David Bowie - "Heroes" (1977)

A summer has passed, and a longer stay in the motherland of Sweden paused the blogging for a while. But now the Canadian everyday routine is back, and so the blog starts again.

The thread running through the last posts has been recently deceased musicians, and Bowie is perhaps the greatest legend of them all. His passing spread shock waves throughout the world. Just like Lemmy and Prince, Bowie always went his own way without too much worries what others would think. This must be respected.

Heroes offers a pretty messy and noisy side A and a much calmer side B, more towards the ambient genre. I am fascinated that Bowie became such a huge artist as he did, for his music is not always easy to grasp. This very much applies to Heroes, which is the second part of Bowie's Berlin trilogy. On the album both Brian Eno and Robert Fripp participate, and with such a company it's not strange that the musical result becomes a challenge.

I'm not entirely fond of the A-side, it's a little too messy and loud for my taste. The obvious highlight is of course the title song, perhaps the highlight of Bowie's whole career. It is a song which in itself makes a record worth buying, and though I've heard it so many times I haven't grown tired of it. The other songs are not really my thing, though. Generally concerning Bowie, his voice always creats a sort of unpleasant neurotic feeling within me, so I don't really know how to handle the listening.

When you switch to side B, it gets more interesting. It's more experimental where Bowie, with the help of amongst others Eno, creates different instrumental soundscapes. Perhaps not music for the radio or the pre-parties, nonetheless of high quality and interesting. The album ends with a more "normal" song with voice, perhaps to bring the listener back to the reality again.

Although Bowie was / is popular amongst the masses, and even though Heroes is an album that has sold large quantities, I consider the record to be a challenge. It requires a lot of listenings to be fully understood, and I don't know if I've really understood it yet.


Tracklist

Side A
1. Beauty and the Beast 3:32
2. Joe the Lion 3:05
3. Heroes 6:07
4. Sons of the silt Age 3:15
5. Blackout 3:50

Side B
1. V-2 Schneider 3:10
2. Sense of Doubt 3:57
3. Moss Garden 5:03
4. Neuköln 4:34
5. The Secret Life of Arabia 3:46