Station To Station - Release and Reception

Release and Reception

Station to Station was released in January 1976. Billboard considered that Bowie had "found his musical niche" following songs like "Fame" and "Golden Years" but that "the 10-minute title cut drags". NME called it "one of the most significant albums released in the last five years". Both found the meaning of the lyrics difficult to fathom. In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau gave the album an A rating, indicating "a great record both of whose sides offer enduring pleasure and surprise. You should own it". Christgau wrote that Bowie "can merge Lou Reed, disco, and Huey Smith" and found the album a progression from his previous albums, stating "Miraculously, Bowie's attraction to black music has matured; even more miraculously, the new relationship seems to have left his hard-and-heavy side untouched".

Rolling Stone writer Teri Moris applauded 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." Circus, 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 the contours and palpitations of the masquer's soul but never fully reveal his face." The review also found various 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", concluding that "it shows Bowie pulling out on the most challenging leg of his winding journey".

Station to Station was Bowie's highest-charting album in the US until 2013's The Next Day, reaching #3 and remaining for 32 weeks. It was certified gold by the RIAA on 26 February 1976. In the UK, it charted for seventeen weeks, peaking at #5, the last time one of his studio albums placed lower in his home country than in America.