Berlin Trilogy

The Berlin Trilogy consists of three consecutively released studio albums by English singer and songwriter David Bowie: Low (1977), "Heroes" (1977) and Lodger (1979). The albums were recorded after Bowie took up residence in West Berlin in late 1976, and saw him experiment with elements of electronic, krautrock, ambient, and world music in collaboration with American producer Tony Visconti and English musician Brian Eno.

Bowie began referring to the three albums as a Berlin-centered trilogy during the promotion of Lodger, although "Heroes" was the only installment primarily recorded in the city. Each album reached the UK top five. Bowie would later call the music of the trilogy his "DNA".Consequence of Sound characterized the trilogy as an "art rock trifecta", while Rolling Stone wrote that "'[the] 'Berlin Trilogy' stands as some of the most innovative music in the artist's influential canon". According to Robert Christgau, "the true beginnings of illbient and chillout techno" lay in the "second side" of each album.

Following Bowie's Thin White Duke-period and the commercial success of the singles "Fame" and "Golden Years" in 1976, he was eager to escape the drug culture of Los Angeles, where he had developed a deleterious cocaine habit. Bowie had also become embroiled in controversy regarding comments he made seemingly in favor of fascism. He blamed his erratic behaviour around his Thin White Duke period on his addictions and precarious mental state, saying "I was out of my mind, totally crazed." He later called the period "the darkest days of my life" and confessed to not having any memory of the recording of Station to Station in Los Angeles in late 1975 due to his "astronomic" cocaine habit. As his drug habit ate away at his physical and mental health, Bowie attempted to reduce his cocaine intake and phase out the Thin White Duke persona, whom he had come to see as "a nasty character indeed." He further explained: "It was a dangerous period for me. I was at the end of my tether physically and emotionally and had serious doubts about my sanity."

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