Interesting transition album, at the crossroad between funky rhythms and sounds and the cold, mechanic sound typical of krautrock. As far as these genres might seem to be, it works.
Interesting transition album, at the crossroad between funky rhythms and sounds and the cold, mechanic sound typical of krautrock. As far as these genres might seem to be, it works.
Every Bowie album is a transition, from one style of music to another and a change of persona too. This album saw Bowie going through a serious cocaine problem, on the edge of a nervous breakdown. He said goodbye to the plastic soul of Young Americans and became the Thin White Duke, a sinister drug addled anti-hero with dubious politics, and took inspiration from European electronica and Krautrock in particular. The title track pays homage to Kraftwerk’s Trans-Europe Express as it opens with eerie electronic train sounds and builds up a metronomic beat before letting rip in a joyous stomping finale. Other highlights are Golden Years, which harks back to his earlier soul sounds and the final track Wild is the Wind which anticipates the haunting sounds of his Berlin albums and his later film soundtracks.