Review Thread: The Chameleon: David Bowie Reviewed

Seltzer · 07-16-2009, 12:39 AM

Low (1977)

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
8. Warszawa
9. Art Decade
10. Weeping Wall
11. Subterraneans

The cocaine fuelled Station to Station in 1976 was the bridge between Bowie's glam and soul days and his Berlin era, named as such because Bowie moved to West Berlin to escape his drug-addled existence in LA. Bowie became enamoured of the region for its music and art scenes and its roots in expressionism - Berlin was for Bowie a sanctuary from himself, a place where he could bask in anonymity.

Low in 1977 was the first of the Berlin Trilogy featuring Bowie's collaboration with Brian Eno, the godfather of ambient music. Low was the perfect vehicle for Eno to direct his sonic explorations, and for Bowie to channel his anguish from his past life and paint a picture of his world at the time. As such, Low is starkly personal - the album name aptly describes Bowie at that point in life. And as Bowie's moniker of "musical chameleon" implies, he is a trend-setter and Low certainly doesn't deviate from this. Here we see Bowie through his krautrock influences as he embraces synthesizers and ambience amongst other things. Low was produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti. Although Eno is responsible for co-writing only one song, he provided a lot of the direction and inspiration for the second half of the album.

With shimmering synths and rocking energy, the theatrical Speed of Life kicks off the album and provides only a taste of what is to come. Low defies classification – tracks like Breaking Glass and Be My Wife demonstrate that even on an album as eclectic and innovative as Low, the rhythm section of George Murray and Dennis Davis are uncompromising in groove. Tracks like What in the World and the intriguing folk-meets-disco A New Career in a New Town demonstrate that Bowie can seamlessly meld angular guitars, synths and harmonicas. And even through this pastiche of sounds and ideas, Bowie manages to reach the peak of vibrant pop perfection with his single, Sound and Vision. Always Crashing in the Same Car is my favourite track of Side A - quite simply, it describes Bowie's self-destructive and cyclic cocaine addiction. It is a bleak and bitter tirade with an exquisitely melancholic guitar solo.

Whereas Side A is all about Bowie and consists of sub 4 minute songs spanning pop, prog, glam, folk and funk, and in Bowie's words "all the self-pitying crap", Side B takes a complete 180 and features Bowie's "reactions to places" in the form of ambient soundscapes. Warszawa, co-written by Eno, is the first of these. Bowie intended to capture his visit to desolate Warsaw in sound and succeeds to an almost synaesthetic extent with this incredibly powerful and dense track. The rest of Side B is similar in form. Art Decade is an eerie cavernous track, written to portray West Berlin as a dying city. Weeping Wall is a bizarre adaptation of Scarborough Fair with twisted synths and an ‘anti-solo’ reminiscent of Robert Fripp (who would later collaborate with Bowie). Subterraneans is a rather harrowing depiction of the people trapped in East Berlin after the erection of the Berlin Wall.

Fast-forward 32 years and Low is still startlingly fresh and replete with originality. Its dichotomy of avant-pop and ambient music eschews any kind of convention. The influence of Low can easily be detected in a great deal of music released in the decade following, especially in the realms of post-punk and new wave. Bands and musicians citing Low as an influence include Joy Division (originally named Warsaw), Human League, Depeche Mode, Radiohead, NIN and even Phillip Glass. Low was even influential for Tony Visconti’s revolutionary deep-treated drum sound. Low was ahead of its time and near flawless in execution.

9/10

SATCHMO · 07-16-2009, 01:01 AM

Goddamn seltzer! Drop the science!

Seltzer · 07-16-2009, 10:55 PM

Hehe I'm planning to submit my review to the campus magazine so I decided to make it less descriptive and more informative (i.e. avoid the track-by-track approach).

Molecules · 10-07-2009, 05:05 PM

sorry to do this but could somebody direct to when we sign up? i'll even do 'Never Let Me Down'!!
Predictably great reviewage all round btw, except PMO's 6/10 score for Diamond Dogs...

Comus · 02-26-2010, 06:29 PM

Bump, come on guys let's finish this **** up.

Bulldog · 02-28-2010, 05:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Comus

Bump, come on guys let's finish this **** up.

JayJamJah's not around these days, and he's in line for the next review.

Pity as I was quite enjoying this thread. When/if it gets sorted, I'll take care of the Tonight and Buddha Of Suburbia reviews if that's alright.

Comus · 02-28-2010, 07:05 PM

If anyone wants to take on the next review then you're very welcome to it! I really want this thread to be completed.

loveissucide · 03-07-2010, 07:00 PM

I can do Heroes if anyone wants.

Bulldog · 03-09-2010, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loveissucide

I can do Heroes if anyone wants.

Then it's sorted

On another note, are we gonna bother with '82's Baal EP? If anyone thinks so and doesn't have it, I'll send a link your way (pretty sure I've still got it in my megaupload files).

Comus · 03-12-2010, 03:52 PM

Doesn't really seem significant enough to warrant a mention, but if anyone wants to review it, I can't see the harm.

07-16-2009, 12:39 AM	#31 (permalink)
Seltzer Fish in the percolator! Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Hobbit Land NZ Posts: 2,870	Low (1977) 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 8. Warszawa 9. Art Decade 10. Weeping Wall 11. Subterraneans The cocaine fuelled Station to Station in 1976 was the bridge between Bowie's glam and soul days and his Berlin era, named as such because Bowie moved to West Berlin to escape his drug-addled existence in LA. Bowie became enamoured of the region for its music and art scenes and its roots in expressionism - Berlin was for Bowie a sanctuary from himself, a place where he could bask in anonymity. Low in 1977 was the first of the Berlin Trilogy featuring Bowie's collaboration with Brian Eno, the godfather of ambient music. Low was the perfect vehicle for Eno to direct his sonic explorations, and for Bowie to channel his anguish from his past life and paint a picture of his world at the time. As such, Low is starkly personal - the album name aptly describes Bowie at that point in life. And as Bowie's moniker of "musical chameleon" implies, he is a trend-setter and Low certainly doesn't deviate from this. Here we see Bowie through his krautrock influences as he embraces synthesizers and ambience amongst other things. Low was produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti. Although Eno is responsible for co-writing only one song, he provided a lot of the direction and inspiration for the second half of the album. With shimmering synths and rocking energy, the theatrical Speed of Life kicks off the album and provides only a taste of what is to come. Low defies classification – tracks like Breaking Glass and Be My Wife demonstrate that even on an album as eclectic and innovative as Low, the rhythm section of George Murray and Dennis Davis are uncompromising in groove. Tracks like What in the World and the intriguing folk-meets-disco A New Career in a New Town demonstrate that Bowie can seamlessly meld angular guitars, synths and harmonicas. And even through this pastiche of sounds and ideas, Bowie manages to reach the peak of vibrant pop perfection with his single, Sound and Vision. Always Crashing in the Same Car is my favourite track of Side A - quite simply, it describes Bowie's self-destructive and cyclic cocaine addiction. It is a bleak and bitter tirade with an exquisitely melancholic guitar solo. Whereas Side A is all about Bowie and consists of sub 4 minute songs spanning pop, prog, glam, folk and funk, and in Bowie's words "all the self-pitying crap", Side B takes a complete 180 and features Bowie's "reactions to places" in the form of ambient soundscapes. Warszawa, co-written by Eno, is the first of these. Bowie intended to capture his visit to desolate Warsaw in sound and succeeds to an almost synaesthetic extent with this incredibly powerful and dense track. The rest of Side B is similar in form. Art Decade is an eerie cavernous track, written to portray West Berlin as a dying city. Weeping Wall is a bizarre adaptation of Scarborough Fair with twisted synths and an ‘anti-solo’ reminiscent of Robert Fripp (who would later collaborate with Bowie). Subterraneans is a rather harrowing depiction of the people trapped in East Berlin after the erection of the Berlin Wall. Fast-forward 32 years and Low is still startlingly fresh and replete with originality. Its dichotomy of avant-pop and ambient music eschews any kind of convention. The influence of Low can easily be detected in a great deal of music released in the decade following, especially in the realms of post-punk and new wave. Bands and musicians citing Low as an influence include Joy Division (originally named Warsaw), Human League, Depeche Mode, Radiohead, NIN and even Phillip Glass. Low was even influential for Tony Visconti’s revolutionary deep-treated drum sound. Low was ahead of its time and near flawless in execution. 9/10 __________________ In the Court of King Crimson \| Last.fm \| RYM

07-16-2009, 10:55 PM	#33 (permalink)
Seltzer Fish in the percolator! Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Hobbit Land NZ Posts: 2,870	Hehe I'm planning to submit my review to the campus magazine so I decided to make it less descriptive and more informative (i.e. avoid the track-by-track approach). __________________ In the Court of King Crimson \| Last.fm \| RYM

10-07-2009, 05:05 PM	#34 (permalink)
Molecules daddy don't Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: the Wastes Posts: 2,577	sorry to do this but could somebody direct to when we sign up? i'll even do 'Never Let Me Down'!! Predictably great reviewage all round btw, except PMO's 6/10 score for Diamond Dogs... __________________ [SIZE="1"]Eff em tumble her

03-07-2010, 07:00 PM	#38 (permalink)
loveissucide Himself Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Leuven ,Belgium, via Ireland Posts: 1,325	I can do Heroes if anyone wants. __________________ www.last.fm/user/p-mccusker http://www.mixcloud.com/pmccusker www.valjester.wordpress.com

07-16-2009, 01:01 AM	#32 (permalink)
SATCHMO Al Dente Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 4,708	Goddamn seltzer! Drop the science!