TOY

I'm probably rating this a bit generously, since it is really a collectors/fans release, and not a particular prog-adjacent one at that.

Toy is a lost album from 2000, consisting almost entirely of new recordings of songs Bowie had written and previously recorded in the 1960s. Recording with the band from his Glastonbury appearance, the songs sound contemporary to the time they were recorded, they would have fit in well in the indie scene of the time. They're not that interesting to the ears of a prog fan, and even to the more pop-leaning fan, not really his most interesting songs. They're of most interest to committed fans interested in hearing some of his early writing, at least if they can't track down the original recordings. I don't think the new arrangements necessarily sound like improvements on those original recordings, except possibly for "Conversation Piece"

The CD release comes in the form of a 3 disc box set (sometimes referred to as Toy Box). The second disc is two additional songs, and 'alternative mixes' that on initial hearing didn't sound that different. The third disc consists of more acoustic alternative performances, and is more interesting to listen to.

Toy was a project Bowie recorded in late 2000 before shelving it, in which he took out a clutch of his old 1960s singer-songwriter material for a spin. Not only do these songs largely predate his glam era, but a clutch of them even predate the hippy folk which filled out his 1969 self-titled album (much to the confusion of people who bought it largely on the strength of Space Oddity).

Not that we're going back to the Anthony Newley mimicry of his 1967 self-titled album (the debut nobody likes to talk about) and its preceding singles - even though some of the same songs are here. (Welcome back, Silly Boy Blue and The London Boys!) Rather than just doing a straight-up rerecording in the same style, Bowie takes the opportunity to radically rearrange and re-cast the songs, as well as providing a wistful vocal performance which adds some thirty years of life experience to the mix. This adds a new dimension to songs which in their original forms were naïve juvenilia, as well as a surprisingly modern one; at points I'm reminded of Suede, especially the quieter moments of the post-Bernard Butler incarnation of the band.

In terms of musical style, this provides a welcome bridge between ...hours and Heathen, with the centre of gravity being somewhat towards the latter; Toy doesn't rock as hard or go as dark as Heathen does, but it certainly manages a directness which eluded ...hours. This particular backing band had also supported Bowie on his all-conquering Glastonbury appearance in 2000, as well as the intimate BBC Radio Theatre gig a few days later, and it makes sense that Bowie would have tried to keep hold of them, because those gigs revealed a band thoroughly in tune with the great man's intentions.

Whilst in his lifetime Toy languished in the toybox (bar for an unauthorised leaked version), the Bowie estate would eventually release the album alongside the Brilliant Adventure boxed set, as well as putting out a 3CD "Toy Box" with additional takes. That might be overkill - but Toy itself is surprisingly good, its shelving only explicable by the fact that a) Bowie may have been justifiably nervous about digging up this old material in public, given the tendency of Decca/Deram to regularly rerelease the original recordings of these songs for a quick buck, and b) he may well have already been inspired in the general direction which yielded Heathen. Still, it's a solid album which I am glad has now emerged, since it's certainly a more successful take on the same sort of wistful atmosphere as ...hours.