According to Nicholas Pegg, the effect "acknowledges" the influence of the 1974 album Autobahn by the German electronic band Kraftwerk, which begins with a car starting up and driving across the stereo speakers. Pegg believes another influence is from Edgar Froese of the German electronic band Tangerine Dream, whom Bowie befriended during his "Berlin" years (1977–1979); Froese's 1975 album Epsilon in Malaysian Pale also begins with a train sound effect. However, he notes that the train is a red herring in that it expresses what Bowie later called "the album's 'wayward spiritual search'".
According to Nicholas Pegg, the effect "acknowledges" the influence of the 1974 album Autobahn by the German electronic band Kraftwerk, which begins with a car starting up and driving across the stereo speakers. Pegg believes another influence is from Edgar Froese of the German electronic band Tangerine Dream, whom Bowie befriended during his "Berlin" years (1977–1979); Froese's 1975 album Epsilon in Malaysian Pale also begins with a train sound effect. However, he notes that the train is a red herring in that it expresses what Bowie later called "the album's 'wayward spiritual search'".