Station to Station

The epitome of blowing your brains out with cocaine. But y'know, it's Bowie, so he took it ten notches above what any regular person could do strung out on coke.

Bowie took the sound of Young Americans and put it under a microscope and dissected it to such lengths, that he made a new dystopian sound with the vigor and power of a charismatic dictator.

The opener is marvelous, with its multi facetted suite approach that gives some progressive rock tracks a run for their money, but I want to talk about my favorite track off here, the cover of Wild is The Wind. It's probably the first track where you can feel Bowie's mutilated personality come off and reveal the detached genius truly struggling. Everything in between is nothing short of amazing in a haunting, concerning and frightening way. Not my apsolute favorite Bowie album, but it's up there.

Favorite track(s): Station to Station, Golden Years, Word on a Wing, Stay, Wild Is the Wind

Drugs have never caused a more awesome transformation than creating the Thin White Duke.

Heard before
Previous rating: 8/10

Station to Station is such a wild, contradictory ride, especially knowing how deep Bowie was into his cocaine phase at the time. It’s super short (I mean, only six songs) but it feels like a total fever dream. The band is incredibly tight, blending that slick soul vibe with those icy, experimental grooves that really paved the way for his Berlin stuff. Whether it’s the long, driving title track or the catchy strut of "Golden Years", the whole record has this nervous, high-stakes energy that’s hard to ignore.

That said, it’s not for everyone. If you’re not into his Thin White Duke persona, the drama and detachment might just come off as a bit much or even self-indulgent. Some parts, like "TVC15," lean pretty hard into that weird, vaudevillian territory, which can be exhausting. But just when it feels like things might go off the rails, he hits you with something raw like "Word On A Wing" or that "Wild Is The Wind" cover that completely grounds it. It’s definitely a messy, brilliant, and uncomfortable classic, the sound of an artist losing his mind and somehow making it work perfectly.

What a coincidence. Yesterday, I had Ziggy Stardust and said that although I loved it, I thought Station to Station was probably my favourite Bowie album. And today I get to put my money where my mouth is and say that yes, it is. Something about the mix of repetitive grooves and actual tunes hits the sweet spot for me

Great album that flies under the radar in discussions of Bowie.

A prime example of what cocaine can achieve with just a little bit of co-operation.

Bowie, it seems, had no memory of actually making this.

Musically it's magnificent, with the band playing as though their Ives depended on it.

I defy anyone to say what any of the songs are actually about, with a patchwork of Kabbalah, Crowley, Sci-Fi, TVs that eat people and who knows what else all wrapped up in the sort of lyrics that probably seemed like they made sense at the time.

Station to Station is nearly ten minutes of disco-prog, proclaiming "the return of the Thin White Duke" and "The European Canon". Okay.

Golden Years seems like a continuation of the Young Americans album's "plastic soul" and, indeed, Bowie performed it on Soul Train, all coked out and looking like a pale white insect.

Word on a Wing seems to be some sort of prayer. "Lord I kneel and offer you my Word on a Wing" It's probably the most portentous song on the album and, to be honest, drags a bit.

TVC-15 is the closest thing to a "fun track" on the album and even then it's a kind of Videodrome nightmare. It chugs along and in later, live performances (at Live Aid, for example) Bowie would perform it at double the tempo and it would really come to life.

Stay might be the best thing on the album. Earl Slick's guitar heads into metal territory and the song is the closest thing to a stadium banger the album has.

Then, to finish, we have Wild is the Wind, probably the weakest thing on the album. The problem is that Nina Simone's version is so definitive that Bowie's version seems like a pale copy. It's a beautiful song and Bowie performs it beautifully, but it's all surface, where Simone mines into the depths of the song. Mind, you, George Michael did a version, so Bowie is ahead there.

When this album is good it's sensational and up there with the best things Bowie ever did. But Word on a Wing and Wild is the Wind let it down.

This would feel like a short album , of just 6 songs , if not for the fact that the opening track feels like 3 if not 4 distinct songs

The thin white duke person resonates through an album steeped with emotion - but is at odds with the funky tones of Stay

I’m questioning some of my life choices.

Why was I never into Bowie at the time?

Why did I take the piss out of Dave Gill at school, when he used to bend every uniform rule possible in an attempt to look like Bowie? Although, to be fair, I’d probably still have taken the piss.

I don’t think I even knew this album existed back then. By the time it entered my orbit, I had somehow convinced myself it was one of his later offerings.

It’s terrific.

After just one listen, “Station to Station” could already be my new favourite Bowie track — and not just because of the beginning.

I loved everything on here.

What a great album.

It'd kinda hard to give this a five when your brother would play "TVC15" every single fucking day on your way to school freshman year

It was okay, I could listen to it without skipping.
However, for me, the genre mix of funk, art rock and piano rock didn't work. Also I thought the sound lacked power, it felt somehow weak the whole time. And it doesn't help that I don't really like Bowie's voice.
Near the end it got better with "Stay" and "Wild Is the Wind".
2.5/5 - okay-ish

I am still of the opinion that there's too much Bowie in this book.

Es un álbum tranqui. No le presté tanta atención a las letras, musicalmente se me hizo común, algo que ya se escucha y conoce de Bowie (aunque el primer track es bastante interesante). No escuché mucho de Bowie, pero considero que este no es de sus mejores álbumes. De todas formas lo volvería a escuchar y probablemente lo haga.

I have not heard this album before, and wasn’t overwhelmed with the opening track. Things got better with Golden Years which is an absolute classic and then continued with some nice songs, particularly Word on a Wing. I heard a fair bit of funk and soul here. Wouldn’t say it bowled me over so four stars.

I’ve heard stronger albums from David Bowie than this. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 has a distinct atmosphere and some interesting ideas, especially in the longer tracks, but it doesn’t fully come together for me. At times it feels a bit stretched out, and not everything holds my attention. It’s a solid record, just not one I’d rank among his best.

jako dobro, možda najbolji bovijev album koji sam dosad preslušao. zadnja stvar (»wild is the wind«) izvrsna, izvrsna!

EDIT: ma naš šta, petica, slušam ga svako malo sad

Déjà écouté avant.

Un chef-d'œuvre de funk rock glacial, dont les expérimentations ouvrent la voie à la trilogie berlinoise. Probablement le meilleur backing band de la carrière de David Bowie, avec une section rythmique au top de sa forme. Absolument génial de bout en bout (et donc je triche et ne désigne pas de "Flop") !

Top : Station to Station
Flop : -

David Bowie is cool. We can all agree on that. This album is ok though. I really want to love it but it's nothing ground breaking. 3/5.

I don’t know why - but this felt OK…and just that. I know I’m not the only one that thinks this is way to many Bowie albums.

De grootse entree van de Thin White Duke is misschien gelijk het beste wat deze era heeft voortgebracht. Station to Station is zo funky en zo gefocust, een complete 180 van wat er op Young Americans gebeurde en hierna wordt het jaren lang alleen nog maar interessanter. Fucking briljant.

Solid, but the album doesn't really do anything for me personally.