# I Can't Give Everything Away (2002–2016)
*I Can't Give Everything Away (2002–2016)* is a box set by the English musician [David Bowie](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-bowie) that collects his final phase of recorded work, from the album *Heathen* (2002) to *Blackstar* (2016), together with live recordings, EPs, and a rarities compilation. Announced by Parlophone Records on 9 July 2025 and released on 12 September 2025, it is the sixth and final volume in a career-spanning series of Bowie box sets that began in 2015 with *Five Years*.[1](https://bowiewonderworld.com/press/00/090725icantgiveeverythingaway.htm) • [2](https://pitchfork.com/news/new-david-bowie-box-set-compiles-output-from-2002-to-2016-listen-to-a-rarity/) The set takes its name from the closing track on *★* (*[Blackstar](https://www.edgepedia.org/blackstar-album)*), Bowie's final studio album; Bowie died on 10 January 2016, days after its release.[1](https://bowiewonderworld.com/press/00/090725icantgiveeverythingaway.htm) • [3](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/he-was-told-it-was-over-10-years-ago-david-bowies-final-and-most-poignant-single-saw-him-turn-his-own-death-into-art)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Position in series | Sixth and final installment of the Bowie era box sets, covering 2002–2016; the series began with *Five Years* in 2015[1](https://bowiewonderworld.com/press/00/090725icantgiveeverythingaway.htm) • [2](https://pitchfork.com/news/new-david-bowie-box-set-compiles-output-from-2002-to-2016-listen-to-a-rarity/) |
| Release | Announced 9 July 2025; released 12 September 2025 on Parlophone[1](https://bowiewonderworld.com/press/00/090725icantgiveeverythingaway.htm) • [2](https://pitchfork.com/news/new-david-bowie-box-set-compiles-output-from-2002-to-2016-listen-to-a-rarity/) |
| Formats | 13-CD, 18-piece vinyl (180g audiophile pressings), and digital download/streaming[4](https://store.rhino.com/products/i-cant-give-everything-away-2002-2016-13cd-box) |
| Studio albums | *Heathen* (2002), *Reality* (2003), *The Next Day* (2013), and *Blackstar* (2016), all made with co-producer Tony Visconti[5](https://stereogum.com/2318103/david-bowie-vinyl-box-set-2002-2016/giveaway) |
| Live material | Previously unreleased 31-track recording of the 2002 Montreux Jazz Festival performance, in its first official release, and a resequenced remaster of *A Reality Tour* (Dublin, 2003)[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/the-31-best-reissues-of-2025) |
| Rarities | *Re:Call 6*, a 41-track compilation of non-album alternatives, B-sides, and soundtrack work, exclusive to the box set[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/the-31-best-reissues-of-2025) |
| Reception | Metascore of 89 on Metacritic, based on 6 critic reviews[7](https://www.metacritic.com/music/i-cant-give-everything-away-2002---2016-box-set/david-bowie/critic-reviews) |
## Contents
The set gathers the four studio albums Bowie released in the period, most of them newly remastered with input from his co-producer [Tony Visconti](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-visconti), who also contributed to the accompanying hardback book of unseen notes, drawings, and handwritten lyrics.[8](https://www.rhino.com/aod/i-cant-give-everything-away-2002-2016-david-bowie) • [2](https://pitchfork.com/news/new-david-bowie-box-set-compiles-output-from-2002-to-2016-listen-to-a-rarity/) The period is sparse by Bowie's standards: he released nothing for around nine years of it, yet still issued four studio albums, and the label filled out the remaining discs with live material and non-album tracks.[9](https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/david-bowie-i-cant-give-everything-away-2002-2016/)
Beyond the albums, the contents are:
- **Montreux Jazz Festival 2002**, a previously unreleased 31-track live recording from the *Heathen* era, issued officially for the first time.[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/the-31-best-reissues-of-2025)
- **A Reality Tour**, a resequenced remaster of the live album drawn from the 2003 Reality Tour in Dublin.[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/the-31-best-reissues-of-2025)
- **The Next Day Extra EP** and **No Plan EP**, the companion EPs to Bowie's final two albums; the *No Plan* EP is focused on the *Lazarus* stage musical.[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/the-31-best-reissues-of-2025)
- **Re:Call 6**, a 3-CD/4-LP compilation of 41 rarities, alternate versions, B-sides, and soundtrack songs, some available in physical formats for the first time; it is exclusive to the box set.[2](https://pitchfork.com/news/new-david-bowie-box-set-compiles-output-from-2002-to-2016-listen-to-a-rarity/) • [6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/the-31-best-reissues-of-2025)
The CD edition presents the albums in faithfully reproduced mini-vinyl sleeves, with the discs pressed in gold rather than the usual silver; the vinyl edition contains the same content on 180-gram audiophile vinyl.[4](https://store.rhino.com/products/i-cant-give-everything-away-2002-2016-13cd-box) The booklet runs 128 pages in the CD box and 84 pages in the vinyl set, and includes photos by Masayoshi Sukita, who took the set's cover shot, along with [Jimmy King](https://www.edgepedia.org/jimmy-king) and Frank W.[10](https://theafterword.co.uk/david-bowie-i-cant-give-everything-away/) The list price of the vinyl edition was $499.98, though retailers discounted it.[11](https://www.stereophile.com/content/36-sides-late-david-bowie)
## The four studio albums
**Heathen and [Reality](https://www.edgepedia.org/reality-david-bowie-album).** *Heathen*, released in June 2002, reunited Bowie with producer Tony Visconti for the first time since 1980's *Scary Monsters*. Recorded in New York with a band including guitarists Carlos Alomar, Gerry Leonard, and Mark Plati, drummer Sterling Campbell, the Borneo Horns, the Scorchio String Quartet, and violinist Lisa Germano, it mixes 1970s-style atmospherics with electronics, and is often read against post-9/11 New York even though Bowie said the songs predated the attacks. *Reality* followed in 2003.[12](https://theseconddisc.com/2025/10/15/review-david-bowie-i-cant-give-everything-away/) • [5](https://stereogum.com/2318103/david-bowie-vinyl-box-set-2002-2016/giveaway)
**The Next Day and Blackstar.** After the long gap, *[The Next Day](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-next-day)* appeared in 2013 and *Blackstar* in 2016, the latter released days before Bowie's death on 10 January 2016.[5](https://stereogum.com/2318103/david-bowie-vinyl-box-set-2002-2016/giveaway) • [3](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/he-was-told-it-was-over-10-years-ago-david-bowies-final-and-most-poignant-single-saw-him-turn-his-own-death-into-art) The set's title track closes *Blackstar*; its lyric ("Saying no but meaning yes, this is all I ever meant, that's the message that I sent") has been read as a wry comment on Bowie's carefully maintained mystique.[13](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jan/07/david-bowie-blackstar-review-a-spellbinding-break-with-his-past) For the box set, *Blackstar* and the *No Plan* outtakes were not digitally remastered, though both were recut for the vinyl edition.[14](https://trackingangle.com/features/david-bowie-i-cant-give-everything-away-vinyl-box-set-review-part-2)
## Re:Call 6 and the rarities
The *Re:Call* compilations in each era box set gather singles, edits, and B-sides, and *Re:Call 6* follows the pattern with 41 tracks of non-album material, including soundtrack work such as the 2003 re-recording of "Rebel Rebel" from the *Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle* soundtrack.[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/the-31-best-reissues-of-2025) • [15](https://www.thornburyrecords.com/vinyl/david-bowie-i-cant-give-everything-away-2002-2016-18lp-box) Reviewers highlighted selections including James Murphy's "Steve Reich mix" of "Love Is Lost," a remix of "Bring Me the Disco King" featuring Tool's Maynard James Keenan and [Red Hot Chili Peppers](https://www.edgepedia.org/red-hot-chili-peppers) guitarist [John Frusciante](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-frusciante), the collaboration with [Lou Reed](https://www.edgepedia.org/lou-reed) called "Hop Frog," and a version of Sigue Sigue Sputnik's "Love Missile F1-11."[7](https://www.metacritic.com/music/i-cant-give-everything-away-2002---2016-box-set/david-bowie/critic-reviews)
## Reception and place in the series
The set received a Metascore of 89 on Metacritic, based on six critic reviews, a rating the site labels universal acclaim.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/music/i-cant-give-everything-away-2002---2016-box-set/david-bowie/critic-reviews) Louder Sound listed it among the best rock reissues and deluxe editions of 2025, calling the Montreux recording stunning and the *Re:Call* segment the draw for completists.[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/the-31-best-reissues-of-2025) Some reviewers noted the price and the duplication for buyers who already own the albums; one argued that skipping *A Reality Tour* and folding the *No Plan* tracks into *Re:Call 6* would have produced a smaller, cheaper set.[11](https://www.stereophile.com/content/36-sides-late-david-bowie) • [9](https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/david-bowie-i-cant-give-everything-away-2002-2016/)
As the sixth and last of the era box sets, the release completes a series that surveys Bowie's career from 1969 onward in chronological blocks, picking up where 2021's *Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001)* left off.[1](https://bowiewonderworld.com/press/00/090725icantgiveeverythingaway.htm) • [12](https://theseconddisc.com/2025/10/15/review-david-bowie-i-cant-give-everything-away/) Producer Tony Visconti has hinted that further Bowie projects may follow, noting that the singer's 80th birthday is approaching.[16](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/singers-songwriters/afterwards-he-sent-david-an-invoice-for-usd10-000-i-dont-know-if-david-actually-paid-him-that-much-tony-visconti-on-dave-grohls-ludicrious-bowie-session-fee)
## References
1. [David Bowie – I Can't Give Everything Away (2002–2016) Official Press Release, Bowie Wonderworld](https://bowiewonderworld.com/press/00/090725icantgiveeverythingaway.htm)
2. [New David Bowie Box Set Compiles Output From 2002 to 2016, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/news/new-david-bowie-box-set-compiles-output-from-2002-to-2016-listen-to-a-rarity/)
3. [David Bowie's final and most poignant single, MusicRadar](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/he-was-told-it-was-over-10-years-ago-david-bowies-final-and-most-poignant-single-saw-him-turn-his-own-death-into-art)
4. [I Can't Give Everything Away (2002–2016) 13CD Box, Rhino](https://store.rhino.com/products/i-cant-give-everything-away-2002-2016-13cd-box)
5. [Win David Bowie's I Can't Give Everything Away 18xLP Vinyl Box Set, Stereogum](https://stereogum.com/2318103/david-bowie-vinyl-box-set-2002-2016/giveaway)
6. [The 31 best rock reissues and deluxe editions of 2025, Louder Sound](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/the-31-best-reissues-of-2025)
7. [Critic Reviews for I Can't Give Everything Away (2002–2016), Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/i-cant-give-everything-away-2002---2016-box-set/david-bowie/critic-reviews)
8. [I Can't Give Everything Away (2002–2016), Rhino Album of the Day](https://www.rhino.com/aod/i-cant-give-everything-away-2002-2016-david-bowie)
9. [David Bowie / I Can't Give Everything Away 2002–2016, SuperDeluxeEdition](https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/david-bowie-i-cant-give-everything-away-2002-2016/)
10. [David Bowie – I Can't Give Everything Away, The Afterword](https://theafterword.co.uk/david-bowie-i-cant-give-everything-away/)
11. [36 Sides of Late David Bowie, Stereophile](https://www.stereophile.com/content/36-sides-late-david-bowie)
12. [Review: David Bowie, "I Can't Give Everything Away (2002–2016)", The Second Disc](https://theseconddisc.com/2025/10/15/review-david-bowie-i-cant-give-everything-away/)
13. [David Bowie: Blackstar review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jan/07/david-bowie-blackstar-review-a-spellbinding-break-with-his-past)
14. [David Bowie I Can't Give Everything Away vinyl box set review, Tracking Angle](https://trackingangle.com/features/david-bowie-i-cant-give-everything-away-vinyl-box-set-review-part-2)
15. [David Bowie – I Can't Give Everything Away 2002–2016 (18LP Box), Thornbury Records](https://www.thornburyrecords.com/vinyl/david-bowie-i-cant-give-everything-away-2002-2016-18lp-box)
16. [Tony Visconti on Dave Grohl's Bowie session fee, MusicRadar](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/singers-songwriters/afterwards-he-sent-david-an-invoice-for-usd10-000-i-dont-know-if-david-actually-paid-him-that-much-tony-visconti-on-dave-grohls-ludicrious-bowie-session-fee)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Box sets and complete-works collections*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license