Low Songs Ranked
Low is the 11th studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 14 January 1977 by RCA Records. After years of drug addiction when living in Los Angeles, Bowie moved to France in 1976 with his friend Iggy Pop to sober up. There, Bowie produced and co-wrote Pop’s debut studio album, The Idiot, featuring sounds Bowie would explore on his next record. After completing The Idiot, Bowie began recording the first of three collaborations that became known as the Berlin Trilogy with the American producer Tony Visconti and the British musician Brian Eno. Sessions began at Hérouville’s Château d’Hérouville in September 1976 and ended in October at Hansa Studios in West Berlin, where Bowie and Pop had moved to. In later decades, critics have rated Low one of Bowie’s best works, and it has appeared on several lists of the greatest albums of all time. It influenced numerous post-punk bands such as Joy Division, and its drum sound has been widely imitated. Here are all of Low songs ranked.
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11. What In the World
“The rhythm guitar is very frantic and a few Eno-esque sounds make the song sound even more unique. The outro is pretty chaotic, and even features Iggy Pop on backing vocals.”
10. Art Decade
“Art Decade” follows, a quite weird track in which percussion, vibraphone and unusual synthesizer effects form a strange ambience. Apparently Bowie was influenced by West Berlin for this track. It does feel like they have their own culture, their own art style that seems very bizarre to us, but is completely normal to them.”
9. A New Career In a New Town
“A New Career in a New Town” opens the instrumental half of the album in a cheerful way. The music represents very well what the title says. The tone of the song is hopeful, especially because of the harmonica (played by Bowie) and the piano notes in the background.”
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8. Weeping Wall
“Weeping Wall” follows, it’s one of the first instrumental songs from Low that I heard (my brother is the first person that made me listen to this album) and I was immediately under the charm. Right from the beginning, the xylophone played by Bowie gives the song its unique sound.”
7. Always Crashing In the Same Car
“Always Crashing In the Same Car” is yet another highlight of the album. The syntesizer-heavy musical ambience feels very hazy, as if Bowie was lost somewhere, or in his thoughts. The guitar that accompanies it has a very krautrock sound, a huge influence on this album.
6. Be My Wife
“Be My Wife”, the most “conventionnal” song on the album, or at least I think it’s the only one that doesn’t feature electronic music. Instead, the song relies on guitars and especially on piano to create a relatively simple but very efficient sound.”
5. Breaking Glass
“The song is unusual musically too, as it features those 3 synthesizer notes that come out of nowhere after every line Bowie sings. I just love how they sound. The lyrics might suggest that Bowie now wants to get away from people that are bad influences, as he sings “You’re such a wonderful person / But you got problems / I’ll never touch you”
See more: David Bowie Songs Ranked
4. Speed of Life
“Low opens with an instrumental track, “Speed of Life”, a song that’s more cheerful than most of the other instrumentals from the Berlin trilogy. It’s probably the best way to open this album, really. To me it really signifies the huge turn Bowie has taken both musically and in his life.”
3. Warszawa
“It’s a long, deep, epic ode to the Polish city. The ambience generated by this song is extremely powerful, it’s soothing but slightly scary at the same time. It reflects glory but decay at the same time. In the middle of the song, vocals in a language created by Bowie and Eno are featured. It contributes even more to the change of scenery.”
2. Sound and Vision
“Sound and Vision” was the album’s first single, and even though most people who worked on the album thought this would be an unsuccessful single, it worked pretty well in UK. And with good reason, as it’s definitely a highlight of the album. It features a long instrumental intro filled with amazing music and Bowie sighing. “
1. Subterraneans
“The album closes with “Subterraneans”, a beautiful ambient piece of music. The musical landscape in it is very hazy. Bowie comes up with a moody saxophone solo in the middle of the song. It definitely sounds like some kind of lament.”
