1001 Albums: Low

#378

Album: Low

Artist: David Bowie

Year: 1977

Length: 38:26

Genre: Art Rock / Avant-Pop / Electronic / Ambient / Experimental Rock

“Oh, what you gonna say?
Oh, what you gonna do?
Ah, what you gonna be?

To be real me, to the real me
Under the cool, under the cool and under having a ball
What you gonna say to the real me, to the real me”

What In The World

How low can you go?

If you’re David Bowie, apparently low, very low indeed. When working on this album he seemed to be coming out of a period of drug addiction where he was constantly high on cocaine. So much so that he seemed to have had zero memory of ever recording his previous album Station to Station. One can say this is one of David Bowie’s most important albums ever in his career because in a way it may have saved his life. He and his best buddy, Iggy Pop, got themselves out of the USA and moved to France with the singular goal to kick their cocaine addictions. Of what I know it paid off because I’m pretty sure he ended up kicking it, which let’s be honest is no easy feat to pull off. If there’s anything I’ve learned is that addiction is one of the hardest things to overcome and I’ve read that drug addiction especially has a low rate of success overall. I have to commend Bowie for doing that, first realizing his problem and making the decision to kick it and secondly sticking to it. And he wasn’t alone, it was him and Iggy Pop working together to do it. It is slightly easier when you have someone to not only hold you accountable but that you keep accountable to and I’m very proud of them (even if this was decades and decades ago).

This also marks the first in what would be called his Berlin trilogy, which is often considered a peak in his creative output. I’ve always enjoyed Bowie but found myself disappointed when I heard Ziggy Stardust and Young Americans. And although Hunky Dory is a personal favourite of mine and I am partial to both Aladdin Sane and Station To Station, it did feel like a bit of a 50/50 chance that I might enjoy this one. I’m happy I went into it with low (hehehe) expectations because there’s a good chance this might even surpass Hunky Dory as my favourite Bowie album. It’s funny too, because this isn’t the first time I’ve heard it. I remember hearing it a long time ago and remembering that I just wasn’t into it. It seems my first time around was not that enjoyable. But that was a long time ago and I’ve grown a lot when it comes to how I listen to music and my appreciation for it. So coming into this time was a whole new experience in a way and it was an amazing one.

The first thing I noticed listening through it was that the musical style sounded very familiar. It felt like I had just heard this album not long ago and I realized it made me think of Brian Eno’s Before and After Science. It was even structured the same way, with Side A being these fun Art Rock bangers and Side B these ambient electronic experimental tracks. Even off the top with the first two songs I felt they sounded oddly like Brian Eno songs even from Here Come The Warm Jets and Another Green World. Well, wouldn’t you believe it, when I searched it up, lo and behold, Brian Eno was indeed a collaborator on this album. Not only that, but it seems Bowie was listening to Eno’s solo work on repeat quite a bit and used it as inspiration. I have to say, I’m pretty proud of myself for noticing that on my own! That could also be why I loved this album so much too, seeing as I have enjoyed Brian Eno’s solo work quite immensely.

Looking at David Bowie’s catalogue and going through all these albums, there’s no denying what a masterclass of a musician he was. It’s quite an experience going through his albums because he’s always changing, always growing as an artist and constantly trying new things and expressing himself creatively in a vast array of ways. There may be some slumps in his discography, but creatively bankrupt he was not. I have a lot of admiration for Bowie and can only hope to have at least half the creative talent he had.

Favourite Song: Breaking Glass

-Bosco