“Heroes” — 1977

Background

"Heroes" was released in 1977, the second album in what's commonly called Bowie's Berlin Trilogy, recorded in West Berlin with Brian Eno and produced by Tony Visconti, continuing the exploration of ambient, electronic and art-rock textures begun on Low earlier the same year, while incorporating more conventional rock songwriting on several tracks.

Sound

The title track builds from a hushed, tense verse into one of Bowie's most widely celebrated choruses, the song's narrative of two lovers meeting by the Berlin Wall giving it a specific geopolitical resonance beyond its universal romantic sentiment; Robert Fripp's layered, feedback-driven guitar work throughout gives the track its distinctive, soaring texture. The album's second side largely continues Low's instrumental, ambient direction, incorporating Eno's synthesizer textures into more expansive, atmospheric compositions.

Berlin context

Recorded near the Berlin Wall during a period of significant personal upheaval and reinvention for Bowie, the album's combination of stark, atmospheric instrumentals and a handful of genuinely anthemic songs reflects both the divided city's tension and Bowie's own search for a new artistic direction after the excesses of his earlier American period.

Legacy

"Heroes" is widely regarded as a high point of Bowie's extraordinarily varied career and one of the most significant albums to emerge from his collaboration with Brian Eno, its title track becoming one of the most enduringly covered and referenced songs in his entire catalogue. It remains a defining document of the art-rock and ambient experimentation of the late 1970s.