Low

I would not describe Bowie's presence as either "absent" or "alarmingly in your face" as the editorial review does. Having composed, or co-written, each of the 11 tracks and singing on at least 7, David Bowie is hardly absent. The sheer beauty of this record belies any alarm, even when Bowie "post-punks" it out on the short tracks of the first half, exposing himself more than any listener, and hence, inoffensive yet stunning. There is a haunting beauty and yet a bleakness to the tone of this record, coupled with a deep and gorgeous humanity within a foreboding futuristic urban-scape, wracked with anxiety, decay and hope. Post modern, indeed, LOW is the first commercially viable Post Modern statement (if there is such a thing.)Interestingly, the album opens with a textured instrumental "Speed Of Life" which emphasizes the album's focus on music, and presumably not words. "Speed Of Life" also sounds the sense of an epilogue. The after-story is fascinating, starting with the violent so-called "post-punk" less-than-two-minute "Breaking Glass" revealing a strutting Bowie who chooses to place such sensibilities in the mainstream. I thought the lyric went "Don't look at the carpet; I "THREW" something awful on it. . ." However, it goes "Don't look at the carpet; I "DREW" something awful on it...!" The punk throws. The artist draws. LOW is Bowie discovering his artist, punk influenced certainly, but much more pop contemporary, and fascinated by technology and production. Bowie was as "cutting edge" as his artist has yet been.Sound is paramount here; perhaps more so than song writing, but fortunately we have equal measures of both. We quickly learn here is merely an insightful economy of words, presumably born of the cut-up technique. Note the "new" sound from video games like Space Invaders on "What In The World" a sound no one would dare include on a record today, or even by the end of 1977, as it quickly became hackneyed. Here, it remains a relic revealing a remarkable innovation, not quite forgotten 30 years later and appreciated all the more. "Sound and Vision" flopped on the charts, but nonetheless captured the essence of that era, a little bit of the old 70s homage doo-wop, a danceable beat, and a great rock tune. Lyrically it describes the state Bowie must have been in ("blue, blue . . . pale blinds drawn all day, wondering what to say . . . blue, blue") looking for a new direction, "...waiting for the gift of sound and vision." "Sound and Vision" is so deconstructed it's almost produced backwards, brilliant. "Always Crashing in the Same Car" includes savvy vocalizing by Bowie round a tune that is barely sung, revealing the poet in the pauper. "Be My Wife" is a nostalgic return to the pauper's life, and perhaps the strongest song on the album. Its directness is punk in attitude, yet really a catchy roadhouse piano tune, and a surprisingly perfect fit here."A New Career In A New Town" is contextual, subverting the tone of the album away from the new direction (read "new wave") pop of the first half to internal monologue, most accurately termed "ambient," of the second. This track is commuting on a cold morning to a new job, the first day of school, past error and regret, resigned but introspective and sensitive. Notice the harmonica, Bowie brings an earthiness into this whole album with direct piano tunes, or guitar liquors, or his own strong harmonica, such as here, mixed with ambient electronica. This track closes side one of the short, unexpected rockers, all echoing the same tone, a mixture of completely modern and textbook.The gentle, determined, and insightful "Art Decade" may be the most sophisticated of all of the second half, comprised of four tracks: the elegant "Warszawa" the nearly unbearable and haunting "Weeping Wall," and, finally, the inevitable and fitting funeral of our civilization and the dialogue between the modern world and the infinite, "Subterraneans." Our world is revealed a world subverted, and I suspect in 1977, and today, deluded. Bowie was an artist fully realizing himself, who saw how the world to come, here now, more and more evident, would strip away any artifice, plunder the personality, and hollow out humanity `til there was nothing left but our beautiful artifacts.

David Bowie is quoted as saying "Cut me and I bleed Low," which is a very ironic statement considering the fact that Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars is considered his most famous album. Bowie is one of the most often quoted and bewildering figures this side of Madonna in all of pop and this quote is truly a head-scratcher. What could he mean by that? I think it is because of all his albums, Low is probably the one Bowie album that is most ahead of its time. At the time it was made, Bowie was recovering from his cocaine addiction and the title Low is very fitting since low is the opposite feeling a person gets when they snort cocaine. Low is the sound of a man struggling with his demons. Back in the late 70's, artists sometimes recorded side one of a vinyl or 8-track for their hits and side two for their more adventurous songs (or filler). On Low, Bowie somewhat gives in to the formula, except that side one is considered more accessible than hit-friendly and side two is just completely non-commercial altogether. This is Bowie's artiest album by far. You could even say this is his "Anti-Let's Dance", since although "Sound and Vision" got radio play, (but not a big hit by any means) it was intentionally not supposed to be heard across the airwaves. Bowie was recovering from his cocaine habit, so I am guessing that album sales were the furthest thing from his mind at the time. I think Bowie was attempting an album of catharsis, an album that could prove to the world that cocaine wouldn't tear down his artistic integrity and in turn, making the album would help him on his path to sobriety. I am guessing that working on an album of this magnitude would be one of the most rewarding challenges possible during his attempt at redemption. The challenge paid off. Side 1 consists not of songs, but song fragments and contains Bowie at his most personal. If Lodger is considered Bowie's most personal and revealing album, than Low is his album that implies. "Always Crashing in the Same Car" and "Weeping Wall" are great examples of his implications. The first song implies his problems with eroticism; "crashing" being a less controversial way of saying "orgasm", but the way Bowie sings the song, it sounds as if the sex isn't doing anything for him at all since cocaine is ruining his life. "Weeping Wall" from side 2 is pure schizophrenia. It sounds like a man experiencing a withdrawal from drugs-all at once anxious and fidgety. The best song on the album, however, is "A New Career in a New Town" (symbolic title of Bowie escaping to Berlin to rid himself of his cocaine dealers), which closes side 1. Amidst the turmoil and chaos of the other songs on the album, the musically upbeat song offers the possibility of hope and getting through it all. At nearly three minutes, the song is perfect in both structure and melody and the hypnotic nature of it captivates from beginning to end. There really is no other song in rock quite like it. The Brian Eno touches on Low are apparent throughout, but this is clearly a Bowie album all the way since side 1 is so personal. I am not going to get into side 2's instrumental soundscapes too much. I will just say that the tone of the last four songs on Low is very brooding and sounds like a man struggling with his personal demons, which reiterates this being a Bowie album, but having said that, it is far more riveting than depressing. Elton John was the 70's most popular solo artist, but Bowie was the best and Low is further testimony to that argument. Low is perhaps the best example of electronics incorporated into rock and roll ever recorded and based on that alone it shares its place alongside the other great albums of the 70's. Add the element of catharsis to that synthesis and you have a one-of-a-kind work of art that will amaze listeners for years to come.