225-628: Station to Station is the tenth studio album by the English musician David Bowie , released on 23 January 1976 through RCA Records . Regarded as one of his most significant works, the album was the vehicle for Bowie's performance persona the Thin White Duke . Co-produced by Bowie and Harry Maslin , Station to Station was mainly recorded at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, California, in late 1975, after Bowie completed shooting
450-601: A Hammond C3 organ. According to Simper, "dozens" of singers were auditioned (including Rod Stewart and Woodman's friend Dave Curtiss) until the group heard Rod Evans of club band the Maze, and thought his voice fitted their style well. Tagging along with Evans was his band's drummer Ian Paice . Blackmore had seen an 18-year-old Paice on tour with the Maze in Germany in 1966, and had been impressed by his drumming. The band hastily arranged an audition for Paice, given that Woodman
675-682: A psychedelic rock and progressive rock band, they shifted to a heavier sound with their 1970 album Deep Purple in Rock . Deep Purple, together with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath , have been referred to as the "unholy trinity of British hard rock and heavy metal in the early to mid-seventies". Listed in the 1975 Guinness Book of World Records as " the globe's loudest band " for a 1972 concert at London's Rainbow Theatre , they have sold over 100 million records worldwide. Deep Purple have had several line-up changes and disbanded for eight years from 1976 to 1984, with drummer Ian Paice being
900-514: A touring version of the band surfaced with Rod Evans, who had left Captain Beyond at the end of 1973, as the only member who had ever been in Deep Purple, eventually ending in successful legal action from the legitimate Deep Purple camp over unauthorised use of the name. Evans was ordered to pay damages of US$ 672,000 for using the band name without permission. In April 1984, eight years after
1125-470: A "celebratory groove", which lasts for the rest of the track. Pitchfork and Rolling Stone defined the track as a "momentous prog -disco suite" and a "Krautrock disco opus" respectively. With its krautrock influence, it is the album's clearest foretaste of Bowie's subsequent Berlin Trilogy . The musical style of both "Golden Years" and "Stay" are built on the funk and soul of Young Americans but with
1350-432: A "gigantic creative leap forward", similar to Hunky Dory five years earlier. He praises the record's timeless feel, the performances and the overall atmosphere, and considers it the first true new wave record. James Perone cites it as one of the most "structurally coherent and broadly accessible" records of the era. Peter Doggett argues that the new recording process Bowie used on the record allowed him to elevate it into
1575-491: A "great, damn good" album, but "extremely dark". Because of his disconnected state during its recording, he heard it as "a piece of work by an entirely different person". The album has been described as "enormously influential on post-punk ". Carr and Murray wrote in 1981: "If Low was Gary Numan's Bowie album, then Station to Station was Magazine 's." Ian Mathers of Stylus magazine opined in 2004 that "just as few had anticipated Bowie's approach, few copied it ... for
1800-495: A "masterpiece of invention" that "some critics would argue, perhaps unfashionably, is his finest record". He finds Bowie's vocal performance on "Wild Is the Wind" one of the best of his career. Paul Trynka was struck by the album's innovation, noting "a bizarre blend of spritely and monumental themes", and argues it "marks the point at which David Bowie moved from pop musician to phenomenon". Marc Spitz acknowledges Station to Station as
2025-555: A "space rock masterpiece" in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), writing Bowie had recorded "the most intense music of his life". In 2010, Paul Morley of the Financial Times praised its cohesiveness calling it a "mesmerising album" that is not only one of Bowie's best, but "maybe" one of rock's greatest. He argued it works as a capsule showing the artist's mentally, and where rock music was, at
2250-538: A 1984 interview that the band was pushed by management to complete the Who Do We Think We Are album on time and go on tour, although they badly needed a break. The bad feelings, including tensions with Blackmore, culminated in Gillan quitting the band after their second tour of Japan in the summer of 1973, followed by the dismissal of Glover, at Blackmore's insistence. In interviews later, Lord called
2475-496: A 1987 interview: "I was so blocked ... so stoned ... It's quite a casualty case, isn't it. I'm amazed I came out of that period, honest. When I see that now I cannot believe I survived it. I was so close to really throwing myself away physically, completely." After seeing an advanced screening of the film in early 1975, director Nicolas Roeg contacted Bowie to discuss a role in his upcoming adaptation of Walter Tevis 's 1963 novel The Man Who Fell to Earth . Bowie accepted
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#17328008495162700-470: A 38-piece orchestra, and included a performance at the O 2 Arena in London. Until May 2011, the band members had disagreed about whether to make a new studio album, because it would not really make money any more. Roger Glover stated that Deep Purple should make a new studio album "even if it costs us money." In early 2011, David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes told VH1 they would like to reunite Mark III for
2925-562: A European summer tour in 1994. He was asked to join permanently, but his commitments to his contract with Epic Records prevented this. The band unanimously chose Dixie Dregs / Kansas guitarist Steve Morse as Satriani's successor in August 1994. "Musically, it was very satisfying. The setlist was straight out of classic rock heaven. And the band were just great. Their timing was just fantastic." — Guitarist Joe Satriani on his brief period with Deep Purple. Morse's arrival revitalised
3150-481: A European tour, which was documented on the live album Come Hell or High Water , released in 1994. A live home video of the same name was also released, covering a show in Birmingham , England that displayed a very disgruntled Blackmore, who did not perform many of the guitar parts and at one point threw a cup of water at a cameraman for unknown reasons. The complete show was eventually released in 2006 as Live at
3375-561: A Wing" and "Wild Is the Wind". Another reviewer for NME found the album "a strange and confusing musical whirlpool where nothing is what it seems", ultimately calling it "one of the most significant albums released in the last five years". The magazine named it the second greatest album of the year, behind Bob Dylan 's Desire . John Ingham of Sounds magazine gave immense praise to the album, naming "Golden Years", "TVC 15" and "Stay" some of Bowie's best songs up to that point and overall "a great record of our time". Musically, he viewed it as
3600-533: A band that had released several singles in the UK without achieving any great commercial success. Six's drummer Mick Underwood – an old comrade of Blackmore's from his days in the Outlaws – introduced the band to Gillan and bassist Roger Glover . According to Nick Simper, "Gillan would join only with Roger Glover." This effectively killed Episode Six, which gave Underwood a persistent feeling of guilt that lasted nearly
3825-620: A board in rehearsal. Second to Deep Purple was "Concrete God", which the band thought was too harsh to take on. In May 1968, the band moved into Pye Studios in London's Marble Arch to record their debut album, Shades of Deep Purple , which was released in America in July by Tetragrammaton Records , and in Britain in September by EMI Records . Vanilla Fudge was a notable influence on
4050-504: A brighter future. Carr and Murray write it carries "an air of regret for missed opportunities and past pleasures". The lyrics of "Stay" have been interpreted as reflecting on "the uncertainty of sexual conquest", and as an example of "the Duke's spurious romanticism". Religious themes, as well as belief in spirituality , are prevalent on "Station to Station", "Word on a Wing", "Golden Years" and "TVC 15"; for Carr and Murray religion, like love,
4275-526: A collaboration with John Lennon, was a massive commercial success, topping the charts in the US. Bowie's label RCA Records were eager for a follow-up. After completing his work on The Man Who Fell to Earth in September, he returned to Los Angeles; his assistant Coco Schwab had recently acquired a house for him. Partly because of his drug addiction, his marriage to his wife, Angie , began falling apart. After recording backing vocals for Keith Moon's "Real Emotion", he
4500-403: A compilation of songs created by any average listener of music. The songs on a mixtape generally relate to one another in some way, whether it be a conceptual theme or an overall sound. After the introduction of Compact discs, the term "Mixtape" began to apply to any personal compilation of songs on any given format. The sales of Compact Cassettes eventually began to decline in the 1990s, after
4725-521: A cross between The Man Who Sold the World and Young Americans . Some reviewers found the lyrics' meaning difficult to comprehend, with Ingham citing "TVC 15" as an example. However, he felt it was part of the LP's charm. In America, Billboard felt Bowie had "found his musical niche" with songs like "Fame" and "Golden Years" but that "the 10-minute title cut drags". Rolling Stone writer Teri Moris applauded
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#17328008495164950-424: A current or former member of a musical group which is released under that artist's name only, even though some or all other band members may be involved. The solo album appeared as early as the late 1940s. A 1947 Billboard magazine article heralded " Margaret Whiting huddling with Capitol execs over her first solo album on which she will be backed by Frank De Vol ". There is no formal definition setting forth
5175-561: A customer buys a whole album rather than just one or two songs from the artist. The song is not necessarily free nor is it available as a stand-alone download, adding also to the incentive to buy the complete album. In contrast to hidden tracks , bonus tracks are included on track listings and usually do not have a gap of silence between other album tracks. Bonus tracks on CD or vinyl albums are common in Japan for releases by European and North American artists; since importing international copies of
5400-464: A deal of magic in it;" he also recalled taking "400 books" for the shoot. He began writing songs throughout filming, including two—" TVC 15 " and " Word on a Wing "—that would end up on his next album. On top of this, he was in line to compose the film's soundtrack. In the film, Bowie portrays the lead role of Thomas Jerome Newton, an alien who travels to Earth in search of materials for his dying planet, eventually becoming corrupted by humans. Roeg warned
5625-430: A decade, until Gillan recruited him for his new post-Purple band in the late 1970s. According to Blackmore, Deep Purple was only interested in Gillan and not Glover, but Glover was retained on the advice of Ian Paice. "He turned up for the session...he was their bass player. We weren't originally going to take him until Paicey said, 'he's a good bass player, let's keep him.' So I said okay." — Ritchie Blackmore on
5850-402: A double live album, Made in Japan . Originally intended as a Japan-only release, its worldwide release became an instant hit, reaching platinum status in five countries, including the US. It remains one of rock music's most popular and highest selling live albums. Mark II continued to work and released the album Who Do We Think We Are in 1973. Spawning the hit single " Woman from Tokyo ",
6075-463: A duet of "Can You Hear Me?" with singer Cher . He then appeared via satellite on ITV's Russell Harty Plus five days later. At the turn of the new year, on 3 January 1976, Bowie and his band appeared on the Dinah Shore -hosted variety show Dinah! and performed "Stay",—the song's public debut. RCA released Station to Station on 23 January, with the catalogue number APLI 1327. It
6300-474: A four-piece, with Hughes as bassist and lead vocalist. According to Hughes, he was told the band was bringing in Paul Rodgers of Free as a co-lead vocalist, but by that time Rodgers had just started Bad Company . "They did ask", Rodgers recalled, "and I spoke to all of them at length about the possibility. Purple had toured Australia with Free's final lineup. I didn't do it because I was very much into
6525-415: A harsher, grinding edge. Bowie said the "Golden Years" was written for, and rejected by, American singer Elvis Presley , while Angie Bowie claimed it was penned for her. According to Pegg, the song lacks the "steelier musical landscape" of the rest of the album. Author James Perone argues "Stay" represents a merger of hard rock and blue-eyed funk. "TVC 15", the album's most upbeat track, has been compared to
6750-492: A kind of Expressionist German-film look ... and the lighting of, say, Fritz Lang or Pabst . A black-and-white movies look, but with an intensity that was sort of aggressive. I think for me, personally, theatrically, that was the most successful tour I've ever done." The Isolar Tour was the source of one of the artist's best-known bootlegs , culled from an FM radio broadcast of his 23 March 1976 concert at Nassau Coliseum . A live album , Live Nassau Coliseum '76 ,
6975-482: A line of coke which is going to keep you awake till 8 a.m. so that you can do your guitar part, you do the line of coke ... the coke use is driven by the inspiration". Like Bowie, Slick had only vague memories of the recording: "That album's a little fuzzy—for the obvious reasons! We were in the studio and it was nuts—a lot of hours, a lot of late nights." Pegg says there were several 24 hour non-stop sessions; one day, work began at 7 a.m. ending at 9 a.m.
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7200-463: A lounge bar. On arriving at Cherokee, Bowie sang a few notes in Studio One, played a piano chord, and said: "This will do nicely." Producer Harry Maslin said the studio was chosen because it was new and quiet, with less paparazzi and media attention. With a more advanced studio and no time constraints, the ethos of the sessions became experimentation. Maslin, who co-produced "Fame" and " Across
7425-509: A man firing a flare gun into the ceiling, burned down the Casino. This incident famously inspired the song " Smoke on the Water ". The album was later recorded in a corridor at the nearby empty Grand Hôtel de Territet , with the exception of the music track to "Smoke on the Water". That was recorded at a vacant theatre called The Pavillon before the band was asked to leave. On recording "Smoke on
7650-478: A player from Weldon Irvine 's group, was recruited to play bass. Bowie would use the lineup of Alomar, Murray and Davis for the rest of the decade. In mid-October, pianist Roy Bittan , a member of Bruce Springsteen 's E Street Band , joined the ensemble at the suggestion of Slick. Bittan recalled: "David knew we were coming to town and he wanted a keyboard player. It must have only been about three days. It's one of my favourite projects I've ever worked on." Following
7875-740: A position it is to stay here for any length of time." Three years later, he would tell NME that the city "should be wiped off the face of the earth". In April 1975, Bowie announced his retirement from music, stating: "I've rocked my roll. It's a boring dead end. There will be no more rock'n'roll records or tours from me. The last thing I want to be is some useless fucking rock singer." The biographer Nicholas Pegg attributes this quote to Bowie's decaying mental state; his "retirement" lasted less than six months. Shooting for The Man Who Fell to Earth began in June 1975. Bowie's heavy drug use continued during filming. He recalled in 1993: "My one snapshot of that film
8100-402: A room with television screens, each tuned to a different channel. Pegg calls it the album's "odd man out". The album cover is a black-and-white photograph taken by Steve Schapiro on the set of the film The Man Who Fell to Earth , in which Bowie, as Newton, steps into the space capsule that will return him to his home planet. Bowie had insisted on the cropped monochrome image, feeling that in
8325-404: A short time later in the 1980s). The now-defunct Deep Purple began to gain a type of mystical status, with fan-driven reissues and newly assembled live and compilation albums being released throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s. This fuelled a number of promoter-led attempts to get the band to reform, especially with the revival of the hard rock market in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1980,
8550-818: A show in Miami supporting Jeff Beck , Bolin was found unconscious by his girlfriend and bandmates. Unable to wake him, she hurriedly called paramedics, but it was too late. The official cause of death was multiple-drug intoxication. Bolin was 25 years old. After the break-up, most of the members of Deep Purple went on to have considerable success in a number of other bands, including Rainbow (1975–1984, Ritchie Blackmore and, from 1979, Roger Glover), Whitesnake (1978–present, David Coverdale, Jon Lord until 1984 and Ian Paice during 1979 to 1982) and Gillan (1978–1982, Ian Gillan). Ian Gillan also joined Black Sabbath from late 1982 to early 1984 (Glenn Hughes would also join Sabbath for
8775-467: A single artist, genre or period, a single artist covering the songs of various artists or a single artist, genre or period, or any variation of an album of cover songs which is marketed as a "tribute". Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock , although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally formed as
9000-522: A single case, or a triple album containing three LPs or compact discs. Recording artists who have an extensive back catalogue may re-release several CDs in one single box with a unified design, often containing one or more albums (in this scenario, these releases can sometimes be referred to as a "two (or three)-fer"), or a compilation of previously unreleased recordings. These are known as box sets . Some musical artists have also released more than three compact discs or LP records of new recordings at once, in
9225-608: A single unifying vision, as he had encapsulated on Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust . Although Bowie would use this process for later records such as Lodger and Scary Monsters , Doggett believes these records are more fragmented than cohesive in the manner of Station to Station . Retrospectively, Station to Station is viewed as one of Bowie's best and most significant works. Erlewine wrote: "It's not an easy album to warm to, but its epic structure and clinical sound were an impressive, individualistic achievement." Alan Light called it both "musically accessible and lyrically elliptical". In
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9450-433: A solo album for several reasons. A solo performer working with other members will typically have full creative control of the band, be able to hire and fire accompanists, and get the majority of the proceeds. The performer may be able to produce songs that differ widely from the sound of the band with which the performer has been associated, or that the group as a whole chose not to include in its own albums. Graham Nash of
9675-575: A spring tour that included shows at Madison Square Garden , New York, on 13 March, and Nassau Coliseum four days later. The band co-headlined (with Emerson, Lake & Palmer ) the California Jam festival at Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario , southern California, on 6 April 1974. Attracting over 250,000 fans, the festival also included 1970s rock giants Black Sabbath , Eagles , Seals & Crofts and Earth, Wind & Fire . Portions of
9900-414: A studio. However, the common understanding of a "live album" is one that was recorded at a concert with a public audience, even when the recording is overdubbed or multi-tracked. Concert or stage performances are recorded using remote recording techniques. Albums may be recorded at a single concert , or combine recordings made at multiple concerts. They may include applause, laughter and other noise from
10125-430: A studio. Studios are built to absorb sound, eliminating reverberation , to assist in mixing different takes; other locations, such as concert venues and some "live rooms", have reverberation, which creates a "live" sound. Recordings, including live, may contain editing, sound effects, voice adjustments, etc. With modern recording technology , artists can be recorded in separate rooms or at separate times while listening to
10350-406: A theme such as the "greatest hits" from one artist, B-sides and rarities by one artist, or selections from a record label , a musical genre , a certain time period, or a regional music scene. Promotional sampler albums are compilations. A tribute or cover album is a compilation of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may involve various artists covering the songs of
10575-634: A transitional album in Bowie's career. Developing the funk , disco and soul sound of Young Americans , the album also reflects the influences of electronic and the German music genre of krautrock , particularly by bands such as Neu! and Kraftwerk . Bowie had exhibited avant-garde elements on the 1973 tracks " Aladdin Sane (1913–1938–197?) " and " Time ". According to Robert Christgau , Bowie's experimentation with African-American music styles had matured by
10800-516: A trend of shifting sales in the music industry , some observers feel that the early 21st century experienced the death of the album . An album may contain any number of tracks. In the United States, The Recording Academy 's rules for Grammy Awards state that an album must comprise a minimum total playing time of 15 minutes with at least five distinct tracks or a minimum total playing time of 30 minutes with no minimum track requirement. In
11025-651: A very long time" and wrote, "spaceyness has always been his shtick, and anybody who can merge Lou Reed , disco, and Dr. John ... deserves to keep doing it for five minutes and 29 seconds". He ranked it as the year's fourth best in his ballot for the poll. With the Station to Station sessions completed in December 1975, Bowie started work on a soundtrack for The Man Who Fell to Earth with Paul Buckmaster , whom Bowie worked with for Space Oddity (1969), as his collaborator. Bowie expected to be wholly responsible for
11250-430: A way of promoting the album. Albums have been issued that are compilations of older tracks not originally released together, such as singles not originally found on albums, b-sides of singles, or unfinished " demo " recordings. Double albums during the seventies were sometimes sequenced for record changers . In the case of a two-record set, for example, sides 1 and 4 would be stamped on one record, and sides 2 and 3 on
11475-426: A white shirt, black trousers and waistcoat. Carr and Murray described him as a hollow man who sang songs of romance with an agonised intensity, yet felt nothing, "ice masquerading as fire", exuberantly "throwing darts in lovers' eyes." Commentators have labelled the persona "a mad aristocrat", "an amoral zombie", and "an emotionless Aryan superman". For Bowie himself, the Duke was "a nasty character indeed". Despite
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#173280084951611700-580: Is any vocal content. A track that has the same name as the album is called the title track. A bonus track (also known as a bonus cut or bonus) is a piece of music which has been included as an extra. This may be done as a marketing promotion, or for other reasons. It is not uncommon to include singles, B-sides , live recordings , and demo recordings as bonus tracks on re-issues of old albums, where those tracks were not originally included. Online music stores allow buyers to create their own albums by selecting songs themselves; bonus tracks may be included if
11925-505: Is not having to act...Just being me as I was perfectly adequate for the role. I wasn't of this earth at that particular time." When shooting took place in New Mexico, he was reported to be in a much healthier state compared to his time in Los Angeles. During his days off from filming, he began writing a collection of short stories called The Return of the Thin White Duke , which he described as "partly autobiographical, mostly fiction, with
12150-555: Is not necessarily just in MP3 file format, in which higher quality formats such as FLAC and WAV can be used on storage media that MP3 albums reside on, such as CD-R-ROMs , hard drives , flash memory (e.g. thumbdrives , MP3 players , SD cards ), etc. The contents of the album are usually recorded in a studio or live in concert, though may be recorded in other locations, such as at home (as with JJ Cale's Okie , Beck's Odelay , David Gray's White Ladder , and others), in
12375-402: Is recorded on both the "A" and "B" side of the tape, with cassette being "turned" to play the other side of the album. Compact Cassettes were also a popular way for musicians to record " Demos " or "Demo Tapes" of their music to distribute to various record labels, in the hopes of acquiring a recording contract . Compact cassettes also saw the creation of mixtapes , which are tapes containing
12600-713: The Spin Alternative Record Guide (1995), Rob Sheffield considered Station to Station Bowie's greatest album: "[It's] the album where Major Tom learns to dance, as the slick, robotic onslaught of the Teutonic title track fades into the tricky beats of "Stay" and "Golden Years". In the Velvets-worthy "TVC 15", Major Tom appears as a woman who beams herself to a satellite, leaving poor David stranded on earth. Highly recommended to MUD devotees and computer sex aficionados." Sheffield later deemed it
12825-568: The B-side . On 4 November, Bowie appeared on the American television show Soul Train , miming to "Fame" and the then-unreleased "Golden Years". Bowie was the second white artist to appear on the programme, after Elton John six months earlier. During the performance and interview, he was visibly drunk and, according to Pegg, was at a "new low in coherency". Bowie later felt ashamed for his behaviour, recalling in 1999 that he had failed to learn
13050-543: The Berlin Trilogy over the next three years. Positively received by music critics on its release, Station to Station has appeared on several lists of the greatest albums of all time. It has been reissued multiple times and was remastered in 2016 as part of the Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976) box set. I paid with the worst manic depression of my life. My psyche went through the roof, it just fractured into pieces. I
13275-530: The Kabbalah . Bowie would use all these ideas throughout Station to Station , with Pegg describing the album's theme as a clash of "occultism and Christianity ". The title track introduces Bowie's new persona—the Thin White Duke—who became the mouthpiece for Station to Station and often during the next six months, for Bowie himself. The character, inspired by Thomas Jerome Newton, dressed impeccably in
13500-836: The Live 8 concert in Park Place ( Barrie , Ontario) in July 2005, and in October released their next album, Rapture of the Deep , which was followed by the Rapture of the Deep tour . Both Bananas and Rapture of the Deep were produced by Michael Bradford . In 2009 Ian Gillan said, "Record sales have been steadily declining, but people are prepared to pay a lot for concert tickets." In addition, Gillan stated: "I don't think happiness comes with money." Deep Purple did concert tours in 48 countries in 2011. The Songs That Built Rock Tour used
13725-491: The London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Paul Mann. The concert also included songs from each member's solo careers, as well as a short Deep Purple set, and the occasion was commemorated on the 2000 album In Concert with The London Symphony Orchestra . 2001 saw the release of the box set The Soundboard Series , containing concerts from the 2001 Australian Tour plus two from Tokyo, Japan. Much of
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#173280084951613950-585: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016. In 1967, former Searchers drummer Chris Curtis contacted London businessman Tony Edwards , in the hope he would manage a new group he was putting together, to be called Roundabout. Curtis' vision was a "supergroup" where the band members would get on and off, like a musical roundabout. Impressed with the plan, Edwards agreed to finance the venture with his two business partners John Coletta and Ron Hire, who composed Hire-Edwards-Coletta Enterprises (HEC). The first recruit to
14175-648: The Stormbringer tour, was assembled during the summer of 1975, but would not see release until late 1976. Blackmore left the band on 21 June 1975 to form his own band with Ronnie James Dio of Elf , called Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow , shortened to Rainbow after the first album . Following Blackmore's departure, the group considered disbanding but decided to continue and find another guitarist. Clem Clempson ( Colosseum , Humble Pie ), Zal Cleminson ( The Sensational Alex Harvey Band ), Mick Ronson ( The Spiders From Mars ) and Rory Gallagher were considered, and
14400-658: The Thames ." Lord would also write the Gemini Suite , another orchestra/group collaboration in the same vein, for the band in late 1970, although the band's recording of the piece would not be released until 1993. In 1975, Blackmore stated that he thought the Concerto for Group and Orchestra was not bad but that the Gemini Suite was horrible and very disjointed. Roger Glover later noted that Jon Lord had appeared to be
14625-564: The UK Singles Chart , and the band performed the song live on the BBC 's Top of the Pops . In addition to increasing sales in the UK, the band were making a name for themselves as a live act, particularly with regard to the sheer volume of their shows and the improvisational skills of Blackmore and Lord. Said Lord, "We took from jazz, we took from old fashioned rock and roll, we took from
14850-520: The iPod , US album sales dropped 54.6% from 2001 to 2009. The CD is a digital data storage device which permits digital recording technology to be used to record and play-back the recorded music. Most recently, the MP3 audio format has matured, revolutionizing the concept of digital storage. Early MP3 albums were essentially CD-rips created by early CD- ripping software, and sometimes real-time rips from cassettes and vinyl. The so-called "MP3 album"
15075-471: The "Hallelujah" single in the UK, the song flopped. Blackmore had told the British weekly music newspaper Record Mirror that the band "need to have a commercial record in Britain", and described the song as "an in-between sort of thing"—a compromise between the type of material the band would normally record, and openly commercial material. In September 1969, the band gained some much-needed publicity in
15300-428: The '70s for David Bowie. It ties off the era of Ziggy Stardust and plastic soul , and introduces the first taste of the new music that was to follow with Low . – Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray, 1981 Station to Station was a milestone in Bowie's transition to his late 1970s Berlin Trilogy. Pegg calls it the "precise halfway point on the journey from Young Americans to Low ". Bowie himself said, "As far as
15525-470: The 1957 film of the same name , was recorded during the sessions. Bowie was inspired to record it after he met singer Nina Simone , who had recorded her own cover in 1966. He recalled in 1993: "Her performance of ["Wild Is the Wind]" really affected me. I thought it was just tremendous, so I recorded it as an homage to Nina." A guest during the sessions was Frank Sinatra, who praised Bowie's recording of "Wild Is
15750-471: The 1970s, praised Station to Station in Creem magazine, noting the presence of "a wail and throb that won't let up" and "a beautiful, swelling, intensely romantic melancholy", calling it his "(first) masterpiece". In Circus , Cromelin, noting that Bowie was "never one to maintain continuity in his work or in his life", declared that Station to Station "offers cryptic, expressionistic glimpses that let us feel
15975-524: The 1970s. Appraising the concept in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau said most "are profit-taking recaps marred by sound and format inappropriate to phonographic reproduction (you can't put sights, smells, or fellowship on audio tape). But for Joe Cocker and Bette Midler and Bob-Dylan -in-the-arena, the form makes a compelling kind of sense." Among
16200-507: The 200 greatest albums of all time in 2015. A year later, the UK-based Classic Rock magazine ranked the album number five in its list of the 100 Greatest Albums of the 1970s. Studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music ) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette ), or digital . Albums of recorded sound were developed in
16425-399: The 2012 revised list, and 52 on the 2020 revised list. In 2004, The Observer ranked the album number 80 on its list of the 100 greatest British albums. Vibe magazine placed the album on its list of 100 Essential Albums of the 20th century. In 2013, NME ranked the album 53rd in their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time . Uncut magazine ranked the album 30th on their list of
16650-415: The 21st-century have mostly focused on CD and MP3 formats. The 8-track tape was the first tape format widely used alongside vinyl from 1965 until being phased out by 1983, being gradually supplanted by the cassette tape throughout the 1970s and early 1980s; the popularity of the cassette reached its peak during the late 1980s before sharply declining during the 1990s. The cassette had largely disappeared by
16875-443: The 25-minute mark. The album Dopesmoker by Sleep contains only a single track, but the composition is over 63 minutes long. There are no formal rules against artists such as Pinhead Gunpowder referring to their own releases under thirty minutes as "albums". If an album becomes too long to fit onto a single vinyl record or CD, it may be released as a double album where two vinyl LPs or compact discs are packaged together in
17100-787: The B-side. "TVC 15" was released in edited form as the second single from the album on 30 April 1976, backed by the Diamond Dogs track "We Are the Dead". Its release coincided with the European leg of the Isolar tour. It peaked at number 33 in the UK. "Stay" was first issued, in its full-length form, as the B-side of the " Suffragette City " single in the summer of 1976 to promote the Changesonebowie compilation. An edited version
17325-560: The Good Rats , Moxy and Alphonse Mouzon , and was busy working on his first solo album, Teaser , when he accepted the invitation to join Deep Purple. The resulting album from Deep Purple Mark IV, Come Taste the Band , was released in October 1975, one month before Bolin's Teaser album. Despite mixed reviews and middling sales (#19 in the UK and #43 in the US), the collection revitalised
17550-496: The Hollies described his experience in developing a solo album as follows: "The thing that I go through that results in a solo album is an interesting process of collecting songs that can't be done, for whatever reason, by a lot of people". A solo album may also represent the departure of the performer from the group. A compilation album is a collection of material from various recording projects or various artists, assembled with
17775-494: The Long Playing record format in 1948, it was natural the term album would continue. Columbia expected that the record size distinction in 78s would continue, with classical music on 12" records and popular music on 10" records, and singles on 78s. Columbia's first popular 10" LP in fact was Frank Sinatra's first album, the four-record eight-song The Voice of Frank Sinatra , originally issued in 1946. RCA's introduction of
18000-621: The NEC but was quickly withdrawn after Gillan publicly complained, feeling it represented a bad time in the group's history: "It was one of the lowest points of my life – all of our lives, actually". Blackmore left Deep Purple for the second and final time after a show in Helsinki , Finland in November 1993. Joe Satriani was drafted to complete the Japanese dates in December and stayed on for
18225-703: The Pirates , and survived the 1966 car crash that killed Kidd). Lord alerted the two that he had been recruited for the Roundabout project, after which Simper and Little suggested guitarist Ritchie Blackmore , whom Lord had never met. Simper had known Blackmore since the early 1960s when his first band, the Renegades, debuted around the same time as one of Blackmore's early bands, the Dominators. HEC persuaded Blackmore to travel in from Hamburg to audition for
18450-519: The Spiders from Mars . Station to Station was voted the 13th best album of 1976 in the Pazz & Jop , an annual poll of American critics nationwide, published by The Village Voice . Reviewing the record for the newspaper, Robert Christgau expressed some reservations about the length of the songs and the detached quality of Bowie's vocals, but deemed "TVC 15" his "favorite piece of rock and roll in
18675-492: The Thin White Duke and Golden Years , named after the first track recorded. According to O'Leary, " Golden Years ", which Bowie began writing before he began filming The Man Who Fell to Earth , was completed in ten days and issued as a single while the album was still being finished. Recording for "TVC 15" began shortly after the completion of "Golden Years". A cover of " Wild Is the Wind ", written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington and first performed by Johnny Mathis in
18900-466: The Tree of Life: "so for me the whole album was symbolic and representative of the trip through the Tree of Life". Pegg believes the song displays a combination of Christian and Jewish allusions. The song refers to William Shakespeare 's play The Tempest . Fixation with the occult was evident in such phrases as " white stains ", the name of a book of poetry by Crowley. Cocaine is also referenced directly in
19125-807: The UK with the Concerto for Group and Orchestra , a three-movement epic composed by Lord as a solo project and performed by the band at the Royal Albert Hall in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra , conducted by Malcolm Arnold . Alongside Days of Future Passed by the Moody Blues and Five Bridges by the Nice , it was one of the first collaborations between a rock band and an orchestra. This live album became their first release with any kind of chart success in
19350-413: The UK. Gillan and Blackmore were less than happy at the band being tagged as "a group who played with orchestras", both feeling that the Concerto was a distraction that would get in the way of developing their desired hard-rocking style. Lord acknowledged that while the band members were not keen on the project going in, at the end of the performance "you could have put the five smiles together and spanned
19575-757: The US leg of their Goodbye tour. The band's second album, The Book of Taliesyn , was recorded quickly and released in North America in October 1968 to coincide with the tour. The album included Neil Diamond 's " Kentucky Woman ", which cracked the Top 40 in both the US (No. 38 on the Billboard chart) and Canada (No. 21 on the RPM chart), though sales for the album were not as strong (No. 54 in US, No. 48 in Canada). The Book of Taliesyn would not be released in
19800-591: The United Kingdom, the criteria for the UK Albums Chart is that a recording counts as an "album" if it either has more than four tracks or lasts more than 25 minutes. Sometimes shorter albums are referred to as mini-albums or EPs . Albums such as Tubular Bells , Amarok , and Hergest Ridge by Mike Oldfield , and Yes's Close to the Edge , include fewer than four tracks, but still surpass
20025-630: The Universe " on Young Americans , was brought back by Bowie to produce. Tony Visconti , who after a three-year absence had recently returned to the Bowie fold mixing Diamond Dogs and co-producing David Live and Young Americans , was not involved because of competing schedules. Also returning from the Young Americans sessions were guitarists Carlos Alomar and Earl Slick , drummer Dennis Davis and Bowie's old friend Geoff MacCormick (now known as Warren Peace ). Bassist George Murray ,
20250-469: The Water", Blackmore stated to BBC Radio 2 : "We did the whole thing in about four takes because we had to. The police were banging on the door. We knew it was the police, but we had such a good sound in this hall. We were waking up all the neighbours for about five miles in Montreux, because it was echo-ing through the mountains. I was just getting the last part of the riff down, we'd just finished it, when
20475-547: The Water", the last of which remains Deep Purple's most famous song. They continued to tour and record at a rate that would be rare thirty years on; when Machine Head was recorded, the group had only been together three-and-a-half years, yet it was their sixth studio album and seventh album overall. In January 1972, the band returned to tour the US once again. They then headed over to play Europe before resuming US dates in March. While in America, Blackmore contracted hepatitis, and
20700-482: The Wind" was issued as a single to promote the Changestwobowie compilation. The full-length version of "Golden Years" backed the UK single. Accompanied by a new music video shot specifically for the release, it peaked at number 24 in the UK and charted for ten weeks. Station to Station received positive reviews from music critics on its release. Paul Trynka says overall, critics acknowledged that Bowie
20925-441: The Wind". His feedback prompted Bowie to include it as the album's closing track. While he had begun writing "Word on a Wing" during filming, both " Stay " and the title track were written and recorded entirely in the studio. The three tracks were composed throughout October and November, rather than in one quick rush. Slick stated: "He had one or two songs written, but they were changed so drastically that you wouldn't know them from
21150-402: The album "robotic R&B". Maslin told Circus magazine: "There was no specific sound in mind. I don't think [Bowie] had any specific direction as far as whether it should be R&B, or more English-sounding, or more commercial or less commercial. I think he went out more to make a record this time than to worry about what it was going to turn out to be." Bowie remarked in 1999 that the music on
21375-413: The album can be cheaper than buying a domestically released version, Japanese releases often feature bonus tracks to incentivize domestic purchase. Commercial sheet music is published in conjunction with the release of a new album (studio, compilation, soundtrack, etc.). A matching folio songbook is a compilation of the music notation of all the songs included in that particular album. It typically has
21600-424: The album has a "certain charismatic quality to it ... that really eats into you". The ten-minute title track has been described as heralding "a new era of experimentalism" for Bowie. The song is split into two parts: a slow, hypnotic march, introduced by a noise resembling a train—created by Slick on guitar using flangers and delay effects—before it abruptly changes to a what Alan Light of Rolling Stone calls
21825-422: The album hit No. 4 in the UK charts and No. 15 in the US chart, while achieving gold record status faster than any Deep Purple album released up to that time. However, internal tensions and exhaustion were more noticeable than ever. Following the successes of Machine Head and Made in Japan , the addition of Who Do We Think We Are made Deep Purple the top-selling artists of 1973 in the US. Gillan admitted in
22050-430: The album marked Bowie's transition "from Rock Star to Artist". In a 2013 readers' poll for Rolling Stone , Station to Station was voted Bowie's third best album. The magazine called it a "deeply weird album that just gets better with age". Following Bowie's death in 2016 , Ultimate Classic Rock ' s Bryan Wawzenek listed Station to Station as his fourth greatest album, stating that although he made better albums in
22275-544: The album to sell poorly, finishing well out of the Billboard Top 100. Soon after Deep Purple was finally released in late June 1969, Tetragrammaton went out of business, leaving the band with no money and an uncertain future (Tetragrammaton's assets were eventually assumed by Warner Bros. Records , who would release Deep Purple's records in the US throughout the 1970s). During the 1969 American tour, Lord and Blackmore met with Paice to discuss their desire to progress
22500-409: The album's 'rockier' moments but discerned a move away from the genre, finding it "the thoughtfully professional effort of a style-conscious artist whose ability to write and perform demanding rock & roll exists comfortably alongside his fascination for diverse forms ... while there's little doubt about his skill, one wonders how long he'll continue wrestling with rock at all". Critic Dave Marsh
22725-526: The album's artwork on its cover and, in addition to sheet music, it includes photos of the artist. Most pop and rock releases come in standard Piano/Vocal/Guitar notation format (and occasionally Easy Piano / E-Z Play Today). Rock-oriented releases may also come in Guitar Recorded Versions edition, which are note-for-note transcriptions written directly from artist recordings. Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one-half of
22950-569: The album's position in Bowie's overall discography as the transition between the styles of Young Americans and the Berlin Trilogy. Consequence of Sound ' s Frank Mojica agreed, saying it offers "an intriguing portrait" of an artist's transitional period, while also being an "excellent album in its own right". Michael Gallucci of Ultimate Classic Rock described it as "the moment where his most unabashed commercial move gave way to his most don't-give-a-damn experimental period", arguing
23175-457: The album's production, not even the studio, later admitting, "I know it was in LA because I've read it was". Buckley says that Bowie's only memory of the sessions was "standing with Earl Slick in the studio and asking him to play a Chuck Berry riff in the same key throughout the opening of 'Station to Station'." The singer was not alone in his use of cocaine during the sessions; Alomar said, "if there's
23400-463: The album. If a pop or rock album contained tracks released separately as commercial singles , they were conventionally placed in particular positions on the album. During the sixties, particularly in the UK, singles were generally released separately from albums. Today, many commercial albums of music tracks feature one or more singles, which are released separately to radio, TV or the Internet as
23625-479: The amount of participation a band member can solicit from other members of their band, and still have the album referred to as a solo album. One reviewer wrote that Ringo Starr 's third venture, Ringo , "[t]echnically... wasn't a solo album because all four Beatles appeared on it". Three of the four members of the Beatles released solo albums while the group was officially still together. A performer may record
23850-434: The aptly titled The Battle Rages On... in 1993. Blackmore still disagreed with the decision, creating more tension between himself and the rest of the band, especially Gillan. Of particular contention was that Gillan had reworked much of the material that had been written with Turner for the new album. Blackmore felt Gillan's rewrites made the songs less melodic than they had been in their original versions. The band began
24075-510: The audience, comments by the performers between pieces, improvisation, and so on. They may use multitrack recording direct from the stage sound system (rather than microphones placed among the audience), and can employ additional manipulation and effects during post-production to enhance the quality of the recording. Notable early live albums include the double album of Benny Goodman , The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert , released in 1950. Live double albums later became popular during
24300-461: The backing tracks came saxophone, keyboard and lead guitar overdubs, followed by vocal tracks, ending with production effects. Bowie would use this new process for the rest of the decade. Alomar recalled, "It was one of the most glorious albums that I've ever done ... We experimented so much on it". Maslin added, "I loved those sessions because we were totally open and experimental in our approach." Slick contributed numerous guitar effects throughout
24525-502: The band agreed on Joe Lynn Turner , who had previously been a member of Rainbow with Blackmore and Glover. This Mark V line-up recorded just one album, Slaves and Masters (1990), and undertook a world tour for most of 1991. The album achieved modest success, reaching number 45 in the UK and number 87 in the US Billboard chart, with some fans and critics feeling the music was closer in style to Rainbow than to Deep Purple. With
24750-633: The band attempted one show in Flint, Michigan , without a guitarist before attempting to acquire the services of Al Kooper , who rehearsed with the band before bowing out, suggesting Spirit guitarist Randy California instead. California played one show with the group, in Quebec City , Quebec on 6 April, but the rest of this tour was cancelled as well. The band returned to the US in late May 1972 to undertake their third North America tour (of four total that year). A Japan tour in August of that year led to
24975-477: The band creatively, and in 1996 a new album titled Purpendicular was released, showing a wide variety of musical styles. Though in the post-grunge mid '90s it was no surprise that it never made chart success on the Billboard 200 in the U.S. This Mark VII line-up then released a new live album Live at The Olympia '96 in 1997. With a revamped set list to tour, Deep Purple enjoyed successful tours throughout
25200-499: The band once again, bringing a new, extreme funk edge to their hard rock sound. Bolin's influence was crucial, and with encouragement from Hughes and Coverdale, the guitarist developed much of the album's material. Despite Bolin's talents, his personal problems with hard drugs began to surface. During the Come Taste the Band tour many fans openly booed Bolin's inability to play solos like Ritchie Blackmore, not realising that Bolin
25425-616: The band to play without him, with bassist Glover singing the set. After this, the rest of the US dates were cancelled and the band flew home. In early December 1971, the band travelled to Switzerland to record Machine Head . The album was due to be recorded at the Montreux Casino using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio , but a fire during a Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention concert, caused by
25650-566: The band was classically trained Hammond organ player Jon Lord , Curtis's flatmate, who had most notably played with the Artwoods (led by Art Wood , brother of future Faces and Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood , and including Keef Hartley ). Lord was then performing in a backing band for the vocal group The Flower Pot Men , along with bassist Nick Simper and drummer Carlo Little (Simper had previously been in Johnny Kidd and
25875-762: The band were already performing songs planned for the next album. One song (which later became " Highway Star ") was performed at the first show of the Fireball tour, having been written on the bus to a show in Portsmouth, in answer to a journalist's question: "How do you go about writing songs?" On 24 October 1971 during the US leg of the Fireball tour, the band was set to play the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago when Ian Gillan contracted hepatitis , forcing
26100-430: The band's home country until the following year and, like its predecessor, it failed to have much impact on the UK Albums Chart . Early in 1969, the band released the non-album single "Emmaretta", named after Emmaretta Marks, at that time a cast member of the musical Hair , whom Evans was trying to seduce. By March of that year, the band had completed recording for their third album, Deep Purple . The album included
26325-624: The band's music, a sound that was even more apparent on the late 1974 release Stormbringer . Along with the title track, the Stormbringer album had a number of songs that received significant radio play, such as "Lady Double Dealer", "The Gypsy" and " Soldier of Fortune ", and the album reached No. 6 in the UK and No. 20 on the US Billboard chart. Blackmore publicly disliked most of the album, however, derisively calling it "shoeshine music" out of distaste for its funk and soul elements. A new live album, Made in Europe , culled from three shows on
26550-411: The band's only constant member. The first four line-ups, which constituted the band's original 1968–1976 run, are officially indicated as Mark I (1968–1969), Mark II (1969–1973), Mark III (1973–1975) and Mark IV (1975–1976). Mark I comprised the founding members of Deep Purple, Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Rod Evans (vocals), Jon Lord (keyboards), Paice (drums) and Nick Simper (bass), while Mark II
26775-483: The band, however, Jamison announced he could not join Deep Purple owing to complications with Scotti Brothers Records , his record label. Eventually, after auditioning several high-profile candidates, including Brian Howe ( White Spirit , Ted Nugent , Bad Company ), Doug Pinnick ( King's X ), Australians Jimmy Barnes ( Cold Chisel ) and John Farnham ( Little River Band ), Terry Brock (Strangeways, Giant ) and Norman "Kal" Swan ( Tytan , Lion , Bad Moon Rising ),
27000-640: The band, with Blackmore claiming that the group started out wanting to be a "Vanilla Fudge clone". The group had success in North America with a cover of Joe South 's " Hush ", and by September 1968, the song had reached number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and number 2 in the Canadian RPM chart, pushing the Shades LP up to No. 24 on Billboard ' s pop albums chart. The following month, Deep Purple were booked to support Cream on
27225-668: The bands Captain Beyond and Warhorse respectively. Deep Purple Mark II was formed in Hanwell Community Centre in West London in the summer of 1969. In search of a new vocalist, Blackmore set his own sights on 19-year-old singer Terry Reid . Though he found the offer "flattering", Reid was still bound by an exclusive recording contract with his producer Mickie Most and more interested in his solo career. Blackmore had no other choice but to look elsewhere. The band sought out singer Ian Gillan from Episode Six ,
27450-406: The best selling live albums are Eric Clapton 's Unplugged (1992), selling over 26 million copies, Garth Brooks ' Double Live (1998), over 21 million copies, and Peter Frampton 's Frampton Comes Alive! (1976), over 11 million copies. In Rolling Stone ' s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time , 18 albums were live albums. A solo album , in popular music , is an album recorded by
27675-422: The biographer Marc Spitz that Bowie lived in an increasingly paranoid state, recalling he refused to use elevators because of his fear of heights . His addiction severed friendships with the musicians Keith Moon , John Lennon and Harry Nilsson ; he later said: "If you really want to lose all your friends and all of the relationships that you ever held dear, [cocaine is] the drug to do it with." According to
27900-409: The biographer David Buckley, Bowie's diet now consisted primarily of red and green peppers, milk and cocaine. Bowie later admitted that he only weighed about 80 pounds and was "zonked out of his mind most of the time". Hughes said Bowie would not sleep for "three to four days at a time". Stories, mostly from one interview—pieces of which found their way into Playboy and Rolling Stone —circulated of
28125-419: The budding heavy metal genre. On the album's development, Blackmore stated: "I got fed up with playing with classical orchestras, and thought, 'well, this is my turn.' Jon was into more classical. I said, 'well you've done that, I'll do rock, and whatever turns out best we'll carry on with.'" In Rock performed well, especially in the UK where it reached No. 4, while the "Black Night" single reached No. 2 on
28350-402: The classics. Ritchie and myself...used to swap musical jokes and attacks. He would play something, and I'd have to see if I could match it. That provided a sense of humour, a sense of tension to the band, a sense of, 'what the hell's going to happen next?' The audience didn't know, and nine times out of ten, neither did we!" A second Mark II studio album, the creatively progressive Fireball ,
28575-439: The contours and palpitations of the masquer's soul but never fully reveal his face". Cromelin also found allusions to earlier Bowie efforts, such as the "density" of The Man Who Sold the World , the "pop feel" of Hunky Dory , the "dissonance and angst" of Aladdin Sane , the "compelling percussion" of Young Americans , and the "youthful mysticism" of " Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud " (1969), concluding "it shows Bowie pulling out on
28800-540: The crowd that was captured on film and published in NME . Bowie claimed that the photographer simply caught him in mid-wave, a contention backed by a young Gary Numan who was among the crowd that day: "Think about it. If a photographer takes a whole motor-driven film of someone doing a wave, you will get a Nazi salute at the end of each arm-sweep. All you need is some dickhead at a music paper or whatever to make an issue out it ...". [ Station to Station ] effectively divides
29025-471: The current line-up of Deep Purple. Deep Purple were ranked number 22 on VH1 's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock programme, and a poll on radio station Planet Rock ranked them 5th among the "most influential bands ever". The band received the Legend Award at the 2008 World Music Awards . Deep Purple (specifically Blackmore, Lord, Paice, Gillan, Glover, Coverdale, Evans, and Hughes) were inducted into
29250-511: The demise of Deep Purple, a full-scale (and legal) reunion took place with the "classic" Mark II line-up of 1969–1973: Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan and Roger Glover. The reformed band signed a worldwide deal with PolyGram , with Mercury Records releasing their albums in the US, and Polydor Records in the UK and other countries. The album Perfect Strangers was recorded in Vermont and released in October 1984. The album
29475-431: The departure of Mike Garson , Bowie praised Bittan's contributions. Although NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray surmised it was cut "in 10 days of feverish activity", more recent scholarship contends that the album was recorded over a couple of months, with the sessions beginning in late September 1975 or early October and ending in late November. Initial working titles for the album included The Return of
29700-551: The early 1900s, the typical 10-inch disc could only hold about three minutes of sound per side, so almost all popular recordings were limited to around three minutes in length. Classical-music and spoken-word items generally were released on the longer 12-inch 78s, playing around 4–5 minutes per side. For example, in 1924, George Gershwin recorded a drastically shortened version of his new seventeen-minute composition Rhapsody in Blue with Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. The recording
29925-456: The early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records (78s) collected in a bound book resembling a photo album ; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl long-playing (LP) records played at 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 rpm . The album was the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption from the mid-1960s to the early 21st century, a period known as the album era . Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in
30150-506: The early nineteenth century. Later, collections of related 78s were bundled in book-like albums (one side of a 78 rpm record could hold only about 3.5 minutes of sound). When LP records were introduced, a collection of pieces or songs on a single record was called an "album"; the word was extended to other recording media such as compact disc, MiniDisc , compact audio cassette, 8-track tape and digital albums as they were introduced. An album (Latin albus , white), in ancient Rome,
30375-488: The end of Mark II while the band was at its peak "the biggest shame in rock and roll; God knows what we would have done over the next three or four years. We were writing so well." The band hired Midlands bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes , formerly of Trapeze . According to Paice, Glover told him and Lord a few months before his official termination that he wanted to leave the band, so they had started to drop in on Trapeze shows. After acquiring Hughes, they debated continuing as
30600-542: The field – as with early blues recordings, in prison, or with a mobile recording unit such as the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio . Most albums are studio albums —that is, they are recorded in a recording studio with equipment meant to give those overseeing the recording as much control as possible over the sound of the album. They minimize external noises and reverberations and have highly sensitive microphones and sound mixing equipment. Band members may record their parts in separate rooms or at separate times, listening to
30825-425: The film The Man Who Fell to Earth ; the cover art featured a still from the film. During the sessions, Bowie was suffering from various drug addictions, most prominently cocaine , and later said that he recalled almost nothing of the production. The commercial success of his previous release, Young Americans (1975), allowed Bowie greater freedom when he began recording his next album. The sessions established
31050-461: The film's music but found that "when I'd finished five or six pieces, I was then told that if I would care to submit my music along with some other people's ... and I just said 'Shit, you're not getting any of it'. I was so furious, I'd put so much work into it." Notwithstanding, Maslin argued Bowie was "burned out" and could not complete the work in any case. The singer eventually collapsed, admitting later, "There were pieces of me laying all over
31275-493: The final choice was American Tommy Bolin . There are at least two versions of the Bolin recruitment story: Coverdale claims to have been the one who suggested auditioning Bolin. "He walked in, thin as a rake, his hair coloured green, yellow and blue with feathers in it. Slinking along beside him was this stunning Hawaiian girl in a crochet dress with nothing on underneath. He plugged into four Marshall 100-watt stacks and...the job
31500-491: The first decade of the 2000s. Most albums are recorded in a studio , although they may also be recorded in a concert venue , at home, in the field, or a mix of places. The time frame for completely recording an album varies between a few hours to several years. This process usually requires several takes with different parts recorded separately, and then brought or " mixed " together. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing are termed "live", even when done in
31725-471: The first time anyway, so he basically wrote everything in the studio." I think he's far more advanced than the average producer. He knows a great deal about technical things. He doesn't know everything, he's not an engineer, but he knows more about arranging a song, he knows more about how to relate to people and get what he wants out of them... If you listen to the rhythms specifically on this album, there are very strange things going on rhythmically between all
31950-428: The floor". When Bowie presented his material for the film to Roeg, the director decided it was unsuitable. He preferred a more folksy sound, although John Phillips (the chosen composer for the soundtrack) described Bowie's contributions as "haunting and beautiful". In the event, only one instrumental composed for the soundtrack saw the light of day, evolving into " Subterraneans " on his next studio album, Low . With
32175-503: The following day and they were all still working from the night before. I'd leave and they were still working." When mixing Station to Station , Maslin found using the 24-track mixing consoles a challenge, but they allowed flexibility. Richard Cromelin of Circus writes that having a large number of tracks allowed Maslin to "waste" a channel on one sound effect which could then be "tampered with", leaving other tracks for use by double-tracked instruments and vocals. Bowie admitted to giving
32400-500: The form of a prototype. Compact Cassettes became especially popular during the 1980s after the advent of the Sony Walkman , which allowed the person to control what they listened to. The Walkman was convenient because of its size, the device could fit in most pockets and often came equipped with a clip for belts or pants. The compact cassette used double-sided magnetic tape to distribute music for commercial sale. The music
32625-480: The form of boxed sets, although in that case the work is still usually considered to be an album. Material (music or sounds) is stored on an album in sections termed tracks. A music track (often simply referred to as a track) is an individual song or instrumental recording. The term is particularly associated with popular music where separate tracks are known as album tracks; the term is also used for other formats such as EPs and singles . When vinyl records were
32850-415: The front cover and liner notes on the back or inside cover. Most albums included three or four records, with two sides each, making six or eight compositions per album. By the mid-1930s, record companies had adopted the album format for classical music selections that were longer than the roughly eight minutes that fit on both sides of a classical 12" 78 rpm record. Initially the covers were plain, with
33075-613: The heavy rock side of the band further. Having decided that Evans and Simper would not fit well with the style they envisioned, both were replaced that summer. Paice stated, "A change had to come. If they hadn't left, the band would have totally disintegrated." Both Simper and Blackmore noted that Rod Evans already had one foot out of the door. Simper said that Evans had met a girl in Hollywood and had eyes on being an actor, while Blackmore explained, "Rod just wanted to go to America and live in America." Evans and Simper would go on to co-form
33300-520: The hiring of Roger Glover. Mark II's first release was a Roger Greenaway – Roger Cook tune titled " Hallelujah ". At the time of its recording, Nick Simper still thought he was in the band and had called John Coletta to inquire about the recording dates for the song. He then found that the song had already been recorded with Glover on bass. The remaining original members of Deep Purple then instructed management to inform Simper that he had been officially replaced. Despite television appearances to promote
33525-461: The idea of forming Bad Company." Instead, auditions were held for lead vocal replacements. They settled on David Coverdale , an unknown singer from Saltburn in north-east England, primarily because Blackmore liked his masculine, blues-tinged voice. Burn , the first album by Deep Purple Mark III, was released in February 1974 to great success, reaching No. 3 in the UK and No. 9 in the US, and
33750-424: The instruments... If nothing else, David's a genius when it comes to working out rhythmic feels. He was the mainstay behind it all. – Harry Maslin on Bowie's role as a producer, 1976 For previous albums, Bowie had maintained a relatively straightforward recording process. He arrived at the studio with tracks that were fully written and rehearsed, recorded at a brisk pace, and the sessions concluded quickly. With
33975-716: The last time one of Bowie's studio albums charted lower in his home country than in America. Elsewhere, the album peaked in the top three in Canada, France and the Netherlands, and the top ten in Australia, Japan, Norway and New Zealand. The title track was released in France as a 7-inch promotional single in January 1976. It featured a shortened version of the track, lasting just over three-and-a-half minutes, with "TVC 15" as
34200-612: The leader of the band in the early years. Shortly after the orchestral release, Mark II began a hectic touring and recording schedule that was to see little respite for the next four years. The second album, and first studio album, of the Mark II era, released in 1970, was In Rock (a name supported by the album's Mount Rushmore -inspired cover), which contained the then-concert staples " Speed King ", "Into The Fire" and " Child in Time ". The non-album single " Black Night ", released around
34425-442: The line: "It's not the side effects of the cocaine / I'm thinking that it must be love." Spitz interprets Station to Station as "an album of love songs", specifically "the kind you write when you have no love in your own life". Indeed, Perone considers "Golden Years" the type of love song that does not feature the word "love" . The song's character assures his companion that he will always protect her no matter what and promises her
34650-614: The lineup of guitarist Carlos Alomar , bassist George Murray and drummer Dennis Davis that Bowie would use for the rest of the decade, and also featured contributions by guitarist Earl Slick and pianist Roy Bittan . Musically, Station to Station was a transitional album for Bowie, developing the funk and soul of Young Americans while presenting a new direction influenced by the German music genre of krautrock , particularly bands such as Neu! and Kraftwerk . The lyrics reflected Bowie's preoccupations with Friedrich Nietzsche , Aleister Crowley , mythology and religion. Preceded by
34875-399: The massive commercial success of Young Americans , and a reissue of " Space Oddity " becoming his first UK number-one single, Bowie did not feel compelled to rush the process in L.A. He arrived at Cherokee with fragments of songs rather than finished compositions, changing them as recording progressed. He then gave the ideas to Alomar, who worked on the arrangements with Murray and Davis. After
35100-487: The mid-1960s to the late 1970s when the Compact Cassette format took over. The format is regarded as an obsolete technology, and was relatively unknown outside the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Stereo 8 was created in 1964 by a consortium led by Bill Lear of Lear Jet Corporation , along with Ampex , Ford Motor Company , General Motors , Motorola , and RCA Victor Records . It
35325-492: The most challenging leg of his winding journey". Ben Edmonds' did not find the LP one of Bowie's best works in Phonograph Record , instead believed that Station to Station is merely a "stopping place" where he can reflect and plan his next musical journey, "which his followers always expect him to make". However, he noted the album's overall cohesiveness and praised the backing band, calling them Bowie's finest since
35550-554: The most part this is an orphaned, abandoned style". Ten years later, NPR 's Jem Aswad described the album as "pioneering ice-funk" that "paved the way not only for thousands of artists who were influenced by it, but also for the brilliant wave of experimentation that followed over the next five years: Low , "Heroes" (both 1977), Lodger (1979) and Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980)". Bowie's biographers have described Station to Station as one of his greatest records. In his book Strange Fascination , David Buckley calls it
35775-472: The music goes, Low and its siblings were a direct follow-on from the title track [of Station to Station ]". For the Berlin Trilogy, Bowie collaborated with Tony Visconti and former Roxy Music keyboardist and conceptualist Brian Eno . Eno similarly felt that Low was "very much a continuation" of Station to Station , which he called "one of the great records of all time" in 1999. In an interview with Q magazine in 1997, Bowie considered Station to Station
36000-580: The music of the English rock band the Yardbirds . "Wild Is the Wind" contains funky elements in its electric guitar playing, while the rhythm section and acoustic guitar add a jazz flavour. AllMusic's Donald A. Guarisco likens the music of "Word on a Wing" to gospel and soul; Perone compares it to the sound of American musician Roy Orbison . Both tracks have been categorised as hymns and ballads. While living in his cocaine-induced, paranoid state, Bowie did not sleep for days, often reading books one after
36225-606: The name Bobbie Clarke). The band, still calling themselves Roundabout, started rehearsing and writing in Cadogan Gardens in South Kensington. In March 1968, Lord, Blackmore, Simper and Woodman moved into Deeves Hall, a country house in South Mimms , Hertfordshire. The band would live, write and rehearse at the house; it was fully kitted out with the latest Marshall amplification and, at Lord's request,
36450-481: The name of the selection and performer in small type. In 1938, Columbia Records hired the first graphic designer in the business to design covers, others soon followed and colorful album covers cover became an important selling feature. By the later '30s, record companies began releasing albums of previously released recordings of popular music in albums organized by performer, singers or bands, or by type of music, boogie-woogie , for example. When Columbia introduced
36675-433: The new group. He was making a name for himself as a studio session guitarist, and had also been a member of the Outlaws , Screaming Lord Sutch , and Neil Christian , the latter artist prompting Blackmore's move to Germany. Curtis's erratic behaviour and lifestyle, fuelled by his use of LSD , caused him to display a sudden lack of interest in the project he had started, forcing HEC to dismiss him from Roundabout. However, HEC
36900-470: The new single and was scolded afterwards by the show's DJ . The resulting film clip was used as the song's unofficial music video to promote the single worldwide. Commercially, "Golden Years" reached the top ten in the UK and the US but, like " Rebel Rebel "'s relationship to Diamond Dogs (1974), was a somewhat unrepresentative teaser for the album to come. Following Soul Train , Bowie appeared on The Cher Show on 23 November, performing "Fame" and
37125-449: The next day. According to Spitz, at one point Bowie moved a bed into the studio. One day, recording moved to the nearby Record Plant Studios because Cherokee was already booked and Bowie did not want to lose momentum during the session. Maslin recalled: "[Bowie] liked to work four days or so, very strenuous hours, and then take a few days off to rest and get charged up for another sprint." Cherokee co-owner Bruce Robb told Spitz: "I'd come in
37350-434: The next few years was spent on the road touring. The group continued forward until 2002 when founding member Lord (who, along with Paice, was the only member to be in all incarnations of the band) announced his amicable retirement from the band to pursue personal projects (especially orchestral work). Lord left his Hammond organ to his replacement, rock keyboard veteran Don Airey , who had helped Deep Purple out when Lord's knee
37575-578: The noise of a train in the opening moments, Bowie said the title of "Station to Station" does not refer so much to railway stations as to the Stations of the Cross , the series of 14 images depicting Christ 's path to his crucifixion , each symbolising a stopping-point for prayer . He added it was about the Kabbalistic Tree of Life , evident in the line "from Kether to Malkuth ", which bookend
37800-426: The original coloured full-size image the sky looked artificial; an all-white border was placed around the image, which Pegg believes reflects the "stark monochrome aesthetic" of both the Thin White Duke character and the 1976 tour. He also contends that the monochrome cover matches the "austere tone" of the album. The full-size, colour version was used for some subsequent reissues of the album. The back cover's photograph
38025-443: The other parts of the track with headphones to keep the timing right. In the 2000s, with the advent of digital recording , it became possible for musicians to record their part of a song in another studio in another part of the world, and send their contribution over digital channels to be included in the final product. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing or multi-tracking are termed "live", even when done in
38250-438: The other parts using headphones ; with each part recorded as a separate track . Album covers and liner notes are used, and sometimes additional information is provided, such as analysis of the recording, and lyrics or librettos . Historically, the term "album" was applied to a collection of various items housed in a book format. In musical usage, the word was used for collections of short pieces of printed music from
38475-701: The other. During a run-in with Jimmy Page in February 1975, Page discussed the works of the English occultist Aleister Crowley with him. Bowie, whose tracks " Oh! You Pretty Things " and " Quicksand " from 1971's Hunky Dory had exhibited occult influences, immersed himself in Crowley's works. He revisited concepts seen in Hunky Dory and The Man Who Sold the World ' s " The Supermen " (1970) such as German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche 's theory of Übermensch , or "Superman", and studied new concepts such as Nazi fascination with Holy Grail mythology and
38700-414: The other. The user would stack the two records onto the spindle of an automatic record changer, with side 1 on the bottom and side 2 (on the other record) on top. Side 1 would automatically drop onto the turntable and be played. When finished, the tone arm's position would trigger a mechanism which moved the arm out of the way, dropped the record with side 2, and played it. When both records had been played,
38925-484: The paper cover in small type were the words "Record Album". Now records could be stored vertically with the record not touching the shelf, and the term was applied to the collection. In the early nineteenth century, "album" was occasionally used in the titles of some classical music sets, such as Robert Schumann 's Album for the Young Opus 68, a set of 43 short pieces. With the advent of 78 rpm records in
39150-499: The police burst in and said 'you've got to stop'. We had the track down." Continuing to progress the musical direction of the previous two albums, Machine Head was released in late March 1972 and became one of the band's most famous releases. It was the band's second No. 1 album in the UK while re-establishing them in North America, hitting No. 7 in the US and No. 1 in Canada. It included tracks that became live classics, such as "Highway Star", " Space Truckin' ", " Lazy " and "Smoke on
39375-406: The primary medium for audio recordings a track could be identified visually from the grooves and many album covers or sleeves included numbers for the tracks on each side. On a compact disc the track number is indexed so that a player can jump straight to the start of any track. On digital music stores such as iTunes the term song is often used interchangeably with track regardless of whether there
39600-432: The publishers of photograph albums. Single 78 rpm records were sold in a brown heavy paper sleeve with a large hole in the center so the record's label could be seen. The fragile records were stored on their sides. By the mid-1920s, photo album publishers sold collections of empty sleeves of heavier paper in bound volumes with stiff covers slightly larger than the 10" popular records. (Classical records measured 12".) On
39825-408: The record a commercial edge: "I compromised in the mixing. I wanted to do a dead mix ... All the way through, no echo ... I gave in and added that extra commercial touch. I wish I hadn't." Speaking to Creem magazine in 1977, Bowie proclaimed that the album was "devoid of spirit ... Even the love songs are detached, but I think it's fascinating." Station to Station is often cited as
40050-404: The record industry as a standard format for the "album". Apart from relatively minor refinements and the important later addition of stereophonic sound capability, it has remained the standard format for vinyl albums. The term "album" was extended to other recording media such as 8-track tape , cassette tape , compact disc , MiniDisc , and digital albums, as they were introduced. As part of
40275-452: The release and distribution Compact Discs . The 2010s saw a revival of Compact Cassettes by independent record labels and DIY musicians who preferred the format because of its difficulty to share over the internet . The compact disc format replaced both the vinyl record and the cassette as the standard for the commercial mass-market distribution of physical music albums. After the introduction of music downloading and MP3 players such as
40500-407: The rest of the 1990s, releasing the harder-sounding Abandon in 1998, and touring with renewed enthusiasm. In 1999, Lord, with the help of a Dutch fan, who was also a musicologist and composer, Marco de Goeij , painstakingly recreated the Concerto for Group and Orchestra , the original score having been lost. It was once again performed at the Royal Albert Hall in September 1999, this time with
40725-403: The right opportunity, such as a benefit concert. The current band's chief sound engineer on nine years of tours, Moray McMillin, died in September 2011, aged 57. After a lot of songwriting sessions in Europe, Deep Purple decided to record through the summer of 2012, and the band announced they would release their new studio album in 2013. Steve Morse announced to French magazine Rock Hard that
40950-457: The role, and moved from New York to Los Angeles, California, where shooting was to take place. On his arrival in L.A., Bowie stayed with Glenn Hughes , the bassist for the English rock band Deep Purple . He also visited his old friend, singer Iggy Pop , in rehab. The two would attempt to record some material in May 1975, but the sessions were unproductive due to Pop's heroin addiction. Hughes told
41175-512: The same time, finally put Deep Purple into the UK Top Ten. The interplay between Blackmore's guitar and Lord's distorted organ, coupled with Gillan's powerful, wide-ranging vocals and the rhythm section of Glover and Paice, now started to take on a unique identity that separated the band from its earlier albums. Along with Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin II and Sabbath's Paranoid , In Rock codified
41400-428: The same year Machine Head increased to double platinum). The reunion tour followed, starting in Australia and winding its way across the world to North America, then into Europe by the following summer. Financially, the tour was also a tremendous success. In the US, the 1985 tour out-grossed every other artist except Bruce Springsteen . The UK homecoming saw the band headline the 1985 Knebworth Fayre in June, where
41625-434: The second and final time the following year. He was replaced temporarily by Joe Satriani and then permanently by Steve Morse . In 2002, Lord retired and was replaced by Don Airey , which saw Deep Purple settle into its longest running line-up, unchanged for the next twenty years, until Morse announced his departure from the band in 2022. His place was taken by Simon McBride . Paice, Glover, Gillan, Airey and McBride comprise
41850-421: The sessions. According to Bowie, "I got some quite extraordinary things out of Slick. I think it captured his imagination to make noises on guitar, and textures, rather than playing the right notes." Both Slick and Maslin praised Bowie's "on-the-spot approach". Slick found no rehearsals advantageous, resulting in a cleaner performance. Because of his heavy cocaine use, Bowie recalled remembering "only flashes" of
42075-586: The show were telecast on ABC Television in the US, exposing the band to a wider audience. During the show, Blackmore doused his amplifiers with petrol and set them on fire, blowing a hole in the stage. A month later, the band's 22 May performance at the Gaumont State Cinema in Kilburn , London, was recorded and later released in 1982 as Live in London . Hughes and Coverdale brought vocal harmonies and elements of funk and blues, respectively, to
42300-471: The singer living in a house full of ancient Egyptian artefacts, burning black candles, seeing bodies fall past his window, having his semen stolen by witches, receiving secret messages from the Rolling Stones , and living in morbid fear of the Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page . In an interview with Melody Maker in 1977, Bowie described living in L.A.: "There's an underlying unease... You can feel it in every avenue... I've always been aware of how dubious
42525-522: The single " Golden Years ", Station to Station was a commercial success, reaching the top five on the UK and US charts. After scrapping a soundtrack for The Man Who Fell to Earth , Bowie supported the album with the Isolar Tour in early 1976, during which he attracted controversy with statements suggesting support for fascism . At the end of the tour, he moved to Europe to remove himself from L.A.'s drug culture. The styles explored on Station to Station culminated in some of Bowie's most acclaimed work with
42750-448: The smaller 45 rpm format later in 1948 disrupted Columbia's expectations. By the mid-1950s, 45s dominated the singles market and 12" LPs dominated the album market and both 78s and 10" LPs were discontinued. In the 1950s albums of popular music were also issued on 45s, sold in small heavy paper-covered "gate-fold" albums with multiple discs in sleeves or in sleeves in small boxes. This format disappeared around 1960. Sinatra's "The Voice"
42975-491: The soundtrack album abandoned, Bowie decided he was ready to free himself of Los Angeles' drug culture and move back to Europe. In January 1976, he began rehearsals for the Isolar Tour to promote Station to Station , which began on 2 February 1976 and ended on 18 May. Iggy Pop, who, like Bowie, was ready to quit his drug addiction, accompanied him on the tour. Due to disagreements with Bowie's management, Stacy Heydon replaced Slick on lead guitar. Kraftwerk's " Radioactivity "
43200-407: The star that the part of Newton would likely remain with him for some time after the filming. With Roeg's agreement, Bowie developed his own look for the film, and this carried through to his public image over the next twelve months, as did Newton's air of fragility and aloofness. Newton served as a major influence on Bowie's next onstage character, the Thin White Duke . Bowie's 1975 single " Fame ",
43425-463: The time he made it. In a 2013 retrospective for Rock's Backpages , Barney Hoskyns called Station to Station "one of the most impressive of his musical junctions: intense, passionate, focused, surging and urgently funky". In The Guardian , Alex Needham said the album "manages to incorporate almost everything fantastic about pop music" in just six tracks: "it's dramatic, stylish, emotional and danceable". Like his biographers, critics have acknowledged
43650-821: The time he recorded Station to Station , as the record appropriated them "in a decidedly spacy and abrasive context"; he said it added soul to the "mechanical, fragmented, rather secondhand elegance" explored on Aladdin Sane (1973). Initial reviews of Station to Station considered it a " dance " album. As a whole, reviewers have classified Station to Station ' s music as "glacial, synthesized funk-rock ", "avant-garde art-rock ", space rock , "a hybrid of electronic R&B ", "eerie avant-pop ", "art-funk", and "ice-funk". AllMusic 's Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes it includes "everything from epic ballads and disco to synthesized avant pop" while extending "the detached plastic soul of Young Americans to an elegant, robotic extreme". Chris Randle of The Village Voice labeled
43875-473: The tour complete, the band set to work on another album, the early sessions of which saw Turner being forced out. 1993 would be Deep Purple's 25th anniversary year, with Lord, Paice and Glover (and the record company) wanting Gillan back for another Mark II reunion to celebrate this milestone. Although Blackmore preferred Turner to remain in the group, he grudgingly relented, after requesting and eventually receiving $ 250,000 in his bank account and Mark II completed
44100-419: The track "April", which featured strings and woodwind, showcasing Lord's classical antecedents such as Bach and Rimsky-Korsakov . This would be the last recording by Deep Purple Mark I. Deep Purple's North American record label, Tetragrammaton, delayed production of the Deep Purple album until after the band's 1969 American tour ended. This, as well as lackluster promotion by the nearly broke label, caused
44325-416: The user would pick up the stack, turn it over, and put them back on the spindle—sides 3 and 4 would then play in sequence. Record changers were used for many years of the LP era, but eventually fell out of use. 8-track tape (formally Stereo 8: commonly known as the eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, or simply eight-track) is a magnetic tape sound recording technology popular in the United States from
44550-438: The weather was bad (torrential rain and 6 inches (15 cm) of mud) in front of 80,000 fans. The gig was called the "Return of the Knebworth Fayre". Mark II followed Perfect Strangers with The House of Blue Light in 1987, which was supported by another world tour (interrupted after Blackmore broke a finger on stage while trying to catch his guitar after throwing it in the air). A new live album Nobody's Perfect , which
44775-437: The years to follow, "he made this fascinating album first". Station to Station has frequently appeared on several lists of the greatest albums of all time by multiple publications. In 1995, it was ranked number 21 on Mojo magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums ever made, the highest ranked Bowie album on the list. In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it number 323 on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time , 324 on
45000-452: Was a board chalked or painted white, on which decrees, edicts, and other public notices were inscribed in black. It was from this that in medieval and modern times, album came to denote a book of blank pages in which verses, autographs, sketches, photographs and the like are collected. This in turn led to the modern meaning of an album as a collection of audio recordings issued as a single item. The first audio albums were actually published by
45225-431: Was a commercial success, peaking at number three on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart, remaining on the chart for 32 weeks. It became Bowie's highest-charting album in the US until The Next Day , which reached number two in 2013. Station to Station was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on 26 February 1976. In the UK, it charted for seventeen weeks, peaking at number five,
45450-443: Was a further development of the similar Stereo-Pak four-track cartridge created by Earl "Madman" Muntz . A later quadraphonic version of the format was announced by RCA in April 1970 and first known as Quad-8, then later changed to just Q8. The Compact Cassette was a popular medium for distributing pre-recorded music from the early 1970s to the early 2000s. The first "Compact Cassette" was introduced by Philips in August 1963 in
45675-413: Was commercially successful, reaching number 5 in the UK Albums Chart and number 12 on the Billboard 200 in the US. The album included the singles and concert staples "Knockin' At Your Back Door" and " Perfect Strangers ". Perfect Strangers became the second Deep Purple album to go platinum in the US, following Machine Head ( Made in Japan would also finally hit platinum status in the US in 1986,
45900-444: Was culled from several shows on this tour, was released in 1988. In the UK a new Mark II version of "Hush" was also released in 1988 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Deep Purple. Gillan was fired in 1989; his relations with Blackmore had again soured, and their musical differences had diverged too far. Originally, the band intended to recruit Survivor frontman Jimi Jamison as Gillan's replacement. After two weeks of sessions with
46125-405: Was exploring new territories. Ian MacDonald noted Bowie's musical growth in Britain's Street Life magazine, recognising it as one of his finest albums up to that point. He believed it was the first album he'd released where it felt he had total control. Writing for NME , Charles Murray praised the music throughout the record, but was critical of Bowie's vocal performance, particularly on "Word on
46350-479: Was extremely negative, calling it "the most significant advance in LP filler since Lou Reed 's Metal Machine Music [1975]". Considering "Word on a Wing" the "only complete success" on the LP, he panned the tracks as overlong, unexciting and uninteresting, further arguing that "it's rather appalling that the best thing [Bowie] can think of doing with his talent currently is fool around." Rock critic Lester Bangs , who gave Bowie's work negative assessments throughout
46575-464: Was followed by another world tour. The title track , which opens the album and would open most concerts during the Mark III and IV eras, was a conscious effort by the band to embrace the progressive rock movement, which was popularised at the time by bands such as Yes , King Crimson , Emerson, Lake & Palmer , Genesis and Gentle Giant . Another notable song from the album was a slow-burning blues number called " Mistreated ". Mark III embarked on
46800-404: Was hallucinating 24 hours a day...I felt like I'd fallen into the bowels of the earth. – Bowie on his cocaine addiction David Bowie developed a cocaine addiction in the summer of 1974, following the release of the album Diamond Dogs . The Alan Yentob documentary Cracked Actor depicted Bowie on the Diamond Dogs Tour in September 1974 and showcased his mental state. Bowie said in
47025-628: Was his." But in an interview published by Melody Maker in June 1975, Bolin claimed that he came to the audition following a recommendation from Blackmore. Bolin had been a member of many late-1960s bands – Denny & The Triumphs, American Standard, and Zephyr , which released three albums from 1969 to 1972. Before he joined Deep Purple, Bolin's best-known recordings had been made as a session musician on Billy Cobham 's 1973 jazz fusion album Spectrum , and as lead guitarist on two post- Joe Walsh James Gang albums: Bang (1973) and Miami (1974). He had also played with Dr. John , Albert King ,
47250-444: Was injured in 2001. Airey had previously worked with Glover as a member of Rainbow from 1979 to 1982. In 2003, the new Mark VIII line-up released Bananas , their first studio album in five years, and began touring in support. EMI Records refused a contract extension with Deep Purple, possibly because of lower than expected sales. Actually In Concert with The London Symphony Orchestra sold more than Bananas . The band played at
47475-399: Was issued in 1952 on two extended play 45s, with two songs on each side, in both packagings. The 10-inch and 12-inch LP record (long play), or 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 rpm microgroove vinyl record, is a gramophone record format introduced by Columbia Records in 1948. A single LP record often had the same or similar number of tunes as a typical album of 78s, and it was adopted by
47700-419: Was issued in the summer of 1971, reaching number 1 on the UK Albums Chart . The title track " Fireball " was released as a single, as was " Strange Kind of Woman ", not from the album but recorded during the same sessions (although it replaced "Demon's Eye" on the US version of the album). "Strange Kind of Woman" became their second UK Top 10 single, reaching No. 8. Within weeks of Fireball ' s release,
47925-508: Was issued on both sides of a single record, Victor 55225 and ran for 8m 59s. By 1910, though some European record companies had issued albums of complete operas and other works, the practice of issuing albums was not widely taken up by American record companies until the 1920s. By about 1910, bound collections of empty sleeves with a paperboard or leather cover, similar to a photograph album, were sold as record albums that customers could use to store their records (the term "record album"
48150-462: Was now intrigued with the possibilities Lord and Blackmore brought and persuaded Ritchie to return from Hamburg a second time. Lord and Blackmore began the recruitment of additional members, retaining Tony Edwards as their manager. Lord convinced Nick Simper to join on bass, but Blackmore insisted they leave Carlo Little behind in favour of drummer Bobby Woodman . Woodman was the former drummer for Vince Taylor 's Play-Boys (for whom he had played under
48375-510: Was officially released years later. Bowie drew criticism during the tour for his alleged pro-fascist views. In a 1974 interview, he had declared, " Adolf Hitler was one of the first rock stars ... quite as good as Jagger ... He staged a country", but managed to avoid condemnation. On the Isolar Tour, however, a series of incidents attracted publicity, starting in April 1976 with his detention by customs in Eastern Europe for possession of Nazi memorabilia. The same month in Stockholm , he
48600-496: Was physically hampered by his addiction. At this same time, as he admitted in interviews years later, Hughes was suffering from cocaine addiction. The last show on the tour was on 15 March 1976 at the Liverpool Empire Theatre . The break-up was finally made public in July 1976, with then-manager Rob Cooksey issuing a statement: "the band will not record or perform together as Deep Purple again". Bolin went on to record his second solo album, Private Eyes . On 4 December 1976, after
48825-462: Was printed on some covers). These albums came in both 10-inch and 12-inch sizes. The covers of these bound books were wider and taller than the records inside, allowing the record album to be placed on a shelf upright, like a book, suspending the fragile records above the shelf and protecting them. In the 1930s, record companies began issuing collections of 78s by one performer or of one type of music in specially assembled albums, typically with artwork on
49050-404: Was quoted as saying that "Britain could benefit from a fascist leader". Bowie would blame his addictions and the persona of the Thin White Duke for his lapses in judgment. The controversy culminated on 2 May 1976, shortly before the tour ended, in the so-called ' Victoria Station incident' in London, when Bowie arrived in an open-top Mercedes convertible and apparently gave a Nazi salute to
49275-489: Was ready to record his next album. Station to Station was recorded primarily at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles. The studio opened in January 1975 and quickly became one of the city's busiest studios, attracting artists such as Rod Stewart and Frank Sinatra . Cherokee was more advanced than Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios , where Bowie had recorded Young Americans (1975); it featured five studio rooms, 24-track mixing consoles , 24-hour session times, more space and
49500-452: Was simply another way for the Duke to "test his numbness". Bowie has claimed that on "Word on a Wing", at least, "the passion is genuine". There is a comedic flavour in "TVC 15", which multiple commentators describe as a "surreal comedy". It concerns a character's girlfriend being eaten by a television. The song was inspired by a dream of Iggy Pop's featuring a similar premise, as well as a scene in The Man Who Fell to Earth where Newton fills
49725-402: Was subsequently released in July as an A-side in the US and other territories, backed by "Word on a Wing". It failed to chart. The song, however, did not appear on the compilation. ( Changesonebowie was itself packaged as a uniform edition to Station to Station , featuring a black-and-white cover and similar lettering). In November 1981, as Bowie's relationship with RCA was winding down, "Wild Is
49950-399: Was taken in Los Angeles in 1974, also by Schapiro, and showed Bowie sketching the Kabbalah Sephirot with chalk. It was Bowie's first LP not to include lyric sheets in the packaging, which was criticised in contemporary reviews by Street Life and NME . RCA released "Golden Years" as the album's lead single on 21 November 1975, with the Young Americans track " Can You Hear Me? " as
50175-531: Was the most commercially successful line-up, with Ian Gillan and Roger Glover replacing Evans and Simper respectively. Mark III saw David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes replace Gillan and Glover respectively, while Mark IV featured Tommy Bolin replacing Blackmore. The band split in July 1976, and Bolin died from a drug overdose five months later. Deep Purple reformed in 1984 with the Mark II line-up, which remained in place until Joe Lynn Turner replaced Gillan in 1989. Gillan rejoined in 1992, and Blackmore left for
50400-452: Was used as an overture to the shows, accompanying footage from Luis Buñuel 's and Salvador Dalí 's surrealist film Un Chien Andalou (1929). The staging featured Bowie, dressed in the Duke's habitual black waistcoat and trousers, a pack of Gitanes placed ostentatiously in his pocket, moving stiffly among "curtains of white light", an effect that spawned the nickname 'the White Light Tour'. In 1989, Bowie reflected, "I wanted to go back to
50625-435: Was vocally unhappy with the direction of the band's music. Both Paice and Evans won their respective jobs, and the line-up was complete. During a brief tour of Denmark and Sweden in April, in which they were still billed as Roundabout, Blackmore suggested a new name: Deep Purple, after his grandmother's favourite song, " Deep Purple " by Peter DeRose . The group had resolved to choose a name after everyone had posted one on
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