The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Sta

One of my favourite Bowie records, next to "Station To Station". Music speaks for itself, so this review concentrates on the 2016 180g vinyl release. I had actually not owned a copy of this album on vinyl, and had picked up the 2022 half-speed mastered edition at a local record shop. Went to play it and while sound OK, it sounded muddy, in some cases distorted and in short...just did not sound right. "Suffragette City" in particular did not sound like it should. Comparing to that track on my old 1976 pressing of Changesonebowie...that sounded MUCH better despite the clicks and pops. Who knows why...could be that the album was mastered from a digital copy of the original master tape, could have been defective, maybe did not like my turntable setup (although it sounded similar on 2 other tables, 2 different cartridges that I have)...not sure. Given my positive experience with the 2016 180g remaster of "Station To Station", I decided to try this edition, purchased from Amazon. NIGHT AND DAY DIFFERENCE! Zero surface noise, no clicks, no pops, no skips (while some folks here received defective records or perhaps had to tweak their turntable setups, mine required none at all...I'm running a Shure M44E with a Jico SAS N55E stylus on a Sansui 1050E turntable for reference). Simply put, it sounded RIGHT! Crystal clear instrumentation, Bowie's voice sounded as it should and excellent stereo separation. Audio review (equipment, albums, music in general) is super subjective, so I ask you to take my review with a giant grain of sand and a very generous pour Margarita :), but I can tell in the 30+ years of buying/playing/collecting vinyl, this is an outstanding vinyl pressing of this album. Enjoy!

Great album that why a bought it

I had always wanted this album and finally got around to buying it. This is one of the greatest rock albums of all time IMO!

This is undoubtedly, the single best release since the Bowie team starting remastering and re-issuing his releases two decades ago. The stereo version on here is a sonic upgrade worthy of anyone's catalog. The album has never sounded so clear. The ATMOS mix is fantastic as well. The only word of warning is that in an effort to boost Bowie's vocals, Mick Ronson's guitar has be reduced a bit. As producer Ken Scott, himself, noted in reference to this change, if you boost something, you have to take away something else. Personally, I would have preferred Mick's guitar as maximum volume, but to each their own.

I purchased my copy in October 2017. Side B skipped a lot, just as many other reviews here say. At that time I was using a brand new AT95E stylus, and it was properly calibrated. I had no skipping problems playing any of my other records, even used ones that weren't in the best condition. I was able to minimize the amount of skips on Side B by turning the anti-skate control up a little, but it would still randomly skip an unacceptable amount of times. A year later in October 2018, I got an Ortofon 2M Red. Again, I properly calibrated it. I decided to play Side B of this same copy as a test. I was able to play through Side B three times now without a single skip! It plays perfectly now. Don't take this review as me telling you to hop on the Ortofon 2M band wagon. I'm not even saying that there is no problem with this reissue pressing. Rather, I'm suggesting that you will find different results depending on the stylus you are using and how well your deck is set up. There are plenty of 5-star reviews here since the release that haven't had any issues. I had the AT95E for a year, and I was perfectly happy with it otherwise. I only upgraded to the Ortofon 2M Red because one was given to me for free. If your copy is skipping on Side B, I suggest making sure your deck is calibrated. This includes cartridge alignment, tracking force, and anti-skate. It makes all the difference. There are plenty of great tutorials on YouTube for this. If that doesn't help, perhaps try and new stylus/cartridge.

Best and missed

Hace algun tiempo he comenzado a adquirir albums con una "renovada" mezcla multicanal (algunos han sido una decepción otros una sorpresa agradable). Sin embargo, Ziggy Stardust fue una experiencia emocional y psicológica, la mezcla Atmos es increíble, proporciona una separación de los instrumentos, la presencia de la voz y la sensación atmosférica provoca una inmersion profunda... La experiencia de escuchar Moonage Daydream con cada detalle y textura sonora es invaluable. Una recomendación obligada para todo fan de David Bowie y para los fans del sonido Multicanal es una experiencia memorable

Great album, crumby packaging. OK if you have a spare Jewel case.

After fifty years or so this is still my favourite Bowie album and the new High Res Surround Atmos mix is simply phenomenal.

David au top. Superbe album. low est aussi indispensable,en fait toute la discographie de Bowie est vitale.... A découvrir et écouter sans aucune modération.

Absolutely beautiful remaster! The 5.1 & Atmos mixes are so vibrant; the stereo mixes are so pristeen, it's hard to believe the recording is now 53 years old. Having grown up with Ziggy, I’ve heard most renditions to-date, including the SACD mix, but this remaster is just stunning! Thanks for reading.

Great quality release. Atmos mix sounds amazing with a 5.1.2 set up. You feel like you are surrounded by the band with discrete sounds coming from all the speakers. Perfect nuances, well balanced, and clean audio. 2024 HD stereo mix is the cleanest of all the stereo mixes, but original mixes are a good too in PCM stereo if you want to experience the album as it was released back in the day and don't have a vinyl copy. Great work was put into this release. I'm especially happy of the inclusion of splash art on the TV screen since so far my only other experience had a single image for the entirety of the play. The only downside of this whole package is that the included booklet does not include song lyrics, it only gives you information on the artists' contribution to each songs. I hope we get some more pure audio releases. PS: video on screen is muted as I did not know if it would get taken down for copy rights, as well the audio that would have been uploaded would not do justice to how well this is mixed.