Black Tie White Noise by David Bowie (2003) Audio CD | Import Edition | Perfect for Music Collectors & Bowie Fans

I have issues with some of the reviews for this album, as I find them unqualified and misleading in reference to the work of David Bowie, when they criticize. I particularly wonder at the fans who didn't understand the DVD edits. Yea! Sound+Vision.First, I am a fan since Hunky Dory (1971 when I was 17 years old). And still, Hunky Dory is my favorite Bowie Album, because no matter what shape he assumes, this Bowie is always there in vocal styling and spirit. Other manifestations of the chameleon seem fragmentary by comparison. The simple melodies and strong lyrics (with the soul of an English bard) summarize all that I feel is best about Bowie. Hunky Dory may be considered primitive to some, but it is simply masterful to me.Now about soul: Is this a color? or heart? or feeling? This man's soul is as real as Eminem's, Kenneth Edmund's, Sinatra's, Puccini's, or Mary J. Blige's, etc., etc. None of these artistes are fakes, manufactured by a studio or management team.However, I believe David feels Black Tie/White Noise is his best work. He says it was inspired by the 90s L.A. riots. And that Caucasians deal with "people of color" by expecting them to "become" more white, or just completely ignoring them. I live in L.A., and I agree with this assessment. This city is very insular. In contrast, Tampa, Florida (my hometown) is predominately Republican, but has stronger, truer racial integration. Go figure. David is trying to give back to black music, which he credits as his greatest inspiration. Some "fans" who don't know that David's soul is not plastic but, rather, flesh and blood, probably have never accepted and can never accept his wife Iman, or their marriage. She is definitely his black tie and proof of his soul. He was wed to Angela for 12 or so months. Wed to Iman "forever."The DVD is edited in a way meant to seduce the viewer into the action, by means of rhythm, color, graceful elegance, and camera technique-----Performance Art. It may seem like a maelstrom, but give it time, and you'll go with the flow, and like it, or end with a migraine. This is considered the MTV style of video editing, (meant to emulate/stimulate the minds of precocious 13 year olds), and it works for me. Do you remember when you were thirteen (barring oppressed households). How the world seemed like your oyster? And you had imagination? Black Tie/White Noise videos have this quality. He is as good as or even better than Mick Jagger in being forever young. Watching this DVD makes me feel extraordinarily young.I find the package to be a work of art itself. It is a paper box that folds out and houses 2 jewel boxes. If you keep all your CDs in precisely measured slots, this box set will not fit. It is the same height and length of a regular jewel box, but the depth is about 2.5 times larger. Height, length, and width as follows: (126 mm x 143 mm x 25 mm) or (5" x 5.625" x 1"). I have a CD tower whose slots each house 13 standard jewel boxes standing upright, as if on a bookshelf. With this on the shelf, only 12 disks will fit in a slot. This set is roughly the size of 2.5 boxes combined, not a big deal. The set folds out in the center like a book, into 2-panels, with the original CD and liner notes (printed info on package) on the left, and the Bonus CD/DVD and liner notes on the right. Then, it opens yet again on both sides to reveal a 4-panel spread that looks like a banner advertisement of the words "David Bowie: Black Tie White Noise," in white/orange/black coloring. While closed and held right-side up, both disks can be slid out the right side of the package, as if it were a regular sleeve housing a standard jewel box. Hey, you can always just take the 2 regular-sized jewel boxes out of the paper box. In my opinion, the total package is as idiosyncratic as the action in the DVD, and both are well designed. Truly, a collector's item.To fans, Bowie is known equally a visual artist as a musician. I was almost expecting not to like this DVD/album set based on some fan's reviews. He is an artiste no matter what. Moreover, the DVD interviews cut from one to another rapidly so as to convey the mood of the album or the man himself, in a minimum of words. Did you ever think that maybe this is how he lives? Jet set, creative, international traveler; he is all this. His and Mick Jagger's lives have the vitality of teenaged boys.It's like Beyonce asking in "Lose My Breath" from Destiny Fulfilled, "Can you keep up?"I'm so sure this man is extraordinary, and no regular guy is ever going to figure him out. Maybe, we can study him, if our pride does not prevent this. I did not need for him to explain every detail to me. Thus, the style of taking sentences from several different topics and splicing them together as a whole, will force you into using all your senses to understand. Many will feel that he never quite "tells his story completely or clearly," and they never fully come to understand the man, his repertory, or what he is trying to say/show.I say this, then, just look, listen, and look again, if need be. Let your feelings do the explaining. And if you still need for Bowie to tell you what he had for breakfast on March 3, 1999 (an arbitrary date), then the chameleon successfully escaped you, according to plan. The nature of a chameleon is to escape danger.By accepting Bowie's art (practically unconditionally) without wanting to change anything, you might become a real Bowie fan, who can rock, swing, bump, and grind right along with him and never miss a beat.Fan, I say. Not patron. I'm forever a Bowie FAN-AT-IC. This Limited Edition album is like a "rush of blood" to my head, and it renews my spirit for avant-garde music.