![]() ![]() Remarkably, the single was a relative flop at the time, only reaching 24 in the UK and not breaking the top 100 in the US. Proving Bowie was serious about reconnecting himself with Europe, he recorded both an excellent German and (less convincing) French version of this song to be released as appropriate in the local European market. It’s just a wonderful song on the triumph of love over adversity and how we can all indeed be heroes by just being ourselves. It’s hard to break this classic track down but the driving energy here is hypnotic, Robert Fripp’s various layered guitar parts are simply stunning, the build up in tempo is just gorgeous, while Bowie’s vocal performance is one of his very very best. I can still recall the excitement when I first heard the full length version in my bedroom in Manchester all those many years ago. ![]() It’s one of those songs I have never, ever tired of hearing and sounds as fresh, modern and brilliant now as it did over 40 years ago. Here in it’s full 6 minute length glory, it is one of THE best Bowie anthems, period. The centrepiece of the album is undoubtedly the title track “Heroes”. You can put this track down as yet another of Bowie’s hidden gems. With the music dominated by Robert Fripp’s guitar, Bowie is again in fine vocal form, with the line “ It’s Monday” sung to utter perfection to describe most people’s feeling on returning to work on a Monday. “ Joe the Lion” is based on the adventures of Chris Burden, who famously nailed himself to the roof of a Volkswagen during a piece of “performance art” (a theme that Bowie would explore further with Eno on the “ Outside” album). Released as the second single off the album, it just made it into the UK top 40 but failed to chart completely in the US. The meaning of the lyrics is typically obscure, with some suggesting it’s perhaps a reference to Bowie himself during his cocaine fuelled mood swings. The music here is still very “electronic” in form, but with the rhythm section very prominent, it’s a return to a more rock ‘n’ roll sound (on side 1 at least). With a slow building intro, Bowie enters the scene with a growl and kicks off this jumpy, catchy number with a powerful vocal performance. Setting the mood for much of the album, the opener “ Beauty and the Beast” has Bowie showing off his updated “histrionics” style of singing, not really heard since the “Ziggy Stardust” album. And what a truly wonderful album it is too. Recorded at the Hansa Tonsudio in Berlin, it’s actually the only album from the so-called “Berlin Trilogy” to be fully recorded in Berlin. Teaming up again with Tony Visconti as producer, Brian Eno as musical strategist and his rhythm section of Carlos Alomar, George Murray and Dennis Davis, Bowie added the guitar great Robert Fripp of King Crimson fame to bring an extra dimension to the overall sound. But this time, rather than feeling “Low”, Bowie now felt like a “Hero” and the new music would certainly reflect this increase in optimism. Having recorded both “Low” and then “The Idiot” for Iggy Pop in the past few months, Bowie was ready to hit the studio again. Inspired by many of the current German Krautrock bands such as Tangerine Dream, Neu! and Kraftwerk, Bowie teamed up with Brian Eno to record one of the most influential albums of all time, a blueprint of music that would dominate the charts for the next 10 years. “ Low” released at the start of 1977 was a huge departure for Bowie, an experimental album featuring ambient like instrumental pieces, with few vocals and on side 2 in particular, very little in relation to conventional “rock ‘n’ roll music. Having moved with Iggy Pop into a small apartment in the district of Schöneberg in West Berlin, he was ready to record a new album. Life was indeed finally beginning to pick up. He was even starting to effectively manage his quickly disintegrating marriage with his then wife Angie Bowie. He then battled both his record company RCA and not one but two ex-managers to get the album actually released, after they all believed the album to be some weird, noncommercial joke designed to intentionally ruin his career. After his drug-induced nightmarish 1975-76 existence in Los Angeles, he managed to escape with his buddy-in-crime Iggy Pop to Europe, where he recorded his pioneering “ Low” album. ![]() “Heroes” is David Bowie’s 12th studio album, originally released on 14th October 1977.īy mid 1977, David Bowie was beginning to sort his life out. ![]()
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