Station to Station is a classic album that showcases his evolving persona. The remastered version of this album does sound great, with a nice and quiet record that has good separation and clear sound.
the album cover is quite iconic. Great use of font!
The first song, Station to Station, is a perfect introduction to the album. Starting with train noises panning and fading into a wailing piano and guitar, it showcases Bowie’s new persona, the Thin White Duke. The song evolves nicely, going through different emotions into elation halfway through and then potentially into manic despair. Earl Slick’s guitar work three-quarters of the way through is just wonderful, mixing into funky piano and Bowie’s vocals. “It’s too late! It’s too late!” he sings in a memorable moment. This is a long song, clocking in at 10 minutes or something.
Golden Years is a personal favorite with its really funky guitars and haunting Bowie vocals leading into sing-song verses. The layered vocals make it clear that this is a product of the studio rather than being heavily pre-written.
Word on a Wing closes out side one, and while slower, it’s still a great song. The vocals seem a bit low compared to the piano and other instruments, but maybe that’s intentional, a cry out from the background? Apparently, Bowie was going through a tough time when he wrote it, and the vocals seem to get stronger as the song goes on.
Side two opens with one of my favorite Bowie songs, TVC15. The piano with claps and the chorus “Oh my TVC15. Oh Oh. TVC15” is just infectious. Stay is okay, but the long outro is great with its funky beat.
Wild is the Wind closes out the album on a slower note. It’s a love song that has an air of sadness to it. I never realized that it was originally a Johnny Mathis song, and this was Bowie’s “homage” to Nina Simone’s cover. The song just fades out, leaving a sense of longing.
Listening to this album end-to-end really shows how the guitar work holds it together. Earl Slick’s work is fantastic, and it’s easy to see how this album is a great forerunner to Bowie’s much-lauded Berlin Trilogy (which I also love).
Here’s a video clip of him singing Golden Years on Soul Train. Obviously completely off his head. Not surprising as he can’t really remember making this album due to massive cocaine use! Los Angeles was not that good for him (hence his moving to Berlin).