Line #18 Music/StationToStation


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cover_station_to_station_1976.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"Never look back, walk tall, act fine."'']]
3	->''"Well worth stopping for."''
4	-->-- '''{{Tagline}}''' from the album's advertising campaign.
5
6	''Station to Station'' is the tenth studio album by Music/DavidBowie, released in 1976 through Creator/RCARecords. It is seen as a precursor to his "UsefulNotes/{{Berlin}} Trilogy" (''[[Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum Low]]'', ''[[Music/HeroesDavidBowieAlbum "Heroes"]]'' and ''Music/{{Lodger}}''), which began the following year.
7
8	It's a ConceptAlbum built around a character named The Thin White Duke, a character Bowie thought up while writing a story called "The Return of the Thin White Duke" during the filming of ''Film/TheManWhoFellToEarth'', a still of which is used for the album cover. This eventually resulted in this music album, influenced by {{Krautrock}} music, which would be explored much closer in the Berlin albums that followed.
9
10	It was recorded in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles while Bowie was suffering a full-blown cocaine-induced psychotic breakdown and had just finished appearing in the CultClassic ''Film/TheManWhoFellToEarth''. He claimed in interviews he remembered nothing about the recording other than describing the guitar sound he wanted on the title track to the session musician, but there are many stories about his behaviour at the time.
11
12	''Station to Station'' was commercially successful upon release, peaking at No. 5 on the UK Albums chart and No. 3 on the Billboard 200, as well as being certified gold in the UK, the US, and Canada.
13
14	''Station to Station'' was supported by three singles upon its initial release: "Golden Years", "TVC 15", and "Stay". A heavily truncated version of the TitleTrack was also released as a promo single in France. Bowie's cover of the Johnny Mathis song "Wild Is the Wind" was later released as a single in 1981 to promote the GreatestHitsAlbum ''Changestwobowie'', on which it was included.
15	----
16
17	!! Tracklist:
18	[[AC: Side One]]
19	# "Station to Station" (10:14)
20	# "Golden Years" (4:00)
21	# "Word on a Wing" (6:03)
22
23	[[AC: Side Two]]
24	[numlist:4]
25	# "TVC 15" (5:33)
26	# "Stay" (6:15)
27	# "Wild Is the Wind"[[note]]Originally by Music/JohnnyMathis.[[/note]] (6:02)
28	[/numlist]
29	----
30
31	!! Bonus Tracks (1991 Reissue):
32	[numlist:7]
33	# "Word on a Wing (live)"
34	# "Stay (live)"
35	[/numlist]
36	----
37
38	!! This week troped past me so slowly; the days fell on their knees...:
39	* AlliterativeTitle: "'''S'''tation to '''S'''tation."
40	* AlternateAlbumCover: The 1991 Creator/{{Rykodisc}} and 1999 Creator/{{EMI}}[=/=]Creator/{{Virgin\|Records}} reissues use [[https://img.discogs.com/jO6X5cCM1M2VqAa0qYa-1GQ2jzk=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-9092378-1474766876-3794.jpeg.jpg the uncropped, full-color version]] of the cover photo, with the title text overlaid atop it, as the album art. A Japan-only "mini LP" CD in 2007 would revert back to the 1976 cover, with all later reissues since then following suit. The sole exception is the ''Who Can I Be Now? [1974-1976]'' BoxedSet's copy of the 2010 remix, which uses a color-corrected version of the 1991 cover.
41	* AntiLoveSong: A recurring theme throughout the album; true to the Thin White Duke's sociopathic nature, most of the lyrics on the album are made to read like love songs, but in context come off as coldly calculated and insincere.
42	* AristocratsAreEvil: The Thin White Duke, a cold-hearted cocaine addict with a taste for fascism who spends time "throwing darts in lovers' eyes".
43	* BigBad: The Thin White Duke, who is a heartless Fascist.
44	* BreatherEpisode: "Word on a Wing", just mildly so; while still fairly moody in tone, the lyrical content is much more honest; Bowie himself even confirmed that it's the only track on the album whose lyrics were written in earnest.
45	* CoverVersion: "Wild Is the Wind", the title song from a 1957 film. It was originally recorded by Music/JohnnyMathis, though Bowie seems to have based his version on Music/NinaSimone's, as discussed below under LostInCharacter.
46	* DarkerAndEdgier: This album takes the "plastic soul" of ''Music/YoungAmericans'' and directs it in a more dour, brooding direction with heavier emphasis on experimentation and occultism. The Thin White Duke was also a much, ''much'' more unpleasant figure than any of Bowie's other personae; getting LostInCharacter and saying things he would later end up regretting was one of the reasons Bowie stopped creating such characters.
47	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The original LP cover features a cropped black and white photograph taken on-set during the production of ''Film/TheManWhoFellToEarth'', featuring Bowie as Thomas Jerome Newton entering his self-built return ship[[note]]the image is commonly mistaken to be an actual still from the film, but at no point is Thomas ever shown actually walking into the ship from that specific perspective[[/note]]. While the cropping appears to be a stylistic choice, particularly given the large white border and stark red text, the decision to make it black and white came from Bowie seeing a full-color version of the original image and finding the skyline behind the ship's door artificial-looking.
48	* DigitalDestruction: The original US CD release by Creator/RCARecords is mastered at an abnormally low volume compared to the label's other Bowie [=CDs=], and turning the dial up reveals that the sound is extremely thin compared to the original LP; the latter can also be said of the Japanese RCA CD, which is simply a volume-boosted version of the US CD. Both discs also lop off the very start of "Word on a Wing". The European RCA CD doesn't have any of these problems; consequently, a repressing of it was included in the 2010 deluxe edition as a bonus disc.
49	* {{Doowop}}: "Golden Years" is sung in this genre.
50	* DoubleEntendre: The title phrase; in the context of the TitleTrack, it refers not only to literal train stations (indicated by the steam engine sounds that open the song), but also the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stations_of_the_Cross Stations of the Cross]], tying into the album's heavy occult influences and twisting of Judeochristian imagery.
51	* DreamingOfThingsToCome: "TVC 15", inspired by a drug hallucination from Music/IggyPop in which he imagined the TV set was swallowing his girlfriend.
52	* EpicRocking: The title track in particular, at 10 minutes 14 seconds, is the longest studio track he ever released (although the title track of ''Music/BlackstarAlbum'' was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally intended to be longer]], but thanks to [[ExecutiveMeddling iTunes' single length limitations]], it was trimmed for release, as Bowie did not want to confuse listeners by having the single and album versions of the song be different). "Word on a Wing" (6:03), "Stay" (6:15), and "Wild Is the Wind" (6:02) also qualify. In fact, this album's mean song length is itself nearly six minutes!
53	* EvilCannotComprehendGood: One of the running themes behind the album is the Duke, who has no capacity for love or for ''any'' real emotion, struggling to grasp and convey romantic sentiment; there's a certain hollowness behind the surface emotions of these songs which exposes the Duke as TheSociopath. Bowie himself says that "Word on a Wing" is the only track not meant to sound coldly calculated and insincere.
54	* EyeScream: In "Station to Station", the Thin White Duke has a habit of "throwing darts in lovers' eyes".
55	* FaceOnTheCover: Bowie's face shown from a distance, in a still from ''The Man Who Fell to Earth''.
56	* GenreMashup: It combines a number of genres that weren't commonly combined at the time, as seen under New Sound Album. Some of them still aren't; arguably, no other record sounds quite like this one.
57	* GodIsLoveSongs: "Word on a Wing":
58	--> ''"Lord, I kneel and offer you\
59	My word on a wing\
60	And I'm trying hard to fit\
61	Among your scheme of things"''
62	* GratuitousPanning: The guitar sounds mimicking a steam engine in the introduction to the TitleTrack FadeIn on the right channel and gradually sweep into the left, as if an actual train is passing by the listener.
63	* HeliumSpeech: Some of the background singing during "Golden Years" is very high pitched.
64	* IncomingHam: After the lengthy intro of "Station to Station", with [[CoolTrain bizarre sound effects mimicking a train]] with the Thin White Duke on board.
65	--> ''The return of the Thin White Duke, [[AristocratsAreEvil throwing darts in lovers' eyes]].''
66	* LongestSongGoesFirst: The longest song of Bowie's career, "Station to Station", is also the opener.
67	* LostInCharacter: Getting lost in character as the Duke, whom Bowie himself described as "a nasty character indeed", was ultimately the reason he stopped portraying characters in his music. The Duke was, amongst other things, a fascist; while Bowie generally kept his political views to himself, his actual beliefs seem to have been somewhere between libertarianism and socialism (in any case, nearly as far from fascism as possible). After Bowie got so lost in character that he actually began espousing fascism himself, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone he realised he'd gone down a very dark rabbit hole]] and decided to stop using his music to portray characters entirely. He also appears to have considered this a wake-up call regarding his drug use; he would detox from cocaine after the tour for this album. It's probably also worth noting that his band at this point and for the rest of the '70s was racially integrated, including Puerto Rican rhythm guitarist Carlos Alomar, African-American bassist George Murray, and African-American drummer Dennis Davis, which is a strong piece of evidence suggesting that the Duke did not reflect Bowie's actual beliefs. Additionally, Bowie was inspired to record "Wild Is the Wind" for this album largely because he was an admirer of Music/NinaSimone, an African-American jazz singer known for her civil rights [[ProtestSong protest anthems]] who had previously recorded the song; he decided to record the song after meeting her in Los Angeles in 1975.
68	* LyricalDissonance: The overall nastiness of the Duke and the coldly calculated, insincere aspect of most of the lyrics are not obviously reflected in the music.
69	* MindScrew: Good luck figuring out what the title track is about.
70	* NaziNobleman: The Duke is essentially this trope, and in fact Bowie described him as an "emotionless Aryan [[{{Ubermensch}} superman]]".
71	* NewSoundAlbum: The album was a transitional album for Bowie; while still including the RAndB, {{soul}}, and {{funk}} influence that permeated ''Music/YoungAmericans'', ''Station to Station'' was a more experimental album, with longer songs and some influence from {{Krautrock}} bands such as Music/{{Neu}} and Music/{{Kraftwerk}} (particularly seen in the synthesizers and the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorik motorik]] rhythms), which would be expanded further in the "Berlin trilogy" that followed. There is also some art rock, space rock, and ProgressiveRock influence. The one label that can most accurately describe this unusually multifaceted sound is "avant-funk."
72	* NostalgiaFilter: "Golden Years":
73	--> ''Nothing's gonna touch you in these golden years''
74	* TheNotRemix: Received one in 2010 by co-producer Harry Maslin, first included on an audio DVD as part of a BoxedSet devoted to the album, before later being made available on CD, LP, and digitally exclusively as part of the ''Who Can I Be Now? [1974-1977]'' BoxedSet.
75	* OneWordTitle: "Stay".
76	* PleaseDontLeaveMe: "Stay".
77	--> ''Stay -- that's what I meant to say or do something\
78	But what I never say is\
79	Stay this time\
80	I really meant to so bad this time\
81	'Cause you can never really tell\
82	When somebody\
83	Wants something or wants to stay''
84	* ReCut: 8-track releases reshuffle the tracklist to fit the constraints of the format's four-program configuration. UK 8-tracks feature the running order "Golden Years", "TVC 15", "Stay", "Wild is the Wind", "Word on a Wing", and "Station to Station", while North American 8-tracks use the running order "Station to Station", "Word on a Wing", "Wild is the Wind", "Stay", "TVC 15", and "Golden Years". Additionally, due to them overlapping with the changeover between programs, both "Station to Station" and "Wild is the Wind" are split into two parts across regions.
85	* SecretIdentityIdentity: The threat of the heartless, Fascistic Duke, who was partly inspired and "aided" by Bowie's substance abuse problems, consuming him was the primary reason he stopped creating and assuming such stage personae.
86	* SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll: The album was recorded when Bowie was going through a severe cocaine addiction.[[note]]How severe, you ask? Bowie claimed in interviews that he remembered ''absolutely nothing'' about the three-month recording process save for a vague recollection of describing how he wanted the guitar on the TitleTrack to sound, and that's not even getting into his well-publicized psychotic episodes.[[/note]] Many of the metaphors and lyrical techniques in the TitleTrack also allude to the effects of acute and chronic cocaine use.
87	* ShoutOut:
88	** The album cover is a photo taken on the set of ''Film/TheManWhoFellToEarth'', depicting Thomas Jerome Newton entering the space capsule that will return him to his home planet. The shot is commonly claimed to be a still from the movie, but while similar frames exist, none of them are a 1:1 match. The album cover of Bowie's next album ''[[Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum Low]]'' would also be based on an on-set photo from that film's production.
89	** The title track references Creator/AleisterCrowley's book "White Stains". The words "From Kether to Malkuth" refer to mystical locations in the Kabbalah.
90	* SincerityMode: Bowie later indicated that "Word on a Wing" was the only song whose lyrics he truly meant sincerely.
91	* TheSociopath: The Duke has no capacity for emotional arousal, and spends the album attempting to comprehend love and other stimulating emotions through cognitively (and sometimes physically) twisted means that are blatantly cold and calculated.
92	* SpecialGuest: Roy "The Professor" Bittan of Music/BruceSpringsteen's E Street Band plays piano and organ parts throughout the album.
93	* TelevisionPortal: "[=TVC15=]" has the protagonist's girlfriend crawl into a TV set and never come back: by the end of the song he's wondering whether to follow her or not. Yes, this is from his "cocaine madness" era, but in this case it was Iggy Pop's .
94	* TimeTitle: "Golden Years" is named after the period of time in which one's life was most productive/satisfying/fulfilling, tying in with the ironic lyrics about living life through a NostalgiaFilter.
95	* TitleTrack: "Station to Station", which by logical extension also features an AlbumTitleDrop:
96	--> ''You drive like a demon from station to station''.
97	* TrainSong: "[[TitleTrack Station to Station]]". It even starts with train sounds.
98	* UncommonTime: The title track is almost entirely in 10/4 for its first half (though it could also be counted as five-measure patterns of 4/4). There are some more time signature changes before it settles on 4/4 for the ending. Despite its rhythmic complexity, its groove never lets up; if it doesn't at least get your head moving, you're either lying or simply don't have a sense of rhythm. Along similar lines, "Stay" cuts out a beat in the last measure of each verse, but this doesn't ruin the song's groove at all.
99	* VillainousCheekbones: His angular cheeks served him well as The Thin White Duke (which came at a time when he was downright bony, weighing as little as 90 lbs, which at a height of 5'10" is frighteningly frail).
100	* VillainProtagonist: The heartless, fascist Thin White Duke acts as the narrator of the album. However, the music eschews a SympatheticPOV in favor of doubling down on the Duke's status as a vile figure, with the opening line of the album describing him as "throwing darts in lovers' eyes."
101	* WallOfText: The album credits are styled to run into each other without spaces.
102	* WaistcoatOfStyle: The Thin White Duke's black one was vital to the character's look; as himself, Bowie would wear one for the Sound+Vision tour as well.
103	* WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove: An overarching theme of the album, courtesy of the downright sociopathic Duke.

Context Music / StationToStation