Berlin trilogy - wikipedia Berlin trilogy Berlin Trilogy Low ( 1977 ) `` Heroes '' ( 1977 ) Lodger ( 1979 ) The Berlin Trilogy, or Berlin Triptych, consists of three consecutively released studio albums by English singer and songwriter David Bowie : Low ( 1977 ), `` Heroes '' ( 1977 ) and Lodger ( 1979 ). The albums were recorded after Bowie took up residence in West Berlin in late 1976, and saw him experiment with elements of electronic, krautrock, ambient, and world music in collaboration with American producer Tony Visconti and English musician Brian Eno. Bowie began referring to the three albums as a Berlin - centered trilogy during the promotion of Lodger, although `` Heroes '' was the only installment primarily recorded in the city. Each album reached the UK top five. Bowie would later call the music of the trilogy his `` DNA ''. Consequence of Sound characterized the trilogy as an `` art rock trifecta '', while Rolling Stone wrote that the Berlin Trilogy `` stands as some of the most innovative music in the artist 's influential canon ''. Contents 1 Background 2 History 2.1 1976 -- 77 : Low 2.2 1977 -- 78 : `` Heroes '' and world tour 2.3 1979 : Lodger 3 See also 4 References 5 Bibliography Background See also : The Idiot ( album ) Following Bowie 's Thin White Duke period and the commercial success of the singles `` Fame '' and `` Golden Years '' in 1976, he was eager to escape the drug culture of Los Angeles, where he had developed a cocaine addiction. He had also become embroiled in controversy regarding comments he made seemingly in favour of fascism. He blamed his erratic behaviour on his addictions and precarious mental state, saying `` I was out of my mind, totally crazed. '' He called the period `` the darkest days of my life '' and confessed to having no memory of recording of Station to Station in Los Angeles in late 1975 due to his `` astronomic '' cocaine addiction. As his health deteriorated, Bowie attempted to reduce his cocaine intake and phase out the Thin White Duke persona, whom he had come to see as `` a nasty character indeed. '' He said : `` It was a dangerous period for me. I was at the end of my tether physically and emotionally and had serious doubts about my sanity. '' Apartment building on Hauptstraße ( de ) 155 in Berlin Schöneberg where Bowie lived with Iggy Pop from 1976 to 1978 Bowie moved to Switzerland in the second half of 1976. There, he began exploring other art forms and visiting galleries in Geneva and the Brücke Museum in Berlin, becoming ( in the words of biographer Christopher Sandford ) `` a prolific producer and collector of contemporary art... Not only did he become a well - known patron of expressionist art, locked in Clos des Mésanges he began an intensive self - improvement course in classical music and literature, and started work on an autobiography. '' Later that year, Bowie, along with friend and singer Iggy Pop, retreated to Berlin in a further attempt to escape his addiction and the spotlight : For many years Berlin had appealed to me as a sort of sanctuary - like situation. It was one of the few cities where I could move around in virtual anonymity. I was going broke ; it was cheap to live. For some reason, Berliners just did n't care. Well, not about an English rock singer, anyway. While sharing an apartment with Pop, Bowie became interested in the German music scene, including acts such as Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk and Neu !. Before moving to the apartment on Hauptstraße, Pop and Bowie stayed with Edgar Froese of Tangerine Dream and his family at their home in Schöneberg. Froese also helped Bowie with his recovery and introduced him to the Berlin underground scene. Bowie named Froese 's solo album Epsilon in Malaysian Pale a big influence and a soundtrack to his life in Berlin. During the months of his recovery, he had also become interested in Brian Eno 's minimalist album Discreet Music ( 1975 ). He met Eno in 1976 and soon after began collaborations with Eno and producer Tony Visconti. In 1976, Bowie cowrote and produced Pop 's solo album debut, The Idiot ( 1977 ). As work on the album started before Bowie 's own Low, Pop 's The Idiot is often referred to as the unofficial beginning of Bowie 's Berlin period, though the two albums were recorded almost concurrently. History 1976 -- 77 : Low Main article : Low ( David Bowie album ) At the forefront of Low 's sound was Visconti 's recent acquisition : an Eventide H910 Harmonizer. When Bowie asked what it did, he replied : `` it fucks with the fabric of time. '' The album Low ( 1977 ) was recorded as Bowie grappled with difficult personal issues, including a troubled marriage and drug dependence : `` There 's oodles of pain in the Low album. That was my first attempt to kick cocaine, so that was an awful lot of pain. And I moved to Berlin to do it. I moved out of the coke centre of the world ( i.e., Los Angeles ) into the smack centre of the world. Thankfully, I did n't have a feeling for smack, so it was n't a threat ''. Visconti contended that the title was partly a reference to Bowie 's `` low '' moods during the album 's writing and recording. The album marked a movement for Bowie into electronic and ambient music. Side one of the album contained short, direct avant - pop song - fragments ; side two comprised longer, mostly instrumental tracks. Often incorrectly given credit as Low 's producer, Eno was responsible for a good deal of the direction and composition of the second side of the album and wrote the theme and instrumentation for `` Warszawa '' while Bowie was in Paris attending court hearings against his former manager. Partly influenced by the Krautrock sound of Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk and Neu !, Low evinced a move away from narration in Bowie 's songwriting to a more abstract musical form in which lyrics were sporadic and optional. Low and The Idiot were mostly recorded in France, and of Bowie 's trilogy only Low and `` Heroes '' were recorded at Hansa Studios in Berlin, nicknamed `` Hansa by the Wall '' for its proximity to the imposing structure that divided West from East Berlin. Although he completed the album in November 1976, it took his unsettled record company another three months to release it. It received considerable negative criticism upon its release -- a release which RCA, anxious to maintain the established commercial momentum, did not welcome, and which Bowie 's ex-manager, Tony Defries, who still maintained a significant financial interest in the singer 's affairs, tried to prevent. Despite these forebodings, Low yielded the UK number three single `` Sound and Vision '', and its own performance surpassed that of Station to Station in the UK chart, where it reached number two. 1977 -- 78 : `` Heroes '' and world tour Main articles : `` Heroes '' ( David Bowie album ) and Isolar II -- The 1978 World Tour Echoing Low 's minimalist, instrumental approach, the second of the trilogy, `` Heroes '' ( 1977 ), incorporated pop and rock to a greater extent, seeing Bowie joined by frequent Eno collaborator and King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp. Like Low, `` Heroes '' evinced the zeitgeist of the Cold War, symbolised by the divided city of Berlin. Incorporating ambient sounds from a variety of sources including white noise generators, synthesisers and koto, the album was another hit, reaching number three in the UK. Its title track, though only reaching number 24 in the UK singles chart, gained lasting popularity, and within months had been released in both German and French. Referencing the burgeoning new wave music scene, RCA Records marketed `` Heroes '' with the slogan `` There 's Old Wave. There 's New Wave. And there 's David Bowie... '' Bowie performs in Oslo, Norway, 5 June 1978 After releasing `` Heroes '' in 1977, Bowie spent much of 1978 on the Isolar II world tour, bringing the music of the first two Berlin Trilogy albums to almost a million people during 70 concerts in 12 countries. By now he had broken his drug addiction ; biographer David Buckley writes that Isolar II was `` Bowie 's first tour for five years in which he had probably not anaesthetised himself with copious quantities of cocaine before taking the stage... Without the oblivion that drugs had brought, he was now in a healthy enough mental condition to want to make friends. '' Recordings from the tour made up the live album Stage, released the same year. 1979 : Lodger Main article : Lodger ( album ) It was around the time of Lodger ( 1979 ) that Bowie began framing his previous two albums as the beginning of a Berlin - centered trilogy concluding with Lodger, largely as a marketing technique to support the unusual new album. Lodger, the final piece in what Bowie called his `` triptych '', eschewed the minimalist, ambient nature of the other two, making a partial return to the drum - and guitar - based rock and pop of his pre-Berlin era. Recorded in Switzerland and New York, the result was a mixture of new wave and world music, in places incorporating Hijaz non-Western scales. Some tracks were composed using Eno and Peter Schmidt 's Oblique Strategies cards : `` Boys Keep Swinging '' entailed band members swapping instruments, `` Move On '' used the chords from Bowie 's early composition `` All the Young Dudes '' played backwards, and `` Red Money '' took backing tracks from `` Sister Midnight '', a piece previously composed with Iggy Pop. The album was recorded in Switzerland. Ahead of its release, RCA 's Mel Ilberman stated, `` It would be fair to call it Bowie 's Sergeant Pepper... a concept album that portrays the Lodger as a homeless wanderer, shunned and victimized by life 's pressures and technology. '' Lodger initially received mixed reviews, and as described by biographer Christopher Sandford, `` The record dashed such high hopes with dubious choices, and production that spelt the end -- for fifteen years -- of Bowie 's partnership with Eno. '' Lodger reached number 4 in the UK and number 20 in the US, and yielded the UK hit singles `` Boys Keep Swinging '' ( number 7 in the UK ) and `` DJ ''. Towards the end of the year, Bowie and his wife Angela initiated divorce proceedings, and after months of court battles the marriage was ended in early 1980. By the early 1980s, Bowie would decamp to New York City. See also The Idiot Lust for Life Christiane F. Philip Glass based three symphonies on the Berlin Trilogy : No. 1, also known as the Low Symphony ( 1992 ) ; No. 4, based on `` Heroes '' ( 1996 ) ; and No. 12, based on Lodger ( scheduled to premiere in 2019 ). References Jump up ^ MacLean, Rory ( 13 January 2016 ). `` Bowie in Berlin : ' He drove round the car park at 70mph screaming that he wanted to end it all ' ''. The Guardian. Jump up ^ `` Ranking : Every David Bowie Album From Worst to Best '', Consequence of Sound, January 8, 2016 Jump up ^ Kreps, Daniel ( 11 January 2016 ). `` Brian Eno on David Bowie : ' I Feel a Huge Gap Now ' ''. Rolling Stone. ^ Jump up to : Mastropolo, Frank ( 11 January 2016 ). `` The History of David Bowie 's Berlin Trilogy : Low, `` Heroes '' and Lodger ``. Ultimate Classic Rock. ^ Jump up to : Wilcken, Hugo ( 2005 ). Low. New York : Continuum. p. 24. ISBN 0 - 8264 - 1684 - 5. Jump up ^ Buckley 2005, pp. 289 -- 91. Jump up ^ Carr & Murray 1981, p. 11. Jump up ^ Sandford 1997, p. 158. Jump up ^ Buckley 2005, pp. 258 -- 75. Jump up ^ `` Bowie 's UNCUT interview on Low ''. BowieGoldenYears.com. Jump up ^ Sandford 1997, pp. 154 -- 55. Jump up ^ `` Uncut Interviews David Bowie & Tony Visconti On Berlin ''. Uncut. March 2001. Jump up ^ `` ZEITGESCHICHTEN Tangerine Dream - Groove ''. Groove ( in German ). 2015 - 01 - 26. Retrieved 2018 - 09 - 20. Jump up ^ Hugues, Pascale ( 2017 - 01 - 08 ). `` Als David Bowie bei Edgar Froese im Bayerischen Viertel wohnte ''. Der Tagesspiegel Online ( in German ). ISSN 1865 - 2263. Retrieved 2018 - 09 - 20. ^ Jump up to : `` Bowie 's Berlin : the city that shaped a 1970s masterpiece ''. History Extra. Retrieved 2018 - 09 - 20. Jump up ^ Seabrook, Thomas Jerome ( 2008 ). Bowie in Berlin : A New Career in a New Town. Jawbone Press. ISBN 1906002088. Jump up ^ `` Eno : I would set up sonic scenarios for David Bowie ''. BBC News. Retrieved 16 June 2016. ^ Jump up to : Carr & Murray 1981, pp. 91 -- 92. Jump up ^ Sandford 1997, p. 149. Jump up ^ Needs, Kris ( January 2007 ). `` The Passenger ''. Mojo Classic ( 60 Years of Bowie ) : 65. Jump up ^ Wilcken, Hugo ( 2005 ). Low. pp. 37 -- 58. Jump up ^ Quantick, David ( June 20, 2012 ). `` David Bowie : 1977, back from the abyss and changing music forever... '' Team Rock. Jump up ^ Scott Cohen. `` David Bowie '', Details magazine, September 1991 : p. 97 Jump up ^ BowieGoldenYears. Retrieved 12 June 2007. Jump up ^ Lukowski, Andrzej. `` Album Review : Low : Live in Chicago ''. Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 29 March 2016. Jump up ^ Mastropolo, Frank. `` The History of David Bowie 's Berlin Trilogy : ' Low, ' ' Heroes, ' and ' Lodger ' ''. Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 29 March 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` Low - David Bowie - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic ''. AllMusic. Jump up ^ Pegg 2004, pp. 302 -- 306. Jump up ^ Hugo Wilcken ( 2005 ). Low : pp. 113 -- 118 Jump up ^ Pegg 2004. Jump up ^ Ruether, Tobias ( Winter 2006 -- 2007 ). `` The Man Who Came from Hell ''. 032c. pp. 82 -- 85. Retrieved 21 July 2014. Jump up ^ Pegg 2004, pp. 90 -- 92. Jump up ^ Sandford 1997, pp. 181 -- 82. Jump up ^ Buckley 2005, p. 293. Jump up ^ Sandford 1997, p. 189. Jump up ^ Graham, Ben ( January 11, 2016 ). `` 30 - Years On : David Bowie 's Lodger Comes In grom the Cold ''. The Quietus. Retrieved 6 December 2016. Jump up ^ Carr & Murray 1981, pp. 102 -- 107. Jump up ^ Buckley 2005, p. 281. Jump up ^ Sandford 1997, pp. 191 -- 92. Jump up ^ Sandford ( 1997 ) : p. 197 Jump up ^ Tilden, Imogen ( 30 January 2018 ). `` Philip Glass completes his David Bowie trilogy with Lodger symphony ''. The Guardian. Bibliography Buckley, David ( 2005 ) ( 1999 ). Strange Fascination -- David Bowie : The Definitive Story. London : Virgin. ISBN 978 - 0 - 7535 - 1002 - 5. Carr, Roy ; Murray, Charles Shaar ( 1981 ). Bowie : An Illustrated Record. New York : Avon. ISBN 0 - 380 - 77966 - 8. Pegg, Nicholas ( 2004 ) ( 2000 ). The Complete David Bowie. London : Reynolds & Hearn. ISBN 1 - 903111 - 73 - 0. Sandford, Christopher ( 1997 ) ( 1996 ). Bowie : Loving the Alien. Time Warner. ISBN 0 - 306 - 80854 - 4. David Bowie Discography Songs Awards and nominations Filmography Tours Studio albums David Bowie ( 1967 ) David Bowie ( 1969 ) The Man Who Sold the World Hunky Dory The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars Aladdin Sane Pin Ups Diamond Dogs Young Americans Station to Station Low `` Heroes '' Lodger Scary Monsters ( and Super Creeps ) Let 's Dance Tonight Never Let Me Down Black Tie White Noise Outside Earthling Hours Heathen Reality The Next Day Blackstar With Tin Machine Tin Machine Tin Machine II Tin Machine Live : Oy Vey, Baby Live albums David Live Stage Ziggy Stardust : The Motion Picture LiveAndWell.com Live EP ( Live at Fashion Rocks ) Live Santa Monica ' 72 VH1 Storytellers A Reality Tour Live Nassau Coliseum ' 76 Cracked Actor ( Live Los Angeles ' 74 ) Welcome to the Blackout ( Live London ' 78 ) Glastonbury 2000 Soundtracks Christiane F. Love You till Tuesday Labyrinth The Buddha of Suburbia Lazarus EPs Baal Earthling in the City Live EP ( Live at Fashion Rocks ) The Next Day Extra No Plan Compilations The World of David Bowie Images 1966 -- 1967 Changesonebowie The Best of Bowie Changestwobowie Rare Golden Years Fame and Fashion Changesbowie Early On ( 1964 -- 1966 ) The Singles Collection RarestOneBowie The Deram Anthology 1966 -- 1968 The Best of David Bowie 1969 / 1974 The Best of David Bowie 1974 / 1979 BBC Sessions 1969 -- 1972 Bowie at the Beeb All Saints Best of Bowie Club Bowie The Collection The Best of David Bowie 1980 / 1987 iSelect Nothing Has Changed Legacy Box sets Sound + Vision Bowie Box Set The Platinum Collection Five Years ( 1969 -- 1973 ) Who Can I Be Now ? ( 1974 -- 1976 ) A New Career in a New Town ( 1977 -- 1982 ) Loving the Alien ( 1983 -- 1988 ) Concert videos Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars Serious Moonlight Glass Spider A Reality Tour VH1 Storytellers Promotional films Love You till Tuesday Jazzin ' for Blue Jean Bowie -- The Video Collection Black Tie White Noise Best of Bowie Tours Ziggy Stardust Tour Diamond Dogs Tour Isolar Isolar II Serious Moonlight Tour Glass Spider Tour Tin Machine Tour Sound + Vision Tour It 's My Life Tour Outside Tour Outside Summer Festivals Tour Earthling Tour Hours Tour Mini Tour Heathen Tour A Reality Tour Related Iman ( wife ) Angie Bowie ( first wife ) Duncan Jones ( son ) Berlin Trilogy Major Tom The Thin White Duke Jareth Omikron : The Nomad Soul Symphony No. 1 `` Low '' Symphony No. 4 `` Heroes '' `` Bowie '' The Sovereign David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev 's Peter and the Wolf Toy We Were So Turned On : A Tribute to David Bowie The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions Heteropoda davidbowie Lazarus Death Art collection David Bowie Is Part One Part Two Brian Eno Discography Solo studio albums Here Come the Warm Jets Taking Tiger Mountain ( By Strategy ) Another Green World Discreet Music Before and After Science Ambient 1 : Music for Airports Music for Films Ambient 4 : On Land Apollo : Atmospheres and Soundtracks More Music for Films Thursday Afternoon Nerve Net The Shutov Assembly Neroli The Drop Extracts from Music for White Cube I Dormienti Lightness : Music for the Marble Palace Kite Stories Music for Civic Recovery Centre Compact Forest Proposal January 07003 - Bell Studies Another Day on Earth Lux The Ship Reflection Other productions Lucky Leif and the Longships Music from the Penguin Cafe Ultravox ! No New York Q : Are We Not Men ? A : We Are Devo ! Ambient 3 : Day of Radiance Hybrid Laid Souvlaki Bright Red Faith and Courage Now, Always, Never Hurricane Compilation albums More Blank Than Frank / Desert Island Selection Curiosities Volume 1 Videos 77 Million Paintings Publications More Dark Than Shark A Year with Swollen Appendices I Dormienti Related articles Eno Obscure Records Long Now Foundation No New York Oblique Strategies Neverwhere Bloom Symphony No. 1 `` Low '' Symphony No. 4 `` Heroes '' Berlin Trilogy Fripp & Eno Collaborative albums ( by artist ) Roxy Music Roxy Music For Your Pleasure Robert Fripp ( No Pussyfooting ) Evening Star The Equatorial Stars Beyond Even ( The Cotswold Gnomes ) 801 801 Live Listen Now Cluster Cluster & Eno After the Heat Old Land Begegnungen Begegnungen II David Bowie Low `` Heroes '' Lodger Outside Talking Heads / David Byrne More Songs About Buildings and Food Fear of Music Remain in Light My Life in the Bush of Ghosts Everything That Happens Will Happen Today Harold Budd The Pavilion of Dreams Ambient 2 : The Plateaux of Mirror The Pearl Jon Hassell Fourth World, Vol. 1 : Possible Musics Dream Theory in Malaya : Fourth World Volume Two John Cale June 1, 1974 Fear Words for the Dying Wrong Way Up Daniel Lanois Apollo : Atmospheres and Soundtracks Hybrid Music for Films III U2 The Unforgettable Fire The Joshua Tree Achtung Baby Zooropa Original Soundtracks 1 No Line on the Horizon J. Peter Schwalm Music for Onmyo - Ji Drawn from Life Coldplay Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends Mylo Xyloto James Wah Wah Millionaires Pleased to Meet You Karl Hyde Someday World High Life Other collaborations Lady June 's Linguistic Leprosy Spinner Tracks and Traces Small Craft on a Milk Sea Drums Between the Bells Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Berlin_Trilogy&oldid=861778716 '' Categories : Trilogies Music in Berlin David Bowie Brian Eno Hidden categories : CS1 German - language sources ( de ) Interlanguage link template link number All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from March 2016 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Italiano Edit links This page was last edited on 29 September 2018, at 23 : 28 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. 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Question: what albums did david bowie record in berlin
Answer: Low (1977)