Station To Station - DAVID BOWIE***

Station To Station/Golden Years/Word On A Wing/TVC15/Stay/Wild Is The Wind

David Bowie followed up his previous disappointing soul album with Station To Station. Whilst not as dire, it features some experimentalism, yet fails to deliver much in the way of memorable songs. Features the UK top ten hit Golden Years. (US:3 UK:5)

“There are funk influences on this album as well as some avant-garde elements. Every song on this album is good but the only one that I'd call outright excellent is Wild Is The Wind.”

“Station To Station takes the more appealing aspects of Bowie's previous Young Americans and twists them into something far more impressive, infusing them with an angular art rock that prefigures the experimentalism of the upcoming Berlin trilogy. The title track is unlike anything Bowie had previously recorded - a slow-building atmospheric epic that segues between multiple movements. The song certainly ranks among the finest of his career. The rest are equally impressive, especially the guitar-driven Stay.”

“The album is a continuation of the soul soaked Young Americans, but the style this time goes deeper into futurist theatricality. Station To Station is the sound of a man who has become comfortable with soul and funk, and has learned how to marry his musical fascinations of the time with his trademark moods and style.”

“Very difficult album to describe, clearly this is not glam rock, nor is it any type of disco, soul or dance music. Bowie's approach here is much less theatrical than on his earlier music but I'm not sure what to compare it to. There is an electronic feel to it but the vast bulk of the sounds come from traditional instruments.

“Bowie takes has taken a look at the plastic soul that he created and uses Station To Station as a platform to expand and improve it. Taking soulful fundamentals, he incorporates them into an experimental art rock format, unlike anything he's tried before. The end result is an anxious, bizarre piece of work.”

“The already established 'thin white duke' continued his 'fame' with the single release of Golden Years, a warm, but tepid dance song that introduced the fantastic Station To Station. The title track clocks in the lengthiest of his songs and provides a series of bridges and chorus changes that surpassed anything he had done to date.”