SOMETIMES YOU GET
SO LONELY
SOMETIMES YOU GET
NOWHERE
Low
is the eleventh
studio album
by the English
musician
released on
January 14th 1977
through RCA Records.
The first of
three collaborations
with the producer
Tony Visconti
and the musician
Brian Eno
that became known
as the
Berlin Trilogy,
Characteristics
At first glance,
the Thin White Duke
appeared
more conventional
than Bowie's
previously flamboyant
glam incarnations.
Sporting well-groomed
blonde hair
and wearing a simple,
cabaret-style wardrobe
consisting of a
white shirt,
black trousers,
and a waistcoat,
the Duke
was a hollow man
who sang songs
of romance
with an
agonised intensity
while feeling nothing,
"dry ice masquerading as fire".
The persona
has been described as
"a mad aristocrat",
"an amoral zombie",
and
"an emotionless Aryan superman".
Bowie himself
described the character as
"A very Aryan, fascist type;
a would-be romantic
with absolutely no emotion at all
but who spouted a lot of
neo-romance."
the project originated
following Bowie's
move to France
in 1976
with his friend
Iggy Pop
to rid themselves
of their drug addictions.
There,
Bowie produced
and co-wrote
Pop's debut
solo studio album,
The Idiot,
featuring sounds
the former would explore
on his next record.
After completing
The Idiot,
sessions for Low began
at Hérouville's Château d'Hérouville
in September 1976
and ended in October
at Hansa Studios
in West Berlin,
where Bowie
and Pop
had relocated.
An art rock record
influenced by
German bands such as
Tangerine Dream,
Neu!,
Harmonia
and
Kraftwerk,
Low
features Bowie's
first explorations in
electronic and ambient styles.
Side one
consists primarily
of short,
direct avant-pop
song-fragments,
with mostly
downbeat lyrics
reflecting Bowie's
state of mind,
and side two
comprises longer,
mostly instrumental tracks,
conveying
musical observations
of Berlin.
Visconti created
the distinctive drum sound
using an
Eventide H910 Harmonizer,
a pitch-shifting device.
The cover artwork,
a profile of
Bowie from the film
The Man Who Fell to Earth
(1976),
was intended as a
visual pun,
meaning
"low profile".
RCA refused
to issue Low
for three months,
fearing it would be a
commercial failure.
Upon release,
it divided critical opinion
and received
little promotion from RCA
or Bowie,
who opted to tour
as Pop's keyboardist.
Nevertheless,
it reached number 2
in the UK
and number 11
in the US.
Two singles
were released:
"Sound and Vision",
a UK top five hit,
and
"Be My Wife".
The success prompted
RCA to release
The Idiot
in March 1977.
In mid-1977,
Bowie performed on
Pop's follow-up album
Lust for Life
before recording
his next album,
"Heroes",
which expanded on
Low's musical approach
and features a
similar mix
of songs
and
instrumentals.
In later decades,
critics have rated
Low one of
Bowie's best works,
and it has appeared
on several lists
of the greatest albums
of all time.
It influenced numerous
post-punk bands
and its drum sound
has been widely imitated.
A forerunner in
the development
of the
post-rock genre
of the 1990s
TRACKLIST
Speed Of Life
Breaking Glass
What In The World
Sound And Vision
Always Crashing In The Same Car
Be My Wife
A New Career In A New Town
Warszawa
(Instr)
Art Decade
(Instr)
Weeping Wall
(Instr)
Subterraneans
(Instr)
Some Are
(Outtake)
All Saints
(Outtake)
Sound And Vision
(Remix)
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