Product Description

The Germanic feel of this album is not surprising, as DavidBowie recorded it in Berlin during his period of infatuation with the city. HEROES is a much more lively affair than LOW and has the benefit of a title track that remains one of Bowie's finest songs, in addition to excellent contributions from Robert Fripp and Brian Eno.
The thick, mysterious textures of "Beauty and the Beast" set the tone for the rest of the album. The Eno-influenced "Sense of Doubt" is the flipside to the majestic "Heroes"--dark and moody, as is "Neukoln". But, despite (or perhaps because of) the charged atmosphere of doom and gloom, this is a seminal Bowie album.

Track Listing

1. Beauty And The Beast
2. Joe The Lion
3. "Heroes"
4. Sons Of The Silent Age
5. Black Out
6. V2 Schneider
7. Sense Of Doubt
8. Moss Garden
9. Neukoln
10. Secret Life Of Arabia

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5508 in Music
• Released on: 1999-09-20
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered

Amazon.co.uk Review
Part two of the Berlin trilogy that started with Low and ended with Lodger, Heroes saw Bowie trying to kick his assorted drug addictions while simultaneously attempting to create the music of the future. And so, on the one hand, "Beauty and The Beast"--which spawned the Human League's "Love Action" and not a whole load else, really. And on the other, the title-track--one of mankind's greatest achievements, a song so incredible it's permissible to know a technical fact pertaining to its recording, i.e., Bowie had eight microphones set up for the vocals, all at staggered distances along a hallway. That's why he sounds like he's bouncing his voice off mountains on the moon. Like Low, Heroes is an album of two halves--the second side being taken up with the brooding instrumentals he and producerBrian Eno cooked up while the engineers were busy wiring up eight microphones in the hallway. It's not your essential Bowie. But it's pre-Tin Machine Bowie, and that's more than enough. --Caitlin Moran

Customer Reviews

Just For One Day
In honesty, this is just a copy of the much better `Low' released earlier the same year, with songs in the first half and `sound-pieces' in the second. It is, of course, still by one of the greatest music artists in history, so it is by no means a dreadful record. The song `Heroes' is, of course, great and the album is definitely worth a listen, just don't expect to be blown away. And for those who aren't impressed, do no judge the near consistent genius of Mr Bowie based on this record.

Instrumentals should be saved for classical music!!
Ziggy Stardust was the first Bowie album I bought, and unsurprisingly it swept me off my feet, it is undeniably one of rock music's defining masterpieces. So I rushed out to buy the Bowie album that reviewers and critics generally seemed to rank second ( I know there are many contenders but heroes certainly featured prominently).

However I was dissapointed, the album only contains 6 full songs, four of the the ten tracks are taken up by pointless instrumentals that despite many attempts still all sound the same and to me seem a waste of space. Sure Bowie is a great sax player but no one buys his albums to hear saxophone music on its own.

Fortunately the first 5 full songs are all very good and of course the title track is one of the finest songs ever recorded, the sort that for 6 minutes or so will take you to another place. That is the only thing that saves this album and makes me keep fishing the cd out.

Heroes will never go out of fashion
The second instalment of the Berlin trilogy released in October 1977 ( The others being "Low" earlier in 1977 and "Lodger" in 1979)"Heroes" complete with ironic quotation marks is the only album of that feted trilogy that was recorded totally in Berlin . (At the Hansa studio by the wall)It is also by far the best of the three albums. In fact i would go further and cite "Heroes" as the best album David Bowie ever made.
It is though, a collaborative effort. Brian Eno as well as co-writing some of the songs - the title track, "Moss Garden", "Neuklon" and "The Secret Life Of Arabia"(Along with guitarist Carlos Alomar) is vital to the sound of the album. His genius for creating compelling sonic textures contributes greatly to the albums dark and atmospheric ambience. Eno provides keyboards, synthesizers and most tellingly guitar treatments .
Bowie plays guitar, keyboards, saxophone, koto and lead as well as background vocals long with co-producer Tony Visconti and Anomia Maass. Robert Fripp flew in from the States for one day to provide distinctive guitar parts for much of the album adding ever individual nuances to the album.
The stand out track is of course the title track which over thirty years down the line still sounds innovative and amazing . The tale of two lovers meeting at the wall is one of those tracks that can still reveal something new The first time i heard this song on an MP3 player-the full album version mind not the annoyingly abridged version that usually gets played on the radio - i was amazed to suddenly hear for the first time the skittering keyboards buried deep into the mix and what sounds like a constant rush of wind. Recently voted as the best Bowie track ever in Uncut "Heroes" is also one of the most covered Bowie tracks with King Crimson and Nico doing notable versions though it,s inconceivable that anyone could better the original.
Though the album includes a number of portentous and atmospheric instrumentals like "Sense Of Doubt " and "Neukoln" it also has more playful tracks like "The Secret Life Of Arabia" and more assertive rock songs like "Joe The Lion." The best of these is the superb "Beauty And The Beast", one of the most under-rated songs in the Bowie canon with its rasping treated guitar and vociferous backing vocals."V2 Schneider" with it,s bubbling bass is inspired by and a tribute to Kraftwerks Florian Schneider while the static hiss of "Sons Of The Silent Age" and the diaphanous dark fugue of "Blackout" add even more textures to this excellent album.
"Heroes" is also an album that has dated extraordinarily well. Certainly compared to a lot of what was considered seminal at the time "Heroes" is an album that sounds as if it could have been released last week. ...although the fixation of a divided city has long since ceased to be a reality. A truly great album whose themes may touch on the bleaker aspects if humanity but is more the less curiously uplifting . Heroes never go out of fashion after all.