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36 sides of late Bowie
Stereophile
|December 2025
I Can't Give Everything Away is the sixth and last of the Bowie box sets that survey specific periods in the artist's career. The first was Five Years 1969–1973, released in September 2015. That was followed by Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976), A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982), Loving the Alien (1983–1988), Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001), and finally the new set. Together, the six sets are an impressive testament to a musical giant—a heavyweight tribute figuratively and literally. You could use this last installment to pump up your biceps.
I Can't Give Everything Away is named after the last song on Bowie's last album: his last recorded work. It spans the years 2002–2016 and contains no fewer than 18 LPs, including remastered versions of two of Bowie's last three studio albums.
And no, they're not giving everything away: The set costs $499.98, though you can find it discounted.
Is this the final, definitive statement of Bowie's work? It could be. In contrast to, say, Prince and Dylan, in the main Bowie released the music he recorded. Yet interest remains extremely high. How many musicians have had an exhibition, like David Bowie Is at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, which went on to tour 12 countries? As if that wasn't enough, the V&A recently opened a new building in East London where the Bowie collection will have a permanent home. The event was so important that it was one of the lead items on BBC News.
This latest box set includes the studio albums Heathen, Reality, The Next Day, and Blackstar; the live albums A Reality Tour and Montreux Jazz Festival, this last in its first official release; and two EPs: The Next Day Extra and No Plan. As in the previous box sets, there's a compilation album called Re:Call—eight sides of alternate versions, live tracks, and rarities. This is finished off with a hardback book filled with photographs plus essays by Tony Visconti, an ever-present presence.
Except for Blackstar and
This story is from the December 2025 edition of Stereophile.
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