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
Average Rating:
Rating: - Germanic
The most 'Berlin' of Bowie's Berlin period, Heroes is undeniably a classic album, but, like the preceeding 'Low' it's an album of two halves being half instrumental tracks which if anything are even more avante garde than the ones on Low, and won't be to everyone's taste. The feel of the album conjures up black and white images of europe in the 30's and 40's with songs like Blackout, V-2 Schneider, Sons of the Silent Age and The Secret LIfe of Arabia being highly evocative. I've always found the ... Read More
Rating: - 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.
Rating: - 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 ... Read More
Rating: - 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 ... Read More
Rating: - Superb
Bowie at his experimental best. More accessible and optimistic than Low and containing some of his finest instrumentals, the production on this album is staggeringly inventive. Each listen reveals something new going on in the mix. It's not an album you can put on in the background, it's one you have to sit down, pay attention and listen to. The effort is worth it - the rewards are there, if you have ears to hear. Contrary to the opinion of the Amazon reviewer, "Heroes" IS essential Bowie and his last ... Read More
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