David Bowie / Aladdin Sane 40th anniversary remaster coming to CD

A 40th anniversary edition of David Bowie’s 1973 Aladdin Sane album will be reissued by Parlophone Label Group on 13 April 2013. It is being made available on CD and a version ‘Mastered for iTunes’.

The album – which features the hits The Jean Genie and Drive-In Saturday – was originally co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott, and this reissue has been remastered by Ray Staff at London’s AIR Studios. Ray cut the original LP during his time at Trident Studios (his remaster of the Ziggy Stardust, reissued last year, was widely praised).

Disappointingly, this reissue looks to be a bare-bones remaster, with no bonus tracks or newly created surround sound mix. Perhaps this shouldn’t come as a complete surprise, because when Rykodisc reissued David Bowie’s RCA catalogue in 1990, Aladdin Sane was the only studio album to be re-released without any bonus material. The disliked 1999 remaster from EMI also came sans extras, and even the 30th 2CD set from 2003 had a bonus disc which contained a fair bit of previously released material (some from the Ryko’s 1989 Sound+Vision box set).

The recording of Aladdin Sane was rather squeezed into the schedules in late 1972 as Bowie continued with his Ziggy Stardust tour. The inclusion of a cover of The Rolling Stones’ Let’s Spend The Night Together and the re-recording of his old 1970 single The Prettiest Star suggests there was not an abundance of new material to record, which may go some way to explaining why Aladdin Sane is often bereft of bonus offerings, when reissued.

• • UK Order: Aladdin Sane 40th Anniversary edition
• • USA Order: Aladdin Sane (40th Anniversary Edition)
• • CANADA Order: Aladdin Sane (40th Anniversary)
• • GERMANY Order: Aladdin Sane (40th Anniversary Edition)

Aladdin Sane 40th Anniversary Edition tracklisting:

• 1. Watch That Man
• 2. Aladdin Sane (1913-1938-197?)
• 3. Drive-In Saturday
• 4. Panic In Detroit
• 5. Cracked Actor
• 6. Time
• 7. The Prettiest Star
• 8. Let’s Spend the Night Together
• 9. The Jean Genie
• 10. Lady Grinning Soul