David Bowie’s Final Four Albums Get a Glorious Deluxe Treatment in ‘I Can’t Give Everything Away (2002-2016)’ Box Set: Album Review

For many artists, the peak of creative brilliance often fades as they approach their late thirties—a twilight phase in the world of popular music. While some continue to deliver compelling live performances, new material rarely matches the spark of their earlier work. Most either accept this shift or strain to remain relevant, echoing sentiments like Chrissie Hynde’s weary remark when asked for an autograph: “Haven’t I done enough?!” Exceptions do exist—Bob Dylan and Neil Young enjoyed late-career surges—but none quite like David Bowie, whose final album, "Blackstar," stands as a stunning creative resurgence. Recorded during his cancer treatment and released just two days before his death in 2016, it was his most adventurous work in over three decades.

This period is captured in "I Can’t Give Everything Away (2002–2016)," the sixth and final installment in a series of career-spanning box sets personally overseen by Bowie. At its heart are four studio albums—"Heathen" (2002), "Reality" (2003), "The Next Day" (2013), and "Blackstar" (2016)—recorded across a 15-year span that followed a near-fatal heart attack Bowie suffered onstage during his grueling "Reality Tour." That health scare prompted a decade-long retreat from touring, though not from music. The set also includes two expansive live albums and three discs of rarities, offering a comprehensive look at an artist refining his legacy.

The first three albums in this collection continue the creative revival Bowie began in 1995 with "1. Outside," following a relatively fallow period in the early '90s. After relocating to New York, marrying model Iman, and achieving sobriety, Bowie reconnected with his muse. He remained attuned to contemporary music—much of which he had originally influenced—though by the time of "Heathen," he was no longer chasing trends. Reunited with producer Tony Visconti, his collaborator since the 1960s, Bowie crafted a record blending driving rock, atmospheric experiments, and unexpectedly bright moments like “A Better Future.” Its follow-up, "Reality," was even more vigorous, designed to spotlight his formidable live band with distorted guitars and bold vocal experiments. Tracks like “New Killer Star” and “Days” rank among his strongest from this era.

Nothing in these albums, however, foreshadowed the radical departure of "Blackstar." Recorded with jazz saxophonist Donny McCaslin and his band while Bowie privately battled illness, the album pulses with urgency and darkness. The nearly 10-minute title track shifts from haunting minimalism to an explosive, almost transcendent passage, while the closing song, “I Can’t Give Everything Away,” echoes the guitar tones of his Berlin era and feels like a deliberate farewell. As cultural critic Simon Reynolds noted, “Bowie turned his own ending into his ultimate work of art—a meditation on mortality that is as unsettling as it is beautiful.” Released on his 69th birthday, the album arrived two days before his death, serving as one of the most poignant final acts in modern music.

The accompanying rarities compilation spans three CDs, offering treasures for dedicated fans. Highlights include a remix of “Love Is Lost” by LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, which winks at Bowie’s “Ashes to Ashes”; a collaboration with Lou Reed titled “Hop Frog”; and a wildly reimagined cover of Sigue Sigue Sputnik’s “Love Missile F1-11.” Also featured are several late live performances, including a 2005 collaboration with Arcade Fire and a moving rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Arnold Layne” with David Gilmour. These recordings reflect an artist fully at ease with his past, no longer chasing hits but exploring music on his own terms—curating his legacy, honoring influences, and saying a graceful, masterful goodbye.