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Catch a train back to the main BoWiE PaGe! Chugaluggachuggaluggachooooochoooooo!
Overall Album Score: 9.2 out of 10 David combines one of his least successful incarnations (soul) with the latest musical (bowel) movement in Germany (electronica) and ---whammo--- comes up with one of his greatest albums ever! Hooray! While it isn't particularly as interesting as his following two albums (and generally considered to be rock-and-roll landmarks), Low and Heroes, it is certainly more accessible and consistent. Yep ... there are no odd, boring instrumental passages to slow everything down. By and large, this is one clean, crisp, quick album! This is even more consistent than what's largely considered Bowie's greatest album: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy's Underpants. However, I don't want to imply that this album is cheesy or "Carpenters-esque" or anything. No! The whole reason people get into David Bowie is because he has this incredible knack for combining very accessible pop-rock with art-rock. Now, while some people aren't impressed with David's credentials as an art-rocker, they can't deny that his songs are more interesting than the average pop-rocker and he is more enjoyable than the average art-rocker. David has always teetered on this edge, and, principally, that is how he manages (and has managed) to maintain so much popularity. Station to Station is no exception to this, however, it is leaning on the "accessible pop-rock" side. Absolutely nothing here is daring! But, everything here is awesome, and that's all that matters in the end, innit? There are several reasons why Bowie failed at Young Americans but succeeded with Station to Station. Young Americans is a straight exercise in soul. Bowie hired some of the best men in the business to help him (and, by chance, also got to work with Lennon). However, Young Americans is so serious that it is TOO serious. While Station to Station is also very much an exercise in soul, Bowie adds quite a bit of humor to it. "TVC-15" is funny through its subject matter (about a woman being eaten by a television). "Golden Years" is funny because the instrumentals are exaggerated. "Station to Station" is funny because it's so strange at times. Another good reason why this album succeeded over Young Americans is because of Bowie's combination of soul and electronica. Using electronica as a foothold, Bowie created something bizarre enough for him to do something totally creative with it! A dance-soul-electronica? Get outta here! And ... yes! ... this album is injected with Bowie's signature brand of weirdness, too. Simply put: everyone simply MUST get this album. There's no excuse. This is a MAJOR Bowie classic. Overall Album Score: 9.2 out of 10 (Hooray! This is Bowie at his finest! Even though it's not too impressive artistically, it is probably his most consistent, and one of his most enjoyable albums. Thumbs up, baby!) Average Song Score: 9.6 (This is probably David's most consistent effort. There is not ONE dull moment. Not one.) Album Tilt: 9.5 (This is a super album! That's all I really need to say!) Artist Tilt: 8.5 (Okay ... umm ... how do I put this. I'm sort of abusing my power here, but I have to make sure that this album doesn't score TOO high overall. While this is, 100 percent, an enjoyable album, it's not the greatest piece of music ever bestowed upon mankind. And, even though it is substantially more consistent, it's not as good as David's utter masterpiece Ziggy Stardust. Also, with the minor exception of Pin-Ups, this is David's least "artistic" album of his classic period. So I guess I am justified. A little bit.) Track Reviews Station to Station 10/10 This is one of Bowie's shining moments, for sure. This is a sprawling 10-minute epic that is like 1,000,000,000,000,000 times more enjoyable than the last sprawling epics we saw from the guy (that is, "The Width of a Circle" from The Man Who Sold the World and then a few tracks or another from The Space Oddity. So ... that was a long time ago. But this song blows them all (for each of their merits) right out of the water! You know ... I have a special place in my music-reviewing-heart for songs that exceed 10 minutes and manage to kick ass. This is a textbook example. This track begins with train noises and then *WHAM* it explodes with super ultra-force and you're left to nothing but groove with it. (And ... yes ... David has *really* improved with his attempts with soul. Possibly that's because he combined it with electronica, which was a unique angle for him to work off of.) I'm going to give two other tracks on this album 10's as well. Hard to believe, but this isn't the best track on the album! (It's also hard to believe that there are only six tracks in this album altogether, which means there are only three songs that *don't* score a 10 ... and the other two will get very close.) Golden Years 10/10 Eh... so what if this was a Disco favorite? At least those weirdoes in the leisure suits found something DESCENT to dance to for once. And, by decent, I mean it's not mindless dribble put to a disco beat. So, call it "smart" disco. Actually, this isn't MUCH of a Disco song. I mean, if it was meant to be Disco, then it's fairly well disguised. What makes me enjoy "Golden Years" so much is that totally HAPPENIN' funky electric guitar riffs that makes one want to make his/her bootie jolt around in his/her seat. It's a bit of an interesting note of trivia to mention that this song was originally written for Elvis Presley! The All-Music Guide is right about something concerning this song: it does seem out of place. Word on a Wing 9.5/10 You know ... when a lot of these songs begin (this one starts with a guy playing totally uninteresting, lone notes at a piano), it comes as a bit of a shock to see them catch fire ... and this one's a roaring fire if there ever was one. (I wonder if that was a conscious strategy.) Even though this track isn't in the League-of-10-scorers, it is definitely a track that is essential to the album and it's completely fun to listen to. Perhaps under different circumstances, I would have scored this a 10. But, it's not quite as good as many of the other tracks of the album. TVC-15 10/10 Here's a major keeper! The best track of the album (but not by far) is a funny account of a poor woman being gobbled up by the television. But, if you don't want to pay attention to the lyrics, that's fine with me! The song would have been great without 'em. The track is utterly luring, Bowie's vocal performance is inspired (albiet, not "soulful" in the slightest bit), much of the instrumentals are unorthodox (making the song even that more interesting) and ... dang it ... I just like it. And you will too, I'm pretty sure. Just sit back and ENJOY! "Oh my TVC-15 uh oh!" Stay 8.5/10 Man! These great songs keep coming and coming! This one doesn't strike me as "great" like a lot of those other tracks did, but it's nevertheless entirely wonderful. It has a funky beat and it's perfectly danceable. More "soulful" than the previous track, but it's not quite as interesting. Ehh... I don't care. I'm too busy dancin'! Wild is the Wind 9.5/10 This is a slower song, but it's still quite good! Again, the instruments are slick and polished. As the song progresses, it becomes more an more dynamic (though, it never becomes "moving.") Bowie's vocals here exceed almost everything he did on his previous album. (Also a rather "soulful" song.) This track also seems rather serious, but David's heart truly seems to be into this one. Do you agree with me? Or, is my intellect like that of a hedgehog? Leave your comments here. slb23@shaw.ca (Simon B) received Sept. 28, 2004 I got STATIONTOSTATION two years ago for christmas. I think
it's one of Bowie's good albums, not his best, though.
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All reviews are copyrighted by Michael Lawrence. He *really* likes trains. A lot.
