Review Summary: The Thin White Duke Appears
Many Artists have used a mask to add extra theater to their performance it has been done for thousands of years and will remain a striking tool for artists in the years to come.
One of the best examples in Popular music in the past 40 years plus has been David Bowie. With Station to Station he takes the form of Thin White Duke, with this he is throwing away some of the theatrics he developed throughout the previous albums before Young Americans (which was a shock to his glam fans) but kept enough flare to rock us through a record that if you delve deeper into reveals the real Bowie like no other record before and after.
It is well documented that the album was written and recorded during his breakup and separation with Angie, and it is rumored that Gold Years was written exclusively about Angie herself. If this is true the reflective mood for Bowie on this record is set with the lyrics of “Golden Years” if of course you can look past the mask of the disco theme behind the song. Stay is another great example of this. Stay paints a picture of a lonely person desperately hoping their fictitious companion is on the same wavelength as the narrator whilst being coupled with a smooth rhythm track and flare guitar solos throughout.
You will find Bowie at his melancholy best on this record, there are times he is really singing from his heart, Word on a wing and Wild is the Wind for example, and its during these times you can hear a part of the anguish that was building up inside before his documented slide into cocaine madness in LA.
STATION TO STATION. 5/5
By far his first flirtation with the synthesizer that would accompany him through out the up and coming Eno years, the song takes a great turn into a Honky Disco, Guitar, Piano, Funk Bass and beat that will have anyone tapping their feet, the length of the song is a good indication that the day of the Radio Hit is past him in his mind set for now, he is longing to be an artist of worth.
Golden Years 5/5
This track contains funky little guitar lines by Ex James Brown Guitarist Carlos Alomar. Bowie had always surrounded himself with talented guitarists and will continue to see the importance of this practice to his songs in the future. This song drives your feet towards a Dance Floor no matter where you are, perfect song for the Disco era, nothing is done by accident throughout this dance piece.
Word on a Wing 3/5
This slower number is missing the zest of some of the other dance tracks on the album Bowie’s vocal performance through the chorus allows is very powerful and allows us a sneak peak on what lays before us in Wild is the Wind. This track is a great example of the power of Bowie’s voice and the way Roy Bitton’s piano drive the chords in this song keeps it all together.
TVC15 3/5
This song remained in Bowie’s Live set for years after Station to Station was released, it is a happy show type tune with plenty of falsetto vocals and definitely feels like an off shoot from his previous white soul record Young Americans.
Stay 4/5
Another White Soul tinged track that smacks you back into the world of the dirty riff and funky disco bass. It includes great guitar solos by Carlos Alomar and Earl Slick on this track and the rhythm section is as usual relentless in its mission to get you to shake your booty despite the desperate sounding lyrics.
Wild is the Wind 5/5
This is Mr Bowie at his whaling best. Back to the mask wearing analogy did Bowie choose a cover song to portray his pain at the time instead of using his own words? People say he sounds detached during some moments in this album, but to listen to this song and not hear his emotion would be almost missing the whole point of the record. His range is at full display as he croons, whales and reaches the heavens with his falsetto all in one beautifully covered song.
In Summary, yeah Station to Station can not be categorized but Bowie is definitely not your normal performer and has stated many of times he always aimed to be out of the ordinary, he achieved this almost without thinking at times and this album is an example of that. It was the much needed bridge from Young Americans to the Brian Eno Trinity of records that were to follow, and for that it sits on its own as a piece of oddity when attempting to bundle his albums into genre’s.
Listen to the timber in his voice during points of this record and it will be hard not to be actually moved by the emotion that he shows, whether he meant to show it or not the man was cracking and its there for all to hear it on this album.
