An exciting treat has turned up on digital music sites for David Bowie fans: a trove of remixes tied to 1997's Earthling.
To mark 25 years since the album's release on Feb. 3, 1997, remixes for the singles "Telling Lies," "Little Wonder," "Dead Man Walking" and "I'm Afraid of Americans" have been released across five digital EPs. Production on these mixes was handled by dance mix and drum n' bass luminaries like Junior Vasquez, Moby, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, 808 State's A Guy Called Gerald and Bowie's then-producer Mark Plati..
In addition to being considerably rare - virtually none of these tracks appeared on the recent box set Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001), which covered this period of Bowie's discography in part - a small handful of these tracks are being heard for the first time, including a 7" edit of Vasquez's "Little Wonder" mix, an unplugged take on Saber's "Wonder" version and a drum n' bass mix of "Nuts," a rarity from the Earthling sessions released in 2020.
READ MORE: 'Earthling': David Bowie's Industrial Odyssey
Cited by guitarist Reeves Gabrels as his favorite work with Bowie, the album pushed Bowie's live sound at the time - it was recorded shortly after his most recent tour had come to a close - into a striking industrial-themed direction. For his trouble, he scored another Top 10 in his native England and two U.K. Top 40 singles in "Little Wonder" and "Dead Man Walking." ("I'm Afraid of Americans" charted on the Billboard Hot 100 - his final appearance there until shortly before his passing in 2016.)
You can hear all five EPs below.
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