After a period of nearly four years, David Bowie's series of "Eras" box sets is returning with a new, final volume.  I Can't Give Everything Away (2002-2016) arrives on September 12 from ISO Records and Parlophone, concluding the career-spanning chronicle of the shape-shifting superstar.  The new 13-CD or 18-LP box picks up where 2021's Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001) left off, capturing the final years of an artist who never stopped innovating.

The set contains new pressings of:

• Heathen (2002);
• Reality (2003);
• A Reality Tour (recorded 2003, released 2010);
• The Next Day (2013);
• The Next Day Extra (2013);
• Blackstar (2016);
• and the No Plan EP (2017).

All but the last two have been newly remastered for this set. The set also premieres Montreux Jazz Festival: July 18, 2022 on 2 CDs and includes a sixth and final volume of Re:Call, featuring 41 tracks on 3 CDs.

Heathen marked another artistic rebirth for Bowie.  His 23rd studio album and first on his own ISO imprint, the 2002 album reunited him with producer Tony Visconti for the first time on a full album since 1980.  Recorded in New York, Heathen welcomed guests Pete Townshend and Dave Grohl as well as a band including guitarists Carlos Alomar, Gerry Leonard, and Mark Plati; drummer Sterling Campbell; The Borneo Horns; The Scorchio [String] Quartet; violinist Lisa Germano; and others.  Released in June 2022, Heathen embraced a bleakness and anxiety that many at the time felt was a response to post-9/11 New York; Bowie denied this, as the material was all written before that horrifying day.  Nonetheless, the album captured the mood of the city and the country beautifully.  The songs were of various vintages, including a couple which originated on the shelved Toy ("Slip Away," "Afraid") and three covers (Neil Young's "I've Been Waiting for You," Pixies' "Cactus," and The Legendary Stardust Cowboy's "I Took a Trip on a Gemini Spaceship").  "Everyone Says Hi," produced by Brian Rawling and Gary Miller and featuring Visconti on background vocals, became a top 20 hit single in Bowie's native United Kingdom.  Incorporating hard rock, punk, reggae, pop, techno, electronica, and balladry, Heathen was musically rich and a true return to form.

The next year, Bowie continued his renaissance with Reality.  Once again recorded in New York with Tony Visconti, Reality featured much of Bowie's touring band (guitarists Earl Slick and Gerry Leonard, pianist Mike Garson, drummer Sterling Campbell, background singers Gail Ann Dorsey and Catherine Russell), and was reportedly written with live performances in mind.  With its anime-inspired cover and slicker rock sheen, Reality was somewhat more accessible and straightforward than Heathen though no less powerful.  Once again, Bowie supplemented his original songs (including "Bring Me the Disco King," which had been considered for both Black Tie White Noise and Earthling) with covers - this time, George Harrison's "Try Some, Buy Some" and The Modern Lovers' "Pablo Picasso."  Bowie supported Reality with a huge tour (which turned out to be his last), and A Reality Tour was documented on a live album which also appears on I Can't Give Everything Away.  Much of the original music on Reality seemed concerned with aging and mortality - and, indeed, Reality would be Bowie's final album until a surprise return a decade later.

TSD wrote in its 2013 review that Bowie's The Next Day was "a collection of songs that's as provocative as those that have come before.  Not a reinvention, but rather a resurgence, this finely-crafted album from a defiantly singular artist is likely one that will be revisited the next day, and the next, and another day..."  The ensuing years had not left Bowie devoid of ideas.  The Next Day was as musically rich as the storied albums of the past - including Heroes, which the cover artwork cheekily referenced - and ranged from rip-roaring rock to majestic musical ruminations including the haunting lead single "Where Are We Now?"  Recorded in secret and released to an unsuspecting public, The Next Day proved that David Bowie still had the capacity to shock and surprise.

Blackstar was released on January 8, 2016 - David Bowie's 69th birthday.  Two days later, he was gone.  His cancer diagnosis had not been revealed to the public, and so the elation of Blackstar's release was soon tempered by the realization that the album would be his last.  He planned every aspect to the last minute, including the music video for "Lazarus" (written for his off-Broadway musical of the same name) which depicted the artist on his deathbed.  More explicitly jazz-oriented than its predecessors, Blackstar was recorded with Tony Visconti and a new group of musicians including saxophonist/flautist Donny McCaslin, pianist Jason Lindner, bassist Tim Lefebvre, guitarist Ben Monder, and drummer Mark Giuliana.  Indeed, Blackstar is the work of a singer-songwriter who is artistically reinvigorated even as he's staring down death itself.  A testament to Bowie's enduring power, the album went to No. 1 around the world including on both the U.S. and U.K. charts.  The next year, in 2017, ISO released the No Plan EP, consisting of four songs from Lazarus (the musical's title song, "No Plan," "Killing a Little Time," and "When I Met You") which were originally released as bonus tracks on the Lazarus cast recording.  These tracks have been included on I Can't Give Everything Away.

As with every Eras box set release, I Can't Give Everything Away includes a selection of odds and ends entitled Re:Call.  The 2CD, 41-track compendium offers a selection of the many (many!) single remixes which proliferated during this period as well as tantalizing collaborations with Lou Reed, Earl Slick, David Gilmour, Kristeen Young, and Arcade Fire; B-sides; promotional radio edits; soundtrack cuts from Stealth and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle; bonus tracks from various international special editions; and the alternative mixes/versions of five Heathen songs which originally premiered on that album's now-rare SACD.  It's easy to forget just how ubiquitous Bowie was during this period of creative resurgence, right before he retreated out of the public eye for nearly a decade.

"New Killer Star" from Sessions @AOL is streaming now.  I Can't Give Everything Away concludes this series celebrating one of the most singular voices in rock and pop, but if the past is prologue, we can be certain that this isn't the last archival release to emerge from the storied Bowie vaults.  You'll find the track listing and pre-order links below!  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

I Can't Give Everything Away (2002-2016) (ISO/Parlophone, 2025)

18LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
13CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

CD 1/LP 1-2: Heathen (2025 Remaster) (released as ISO/Columbia COL 508222 2 (U.K.)/CK 86630 (U.S.), 2002)

1. Sunday
2. Cactus
3. Slip Away
4. Slow Burn
5. Afraid
6. I've Been Waiting for You
7. I Would Be Your Slave
8. I Took a Trip on a Gemini Spaceship
9. 5:15 The Angels Have Gone
10. Everyone Says 'Hi'
11. A Better Future
12. Heathen (The Rays)

CD 2-3/LP 3-5 : Montreux Jazz Festival (previously unreleased)

1. Sunday
2. Life on Mars?
3. Ashes to Ashes
4. Cactus
5. Slip Away
6. China Girl
7. Starman
8. I Would Be Your Slave
9. I've Been Waiting for You
10. Stay
11. Changes
12. Fashion
13. Fame
14. I'm Afraid of Americans
15. 5:15 The Angels Have Gone

1. "Heroes"
2. Heathen (The Rays)
3. Everyone Says 'Hi'
4. Hallo Spaceboy
5. Let's Dance
6. Ziggy Stardust
7. Warszawa
8. Speed of Life
9. Breaking Glass
10. What in the World
11. Sound and Vision
12. Art Decade
13. Always Crashing in the Same Car
14. Be My Wife
15. A New Career in a New Town
16. Subterraneans

All tracks recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland - 7/18/2002

CD 4/LP 6: Reality (2025 Remaster) (released as ISO/Columbia COL 512555 2 (U.K.)/CK 90576 (U.S.), 2003)

1. New Killer Star
2. Pablo Picasso
3. Never Get Old
4. The Loneliest Guy
5. Looking for Water
6. She'll Drive the Big Car
7. Days
8. Fall Dog Bombs the Moon
9. Try Some, Buy Some
10. Reality
11. Bring Me the Disco King

CD 5-6/LP 7-9: A Reality Tour (2025 Remaster) (released as RZO/ISO/Columbia 88697 58827-2, 2010)

1. Rebel Rebel
2. New Killer Star
3. Reality
4. Fame
5. Cactus
6. Sister Midnight
7. Afraid
8. All the Young Dudes
9. Be My Wife
10. China Girl *
11. The Loneliest Guy
12. The Man Who Sold the World
13. Fantastic Voyage
14. Hallo Spaceboy
15. Sunday
16. Under Pressure
17. Life on Mars?
18. Battle for Britain (The Letter)

1. Fall Dog Bombs the Moon *
2. Ashes to Ashes
3. The Motel
4. Loving the Alien
5. Breaking Glass *
6. Never Get Old
7. Changes
8. I'm Afraid of Americans
9. "Heroes"
10. Bring Me the Disco King
11. Slip Away
12. Heathen (The Rays)
13. Five Years
14. Hang On to Yourself
15. Ziggy Stardust

All tracks recorded live at the Point Theatre, Dublin, Ireland - 11/22 and 11/23/2003. * were CD bonus tracks originally appended to the end of the album

CD 7/LP 10-11: The Next Day (2025 Remaster) (released as ISO/Columbia 88765 46816-2, 2013)

1. The Next Day
2. Dirty Boys
3. The Stars (Are Out Tonight)
4. Love is Lost
5. Where Are We Now?
6. Valentine's Day
7. If You Could See Me
8. I'd Rather Be High
9. Boss of Me
10. Dancing Out in Space
11. How Does the Grass Grow?
12. (You Will) Set the World on Fire
13. You Feel So Lonely You Could Die
14. Heat

CD 8/LP 12 : The Next Day Extra (2025 Remaster) (released as ISO/Columbia 88883 78781-2, 2013)

1. Atomica
2. Love is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy for The DFA)
3. Plan
4. The Informer
5. I'd Rather Be High (Venetian Mix)
6. Like a Rocket Man
7. Born in a UFO
8. I'll Take You There
9. God Bless the Girl
10. So She

Tracks 3, 8 and 10 first released on deluxe edition of The Next Day - ISO/Columbia 88765 46192-2, 2013
Track 9 first released on Japanese edition of The Next Day - ISO/Sony Records Int'l SICP 30127, 2013

CD 9/LP 13: Blackstar (released as ISO/Columbia 888751 73862-2, 2016)

1. Blackstar
2. 'Tis Pity She Was a Whore
3. Lazarus
4. Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)
5. Girl Loves Me
6. Dollar Days
7. I Can't Give Everything Away

CD 10/LP 14: No Plan (released as ISO/Columbia 889854 19612-2, 2017)

1. Lazarus
2. No Plan
3. Killing a Little Time
4. When I Met You

CD 11-13/LP 15-18: Re:Call 6

1. Slow Burn (Single Edit) (ISO/Columbia single CSK 59883, 2002)
2. Wood Jackson (ISO/Columbia single 673134-2, 2002)
3. When the Boys Come Marching Home (ISO/Columbia single 673134-3, 2002)
4. Safe (ISO/Columbia single 673134-2, 2002)
5. Sunday (Moby Remix) (from Heathen: Special Edition, Columbia CK 86656, 2002)
6. A Better Future (Remixed by Air) (from Heathen: Special Edition, Columbia CK 86656, 2002)
7. Slip Away (SACD Mix) (from Heathen [SACD] Columbia CS 86630, 2002)
8. Slow Burn (SACD Mix) (from Heathen [SACD] Columbia CS 86630, 2002)
9. I've Been Waiting for You (SACD Mix) (from Heathen [SACD] Columbia CS 86630, 2002)
10. 5:15 (The Angels Have Gone) (SACD Mix) (from Heathen [SACD] Columbia CS 86630, 2002)
11. A Better Future (SACD Mix) (from Heathen [SACD] Columbia CS 86630, 2002)
12. Safe (SACD Mix) (from Heathen [SACD] Columbia CS 86630, 2002)
13. Everyone Says 'Hi' (Radio Edit) (ISO/Columbia single 673134-2, 2002)

1. Sunday (Tony Visconti Mix) (ISO/Columbia single COL 673076-2, 2003)
2. Everyone Says 'Hi' (METRO Remix - Radio Edit) (from War Child: Hope, London 50466 5846 2, 2003)
3. Heathen: The Rays (Live in Berlin 9/22/02)
4. Hop Frog (feat. David Bowie) - Lou Reed (from The Raven, Sire/Reprise 48372-2, 2003)
5. Saviour (feat. David Bowie) - Kristeen Young (from Breasticles, Test Tube Baby CD, no cat. no., 2003)
6. Isn't It Evening (The Revolutionary) (feat. David Bowie) - Earl Slick (Schnitzel single SRSN 125537, 2024)
7. Bring Me the Disco King (Loner Mix) (from Underworld: Music from the Motion Picture, Lakeshore LKS 33781, 2003)
8. New Killer Star (Radio Edit) (ISO/Columbia single COL 674275-1, 2003)
9. Love Missile F1-11 (ISO/Columbia single COL 674275-1, 2003)
10. Fly (from Reality: Special Edition, ISO/Columbia CK 90660, 2003)
11. Queen of All the Tarts (Overture) (from Reality: Special Edition, ISO/Columbia CK 90660, 2003)
12. Never Get Old (Single Edit) (ISO/Columbia single SAMPCS 13495-1, 2003)
13. Waterloo Sunset (ISO/Columbia single SAMPCS 13495-1, 2003)
14. Rebel Rebel (Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle Mix) (from Columbia/Sony Music Soundtrax CK 90132, 2003)
15. New Killer Star (Sessions at AOL 9/23/03) (ISO/Columbia digital single, 2004)

1. Days (Live) (A Reality Tour digital bonus track, 2010)
2. 5:15 (The Angels Have Gone) (Live) (A Reality Tour digital bonus track, 2010)
3. Rebel Never Gets Old (Radio Mix) (ISO/Columbia single 675040-6, 2004)
4. (She Can) Do That (With BT) (from the motion picture Stealth) (from Epic/Sony Music Soundtrax EK 94475, 2005)
5. Life on Mars? (Live at Fashion Rocks 9/8/05) - with Arcade Fire (digital-only release, 2005)
6. Wake Up (Live at Fashion Rocks 9/8/05) - with Arcade Fire (digital-only release, 2005)
7. Five Years (Live at Fashion Rocks 9/8/05) - with Arcade Fire (digital-only release, 2005)
8. Arnold Layne (Live at Royal Albert Hall) - David Gilmour with David Bowie (EMI single (CD)EM 717, 2006)
9. Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy for the DFA) (ISO/Columbia single 44-10299, 2013)
10. Sue (Or In a Season of Crime) (2014 Version) (ISO/Columbia EP 88875 02870-1, 2014)
11. 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore (2014 Version) (ISO/Columbia EP 88875 02870-1, 2014)
12. Lazarus (Radio Edit) (released on Legacy, Columbia/Legacy 88985 37660-2, 2016)
13. I Can't Give Everything Away (Radio Edit) (released on Legacy, Columbia/Legacy 88985 37660-2, 2016)