David Bowie/The Leon Suites Outside Outtakes

Introducing an outtake album that can be called the “original OUTSIDE”. At the time, “1. OUTSIDE” was divided into two, and its reputation has increased over time, but its roots were 22 hours of recorded material. The original idea was to assemble a double album from the material, to be released in the summer of 1994. However, the record company refused to release it due to its avant-garde content. Bowie reassembled the material and completed “1. OUTSIDE.” The idea was reworked and rearranged into a total concept told as a five-part series, but “1. OUTSIDE” did not perform well at the time, and a sequel was never announced. It seemed like a huge amount of material would disappear without ever seeing the light of day, but that situation changed in 2003. The news that “outtakes of ‘1. OUTSIDE’ have been stolen” appeared on the official website, and after that, outtakes began to be circulated. We don’t know how much material was stolen, or whether the sound sources in circulation are the same as the ones that were stolen, but one of them is the true identity of this work. Due to these circumstances, although it had been leaked for some time, at first there was only a compressed mp3 sound source, and even with the lossless data that appeared later, the pitch was significantly distorted. This work is the first version that can be listened to without any compression and with accurate pitch. And the content of attention is exactly the world of “1. OUTSIDE”. It was an album with a unique worldview among Bowie’s works, but it also had a commercial sense that would make record companies nod. However, since this work only includes outtakes, the commercial sense takes a step back, and it is even richer and deeper than “1. OUTSIDE.” When you look at the tracks, you’ll see familiar song titles such as “I Am With Name” and “Leon Takes Us Outside,” but they are all blockbusters at 22:49, 22:08, and 28:30, respectively. Each song is not a neatly structured song, and they are more like chapters on a movie DVD than tracks on a CD. Rather than a strictly structured song, it is an ambient music album in which Bowie’s singing voice and sound effects are intricately intertwined, and beautiful melodies and narrative-like lyrics appear and disappear. However, it is not a “half-finished piece” that is often found in outtakes. There is no unfinished roughness in each person’s performance, including Mike Garson’s cold piano, and Bowie’s lyrics are not hummed. Of course, it is a perfect sound board, and Brian Eno’s production is also very elaborate. Although it has a strong avant-garde tone that the record company would reject, it is an album that creates a solid musical world. As mentioned above, since “1. OUTSIDE” was a reorganized and completed album, it cannot simply be “this work + OUTSIDE = original 2-disc set”, and this is not the same as the predicted sequel “2. INSIDE (or 2. CONTAMINATION). In fact, the same motifs as “1. OUTSIDE” can be seen here and there. Was it borrowed from this work and used in “1. OUTSIDE”, or was the motif simply repeated in some parts of the sequel?… Once you start thinking about it, it’s a record that you can get deeply engrossed in. That’s it. “OUTSIDE” was undoubtedly the greatest adventure and concept in Bowie’s history. Although it is innovative and ambitious, it is a masterpiece that allows you to step into a music world that unfortunately only covers the beginning. This is an album of a different dimension where you can listen to artistic works at their original pitch, which are different from mere rough mixes and demo sound sources. To the unfinished world left behind by Bowie. Why not take a trip this weekend? The Leon Suites (1. Outside Outtakes) These demos were recorded and rejected by the record company in 1994 The Leon Suites eventually turned into the 1. Outside album released in 1995 (73:27) Suite 1: I Am With Name Suite 2: Leon Takes Us Outside Suite 3: Enemy Is Fragile David Bowie, Reeves Gabrels, Mike Garson, Erdal Kizilcay, Sterling Campbell, Brian Eno