The recording of Low was yet another transition in the extraordinary life of David Bowie. Moving to Paris with Iggy Pop to escape drug addiction, the pair began work Pop’s solo album, The Idiot. Once that wrapped up, Bowie started work on Low with Tony Visconti and ambient wizard, Brian Eno. First recording in Paris before moving to Germany, this was the start on what has become known as the Berlin trilogy.
Split between two sides, the first side features mostly quick snappy rock songs with an avant garde bent. “Speed of Life” is the instrumental opener, a solid 70s rock song with guitars and synths working away in the background. Both “Breaking Glass” and “What In The World” has some great guitar work from Carlos Alomar. “Sound and Vision” was one of only two singles from the album, reaching top 3 in the UK. With an appearance from Mary Hopkins, the song has a bit of funk, recalling several tracks on the “Young Americans” album. “Always Crashing In The Same Car” sounds like the negative answer to Kraftwerk’s “Autobahn”, one where Bowie never gets out of the driveway, going around in circles while constantly making the same mistakes.
In contrast to the song fragments on side one, the second side sees lengthier soundscapes. “Warszawa” is a moody, oppressive piece named after the Polish city. Bowie plays all the instruments on “Weeping Wall” who’s synths and xylophone stay somewhat hopeful, never quote going down the dark/horror path they could before “Subterraneans” closes out the album. Conceived during the time of The Man Who Fell to Earth movie, synths are used like orchestral strings to draw out the cinematic feel of the track.
Listening to Low almost 50 year later, the the genre expanding sounds by a major selling artist makes it a seminal piece. Its influence can be felt throughout the next several decades of music, notably on bands like Joy Division right through to Radiohead’s Kid A and many of the cold wave artists that have expanded on it’s icy synth sounds. Changing styles once again, on the album Low, Bowie moved his musical ambitions from the soul of America to the cold concrete of Europe.
10/10
The Light Appears 