David Bowie - Low (1977)

So I am trying to stay enthused about reviewing albums but it's still pretty hard when I need to listen to more shit by Public Enemy. So I thought I'd skip ahead because there was another David Bowie album within reach, and I really just needed a boost from an artist I've come to seriously appreciate. Also giving me hope is that Low was Bowie's follow-up to Station to Station, which has become one of my favorite all-time albums based on the pure funky awesomeness of the title track and "Stay".

In case you needed a reminder, this song is awesome.

But Low just doesn't seem to have any of the same greatness. For one thing the album has a really crappy almost low-fi sound, whereas Station to Station is one of the most expertly crafted sonic experiences I've ever had. Also Low uses a lot of cheesy early synthesizer effects, though unlike other albums around the same time (Who Are You for example) the noise is kept to the background and the core band is still carrying the music.

What's really missing in Low for me is a level of grandiosity certainly present in Station to Station and even somewhat in Ziggy Stardust. I suppose after the bombastic nature of Station to Station Bowie might have wanted to do something smaller, or maybe he was attempting a scratchy, low-fi version of grandiose as a change of pace. But more than just the sound is the nagging feeling that none of these songs are really complete. They feel more like songlets, short ideas Bowie didn't fully flesh out but put together made enough music for an album. I'm reminded of something similar the Beatles did on the second half of Abbey Road.

The second half of Low is apparently comprised of rejected soundtrack material from the movie The Man Who Fell To Earth. Similar to Oxygene, it is mostly haunting instrumental synthesizer music, though there are short passages of indecipherable vocals. Unlike Oxygene there are few hooks or themes to be really drawn into. It is more akin to atmospheric techno jazz house music. "Subterraneans" could have used less saxophone.

Anyway, as is common I didn't hate Low, but it is a letdown after Station to Station. I probably shouldn't think in terms of how one album follows another and supposedly builds on what was previously done. Each album is a work of art unto itself really. But... I don't know. Station to Station was really freaking fantastic. If Low were an attempt to strip things down, do something back to basics then I'd probably be fine with the smaller scale. But Low more feels like something thrown together just because there was enough material for another album. I could be wrong, I certainly wasn't there when Bowie made it. I'm just here while I'm judging it, and I really wasn't all that impressed. 2 stars.