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.

David Bowie made three albums while living in Berlin. The second of them, "Heroes," sees Bowie continuing his bare-bones production, ably assisted by Brian Eno. The title track of this album remains my all-time favorite Bowie composition, both for its poetic quality and for the harmonics, hooks and production values. Bowie utilizes several unusual instruments on this album, including the Japanese samisen (a stringed instrument). Another favorite piece on this album is an instrumental, "Neukolnen," inspired by Bowie's Berlin neighborhood. This is an album not to be missed.

I don't subscribe to the conventional wisdom regarding "Heroes", so I have taken a bit more time than usual to compose my review.

Apologies in advance, then, for the essay:

Context: It's the latter half of the seventies. Having faffed around in the Sixties producing the output one would expect of an Anthony Newley aspirant (i.e., none of any merit) David Bowie had struck gold - just - in 1972 with a second release of the second attempt on a tune he'd had knocking around since well before the moon landing in August '69. Space Oddity is a great tune, so the only surprise is that it didn't get picked up earlier.

From 1972 Bowie releases a succession of breathtakingly good records, numbering among them Hunky Dory (think "ch-ch-ch-changes", and then consider that this is probably the weakest track on the album. Yes, I know: it isn't weak), The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust (which melds the vastly differing styles of 1969's Dylanesque Space Oddity, 1971's hard rock effort The Man Who Sold The world, and 1972'a Hunky Dory), and then by way of post gig hangover, Aladdin Sane (Bowie's equivalent of Rattle and Hum - or "Ziggy goes to America").

At this point things (you know, cocaine, the success, the accountants, the management contract, the hairdo) were clearly beginning to get the better of him, and the latent paranoia in his records became startlingly overt in the next release, the Orwellian concept album Diamond Dogs (not actually as bad as it sounds!), and finally David wigged out altogether midway through the Diamond Dogs tour, quickly recorded and released a record of dreadful plastic Philly soul, Young Americans (which isn't to say it wasn't popular - it was - nor that doesn't have its dedicated adherents) and a live album of the experience (David Live) which appeared to prove quite the contrary.

This back-story is important because it is the context for Bowie's next three, great records, of which "Heroes" is the last. The first and second are Station To Station and Low.

I should immediately own up to being a little controversial here: most Bowie-Nuts will, tell you that "Heroes" is the middle of The Great Triptych of "Berlin" collaborations with Brian Eno, which starts with Low and concludes with Lodger.

I think most Bowie nuts are wrong. Station To Station, whilst recorded in LA at around the time The Man Who Fell To Earth was filmed, is the first of the record where Bowie pulls everything together and jettisons entirely the excesses of the Ziggy Stardust experience: this is indeed the first part of the rehabilitation which "Heroes" completes: here, the Man has indeed fallen to earth and the decision to quit America has been made, even if the body hasn't moved. "The European Canon is Here" sings the Transylvanian sounding - and looking - Thin White Duke.

If Station To Station staunches the flow of paranoia and halluncination, then Low works it out of the system: if Bowie is to be believed (as often as not, he isn't) even when he moved to Berlin he was still a pretty spooked out puppy ("Always Crashing In The Same Car" is, allegedly, autobiographical) but by the end of an album half comprising taut, sparse, minimalist rock songs and half moving but pretty maudlin instrumentals (from anyone else, you'd call that "self-indulgence"), Bowie was ready to pull out of the swan dive. Where Lodger might be the fly-by once he'd done it, and Scary Monsters the sitting-by-the-fireside-recounting-all-his-adventures, "Heroes" prescribes the upward bending arc to the heavens.

Man, that sounds pretentious. But what i mean is that, for the first time in a while it's record that's not completely inward looking: Bowie notices others and they form the material for his metaphors: a performance artist who nails himself to a Volkswagen. Lovers who furtively meet by the wall. There are a couple of pretty nifty asides where Bowie assesses his position: "I wanted to believe me; I wanted no distractions; I wanted to be good" he wails in Beauty and the Beast, and in Joe the Lion he remarks, "You can buy God - it's Monday...".

For all this cleverness, it's an album which does take some getting used to. It doesn't have the lush production of Ziggy Stardust - even the comparatively jarring Low is an easy listen compared to Robert Fripp's punishing guitar work here - and there is half an album of pretty impenetrable instrumentals on it - again, at first listen they're harder work than the equivalents on Low, but fundamentally they reward perseverance.

But when Bowie does put it all together, it's just magnificent. There are two places he really does this. The first is the triumphant title track, "Heroes" itself, of which there's not much to say but listen. From the very first down-stroke, tweaks you like a photo of an old girlfriend. The other is Sons of the Silent Age, which follows it, and in which Bowie really exercises his lungs with his patented "histrionic" singing style.

In summary, there are too many oddities and unexplained curios (such as the instrumental side!) on this record for it to hold up as among the greatest Bowie has done across 40 minutes, but, as the old boy himself said, "When it's good, it's REALLY good..."

When U2 released their excellent `Achtung Baby' CD in the early 90s, critics and fans alike praised the "new" sound, admired them for their risk-taking, and generally fawned over the rock/electronica mix. Obviously Bono and the band were instrumental in this, but were it not for Brian Eno's influence and presence, it's unlikely if this album would have emerged as the great collection it did. Also, those who lauded this collaboration as groundbreaking need only to go back 20+ years to Eno's work with David Bowie with the Low/Heroes/Lodger trilogy to see that they were doing it back then.

This (`Heroes') album marks the pinnacle of their trilogy in my mind as I find it to be much more accessible than the dark (but brilliant) `Low' and not as (forgive me) odd as `Lodger'. The most recognizable track on the album, "Heroes" is still a wonderful song. "Joe The Lion", "Sons of the Silent Age", and "Beauty and the Beast" are other highlights of the non-instrumental pieces.

However, side B is the true gem of this album. The combination of "Sense of Doubt", "Moss Garden", and "Neukoln" are some of the most beautiful and haunting instrumental work that Bowie and even Eno have produced. These three songs surrounded with the non-instrumental "V-2 Schneider" and "The Secret Life of Arabia" make for a spectacular 20 minutes of music.

If you're just starting to dabble in Bowie's work, this is definitely a good starting place.

I love this album; it is one of Bowie's finest moments. However, I liked the Rykodisc version better than the new version because it had the bonus tracks. I don't understand what the previous reviewer is talking about, when they state that the original sequence has now been restored with the latest release. The Rykodisc versions of Bowie's albums do give you the ORIGINAL vinyl sequencing, with the bonus tracks added at the very end of the original album. It's not like Rykodisc placed these bonus tracks in the middle of the original album tracks! This person also mentions something about having to program out the bonus tracks on the Rykodisc versions, so as not to ruin the original vinyl sequence. What world do they live in! Anyone with a few working brain cells can read the back of the jewel case and see that then final album track is 'The Secret Life of Arabia'. And the bonus tracks are clearly stated as 'Bonus Tracks' on the back cover. So, for all of those who haven't figured this out: All you have to do is press the STOP button on your cd player (or remote) when 'The Secret Life of Arabia' is finished, and then you won't have to listen to these so called 'god-awful' bonus tracks! And, if you're really clever, you can then, quickly, press the PLAY button, and start the album over from the beginning - completely bypassing the bonus tracks. So, unless you are completely technologically inept, or just lazy, stop complaining about bonus tracks ruining the flow of an album. Most of us love to have these bonus tracks! I personally found the bonus tracks on the following Rykodisc releases to be incredibly enlightening and enjoyable: Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Young Americans, Station To Station, Low, and of course 'Heroes'.