A week or so back I wrote about David Bowie’s The Leon Suites, three roughly 20 minute long musical -what?  Plays?  Musical stories?  I’m truly not certain how to categorize them- which Mr. Bowie created along with collaborator Brian Eno back in 1994 and presented to record companies for consideration as a formal release.  (Read about that here)

The music companies rejected the material and Mr. Bowie reworked it for the 1995 album 1. Outside.  SInce Mr. Bowie’s passing earlier this year and now that all his “official” albums are out there, I’m of the opinion that 1. Outside is the very best album Mr. Bowie produced in the later parts of his career.

Having said that, I was always curious about the album and what went into its making.  I’d heard rumors that there were some 20+ hours of recordings in vaults which were the genesis of the work.  Along with the rumors of a wealth of recordings created for 1. Outside, there were rumors Mr. Bowie intended to release more albums in the world he presented there.

Of course, Mr. Bowie never did.

The critics weren’t kind to 1. Outside.  While I loved the album upon its release, I was dumbfounded to read review after review savaging the album as being too much (Ironically, over time the sentiment has turned and I suspect most people now consider the album a high point of his later career).  Even worse for Mr. Bowie, when he toured in support of the album with NIN, there was word the audience cheered and demanded NIN but had little to no interest in Bowie…

Whether true or not, after the tour Mr. Bowie abandoned the 1. Outside project and instead released several albums -none concept albums- before his passing.  Along with the justifiably famous The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, it appears 1. Outside is the only other full “concept” album he released in his lifetime.

(ASIDE: I suspect people might argue both Aladdin Sane and Diamond Dogs were also concept albums.  I don’t believe they were.  Not entirely, anyway.  While Diamond Dogs originally started as a musical version of George Orwell’s 1984 and parts of that original idea remain in the album, to me there isn’t enough of a coherent “story” for it to be considered a proper concept album.  Likewise, Aladdin Sane offers something of a loose story and has been labeled, -justifiably!- “Ziggy Stardust goes to America” but like Diamond Dogs I just don’t think there’s enough there to consider it a proper concept album.  All this, of course, is IMHO)

Last week I learned the three Leon Suites, the genesis of the 1. Outside album, were released to the internet a short time before Mr. Bowie’s passing and it is suspected by many the person who released this was Mr. Bowie himself…

At the time I wrote about this, I just learned of the three “Suites” and therefore hadn’t heard them.  Now I have and wished to offer some comments.

The first comment is going to be the cruelest: I agree with the record companies in their rejection of this material.  Whether you consider the material great or good or terrible, one thing is clear: It is not very commercial.  At all.

Having said that, the three Leon Suites offer a fascinating early look/rough draft of what became 1. Outside.  In having the original Suites rejected, Mr. Bowie turned his creativety on high and took bits and pieces from these Suites and used them in 1. Outside.  Out of a decent -but very artsy- work he created something even better -IMHO!- in 1. Outside.

Now that the Suites are available, they serve as a fascinating bookend to the 1. Outside album.  If you haven’t listened to it and are a fan of David Bowie and 1. Outside, do yourself a favor and give it a listen.

It’s most certainly worth your time.