Low[er Than J-Lo's Pants] That's Pretty Darn Low!

Overall Album Score: 9.2 out of 10

LOW LOW! Luh-luh-luh-Low Luh-Looooooooooooooooooooooow!
LOW LOW! Luh-luh-luh-Low Luh-Looooooooooooooooooooooow!
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Now this was the defining moment of Bowie's career. Sure, it was Ziggy Stardust that turned David into a legend, but it was Low that made him one of the Grand Dukes of rock-and-roll.

Many artists who saw mass-popularity in the early-to-mid 70's were pretty much drowned out by 1977 when the whole punk and new wave scene took hold, and all these old guys were left taking cracks at all their old stuff. Elton John is the classic example of that. David, instead of letting himself fade out, hopped onto a different boat called the S. S. Kraftwerk.

Kraftwerk, if you aren't familiar with them, were the principle movers of an emerging musical style in Germany called "electronica." Such music is characterized by almost entirely synthesizer-music and a hypnotizing beat. However, it was still very much in its experimental stage and, essentially, it wasn't ready for prime time. It also had a very limited fan base.

Well, as it just so happened, Bowie jumped into the same boat that Brian Eno (ex-Roxy Music gizmo director) had been in for several years.

Now ... understand something about Brian Eno. He is a genius. A pure genius. If I were to touch his forehead, my gall bladder would quiver. Unfortunately, like many geniuses, the man just ain't cool. He might pretend to be cool, but my high school physics teacher might also pretend to be cool, and he's not. He's just too nerdy. So Brian Eno might have come up with some great electronic stuff in the past, but he lacked the ability to make it kick.

However, Bowie is cool. No matter what he's doing, he looks good doing it. He would look cool taking out his garbage. Almost everything he does in whatever genre he's piddling around in manages to really kick. Unfortunately, he is no genius. He never seemed to be able to create anything new on his own ... but he is good at picking up genres of music from their meager experimental stages and popularize them! Before, David did that with Glam-rock (for better or for worse) and he was probably the best Glam-rocker out there. This time, David does that with Kraut-rock electronic music.

There was no way that Kraftwerk would have been able to popularize this all by themselves. Brian Eno was too much like a high school physics teacher to do. They needed David Bowie to come in and do it. (He is also one of rock's best self-promoters ... which is just as well 'cause unlike-say-KISS, David actually had something worthwhile to market!)

(Although, I suppose one could argue that the Disco movement adopted some of the principles that Kraftwerk pioneered ... but Bowie and Eno were trying to develop Electronica as an art form and not a cheap way of drawing in an audience. And Disco wasn't going to inspire all those New Romantics of the early 80's!)

And, indeed, this is really what this album helped do ... along with The Roxy Music, that is (which, of course, was Brian Eno's band before going solo).

About the actual album: it has some very solid electronic pieces on here. The first half of the album contains singing. The second half are instrumentals some of which are boring. Most of these songs, however, are utterly hypnotic.

P.S. (If you listen closely at various points in this album, you'll probably hear Iggy Pop.)

Overall Album Score: 9.2 out of 10 (A rock album that is both fun-to-listen-to AND artistically interesting? Never!)

Average Song Score: 9.0 (A great, consistent first half gives way to a more boring second half. But the second half has some pretty nice mood music.)

Album Tilt: 9.0 (I love the first half just like my firstborn. I like the second half also, but it does get boring.)

Artist Tilt: 9.5 (It's a poppy artistic achievement! The sound of this music was convincing enough as an idea that it would inspire other bands to start making their own music from ... although much of this 'poser music' sucked.)

Track Reviews

Speed of Life 10/10

A quick, fast, quirky, and fun instrumental to start things up. It's artsy for sure, but it's got its base so far into pop-rock that it's perfectly accessible to everyone. (I was trying to recreate this song at the beginning of the review with very limited success.) It's also short'n'sweet at under three minutes.

Breaking Glass 9.5/10

Like the previous song except it's shorter, and it's not quite as infectious. But it is quite infectious nevertheless with that almost robotic base line and those neat, occasional strike-ups of that synthesizer. Bowie'n'Eno's got it 2gether, baby.

(Okay, that last part was stupid.)

What in the World 9.5/10

This one's got an old-school video game thing going on in the background at times. (...This was 1977. When did video games start?) At any rate, it's neat! It's even got a nice (dissonant) tune that I like to sing and pulsate my boody with. Owowowowowooo Whutcha gonna say! Owowowowowowow Whutcha gonna do!

I'm gonna bowl.

Sound and Vision 10/10

Ah man! I'm just digging this album! Digging it like I'm digging up dirt about the Coca Cola company. (Did you know that they used to put cocaine in Coca Cola in order to get the public so high that they would buy Model T's?) ANYWAY ... this song is great! It has everything from a nice, groovy bass line, to a nice, very singalongable tune, nice singing by BOWWEE and a great pair of legs! (Oh man ... I need to lay off the Coke. ...a cola.)

Always Crashing in the Same Car 9.5/10

Man ... I just can't hate any of these songs. Not that I would want to. This is another great little electronica tune with nice electronic touches everywhere. And I like a good beat. Like I like a good beat-ting.

Be My Wife 9.5/10

This one starts out with loud, dissonant (organized) poundings on a piano and it turns into ... another good song that it singalongable with a nice beat. And I still want a good beat-ting. If you can say one thing about this album it's that it, so far, is consistently good.

A New Career in a New Town 9.5/10

Another fast-paced, artsy, hypnotic, and fun instrumental! Oh! Will the fun never end?

Warszawa 9/10

Yup. The first song of the album to receive a low 9. But it's still a 9. This is a slow and atmospheric semi-instrumental that's pretty darn good. (There are some weird Eastern chanting on here as well as David singing something really bizarre on here.) But, it ruined the quick-and-cool mood the album generated thus far! What gives? Oh well. This is also three times longer than the average track was before this.

Art Decade 8/10

Aw man! The album's BORING now! When I said I liked art-rock, that doesn't mean I like to be bored by it. *#&$#. Oh smell. I like the atmosphere, though.

Weeping Wall 7.5/10

It's more of a boring instrumental ... the atmosphere isn't as good until the very end, which does get spooky. Who ever wanted to give Eno the spotlight?

Subterranians 7.5/10

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeng. But atmospheric! I guess you'll enjoy the second half album if you're listening to it in the background than if you listen to it straight. That's okay, though. Artistically, this instrumental stuff is tops.

Is this album review as good as Coke? Or is it as good as too much Coke? Leave your comments here.

slb23@shaw.ca (Simon B) received Sept. 28, 2004

I went into this album with high expectations since it's an album featuring Bowie and Eno, two of the best 70's innovative artists. And I was slightly disappointed. Neither the pop-song based side or the instrumental side are as good as the respective sides on "HEROES". While I say that, however, I also admit that there are flashes of genius and innovation within the songs, and the album was clearly ahead of its time.
SONG RATINGS:
1. Speed of Life (8.5)
2. Breaking Glass (7.5)
3. What In the World (4)
4. Sound and Vision (7.5)
5. Always Crashing in the Same Car (8)
6. Be My Wife (7)
7. A New Career in a New Town (6)
8. Warzawa (7)
9. Art Decade (6)
10. Weeping Wall (7)
11. Subterraneans (7.5)
Album Cover: (7)
Total Album Rating: 83/120 (69%)

tisantana@hotmail.com (Tiago Santana) received April 1, 2005

The second half of the album have an enormous influence of Eno, thatīs why it have lots of eletronic, instrumental voyages.... But hey, thatīs the point of this album.... 2 sides. 2 parts. Dinner, and Dessert. Dinner feeds you. Dessert thrills you. Dinner doesnīt have the same exotic taste and doesnīt make you smile so much as Dessert. Dessert doesnīt feed you, doesnīt make you strong. Itīs exactly like this album. Now, you decide, what part of the album, the 1st or the 2nd, is the Dinner, and the Dessert?
Thanks for the attention.
Tiago.