Today, David Bowie's 11th studio album Low turns 44! Far out. I was not even a year old when it was released. I don't think I listened to the whole thing until I was in my mid-twenties. Before that spin, the only song I had heard was Sound and Vision. Anyway...this album is now in my Top 5 Bowie Albums Ever. The first of the 'Berlin Trilogy', and in my humble opinion the best, this LP featured a whole side of (mostly) instrumental tracks. It even opened with the instrumental Speed of Life - almost unheard of for a popular artist back in its day. Coming after the blue-eyed soul of Young Americans and cocaine-fuelled space funk rock of Station to Station, this must have polarised his fans upon its release. However innovative it was, it's a far cry from the glam rock of Ziggy Stardust. Interestingly, the album's recording session began in France, at the residential Château d'Hérouville before Bowie and the band moved to Berlin.
I can't remember specifically when I spun Low for the first time, but it would have been a few months before Bowie's concert at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, February 2004. I was on a mission to listen to all of his albums by then, as his setlist was changing dramatically between cities. So, I'm going to blog about the album as I revisit it right now.
1. SPEED OF LIFE
As I mentioned earlier, the opening track is instrumental, and right from the immediate sound of the squelchy keyboards, you can tell your in for something different. The heavily reverberated drums signal a change in direction as well, with multiple keyboard lines crisscrossing over the guitars. First listens may have anticipated an incoming beautiful Bowie vocal delivery, but of course, it doesn't arrive.
2. BREAKING GLASS
One of my favourite songs on this album, and indeed, Bowie songs in general. Co-written by drummer Dennis Davis and bassist George Murray, this track could almost be seen as a precursor to the punk movement. Minimal lyrics outlining glass breakage and carpet vandalism punctuated by that amazing rhythm section while Ricky Gardener's amazing guitar riffs tear through the speakers. Why did it fade out before the two minute mark? Crime against music, if you ask me. The live version from Stage is mercifully longer.
3. WHAT IN THE WORLD
This frenetic track sees the keyboard blips turned up to eleven. It's almost impossible to hear any other instrument. Some of that deep-voiced croon was seeping in Bowie here as well. Probably my least favourite song on the album, but still very listenable. If you like keyboards. He he he...
4. SOUND AND VISION
I first heard this track when I was about, while visiting Bali with my family. I had bought Changesbowie on cassette (1990 version) and was introducing myself to more of his work pre-Scary Monsters. At the time, I felt that it had an unusually long intro, but I still enjoyed it (not as much as other tracks, it should be said). I was particularly taken by the keyboard noise that sounds like a splash. It must have been produced by Brian Eno, but on what instrument? Of course now, the song feels like it should, with Bowie's wonderful sax lines coming in before his vocal starts. Who doesn't singalong to "Blue, blue, electric blue,..." when it comes on?
5. ALWAYS CRASHING IN THE SAME CAR
Probably the most sombre of the songs that feature vocals. A downbeat tune meditating on the dangers of auto travel and recklessness. Apparently there was a third verse written that alluded to Bob Dylan's mysterious accident in 1966, but it didn't make it to the recorded version. Tony Visconti, who was co-producing the album with Bowie, found it too creepy. One wonders, doesn't one?
6. BE MY WIFE
Another great track that kicks off with a positively rollicking piano line. Quite simplistic and repetitive lyrically, but hugely appealing from a melodic perspective. By this point in the album, you'd be forgiven for knowing where the rest of the songs were heading. The band are certainly gelling, and you've warmed to the arrangements and squelches. Bowie's voice gets a little rest from here on in.
7. A NEW CAREER IN A NEW TOWN
The second instrumental song, and the opening track of the second side, you could almost describe as having a jaunty feel. Quite easy to whistle along to, and fairly upbeat in vibe. While it's nothing exceptional, it has a nice melody.
This absolutely floored me the first time I heard it. I found it to be very similar to Angelo Badalamenti's work on Twin Peaks. It even shares structure with Love Theme From Twin Peaks, which starts off with the same ominous feel before moving to something more uplifting. Again, it was Eno who was responsible for those opening notes, which were created in one of his experimental sessions. I would be surprised if Angelo didn't spin this album as a fortysomething with headphones on, keeping some ideas for later compositions.
What is quite unexpected about this track, is that after about four minutes, Bowie starts singing. It's not English though, and it's quite layered and eerie in places. Allegedly there are over a hundred voices, all performed by Bowie. Co-written with Brian Eno, this piece is inspired by Bowie's visit to the city of Warsaw, and the lyrics are based upon a Polish folk song called Helokanie. The words are sung phonetically, and not identifiable as a particular language or dialect. It's very emotive, and was infused with a sense of bleakness to reflect the feeling of Warsaw at the time, but there is some sense of hope in the music too. It makes me feel a sense of calm when the song shifts to those moments.
9. ART DECADE
Another stunning instrumental that feels like it could be on the soundtrack for Blade Runner. There's a sense of narrative here, that there's a story being played out. It's a great song to close your eyes to and imagine some sort of science fiction movie playing out in your brain. Again, influenced by what he saw, the title is a pun on 'art decayed', reflecting Bowie's impressions of post-war Berlin.
10. WEEPING WALL
The production on this number is a little sparser, with no percussion or bass. The driving force behind it is a pulsing keyboard part, while permeated by an industrial-sounding guitar. Bowie's voice comes back again halfway through this song, but is simply ahhs and ooohs, created a kind of vocal melody part without words. Indeed the deep noises made by Bowie would return again on the title track to 2016's ★. Bowie played all of the instruments himself on this one.
11. SUBTERRANEANS
Another fairly sombre sounding track, and the final one of the album. Again, we are treated to an unsettling sonic soundscape, mainly consisting of various synths, xylophones and vibraphones accompanied by Bowie's wordless and deep drawls. A saxophone kicks into gear adding to the unease before the eerie vocal refrain of "share bride failing star" starts. Bowie repeats the words 'care-line' over and over before building in pitch and volume to deliver "Driving me, Shirley, Shirley, Shirley, own...". What it all means is anyone's guess, but it's an unsettling five minutes, and a bizarre way to finish an extraordinary album. It was actually recorded in LA at the end of 1975, allegedly meant for the aborted soundtrack of The Man Who Fell to Earth. The cover of the album is actually a still from that film as well.
Wow.
I certainly enjoyed that. 4.5/5 - would listen again.
NEXT UP: Station to Station - 23rd January
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