Track Listing

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

Product Details

• Released on: 2007-02-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Import, Enhanced
• Dimensions: .10 pounds

From Amazon.co.uk
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

Amazon.com essential recording
One of Bowie's more stellar moments working with Brian Eno, Heroes again sees the artist moving into barely chartered waters (at that point, 1977), creating moving, emotive rock and putting it right up against some very detached and futuristic synthesized sounds. The collection opens with a ferocious rocker, courtesy of Robert Fripp's taut, snarling guitars ("Beauty and the Beast"), and then slides into the roar of "Joe the Lion" without missing a beat. Bowie's vocals have rarely sounded as desperate as they are on "Heroes," the anguished "Blackout" rages on a peculiarly up beat, and suddenly the listener finds they've slipped into a parallel world of icy soundscapes. The next four tracks present glassy synthesizers, stark piano, the ping of Asian-styled guitars, and other styles presumably left over or influenced by the Low recordings. The delicate "Moss Garden" is particularly beautiful, and "Sense of Doubt" is brooding and ominous. The closer, "The Secret Life of Arabia," moves with the rhythm of a snake charmer, and Bowie's vocals are irrepressibly intoxicating. Challenging, and worth the effort. --Lorry Fleming

Un Essentiel amazon.fr
Quand paraît cet album - c'est le second que Bowie publie en cette année 1977 -, le monde du rock, particulièrement au Royaume-Uni, est agité par les turbulences du punk. Mais lui est déjà ailleurs... Sa rencontre avec Brian Eno a déjà donné un Low paru quelques mois plus tôt où les deux hommes explorent, défrichent et inventent. Avec Heroes, Bowie va parvenir à un meilleur équilibre entre sa veine la plus mélodique et les obsessions synthétiques de Eno. Il s'adjoindra pour cela le guitariste parfait : Robert Fripp, ex-King Crimson, qui est l'homme des expériences les moins prévisibles. Et l'association des trois musiciens va faire éclore des chansons comme "Sons Of The Silent Age", où la construction classique d'une ballade de Bowie, avec ses choeurs d'une autre époque et cette sensation d'avoir déjà entendu ça ailleurs - pourtant ! -, cette construction va s'enrichir des effets de la guitare et des synthétiseurs. Lesquels se taillent la part du lion dans ce qui fut la face B du disque vinyle. Là, Bowie va lorgner du côté de Kraftwerk, et laisser davantage Eno livrer ses fantasmes ("Neuköln", "V-2 Schneider"). Pour sa part, il empoignera sur ces quatre instrumentaux un saxophone qui rappelle Albert Ayler et le free jazz. Mais c'est la chanson titre ("Heroes") qui servira de balise, avec sa pulsation répétitive, et une structure plus conventionnelle. Et c'est surtout par ces géniales 6 minutes que l'album sera connu. Alors qu'elles ne sont que la porte d'un univers à découvrir. --José Ruiz