History Music / HeroesDavidBowieAlbum

* {{Tuckerization}}: The bonus track "Abdulmajid", included on the 1991 Creator/{{Rykodisc}} CD release, is titled after the maiden name of Iman, Bowie's girlfriend at the time the reissue was put out (Bowie married her the following year).

As with ''[[Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum Low]]'', ''"Heroes"'' consists of {{ambient}}-inspired art rock, with lyrical songs encompassing side A and instrumentals occupying most of side B. However, ''"Heroes"'' is considerably more accessible than its predecessor; while ''Low'' was proto-PostRock with minimalist lyrics, the songs on ''"Heroes"'' are familiarly Bowie-esque art rock, among other things featuring stream-of-consciousness lyrics with word salad tendencies that presage ''Music/{{Lodger}}''. Bowie was highly enthusiastic about the album's production, pulling all-nighters and working closely with Eno to provide an album that was less melancholic than ''Low'' while going deeper into its experimental direction, finding a middle ground between it and Bowie's trademark brand of leftfield rock. The end result was a much more upbeat album that more closely reflected Bowie's natural artistic passion, embodied by a highly improvisational composition and recording process.

* UsefulNotes/BerlinWall: The title track has two lovers meet each other next to "the wall", which was inspired by this one (see below).

* BookEnds: This album, like its predecessor, ''[[Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum Low]]'', contains some strange examples. "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Secret Life of Arabia" provide an example of stylistic bookends: they are unusual, catchy dance songs on an album that is, overall, fairly subdued. "V-2 Schneider" and "Secret Life" also bookend the album's B-side as vocal pieces on an otherwise instrumental album side. "Secret Life" also serves as the latter half of an unusual example of bookends ''between albums'': ''Low'' opened with "Speed of Life", and the first verse of "Secret Life" opens with the line "I was running at the speed of life."

* UsefulNotes/ColdWar: This album breathes this atmosphere.

* LighterAndSofter: Tony Visconti himself described the album as "a very positive version of ''[[Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum Low]]''." Tracks on the album tend to range between bouncy & eccentric and ethereally subdued; even the darker instrumentals "Sense of Doubt" and "Neuköln" are considerably less bleak compared to the extended wailing drones of "Warszawa" and "Subterraneans".

** The closing track "The Secret Life of Arabia" opens with the line "I was running at the speed of life," harking back to the opening track on ''[[Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum Low]]'', "Speed of Life".

''"Heroes"''[[note]]yes, the ScareQuotes are part of the album's title and TitleTrack[[/note]] is the twelfth studio album by Music/DavidBowie, released in late 1977. It was his second collaboration with Music/BrianEno, with whom he previously worked on ''[[Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum Low]]'' in late 1976 and would work again on ''Music/{{Lodger}}'' in late 1978/early 1979[[note]]these years refer to the recording sessions for ''Low'' and ''Lodger''; ''Low'' was released in January 1977 and ''Lodger'' in May 1979[[/note]], and as such is the second part of what critics and fans call the "UsefulNotes/{{Berlin}} [[ThematicSeries Trilogy]]" of his {{Krautrock}}/art rock/proto-PostPunk albums.

Interestingly, ''"Heroes"'' was released exactly nine months to the day after ''Low'': ''Low'' was released on January 14, 1977, and ''"Heroes"'' on October 14, 1977.

** Due to a mastering error, the initial US CD release by Creator/RCARecords lops off the first 1.8 seconds of "Beauty and the Beast"; a similar glitch is present on RCA's US CD release of ''Music/YoungAmericans''.

* GratuitousGerman: Heard and seen all over the album.

* TranslatedCoverVersion: Bowie recorded "'Heroes'" not only in English, but also in French as "'Heros'" and German as "'Helden'".

* FaceOnTheCover: A Masayoshi Sukita photograph of Bowie striking a pose with his hands, with the white levels upped to the point where Bowie's face appears almost like he's wearing a blank mask. For reference, [[https://www.morrisonhotelgallery.com/images/big/18-P1977-Heroes.jpg here]] is the untouched version of the photo.

* MythologyGag:
** The cover art is partly a nod to Music/IggyPop's album ''Music/TheIdiot'' (which Bowie had produced and co-written a number of tracks on) from earlier in the year, right down to featuring the same photographer. The reference is more than fitting, as ''The Idiot'' was more or less a prelude to the Berlin Trilogy.
** The title track features the synthesized train sounds that previously opened the title track to ''Music/StationToStation''.
** The closing track "The Secret Life of Arabia" opens with the line "I was running at the speed of life," harking back to the opening track on ''[[Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum Low]]'', "Speed of Life".

** The song is the centrepiece of the film ''Literature/ChristianeF'' (1981) and Music/DavidBowie even performs it live and integrally when the titular character visits one of his concerts.

* {{Ambient}}: The second side of this album mostly falls into this genre, as was the case with ''[[Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum Low]]'' earlier that year.

* DistinctDoubleAlbum: Another single-disc variant. As with ''[[Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum Low]]'', the album is full of abstract art rock pieces on the first side, while the second is instrumental save for "V-2 Schneider" and "The Secret Life of Arabia".

* {{Krautrock}}: While not a true example of this genre, the music on this album is inspired by artists from the Krautrock movement such as Music/{{Kraftwerk}} (to whom "V-2 Schneider" is dedicated) and Music/{{Neu}} (whose guitarist was asked to play on the album before being replaced by [[Music/KingCrimson Robert Fripp]]).

* SpecialGuest: Music/KingCrimson guitarist Robert Fripp plays on this album, most prominently on the title track. Fripp hadn't actually played for three years when Music/BrianEno called him to play on the album, so Bowie & Eno can be credited with bringing him out of retirement. The first song he recorded for was "Beauty and the Beast". Naturally, he nailed it on the first take. While jet-lagged, no less.

* TheAce: By his own account, [[Music/KingCrimson Robert Fripp]] hadn't played guitar in three years when Brian Eno brought him in to play on the album. He was incredibly jet-lagged when he arrived in Berlin from New York. Regardless, his first take was used in the final mix of "Beauty on the Beast", and it's impossible to imagine the title track without his distinctive guitar sound.

Released at a time when artists influenced by him were first reaching mainstream prominence (particularly the PunkRock movement, influenced by Bowie's GlamRock material from the early '70s), Bowie promoted ''"Heroes"'' aggressively throughout the rest of 1977 and 1978, contrary to the intentional lack of promotion for ''Low''. Between numerous interviews, TV performances (including a spot on Music/BingCrosby's posthumously-aired final Christmas special), and an extensive world tour, Bowie was adamant in ensuring that people understood his enthusiasm for the album. The effort payed off in the UK, where ''"Heroes"'' peaked at No. 3, staying on the charts for 26 consecutive weeks before ultimately going gold both there and in Canada. In the US, it peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard 200.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Just for one day"''.]]

* TheAce: By his own account, [[Music/KingCrimson Robert Fripp]] hadn't played guitar in years when Brian Eno brought him in to play on the album. He was incredibly jet-lagged when he arrived in Berlin from New York. Regardless, his first take was used in the final mix of "Beauty on the Beast", and it's impossible to imagine the title track without his distinctive guitar sound.

* DigitalDestruction: The initial version of the 2017 remaster, included in the BoxedSet ''A New Career in a New Town [1977–1982]'', featured an audible volume drop partway through the TitleTrack. Creator/ParlophoneRecords claimed that it was to obscure irreversible damage on the master tape, but eventually relented after further complaints and included a revised version of the remaster on replacement discs for affected buyers. This fixed version was also incorporated on the standalone CD, LP, and digital releases.

Released at a time when artists influenced by him were first reaching mainstream prominence (particularly the PunkRock movement, influenced by Bowie's GlamRock material from the early '70s), Bowie promoted ''"Heroes"'' aggressively throughout the rest of 1977 and 1978, contrary to the intentional lack of promotion for ''Low''. Between numerous interviews, TV performances (including a spot on Music/BingCrosby's posthumously-aired final Christmas special), and an extensive world tour, Bowie was adamant in ensuring that people understood his enthusiasm for the album. The effort payed off in the UK, where ''"Heroes"'' peaked at No. 3, on staying on the charts for 26 consecutive weeks before ultimately going gold both there and in Canada. In the US, it peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard 200.

* {{Krautrock}}: While not a true example of this genre, the music on this album is inspired by artists from the Krautrock movement such as Music/{{Kraftwerk}} and Music/{{Neu}}.

** "V-2 Schneider" is a shout-out to Florian Schneider of Music/{{Kraftwerk}}
* SpecialGuest: Music/KingCrimson guitarist Robert Fripp plays on this album, most prominently on the title track. Fripp hadn't actually played for three years when Bowie called him to play on the album, so Bowie can be credited with bringing him out of retirement (the first song he recorded for was "Beauty and the Beast". Naturally, he nailed it on the first take. While jet-lagged, no less).

The album peaked at No. 3 on the UK Albums chart, on which it stayed for 26 consecutive weeks, and went gold in both the UK and Canada. In the US, it peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard 200.

* LighterAndSofter: ''"Heroes"'' is nowhere near as dour as ''[[Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum Low]]'' was, both musically and lyrically. Rather, tracks on the album tend to range between bouncy & eccentric and ethereally subdued; even the darker instrumentals "Sense of Doubt" and "Neuköln" are considerably less bleak compared to the extended wailing drones of "Warszawa" and "Subterraneans".

* RecordProducer: As with the other Berlin Trilogy albums, many people think Music/BrianEno was the producer. Bowie's frequent collaborator Tony Visconti actually produced, although Eno was an important contributor. This mistake tends to be further exacerbated by the fact that Eno would take many of the techniques used on ''"Heroes"'' to [[Music/MoreSongsAboutBuildingsAndFood the]] [[Music/FearOfMusic three]] [[Music/RemainInLight albums]] he actually ''did'' produce with Music/TalkingHeads during and after the Berlin Trilogy.

** "Joe the Lion" is the NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of Chris Burden, an artist who once had himself crucified on a Volkswagen ("Nail me to my car/And I'll tell you who you are"). Burden and this incident are directly mentioned in the liner notes of a later Bowie album, ''Music/{{Outside}}''.

** Music/PhilipGlass's Symphony No.4 (''"Heroes"'') was named after this album, down to the individual movements which were all named after, and based on the tracks "'Heroes'", "Abdulmajid", "Sense of Doubt", "Sons of the Silent Age", "Neuköln" and "V-2 Schneider". Earlier he also composed his Symphony No.1 (''Low'') after Bowie's ''[[Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum Low]]'', and would later compose his Symphony No.12 (''Lodger'') in 2018 after Bowie's [[Music/{{Lodger}} 1979 follow-up]] to ''"Heroes"''.
** The cover of Bowie's album ''Music/TheNextDay'' is an altered facsimile of the ''"Heroes"'' cover.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: "Neuköln" was named after the German neighbourhood of "Neukö'''ll'''n". YMMV on whether the spelling was intentional or not.

** Music/PhilipGlass's ''4th Symphony "Heroes"'' was named after this album, down to the individual movements which were all named after, and based on the tracks "'Heroes'", "Abdulmajid", "Sense of Doubt", "Sons of the Silent Age", "Neuköln" and "V-2 Schneider". Earlier he also composed his ''1st Symphony Low'' after Bowie's ''[[Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum Low]]'', and would later compose his ''12th Symphony Lodger'' in 2018 after Bowie's [[Music/{{Lodger}} 1979 follow-up]] to ''"Heroes"''.

''"Heroes"''[[note]]yes, the ScareQuotes are part of the album's title and TitleTrack[[/note]] is the twelfth studio album by Music/DavidBowie, released in late 1977. It was his second collaboration with Music/BrianEno, with whom he previously worked on ''Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum'' in late 1976 and would work again on ''Music/{{Lodger}}'' in late 1978/early 1979[[note]]these years refer to the recording sessions for ''Low'' and ''Lodger''; ''Low'' was released in January 1977 and ''Lodger'' in May 1979[[/note]], and as such is the second part of what critics and fans call the "UsefulNotes/{{Berlin}} [[ThematicSeries Trilogy]]" of his {{Krautrock}}/art rock/proto-PostPunk albums.

* {{Ambient}}: The second side of this album mostly falls into this genre, as was the case with ''Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum'' earlier that year.

* BookEnds: This album, like its predecessor, ''Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum'', contains some strange examples. "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Secret Life of Arabia" provide an example of stylistic bookends: they are unusual, catchy dance songs on an album that is, overall, fairly subdued. "V-2 Schneider" and "Secret Life" also bookend the album's B-side as vocal pieces on an otherwise instrumental album side. "Secret Life" also serves as the latter half of an unusual example of bookends ''between albums'': ''Low'' opened with "Speed of Life", and the first verse of "Secret Life" opens with the line "I was running at the speed of life."

* DistinctDoubleAlbum: Another single-disc variant. As with ''Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum'', the album is full of abstract art rock pieces on the first side, while the second is instrumental save for "V-2 Schneider" and "The Secret Life of Arabia".

* LighterAndSofter: ''"Heroes"'' is nowhere near as dour as ''Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum'' was, both musically and lyrically. Rather, tracks on the album tend to range between bouncy & eccentric and ethereally subdued; even the darker instrumentals "Sense of Doubt" and "Neuköln" are considerably less bleak compared to the extended wailing drones of "Warszawa" and "Subterraneans".

** The closing track "The Secret Life of Arabia" opens with the line "I was running at the speed of life," harking back to the opening track on ''Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum'', "Speed of Life".

** Music/PhilipGlass's ''4th Symphony "Heroes"'' was named after this album, down to the individual movements which were all named after, and based on the tracks "'Heroes'", "Abdulmajid", "Sense of Doubt", "Sons of the Silent Age", "Neuköln" and "V-2 Schneider". Earlier he also composed his ''1st Symphony Low'' after Bowie's ''Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum'', and would later compose his ''12th Symphony Lodger'' in 2018 after Bowie's [[Music/{{Lodger}} 1979 follow-up]] to ''"Heroes"''.

Upon release, ''"Heroes"'' was positively received by critics, making it the only one of the trilogy to receive that from the outset (both ''Low'' and ''Lodger'' would need to be VindicatedByHistory); both ''Melody Maker'' and ''Magazine/{{NME}}'' declared it their album of the year, and ''Magazine/RollingStone'' praised its ability to mesh Eno's ambient style with Bowie's dramatic flare. Its stature has only grown since, with the album now regarded by both fans and critics as one of Bowie's finest; furthermore, the title track is now one of the candidates to be Bowie's SignatureSong. ''NME'' ranked ''"Heroes"'' at No. 329 on their 2012 [[UsefulNotes/NME500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime list]] of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and as of 2020 it sits at No. 269 on ''WebSite/AcclaimedMusic''[='s=] [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums dynamic list]] of the 3000 most critically lauded albums. Commercially, the album also performed decently, peaking at No. 3 on the UK Albums chart, on which it stayed for 26 consecutive weeks, and going gold in both the UK and Canada. In the US however, it only peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard 200 and failed to meet any RIAA certifications, and was less successful than ''Low'' on both sides of the Pond.

Upon release, ''"Heroes"'' was positively received by critics, making it the only one of the trilogy to receive that from the outset (both ''Low'' and ''Lodger'' would need to be VindicatedByHistory); both ''Melody Maker'' and ''Magazine/{{NME}}'' declared it their album of the year, and ''Magazine/RollingStone'' praised its ability to mesh Eno's ambient style with Bowie's dramatic flare. Its stature has only grown since, with the album now regarded by both fans and critics as one of Bowie's finest; furthermore, the title track is now one of the candidates to be Bowie's SignatureSong. ''NME'' ranked ''"Heroes"'' at No. 329 on their 2012 [[UsefulNotes/NME500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime list]] of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and as of 2020 it sits at No. 269 on ''WebSite/AcclaimedMusic''[='s=] [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums dynamic list]] of the 3000 most critically lauded albums. Commercially, the album also performed decently, peaking at No. 3 on the UK Albums chart, on which it stayed for 26 consecutive weeks, and going gold in both the UK and Canada. In the US however, it only peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard 200 and failed to meet any RIAA certifications, and was less successful than ''Low'' on both sides of the Pond.

Upon release, ''"Heroes"'' was positively received by critics, making it the only one of the trilogy to receive that from the outset (both ''Low'' and ''Lodger'' would need to be VindicatedByHistory); both ''Melody Maker'' and ''Magazine/{{NME}}'' declared it their album of the year, and ''Magazine/RollingStone'' praised its ability to mesh Eno's ambient style with Bowie's dramatic flare. Its stature has only grown since, with the album now regarded by both fans and critics as one of Bowie's finest; furthermore, the title track is now one of the candidates to be Bowie's SignatureSong. ''NME'' ranked ''"Heroes"'' at No. 329 on their 2012 [[UsefulNotes/NME500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime list]] of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and as of 2020 it sits at No. 269 on ''WebSite/AcclaimedMusic''[='s=] [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums dynamic list]] of the 3000 most critically lauded albums. Commercially, the album also performed decently, peaking at No. 3 on the UK Albums chart, on which it stayed for 26 consecutive weeks, and going gold in both the UK and Canada. In the US however, it only peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard 200 and failed to meet any RIAA certifications, and was less successful than ''Low'' on both sides of the Pond.

''"Heroes"''[[note]]yes, the ScareQuotes are part of the album's title and TitleTrack[[/note]] is the twelfth studio album by Music/DavidBowie, released in late 1977. It was his second collaboration with Music/BrianEno, with whom he previously worked on ''Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum'' in late 1976 and would work again on ''Music/{{Lodger}}'' in late 1978/early 1979[[note]]these years refer to the recording sessions for ''Low'' and ''Lodger''; ''Low'' was released in January 1977 and ''Lodger'' in May 1979[[/note]], and as such is the second part of what critics and fans call the "UsefulNotes/{{Berlin}} Trilogy" of his {{Krautrock}}/art rock/proto-PostPunk albums.

* DigitalDestruction: The BoxedSet ''A New Career in a New Town [1977–1982]'', which encompasses the Bowie albums from that period plus remixes and non-album singles, came under considerable scorn from fans and critics for an apparent volume drop partway through the TitleTrack of this album. Creator/ParlophoneRecords responded to the criticisms by stating that this was an attempt to circumvent irreversible damage that was present on the tape. Nevertheless, the criticism was so strong that Bowie's website provided replacement discs for ''"Heroes"'' up through June 2018. The replacement discs' version of the remaster was also used for the standalone CD and LP releases of ''"Heroes"'', as well as for the digital releases of both the album and the box set. The issues were especially grating to fans because the first two box sets in the series, ''Five Years [1969-1973]'' and ''Who Can I Be Now? [1974-1976]'', were very highly regarded and featured remasters that many fans and critics considered to be nearly definitive. Luckily, this problem turned out to be a fluke, as the ''Loving the Alien [1983-1988]'' box set was much better regarded, being considered on-par with the first two sets (barring the earlier blunders with the 2015 remaster of ''Music/SpaceOddity'').
* [[DistinctDoubleAlbum Distinct Single Album]]: As with ''Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum'', the album is full of abstract art rock pieces on the first side, while the second is instrumental save for "V-2 Schneider" and "The Secret Life of Arabia".

! '''''Tell you who you are if you trope me to my car''''':

Upon release, ''"Heroes"'' was positively received by critics, making it the only one of the trilogy to receive that from the outset (both ''Low'' and ''Lodger'' would need to be VindicatedByHistory); both ''Melody Maker'' and ''Magazine/{{NME}}'' declared it their album of the year, and ''Magazine/RollingStone'' praised its ability to mesh Eno's ambient style with Bowie's dramatic flare. Its stature has only grown since, with the album now regarded by both fans and critics as one of Bowie's finest; furthermore, the title track is now one of the candidates to be Bowie's SignatureSong. ''NME'' ranked ''"Heroes"'' at No. 329 on their 2012 [[UsefulNotes/NME500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime list]] of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and as of 2018 it sits at No. 253 on ''WebSite/AcclaimedMusic''[='s=] [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums dynamic list]] of the 3000 most critically lauded albums. Commercially, the album also performed decently, peaking at No. 3 on the UK Albums chart, on which it stayed for 26 consecutive weeks, and going gold in both the UK and Canada. In the US however, it only peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard 200 and failed to meet any RIAA certifications, and was less successful than ''Low'' on both sides of the Pond.

** The closing track "The Secret Life of Arabia" opens with the line "I was running at the speed of life," harking back to the opening track on ''Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum'', "Speed of Life.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: "Joe the Lion" is the NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of Chris Burden, an artist who once had himself crucified on a Volkswagen ("Nail me to my car/And I'll tell you who you are"). Burden and this incident are directly mentioned in the liner notes of a later Bowie album, ''Music/{{Outside}}''.

* EchoingAcoustics: The TitleTrack indulges in this with the instrumentation and [[PlayingWithATrope plays with it]] on Bowie's vocals, which were recorded using a series of microphones placed at increasing distances from him in an orchestra hall. As the song progressed, the recording would switch from the closest microphone to the farthest, forcing Bowie to sing louder and louder until he was practically screaming, thus capturing the natural echo of the recording area.