Toy, the long-awaited unreleased album got to #5 in the UK album chart. Probably higher than if it was released in 2001 as originally intended. Apparently its original release was shelved due to unavailable budget after a fellow labelmate on Virgin was paid off after the underperformance of their album/soundtrack. I like Toy. It sees Bowie in a rarely seen restrained and contemplative mood. He revisits his mostly ignored original material, but reinterpreted in a sombre style. It’s not anyone’s favourite album, but it’s an interesting experiment. However, it did inspire him to create the far superior Heathen.
You probably already know, but just in case, it was Mariah Carey - Glitter, funnily I’ve just been reading about this in her memoir. I had no idea how much of an impact it had on other Virgin artists. As mentioned in the Janet thread the other day, her All for You album campaign pretty much came to a grinding halt after the third single because of this.
Reissues of Outside, Earthling, Black Tie White Noise and Buddha of Suburbia available to order individually now. Finally!
