Berlin Trilogy

The Berlin Trilogy consists of three studio albums by English musician David Bowie: Low, "Heroes" and Lodger. Bowie recorded the albums in collaboration with English musician Brian Eno and American producer Tony Visconti. The trilogy originated following Bowie's move from Los Angeles to Europe with American singer Iggy Pop to rid themselves of worsening drug addiction. Influences included the German krautrock scene and the recent ambient releases of Eno.
Both Low and "Heroes" experiment with electronic and ambient music, with conventional tracks on side one and instrumental pieces on side two. Lodger features a wide variety of musical styles with more accessible songs throughout; both sides are split thematically by the lyrics. King Crimson guitarists Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew contributed lead guitar to "Heroes" and Lodger, respectively. During the period, Bowie also co-wrote and produced Iggy Pop's debut solo album The Idiot and follow-up Lust for Life ; the former features a sound similar to that which Bowie explored on the trilogy.
Bowie began referring to the three albums as a Berlin-centred trilogy during the promotion of Lodger, although "Heroes" was the only instalment recorded completely in the city; Low was recorded mostly in France, while Lodger was recorded in Switzerland and New York City. Though considered significant in artistic terms, the trilogy has proven less successful commercially. Bowie would later call the trilogy's music his "DNA". In July 1983, American magazine High Fidelity would publish the earliest known use of the term "Berlin trilogy" to refer to a part of Bowie's discography.
The albums of the trilogy received mixed reviews on release but garnered massive acclaim over time and have proven highly influential. While Low provided a major influence on the post-punk genre, inspiring artists like Joy Division and Gary Numan, elements of Lodger have been identified as a precursor to an increased interest in world music. The American composer and pianist Philip Glass adapted the three albums into classical symphonies. They were remastered in 2017 as part of the A New Career in a New Town box set.

Background

In the summer of 1974, David Bowie developed a cocaine addiction. Over the following two years, his addiction worsened, affecting both his physical and mental state. He recorded both Young Americans and Station to Station, and filmed The Man Who Fell to Earth, while under the influence of the drug. He attributed his growing addiction to the city of Los Angeles, California, where he moved in the spring of 1975. His drug intake escalated so that decades later, he recalled almost nothing of the recording of Station to Station, saying, "I know it was in L.A. because I've read it was." Although he enjoyed commercial success during this period, particularly with the singles "Fame" and "Golden Years", he was ready to rid himself of the drug culture of Los Angeles and get sober.
After abandoning a proposed soundtrack album for The Man Who Fell to Earth, Bowie decided to move back to Europe. He began rehearsals for the Isolar tour to promote Station to Station in January 1976; the tour began on 2 February. While the tour was critically acclaimed, Bowie became a controversial figure during the tour. In his persona as the Thin White Duke, he made statements about Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany that some interpreted as expressing sympathy for or even promoting fascism. He later blamed his erratic behaviour during this period on his addictions and precarious mental state, saying, "I was out of my mind, totally crazed." He later said: "It was a dangerous period for me. I was at the end of my tether physically and emotionally and had serious doubts about my sanity." At the conclusion of the Isolar tour on 18 May 1976, Bowie and his wife Angela moved to Switzerland.

Development

Early influences

After completing Station to Station in December 1975, Bowie began work on a soundtrack for The Man Who Fell to Earth with Paul Buckmaster, his collaborator on Space Oddity. Bowie was expected to be wholly responsible for 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." Station to Station co-producer Harry Maslin argued Bowie was "burned out" and could not complete the work. The singer eventually collapsed, admitting later, "There were pieces of me laying all over the floor." One instrumental composed for the soundtrack evolved into "Subterraneans", later properly recorded for Low; the remaining material was scrapped. When Bowie presented his material for the film to Nicolas Roeg, the director decided it would not be suitable; Roeg preferred a more folksy sound. The soundtrack's eventual composer John Phillips described Bowie's material as "haunting and beautiful". Six months after Bowie's proposal was rejected, he sent Roeg a copy of Low with a note stating: "This is what I wanted to do for the soundtrack. It would have been a wonderful score."
While on the Isolar tour in May 1976, Bowie met ex–Roxy Music keyboardist and conceptualist Brian Eno backstage at a London concert. Although the two had occasional meetups since 1973, they had yet to become friends. Since leaving Roxy Music, Eno released two ambient solo albums in 1975—Another Green World and Discreet Music; Bowie listened to the latter regularly during the American leg of the tour. Biographers Marc Spitz and Hugo Wilcken later recognised Another Green World in particular as a major influence on the sound Bowie aimed to create for Low; Bowie biographer Christopher Sandford also cites Eno's Taking Tiger Mountain as an influence on Bowie. Individually, the two became infatuated with the German music scene, including the acts Tangerine Dream, Neu!, Kraftwerk and Harmonia. While Eno had worked with Harmonia both in-studio and on stage, Bowie exhibited a krautrock influence on Station to Station, particularly its title track. After the meetup, the two agreed to stay in touch.

''The Idiot''

After moving to Switzerland, Bowie booked studio time later in the summer at the Château d'Hérouville in Hérouville, France, where he made plans to write and produce an album for his old friend, singer Iggy Pop. Pop, who was also suffering from drug addiction, was ready to get sober and accepted Bowie's invitation to accompany him on the Isolar tour, and then move to Europe with him. After they relocated to the Château, Bowie travelled back to Switzerland, where he spent the next few weeks writing and devising plans for his next album.
Bowie composed a majority of the music for The Idiot, while Pop wrote most of the lyrics, often in response to the music Bowie was creating. During its recording, Bowie developed a new process, where the backing tracks were recorded first, followed by overdubs, with lyrics and vocals written and recorded last. He heavily favoured this "three-phase" process, which he would use for the rest of his career. Because The Idiot was recorded before Low, the album has been referred to as the unofficial beginning of Bowie's Berlin period, as its music featured a sound reminiscent of that which Bowie would explore in the Berlin Trilogy. Bowie and Tony Visconti co-mixed it at Hansa Studios in West Berlin.
Bowie became fascinated with Berlin, finding it a place of great escape. In love with the city, he and Pop decided to move there in a further attempt to kick their drug habits and escape the spotlight. Although The Idiot was completed by August 1976, Bowie wanted to be sure he had his own album in stores before its release. Château owner and The Idiot bassist Laurent Thibault opined that, " didn't want people to think he'd been inspired by Iggy's album, when in fact it was all the same thing."
Although reviewers consider The Idiot good in its own right, Pop's fans have criticised the album as unrepresentative of his repertoire and as evidence of his being "co-opted" by Bowie for his own ends. Bowie later admitted: "Poor , in a way, became a guinea pig for what I wanted to do with sound. I didn't have the material at the time, and I didn't feel like writing at all. I felt much more like laying back and getting behind someone else's work, so that album was opportune, creatively." Biographer Chris O'Leary considers The Idiot a Bowie album just as much as a Pop one. Although the Berlin Trilogy is said to comprise Low, "Heroes", and Lodger, O'Leary argues the true Berlin Trilogy consists of The Idiot, Low, and "Heroes", with Lust for Life a "supplement" and Lodger an "epilogue".

History

1976: ''Low''

The first album in the trilogy was Low, most of which was recorded at the Château, with the sessions completing at Hansa in Berlin. At this point, Bowie was fully ready to move to Berlin but had already booked another month of studio time at the Château, so recording began there. Bowie and Visconti co-produced the album, with contributions from Eno. Visconti, who was absent for the recording of Station to Station because of conflicting schedules, was brought back to co-produce after mixing The Idiot. Despite being widely perceived as a co-producer, Eno was not. Visconti commented: "Brian is a great musician, and was very integral to the making of . But he was not the producer." According to biographer Paul Trynka, Eno arrived late in the sessions, after all the backing tracks for side one were "essentially" finished.
Lows music delves into electronic, ambient, art rock and experimental rock. The tracks on Low emphasize tone and atmosphere, rather than guitar-based rock. German bands like Tangerine Dream, Neu! and Kraftwerk influence the music. Side one consists primarily of short, direct avant-pop song-fragments; side two comprises longer, mostly instrumental tracks. In 1977, Bowie said side one was about himself and his "prevailing moods" at the time while side two was about his musical observations living in Berlin. Low features a unique drum sound created by Visconti using an Eventide H910 Harmonizer. When Bowie asked him what it did, Visconti replied, "It fucks with the fabric of time". Visconti rigged the machine to Davis's snare drum and fed the results through his headphones, so he could hear the resultant sound.
Bowie's label, RCA Records, was shocked after hearing Low. Fearing the album would perform poorly commercially, RCA delayed its original planned release date in November 1976, releasing it instead in January 1977. Upon release, it received little to no promotion from either RCA or Bowie. Bowie felt it was his "least commercial" record, and rather than promote it opted to tour as Pop's keyboardist. Despite the lack of promotion, Low was a commercial success. The success of the single "Sound and Vision" helped Bowie to persuade RCA to release The Idiot, which they did in March 1977.