Went to Abbey Road Studio last night to listen to the latest remastered version of Bowie’s Station to Station album. In general, album listening parties are always little weird because you usually get locked in a room full of strangers listening to an album in total silence. But you can’t really refuse a kind offer from EMI to listen to the album at such a prestigious location so, notepad in hand, I went along to the session to hear what a remaster actually meant. 

Fans of the album will instantly detect Bowie’s vocals now sit higher in the mix. It’s an obvious start but I wonder if Bowie always intended to be the sole spotlight of the action. There’s some fantastic musicians playing on this album, Earl Slick sounds as glorious as ever and definitely benefits from the treatment given to his sound on the first track. After that, you’ve really got to be into sound production to notice any dramatic difference.

However, fans will be blown away by the box set which accompanies this release. They’ve thrown in loads of paraphernalia like old gig tickets, photos from the day and a big booklet collating all the stories behind the album. One for the dedicated Bowie fans and always great to see this kind of labour of love still flowing in the music industry. You just can’t get the same kind of interaction just by downloading MP3s.

As one person from Bowie’s PR firm pointed out that day – for someone known for their random ‘cut-up’ technique approach to writing, you couldn’t dream of a more structured and beautifully composed album like this. Do people write songs like this anymore, and if they did, would anyone listen to them?

Visit the Bowie Station to Station website here