Bowie – Low (2018 Remastered on 180g Vinyl)

Low is the 11th studio album by David Bowie, released on 14 January 1977. After years of drug addiction and personal instability living in Los Angeles, Bowie moved to France in 1976 with his friend Iggy Pop to sober up. There, the two recorded Pop’s debut solo album The Idiot at the Château d’Hérouville in Hérouville. Co-written and produced by Bowie, the album featured a sound similar to what Bowie would explore on his next record. Upon its completion, Bowie began recording the first of three collaborations with producer Tony Visconti and musician Brian Eno, whom he met the same year, that became known as the Berlin Trilogy. Recording for Low took place from September to November 1976, with sessions beginning at the Château and ending at Hansa Studios in West Berlin, following Bowie and Pop’s move there.

The music on Low is grounded in art rock and experimental rock, and features Bowie’s first explorations in electronic and ambient styles. It is influenced by the German music scene, particularly bands such as Tangerine Dream, Neu!, Harmonia and Kraftwerk. Side one consists primarily of short, direct avant-pop song-fragments, with mostly downbeat lyrics reflecting Bowie’s mind at the time, while side two consists of longer, mostly instrumental tracks, conveying musical observations about Berlin. The album features a distinctive drum sound, created by Visconti through the use of an Eventide H910 Harmonizer. The cover artwork, a profile of Bowie from The Man Who Fell to Earth, was intended as a visual pun meaning ‘low profile’.

RCA refused to release the album for three months, fearing poor commercial performance. Upon its release, Low divided critical opinion and received little promotion from RCA or Bowie himself, who opted to tour as Iggy Pop’s keyboardist. It nonetheless was a commercial success, peaking at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 11 on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart.

In subsequent decades, Low has been considered ahead of its time and widely acclaimed as one of Bowie’s best works. Commentators and biographers have identified the album as heavily influential on numerous post-punk bands, including Joy Division, while its drum sound became widely imitated in the years following its release. Reviewers later acknowledged the album as a primary forerunner in the development of the post-rock genre in the 1990s. It has appeared on several lists of the greatest albums of all time.

Track Listing

Side One

1. Speed of Life
2. Breaking Glass
3. What in the World
4. Sound and Vision
5. Always Crashing in the Same Car
6. Be My Wife
7. A New Career in a New Town

Side Two

1. Warszawa
2. Art Decade
3. Weeping Wall
4. Subterraneans

Format: Vinyl / 12” Album

Label: Rhino

Barcode: 0190295842918

Release Date: 23 Feb 2018