香港MCB杂志评出的100张欧美最具革命性专辑之一,排名第34位,评语为:“远赴柏林取经所带来的最重要的著作,其未来派电气化摇滚歌曲与氛围音乐(Ambient)试验乐章皆极具划时代意义。”
这是曲风多变的David Bowie与电子乐大师Brian Eno合作的第二张专辑,既华丽又嘈杂,既传统又前卫,所以很难归类。有人评论说"There's Old Wave. There's New Wave. And there's David Bowie..."(有旧浪潮,也有新浪潮,还有David Bowie)。
专辑的同名主打歌"Heroes"(有引号)至今仍是David Bowie最出名的歌曲之一,是关于两个恋人在柏林墙相逢的故事,歌词充满对“冷战”的讽刺,另一首Beaty and Beast也颇出名(不过跟某卡通大片的主题歌不是一码事)。然而这两首歌倒不见得是最能体现Brian Eno功力的作品,我觉得那首纯音乐的Neuköln就非常耐听。
专辑在英国相当轰动,在专辑榜排到第3位,并在榜单上呆了26周,前Beatles的超级牛人John Lennon也对它相当赞赏。不过专辑在美国就不那么受欢迎,最高只排到榜单35位。在评论界的待遇也差不多,英国NME杂志把它评为年度最佳专辑,但在滚石杂志的500张历代最强专辑评选中,这张专辑却名落孙山。
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Repeating the formula of Low's half-vocal/half-instrumental structure, Heroes develops and strengthens the sonic innovations David Bowie and Brian Eno explored on their first collaboration. The vocal songs are fuller, boasting harder rhythms and deeper layers of sound. Much of the harder-edged sound of Heroes is due to Robert Fripp's guitar, which provides a muscular foundation for the electronics, especially on the relatively conventional rock songs. Similarly, the instrumentals on Heroes are more detailed, this time showing a more explicit debt to German synth pop and European experimental rock. Essentially, the difference between Low and Heroes lies in the details, but the record is equally challenging and groundbreaking.