DAVID BOWIE: Station To Station (ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

After the confusing (and disappointing) "Young Americans", David Bowie's fans are anxiously awaiting the new opus of their favorite singer. They can't fail to notice that some of the musicians who worked on the previous album are still present, and in particular Carlos Alomar whose rhythm guitar was one of the signatures of the album, which could foreshadow a new record marked by soul and funk. One more time, the singer will surprise again, but this time in a masterly way.

Because the eponymous title has what to surprise. By its unusual length first of all. 'Station To Station' is the first (and only) track of the repertoire exceeding ten minutes. By its unconventional introduction too, which will delight all the model railroad enthusiasts: during more than one minute, we hear only the noise of a steam train running at full speed, an idea that the Germans of Kraftwerk will develop the following year on "Trans Europ Express". Then, during the next minute, a guitar breaks the silence with its feedback and we have to wait for the third minute before David Bowie's song finally resounds.

After such a staging, the listener is in breath but fully reassured. The tone is certainly experimental, but resolutely rock. The rest of the track is divided into two parts, one in the form of a slow hymn sung with a calm voice and the second very energetic, turning in loops around the repetition of "it's too late", Earl Slick concluding with a well distorted solo this hypnotic monument.

It is thus in confidence that we approach the following title... which plunges us back into the swaying soul and the glamorous choruses of "Young Americans". But there is nothing cheesy or boring on 'Golden Years'. Bowie shows his mastery, having fun with his vocal effects, going from mezzo to full voice, but fortunately forgets to whisper and sigh like on the previous album. In the same register, 'Stay' sees the funky gimmick of Alomar's guitar countered by the aggressive riffs of Slick's, David Bowie alternating smooth vocals in the verses and modulated ones in the choruses.

Three titles complete the album: 'TVC15', pop-rock lively and dancing with a chorus a little simplistic and heady ('oh my TVC15, oh-oh TVC15') and the twins (even in the assonance of the titles) 'Word on a Wing' and 'Wild is the Wind'. These two songs have in common their melancholic and romantic melodies and the intensity of Bowie's vocals, held back at the beginning, then gradually swelling to end in a poignant lyricism. Bowie may be criticized for controlling his vocals too much in the manner of the great American crooners rather than letting them come out naturally, but the result is a work of art. (It is essential to listen to the live version of 'Wild is the Wind', sublimated by Mike Garson's piano, recorded at the Portland BBC Radio Theatre in 2000 and included on the bonus CD of the album "Bowie at the Beeb").

Afterwards, David Bowie claimed that he had no memory of the recording of this album, as his cocaine abuse prevented him from thinking clearly during his studio sessions. If this is the truth, and without wanting to make the apology of the drug, it is necessary to admit that the result obtained is exceptional. - Official website

DAVID BOWIE

STATION TO STATION

RCA

ROCK