Following through with the avant-garde inclinations of Station to Station, yet explicitly breaking with David Bowie's past, Low is a dense, challenging album that confirmed his place at ock's cutting edge. Driven by dissonant synthesizers and electronics, Low is divided between brief, angular songs and atmospheric instrumentals. Throughout the record's first half, the guitars are jagged and the synthesizers drone with a menacing robotic pulse, while Bowie's vocals are unnaturally layered and overdubbed. During the instrumental half, the electronics turn cool, which is a relief after the intensity of the preceding avant pop. Half the credit for Low's success goes to Brian Eno, who explored similar ambient territory on his own releases. Eno functioned as a conduit for Bowie's ideas, and in turn Bowie made the experimentalism of not only Eno but of the German synth group Kraftwerk and the post-punk group Wire respectable, if not quite mainstream. Though a handful of the vocal pieces on Low are accessible -- "Sound and Vision" has a shimmering guitar hook, and "Be My Wife" subverts soul structure in a surprisingly catchy fashion -- the record is defiantly experimental and dense with detail, providing a new direction for the avant-garde in ock & roll.
So I continue to explore my vinyl collection, continuing with the early 80's. I bought my first CD Player around 1985. I think I got Paul Simon's Graceland for Christmas just before that, and then it was CDs all the way.A few of the big things I am rediscovering - besides the music - are not suprising. The first thing I noticed of course are the great covers. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they're bigge...
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I've been on a '70s rock jag the past few weeks. Listening to The Who's "Who's Next" which is a fucking awesome record. I never really got into them much back in the day cause I was more into American rock & my local radio stations sucked a big one in bumfuck Portland, OR!(yes I know I've used the F word twice already in my first sentence, so f'n what, get over it).Just last week I watched Nico...
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By the time I had hit 14, my friend and I had set aside our Beatles fixation for a new idol: David Bowie. We each tried to out-listen and out-collect each other. That Christmas, I remember being so jealous she had gotten the "Sound + Vision" box set, and I hadn't. I got a copy of "Tonight" instead, which seemed like a cruel joke. I worked my way up the David Bowie chain chronologically, and I w...
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So I continue to explore my vinyl collection, continuing with the early 80's. I bought my first CD Player around 1985. I think I got Paul Simon's Graceland for Christmas just before that, and then it was CDs all the way.A few of the big things I am rediscovering - besides the music - are not suprising. The first thing I noticed of course are the great covers. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they're bigge...
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David Bowie, Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY, June 11, 2002.Bowie performed this show the night of the day his album Heathen was released in 2002. The show was a "member's only" concert for subscribers to BowieNet, his online community. The first set consisted of the entire Low album, performed in running order from the record, with David playing saxophone, keyboards and harmonica. The second s...
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David Bowie /// "Speed Of Life" /// LowFellow Americans: when July 4th rolls around, does a little part of you ever emit a thought like "we should have stayed British"?
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Speed of Life |
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| 2 Breaking Glass |
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| 3 What in the World |
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| 4 Sound and Vision |
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| 5 Always Crashing in the Same Car |
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| 6 Be My Wife |
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| 7 A New Career in a New Town |
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| 8 Warszawa |
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| 9 Art Decade |
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| 10 Weeping Wall |
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| 11 Subterraneans |
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 "Low")
