[.ca] Heroes

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

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

From Amazon.com:
The second disc in the late-'70s Bowie/Eno trilogy, Heroes essentially repeats the form of Low--half rock songs with darkly cryptic lyrics and bizarre mixes, half foreboding instrumentals--but the songs are better realized (especially the weirdly dramatic title track) and the non-songs are more richly textured. The album's tone is muffled and desperate, like screams from the next room. As on Low, Bowie plays hide-and-seek with his slithery voice: songs have backing vocals and nothing more, or shift into German and French, or never quite move past an introduction. Eno's treatments make the instruments sound gluey and sluggish, especially in the proto-ambient second half of the album. This is mood music for an execution day. --Douglas Wolk

We can be heroes, just for one day:
Phase two of the Low-Heroes-Lodger tryptych during Bowie's Berlin period, collaboration with Roxy Music's Brian Eno, you name it. The musicians here other than Eno are Carlos Alomar (rhythm guitar), Dennis Davis (percussion) and George Murray (electric bass). Lead guitar honors go to King Crimson's Robert Fripp. As with Low, part of the album contains vocal songs, the other haunting instrumentals coming from Bowie's observations of Berlin from the Hansa by the Wall studio. The dark and brooding mood from "Beauty And The Beast" comes from the prominent electronic noises courtesy of Eno. This got to only #39 on the UK charts. The wall of noise, mainly the guitars, in "Joe The Lion" evokes a dazed dreamworld of Berlin, based in part on Bowie's observations of a city of disillusioned people, but also the antics of an American performance artist named Chris Burden, which included the "tell you who you are if you nail me to my car" line. But the line "get up and sleep" does have a weird dreamland-type atmosphere. Then the title song, a #24 hit on the UK chart, and one of Bowie's most anthemic and inspiring songs. The inspiration came from a couple having a forbidden sort of affair by the Wall, and that despite the presence of the Soviet occupation, that "we can be heroes just for one day." The triumph of their togetherness is taken later when gunshots are fired above their heads while they kiss: "And the shame was on the other side/Oh we can beat them for ever and ever." The droning sound on "Sons Of The Silent Age" echo the numb hopelessness of a generation who "don't walk, just glide in and out of life/they never die, just go to sleep one day." The chorus has a message of hope for those who isn't a son of the silent age. "Blackout" could've been a good single what with its insistent drums and danceable beat. Then come the instrumentals. "V-2 Schneider" has a strange droning organ-like sound which leads into upbeat sax-like notes, with Bowie crooning the title. V-2's were of course the aerial terror weapons Hitler used in the last stages of WW2, called doodlebugs by the Brits. Schneider refers to Kraftwerk keyboardist Florian Schneider, whom Bowie had a rapport with. With a rustling sea and four notes on the way left-hand side of the piano, the haunting and oppressively gloomy "Sense Of Doubt" with some keyboard synths that conjures up a wasteland or futuristic city the same way. And the melancholy this evokes makes "Art Decade" and "Subterraneans" from Low as peppy as an Altered Images song. My favourite Bowie instrumental period. Bowie uses the koto, a 13-stringed Japanese rectangular instrument along with Eno's synths to evoke the timeless wonder of a "Moss Garden," which in Japan is used as a place of contemplative meditation. Kokedera in Kyoto is one example of a moss garden. At times, a sound like an airplane flying overhead can be heard. "Neukoln" is the name of the Turkish quarter in Berlin, where the Turks live in appalling housing and misery, much like the immigrants photographed in the 1880's by Jacob Riis. Bowie's sax is distorted and wailing, overlaid with some oppressive Eno keyboards. The final track is a vocal song, "The Secret Life of Arabia," built around uptempo drums and funky bassline. The instrumentals alone are worth buying this album, as is the title track and the last song. As good as Low, demonstrating that Bowie's time with Brian Eno was among the best spent in his career, but that of Berlin was very emotionally haunting.

Uneven Bowie:
As much as this is a David Bowie album, this is also a Brian Eno album (as well as a Robert Fripp collaberation). Two hits made it to the airwaves in 1977... "Beauty & The Beast" and the title track "Heroes". The 3rd track "Heroes" is worth the price of the CD alone. With that being said, I find myself sitting on the fence when I listen to this disc in it's entirety. The feel of the album is new wave and electronica, lots of bass and some funk... almost like it was ahead of its time and should have been from the early 1980's. Eerie sounds and too many instrumentals to be a typical Bowie album (4 songs in all are without Bowie's voice). Having listened to these tracks enough over the past few decades, I now find myself usually fast-forwarding over these instrumentals ("V-2 Schneider", "Sense Of Doubt", "Moss Garden", "Neukoln"). "Heroes" is dark and moody - hence you gotta be in THE mood to listen to it. Bowie has so many excellent cd's in his catalog... I find myself reaching for others first - like "Ziggy Stardust", "Aladdin Sane", "Diamond Dogs", "Young Americans", "Station To Station", "Scary Monsters", or even "Let's Dance". This is good Bowie... better yet, a unique and different side of Bowie... but, it is far from my favorite Bowie.

The Overlooked Sister to 'Low':
David Bowie's catalogue is very diverse in terms of styles and personas he's adopted over the years. Most people familiar with his work are likely to name 'Ziggy Stardust,' 'Station To Station' or even 'Let's Dance' as milestone albums. But when someone mentions "Heroes," one immediately thinks of the monolithic title track, which to this day retains a place in David's live shows. In my opinion, 'Heroes,' the album, has always been rather overlooked; the spotlight being stolen by it's sister, 'Low.' And while 'Low' is most definitely a masterpiece, 'Heroes' is an excellent work in it's own right and deserves re-evaluation. 'Heroes' takes the listener away to an alternative world filled with chaos ("Beauty and the Beast"), desperation ("Blackout"), nostalgia ("Sons of the Silent Age") and humor ("Secret Life of Arabia"). David's voice hits startling new heights here, and he's singing as though his life depended on it. The ambient instrumental tracks range from murky ("Sense of Doubt") to soothing ("Moss Garden") to horrific ("Neukoln"). I find it almost a cathartic experience listening to 'Heroes,' for it's as if David is purging all these raw emotions out of his system and trying to make the best of a difficult situation (relevant to his circumstances during the time the album was recorded). Depending on my mood, it's not uncommon that I feel either drained or refreshed after listening to the album in one sitting. 'Heroes' evokes a whole gamut of feelings, and is a most provocative listening experience. It's a wild runaway-train of an album, by an artist who was always far ahead of his time. Highly recommended to all DB fans (new or old) or anyone who likes music that takes you on an adventure.

Great Experimental music:
Even being a classic-rock lover, I remained un-introduced to David Bowie for a long time. I consider it a shame. I had two albums by him (Hunky Dory & Station to Station) for almost 1 year, I listened them once or twice but it did not interest me much. A few days back when I tried Station to Station, it sounded great to me. I re-listened it, I thought it is awesome, and then I re-listened Hunky Dory... Still good. Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Low, Heroes was in my wish list for long time because of their high placing in all-time best album charts. So when I saw a double album having "Heroes" & "Scary Monsters", I promptly grabbed them. Both are very good and I am searching for Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane & Low now. Below is what I think of "Heroes"...the album Beauty & the Beast - Album jump-start with this savage rocker. Very raw sounding and appropriately supported by Robert Fripp's twisted guitar sounds. But the song does not give a picture of what to expect from the album. Joe the Lion - Much more soothing than album started, and again accompanied by Fripp's amazing trademark sound. Very distinguishable sound he creates with his axe. "Heroes" - That song about two lovers separated by a wall... I heard a cover of this song by Jacob Dylan's band The Wallflowers, I did not even know that Bowie was the original creator. Haunting vocals, Haunting song... Sons of the Silent Age, Black Out & V2 Schneider - Three of rowdy Crimsonish experimental tracks. Robert Fripp does his bit to make them sound like that. Sense of doubt, Moss Garden & Neuköln - A trilogy of cool experimental instrumentals. Moss Garden is the best of the lot and almost sounded like Indian classical music. All three tracks are continuous with no gaps between them. Sometimes they sound like early Pink Floyd tunes. Secret Life of Arabia - Very much different from the previous 9 tracks. This bumpy dance track ends the album light heartedly after very serious (& great) instrumental. Overall a great experimental album. People who like experimental/art/progressive rock, should like it. So no wonder I liked it, but it is more like a mixture of King Crimson, Pink Floyd & Roxy Music with great contributions from Robert Fripp, Brian Eno, Carlos Alomar & Bowie himself. Please do not expect a Genesis (one of my all time favourite band) here, but it is still very progressive. Many people compare it with Low. I also like to do that but after listening Low. Final Verdict: Buy it if you like experimental music.

Good Effort, but not his best.:
Heroes is a good effort by Bowie, but it's not his best.

• Beauty and the Beast
• Joe the Lion
• Heroes
• Sons of the Silent Age
• Blackout
• V-2 Schneider
• Sense of Doubt
• Moss Garden
• Neuköln
• Secret Life of Arabia