Low

Following, 'Station To Station,' Bowie abandoned Los Angeles and its myriad temptations, for a return to Europe. There he embraced the new electronic sound coming from Germany and exemplified by such groups as Neu! And Kraftwerk. Within months, he'd produced Iggy Pop's album, 'The Idiot,' and began work on his own. Employing the same rhythm section as on his previous album - George Murray on bass; Dennis Davis on drums; and Carlos Alomar on rhythm guitar - Bowie was also joined by Ricky Gardiner on lead guitar and Brian Eno, a man who'd been dabbling in electronica for some years; first with Roxy Music, then as a solo artist, most especially on 'Another Green World.' Though inspired by Kraftwerk, Bowie did not merely wish to copy their sound but to use electronic instruments to enhance his own music making and explore new sonic landscapes. With Eno and returning producer, Tony Visconti on board, he achieved this and then some!1. Speed Of Life - A fabulous opener and the first of several instrumentals. (Bowie found writing lyrics difficult during this period and kept them to a minimum on this record.) Its use of distorted snare drums and buzzing synthesizers is an indicator of what's to come.2. Breaking Glass - Short, experimental & barely even a song! I do find it strangely compelling, which may have something to do with its bizarre lyrics... "Don't look at the carpet; I drew something awful on it."3. What In The World - Iggy Pop, Bowie's great travelling companion and fellow addict, provides backing vocals on my least favourite track but it's still a good listen.4. Sound and Vision - "Pale blinds drawn on day..." A fantastic single, which ascended to the dizzy heights of number 3 in the charts! It is, however, unusually structured for a hit single, as the opening line doesn't appear until halfway through. The lyrics are also quite sombre and introspective, detailing a difficult period in Bowie's life but the music is glorious! Layered washes of synthetic strings; emotive backing vocals: the insistent plish of cymbals, all come together to provide a wonderful listening experience.5. Always Crashing In The Same Car - Apparently based on an incident in which Bowie wrote off his Mercedes while drunk, it's a wonderfully barmy song! It features a great lead guitar part from Ricky Gardiner.6. Be My Wife - The second and last single from the album, which - Incredibly! - failed to chart, begins with a barrelling bar-room piano. The lyrics suggest that Bowie Is searching for some permanence in his life; a wish to settle down to some kind of normalcy.7. A New Career In A New Town - A bustling instrumental with a great harmonica part from Bowie and the robotic pulse of a Kraftwerk-esque synthesizer.8. Warszawa - Clocking in at six and a half minutes, it's the longest track on 'Low' but what a piece of music it is! It would seem to be Bowie and Eno's attempt to create an electronic tone-poem; music that expresses one's feelings about a particular place. The place here being Warsaw. Bowie paints a dark and forbidding picture of the Polish capital but there's a wonderful moment when his voice breaks through the bleak introspection to sing in an unknown language. Bowie taking delight in the sound itself rather than its meaning.9. Art Decade - The most beautiful of the instrumentals, in my opinion. It has a haunting sound, which is enhanced by a cello and is Bowie's reaction to West Berlin and its decaying art and culture.10. Weeping Wall - A discordant sound, with guitar, piano, xylophones and vibraphones competing for attention. Bowie seems to be wailing at the pain of separation caused by the building of the Berlin Wall.11. Subterraneans - Ambient, mysterious, disturbing and melancholic, the music helps conjure up an image of a lost people. Bowie's saxophone is muted and though he breaks into song at the end, nothing can quite dispel the mood of darkness and despair. It is yet another superb piece of music and a fitting conclusion to the album!On its release, 'Low' was misunderstood by many a music critic, with some actively hating it! To them it seemed Bowie had turned his back on rock music for some pretentious, inauthentic, electronic art-music minimalism. What they failed to realise was that Bowie and his collaborators had created the sound of the future; a template for the next generation of British rock and pop stars to follow.

David Bowie's 1977 album "Low", is a fantastic album. This album has a lot of instrumentals, great lyrics and great choruses. This album is the first in the series of the "Berlin Trilogy". This album includes the singles "Sound And Vision" & "Be My Wife".I will rate each song and explain why:-1. Speed Of Life (Instrumental) 10/10 - The first track is an instrumental. This song is just good even for an instrumental, it just great to listen to while doing busy doing something.2. Breaking Glass 9/10 - This song is the first song to have lyrics in the album. This song isn't bad, the tune of it is just like you never thought David Bowie would do, but he has! Oh and also this is the shortest song on the album as it's only 1:51.3. What In The World 10/10 - This song is really good, at first i wasn't really into this song, but it does grow on ou after a few listens, worth a listen!4. Sound And Vision 10/10 - This is the first single off the album. This song is just fantastic, it just shows so much great tune and great music, just so catchy to listen to.5. Always Crashing In The Same Car 10/10 - This song is brilliant. The beginning is really good and especially all the way through, a lot of great music.6. Be My Wife 10/10 - This song is just FANTASTIC! this is my best song on the album, apart from "Sound And Vision" that is. This song really does have a great verse and chorus, it just all fits really well.7. A New Career In A New Town (Instrumental) 10/10 - The 2nd instrumental of the album and starting the instrumental side of the album. This is a good great instrumental.8. Warszawa (Instrumental) 10/10 - This song has such a great beginning, its like War music, sounds very classical and has alot OF BASS! This song will soon shake the house like an earthquake.9. Art Decade (Instrumental) 10/10 - This instrumental is a master piece. The instrumental sorta carry's on from "Warszawa" which is fantastic. This song really is ART!10. Weeping Wall (Instrumental) 10/10 - This song is just brilliant, it just feels like your in the country and really gets in your mind after you listen to it a few times over.11. Subterraneans 10/10 - This is such a great song, its a instrumental/song, there only a few words in this song, but this really is a great way to close the album up!In conclusion, this album is 5/5 or 10/10, this album is way different from other albums he has done, and that is brilliant and its all come from a brilliant fantastic artist DAVID BOWIE! If you like instrumentals & classical/Electronic music, this is the album for you.