUARE GARDEN 1978 FINAL NIGHT”. (Remaster Memo) Corrected pitch about 20% faster than a semitone. The Forum, Inglewood, Los Angeles, CA, USA 4th April 1978 PERFECT SOUND Disc 1(49:31) 01. Warszawa 02. “Heroes” 03. What In The World 04. Be My Wife 05. The Jean Genie 06. Blackout 07. Sense Of Doubt 08. Speed ​​Of Life 09. Breaking Glass 10. Beauty And The Beast 11. Fame Disc 2(55:21) 01. Band Introductions / Five Years 02. Soul Love 03. Star 04. Hang On To Yourself 05. Ziggy Stardust 06. Suffragette City 07. Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide 08. Art Decade 09. Station To Station 10. Stay 11. TVC15 12. Rebel Rebel David Bowie: Vocals / Guitar Adrian Belew: Lead Guitar Carlos Alomar: Rhythm Guitar / Backing Vocals Dennis Davis: Drums / Percussion George Murray: Bass / Backing Vocals Roger Powell: Keyboards / Synthesizer / Backing Vocals Sean Mayes: Piano / Backing Vocals Simon House: Electric Violin