The new 50th anniversary Blu-ray edition of David Bowie’s landmark 1972 release The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spider From Mars is generally a joy, featuring its first Dolby Atmos spatial audio mix.
From the album’s official press release, we learn: “The Blu-Ray audio disc of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spider From Mars features four iterations of this timeless album: 2024 Dolby Atmos mix, 2024 Stereo Mix (96 kHz / 24-bit PCM), original 1972 Stereo Mix — 2012 remaster (192 kHz / 24-bit PCM), original 1972 Stereo Mix – 2012 remaster (48 kHz / 24-bit PCM). The Atmos version of the album was mixed by Emre Ramazanoglu and Ken Scott at RAK Studios, London.”
The press release shares Mr. Scott’s vision for the Atmos mix: “You’re in there with the act, with David. He was so theatrical I think being able to put him into an immersive place makes this a really good choice for an Atmos mix. My whole philosophy with this has been to make it more like a live experience. And I’ve even got him moving about the stage a little towards the end, the way he would have in real life. Hopefully, it just feels as if you’re in the theatre with this amazing show going on.”
The new 50th anniversary Blu-ray edition of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spider From Mars mostly keeps Bowie center stage. While the Dolby Atmos format caps out at 48 kHz and 24 bits, the new Blu-ray ultimately does sound better, richer, more vibrant and alive than the earlier 2003 SACD 5.1 surround mix which sounds comparatively a bit thin (frustratingly, as it has some nice discrete immersive moments!).
Given what the producers set out to achieve — simulating the vibe of a concert stage — and as Dolby Atmos mixes go in general, this new mix is quite enjoyable. It increases Bowie’s presence in the room and there are points where it does feel much more like a performance, notably on “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide” where Bowie seems to traverse the room. Close your eyes to imagine him high-fiving front row audience members.
I love the presence of the guitars in Ziggy’s new simulated Atmos soundstage. More amplifier tone comes through than other versions of the album I’ve heard. It’s like the difference between sitting in the first five rows of a concert hall versus sitting in the back. Upfront, you feel the visceral power of the band.
From that perspective, I consider the new 50th anniversary Blu-ray edition of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spider From Mars a pretty solid success.
My only nit to pick is minor: it would have been nice if the producers had remastered and included the earlier 2003 5.1 surround mix as a bonus on the Blu-ray Disc. This would have been a nice complement to the new mixes, allowing for fun comparisons.
I suspect this new Ziggy is the best we can expect these 50 year old rock and roll recordings to sound, so in that light this Bowie Blu-ray is a dream for fans. It does allow the music to be re-discovered with a fresh perspective, taking advantage of the latest home entertainment technology. Given you can get it now for less than $20 on Amazon (by clicking on the title anywhere in this review), there is no reason to not pick up this classic album anew.
Now, can we please have a richly immersive and discrete Dolby Atmos re-mix of Bowie’s Hunky Dory?
Where to buy: $24.98 $18.19 at Amazon
Mark Smotroff is a deep music enthusiast / collector who has also worked in entertainment oriented marketing communications for decades supporting the likes of DTS, Sega and many others. In addition to writing for eCoustics.com, he reviews vinyl for Analog Planet and has written for Audiophile Review, Sound+Vision, Mix, EQ, etc. You can learn more about him at LinkedIn.
