Today marks the highly anticipated re-release of David Bowie‘s classic 10th studio album, Station to Station.  When the original album was released in 1976, it represented a transitional period in Bowie‘s career, with the musical legend adopting his infamous persona of “The Thin White Duke” and incorporating electronic elements into moments of disco/funk and CAN-esque krautrock.  Beyond being hailed as a highly innovative and influential masterpiece, the album also gained notoriety for the controversial rumors and chaos surrounding it’s creator during that time period.  ’76 also brought the release of the Bowie-starring, The Man Who Fell to Earth (the Station to Station cover is a still from the movie), the abandoned soundtrack to that film, and claims that the artist was “burned out“.  Always one to internalize his characters and to invest himself fully into his projects, Bowie stepped out of The Man Who Fell to Earth with one foot still in his character of the tragic extraterrestrial, Thomas Jerome Newton, and straight into the strikingly distant, cold, and emotionless persona of The Thin White Duke.  Where the line between fiction and reality ends can often be hard to determine.  Along with the album’s inclusion of subject matter surrounding the occult, there were many tales of Bowie falling victim to psychotic paranoia and terror.  Furthermore, certain comments made during his period living as the stoic zombie-like “duke” brought on accusations of fascism being directed at the entertainer.  Bowie himself has admitted to drawing a blank, in regards to much of the Station to Station recording sessions, due in part to his ingestion of ridiculous amounts of cocaine.  Whatever the case, Station to Station is a success which continues to draw more and more recognition and garner more and more fans as time moves forward.

Today’s re-release offers more than just an opportunity for a whole new generation to discover the masterpiece for the first time.  EMI is offering two different special edition sets, each of which feature a Dolby 5.1 mix of the album and the incredibly sought after 1976 Nassau Coliseum show in it’s entirety.  The deluxe edition even includes 5cds, a DVD, 3 vinyl LPs and more.  To promote this release they’ve even created an internet-wide scavenger hunt with prizes, including the deluxe box set of Station to Station and the Virgin/EMI David Bowie catalog in full.

First, check out the details of the re-releases.  Then, look for tips about how to enter and  the clues on how to locate the pieces for the scavenger hunt below.

Special Edition and Digital Download

The special edition features three CDs in a special CD sized packaging, including a 16-page booklet and three photocards. The digital download edition includes the same audio content and a bonus track.

CD 1: Station to Station 2010 transfer

1. “Station to Station” – 10:11
2. “Golden Years” – 4:02
3. “Word on a Wing” – 6:01
4. “TVC 15” – 5:31
5. “Stay” – 6:12
6. “Wild Is the Wind” – 6:02

• 2010 transfer of Station to Station from the original stereo analogue master in mini-replica sleeve.

CD 2 & 3: Live Nassau Coliseum ’76

1. “Station to Station” – 11:53
2. “Suffragette City” – 3:31
3. “Fame” – 4:02
4. “Word on a Wing” – 6:06
5. “Stay” – 7:25
6. “Waiting for the Man” – 6:20
7. “Queen Bitch” – 3:12

1. “Life on Mars?” – 2:13
2. “Five Years” – 5:03
3. “Panic in Detroit” (with most of drum solo edited out) – 6:03
4. “Changes” (with band intro) – 4:11
5. “TVC 15” – 4:58
6. “Diamond Dogs” – 6:38
7. “Rebel Rebel” – 4:07
8. “The Jean Genie” – 7:28

• Recorded live at the Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY, USA. 23 March 1976, in gatefold CD wallet.

Digital download bonus track

1. “Panic in Detroit” (Unedited alternative mix) – 13:09

DELUXE EDITION BOX SET

The deluxe edition will feature five CDs, one DVD and three 12″ vinyls in an album-sized box, including a 24-page booklet and two replicas of the David Bowie on Stage 1976 and the 1976 Fan Club Folder (contents listed below).

CD 1: Station to Station 2010 transfer
CD 2: Station to Station 1985 CD master
CD 3: Station to Station single edits five track EP

1. “Golden Years”
2. “TVC 15”
3. “Stay”
4. “Word on a Wing” (first time on CD)
5. “Station to Station” (previously unreleased version)

CD 4 & 5: Live Nassau Coliseum ’76

DVD

1. Station to Station (original analogue master, 96 kHz/24bit LPCM stereo)
2. Station to Station (new Harry Maslin 5.1 surround sound mix in DTS 96/24 and Dolby Digital)
3. Station to Station (original analogue master, LPCM stereo)
4. Station to Station (new Harry Maslin stereo mix, 48 kHz/24bit LPCM stereo)

Vinyl 1: Heavyweight 12″ vinyl of Station to Station from the original stereo analogue master in replica sleeve
Vinyls 2 & 3: Heavyweight 12″ vinyls of Live Nassau Coliseum ’76 in gatefold sleeve

David Bowie on Stage 1976

• Replica Nassau ticket from night of the show
• Replica backstage pass
• Replica A4 biog
• Replica band line-up
• Three 10×8″ press shots

1976 Fan Club Folder

• Replica fan club membership card
• Fan club certificate
• Two small collector cards
• Two A4 photo cards
• Replica four-page biography
• Two badges
• Six-panel folded Steve Shapiro photo poster of Bowie kneeling

SCAVENGER HUNT (+TIPS)

In a “Find The Capn“-style scavenger hunt, 9 different Station to Station related images have been strewn across 9 different websites.  Those who locate them all will unlock an exclusive piece of content and be entered to win a host of prizes, including the Deluxe Edition box set, an iPod Nano, and exclusive t-shirt.  For a contest which has gone to such lengths as to incorporate that many separate and varying websites, there are 2 aspects about the contest which are remarkably vague.  The first is what to do once you find one of the images: All you need to do is click on the image and it will automatically generate everything, placing the images in their corresponding slots on your chart.  The second confusing aspect of this “scavenger hunt” is that, once you locate one of the images, there doesn’t appear to be any clues provided for the finding the next one.  Although I truly appreciate the idea behind such an innovative and elaborate promotion, it feels a bit random.  To remedy this, we have provided clues of our own below, for anyone that’s interested in hunting down these images for yourself.  Good luck, jerks! (hints posted below)

Following details provided from official website: