Originally released through RCA Records in June 1972, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars was David Bowie’s fifth studio album. Co-produced by Ken Scott–who’d already worked with The Beatles, Elton John, Procol Harum, Lou Reed, and other key British acts of the era–the album saw Bowie backed by Mick 'Woody' Woodmansey on drums, Trevor Bolder on bass, and Mick Ronson on guitar. The recording sessions were held at London’s Trident Studios between November 1971 and February 1972.
Ziggy Stardust was a massive success, peaking at #5 on UK album charts. Though Bowie had already broken through with “Space Oddity” several years earlier, it was this album that truly propelled him to superstardom. Ziggy contains several of his best-known songs, including “Starman,” “Moonage Daydream,” “Suffragette City,” and the title track.
To celebrate the album’s 30th anniversary in 2002, Ziggy was reissued on Super Audio CD with a new 5.1 surround sound mix created from the original multitrack tapes by original producer Ken Scott. The SACD, like many surround music discs released during the early-2000s, has become exceedingly difficult to find for sensible money on the second-hand market.
I picked up a second-hand copy several years ago and was disappointed by the 5.1 surround mix. Rather than a truly immersive experience befitting the theatrical nature of the music, it instead offered a sort of ‘expanded stereo’ presentation. Woody’s drums and Bolder’s bass are in the front speakers, but everything else–Ronson’s guitars, keyboards, the orchestration, and even Bowie’s voice–seems to float out towards the middle of the room. There are a handful of fun moments where unique elements appear behind the listener, but these are far and few between.
When it was announced earlier this year that Scott and producer/engineer Emre Ramazanoglu (who also worked on the recent immersive remixes of Brian Eno's classic catalog) would be helming a Dolby Atmos mix for the new Blu-Ray Audio edition, I feared that it would mark yet another missed opportunity. But I’m pleased to report that the Atmos mix has been approached in a completely different manner, making heavy use of the side and rear surround speakers for key elements like acoustic guitars, keyboards, organ, and backing vocals.
“Five Years” kicks things off with Woody’s drums slowly floating in from the rear speakers up to the front stage, before a sudden burst of ceiling activity announces the arrival of the band. Piano pops up mostly in the side surrounds along with acoustic guitar, while strings take the rear. Davie Bowie’s voice appears suspended between the front and front height speakers, seemingly hovering directly in front of the listener’s face with startling clarity.
Moving into “Soul Love,” handclaps alternate between the rear right and side left surround speakers. The horns and background vocals are pushed out between the fronts and sides, activating the ‘front wide’ speakers in a 9.1.4 or 9.1.6 setup.
Guitars again sit mostly in the wides for “Moonage Daydream,” while the backing vocals and strings hover beside the listener. As in the previous 5.1 mix, the vocal echoes bounce all around the room.
The first acoustic guitar in “Starman” appears completely isolated in the right rear speaker, then quickly migrates to the side right channel just before the drums come in. The synthesizer just before the chorus pops up first in the left rear speaker, then shifts over to the right. Bowie’s vocals move to ground-level for “It Ain’t Easy,” while the harmonies during the chorus seem to come mostly from the height array.
"Dolby Atmos is a whole different way of listening. You're in there with the act, with David. 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 theater with the amazing show going on."
Ken Scott, 2024
Piano floats out into the room in “Lady Stardust,” as Bowie’s voice again ascends toward the front heights. Backing vocals hover beside the listener from the side surrounds. “Star” shifts the piano back to the front, instead wrapping guitars and harmony vocals around the listener.
Ronson’s electric guitar in “Hang On To Your Life” sits between the front left and side left speakers, while the acoustic guitar sits between front right and side right. The iconic guitar intro to “Ziggy Stardust” extends from the front right speaker out into the side right. Scott and Ramazanoglu made an interesting choice with Bowie’s voice in the first verse, splitting the double-tracked vocals hard left and right.
“Suffragette City” is one of my personal favorite tracks on the album, but from an immersive standpoint it's a bit of a mixed bag. The charging guitars and synthesizer blasts seem to have been brought down in level, diminishing some of the excitement and frenetic energy that drives the song. That said, it is fun to hear the ‘hey man’ backing vocals mostly in the side surrounds.
Ziggy Stardust concludes with “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide,” showcasing the acoustic guitar and Bowie’s vocal primarily in the center channel. Horns take the sides, with strings pushed more to the back of the room. As the backing vocal chorus chants ‘so wonderful’ at the end, Bowie’s voice amusingly walks around the room.
Though I feel that perhaps there was scope for an even more experimental approach, with greater use of the full 7.1.4 palette, this is a stunning improvement from the previous 5.1 release–not just in terms of the spatial effect, but also overall tonality. By carefully augmenting Woody’s drumming with triggered samples, Scott and Ramazanoglu have achieved a newfound degree of ‘punch’ and presence not heard in any prior version of this album.
At a mere ~$20 from most online retailers, it’s hard not to recommend the new standalone Blu-Ray Audio edition of Ziggy Stardust. The Dolby Atmos mix offers a very enjoyable listening experience that leaves the previous 5.1 surround rendition in the dust. It will be very interesting to see if Mr. Scott goes on to revisit the other three albums he made with David Bowie–December 1971's Hunky Dory, April 1973's Aladdin Sane, and October 1973's Pin Ups–in the immersive format.
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