Comments on: Industrial Heroes

By: V2 Schneider and Heroes | Strangely Perfect

V2 Schneider and Heroes | Strangely Perfect — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 15:55:48 +0000

[...] posting of this. I thought I’d repost in response to hearing a German version of Heroes here on a Bowie fanatic’s site. Since then, and I’ve checked, there are two V2 Schneider’s on YouTube now, so the [...]

By: Apocalyptica Heroes | David Bowie Webdream

Apocalyptica Heroes | David Bowie Webdream — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:14:02 +0000

[...] Genius! I LOVE THEIR SOUND! Will definitely be checking out more of their stuff. However, it may be a while. I just can’t seem to tear myself from the Till version. [...]

By: Moonage

Moonage — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:55:53 +0000

Good points Ann. I thought I touched on the fact that a German singing German lyrics has much more of an impact than a Brit faking it. I never really liked Bowie’s German version that much. His English version is one of my all time favorite songs ever.

I never liked Rammstein’s music that much. Normally that’s the first thing I use to judge a band. If I can’t get past the music, I usually just take a pass. ( I was never a fan of Kiss for that reason. Hellacious show, first-rate frontman, just couldn’t get past their music. ) However, because of the video I was sent to hear this version of Helden, it became evident real quick ( like, in about three minutes ), that Till knows how to work a show and his crowd. I love some of their outfits, and the pyros are fantastic. Plus, Till has that nuance that Bowie works so well as well, facial expression. A simple roll of the eyes at that right moment can work a crowd better than anything. Till is a performer for sure.

Although still no fan of Rammstein, Till Lindemann has skyrocketed in my appreciation. I just wish he’d do a lot more serious music. On top of his theatrical ability, he’s got a voice to die for, when he chooses to use it.

By: Ann

Ann — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:41:59 +0000

There are two other elements to why this song works so well, besides the music. First of all, German is Till’s native language and with all due respects to Bowie, his pronunciation left something to be desired.

But probably most important — Till is a former East German, and who would know more about “die Mauer” and all its implications? This is a song that a Berliner could’ve easily written him or herself, no matter what side of the wall you happened to find yourself on, and it shows in the way Till sings it. BTW – I know you said you didn’t really care for Rammstein, but Till is a fantastic frontman — you should check out some of their videos on YouTube.

By: War Child: Heroes | David Bowie Webdream

War Child: Heroes | David Bowie Webdream — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:35:07 +0000

[...] In keeping with the theme of this blog, I’ll start off with what is not the first song on the album. And, it shouldn’t be. ‘Heroes’ is covered by a band called TV on the Radio. I knew nothing about them before this, I know nothing now. The War Child site goes into great detail about the stars lending their songs, but little to nothing about the talent playing them. That strikes me as some kind of ego trip by the stars, but I doubt they had that much to do with it. Anyways, their version I really don’t like. The song builds to a climax and then lets you back down as do the lyrics. It’s also supposed to sound harsh, reflecting the realities of a seperated Berlin. Then amidst the harsh rhythym is an uplifting melody that wafts throughout the song. That is the hope inferred by the narrator. TV on the Radio just plays it like some elevator music. There is no harshness. There is no melody. There is no hope or betrayal of that hope. Promising to bring relief to children affected by war in the most unimaginably horrific environment anyone can imagine I would think would be more than enough inspiration to bring out some emotion for this song. But, these guys don’t get it. They sound like a bored Kraftwerk. This sucks. It really does. I think Bowie’s contribution to this effort would have been much better served getting Till Lindemann fronting Apocalyptica to do a full version of the song. Till gets it vocally, Apocalyptica gets it musically. [...]

By: Moonage

Moonage — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:37:13 +0000

Hey guys, be sure to check out the video thevisitor submitted. Puts a little background to the song.

By: Moonage

Moonage — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:27:42 +0000

Well, you have to consider that in 1977, there was no “German Industrial Sound”. That started evolving a little later. But, the sound of ‘Heroes’ does kind of fit into that sound. My point therefore was that Till/Apocalyptica doing ‘Heroes’ isn’t far removed at all from what they traditionally do. Till/Apocalyptica doing Changes would be a stretch I doubt they’d even want to try. Doing ‘Heroes’, not at all. It’s a perfect fit. Obviously.

By: Strangely Perfect

Strangely Perfect — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:43:00 +0000

Thanks for the info, and the prompt! I now spent all morning going through all the “Heroes” versions I could find.
You are spot on about this Till/Apocalyptica one. It’s great – in fact I had to play it several times; a German Industrial Rock song – I never though of it like that but it’s about right, I guess. I certainly never knew Bowie did it in German first. Saying that, V2-Schneider, the B-side, is one of my all-time favourite Bowie tracks. You don’t see it much though, although I stuck a link on my site to the single version on YouTube ….

By: J R Marnie

J R Marnie — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:06:29 +0000

Hey, thanks for the mention, much appreciated!!

And thanks also for the info on helden; I never knew the german version came first, cheers!