Waiting in the Sky is basically 1972's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars slightly rejigged to match the tracklisting on the quarter-inch tapes from Trident Studios from December 1971. So, there are a few tracks that weren't on the final version of the Ziggy Stardust album that we all know and love.
The "new" tracks "Holy Holy," "Velvet Goldmine," and covers of Jacques Brel's "Amsterdam" and Chuck Berry's "Round and Round" were all previously released as b-sides; "Velvet Goldmine" is particularly known as one of his best-loved b-sides.
A cynic would point out that you could assemble Waiting In The Sky by putting together a Spotify playlist. But Waiting in the Sky is a Record Store Day Exclusive, and the purpose of RSD is to encourage the support of a non-digital medium. These songs may be available elsewhere, but not all together on one beautifully packaged vinyl LP. In fact, Waiting In The Sky will not be released on CD.
Waiting in the Sky (Before The Starman Came to Earth) will be released on Record Store Day (20 April 2024) via Parlophone and will be available at participating independent record stores
Photo: AFP