The idea behind low I think is Bowie just quit cocaine, He felt liked he lost his creativity with making music. since he’s always in a character (ziggy, thin white duke etc..), He didn’t know what to do next, so he moved to Berlin to try and discover his true self. I think The song sound and vision sums up his problem with finding himself. “Blue, blue, electric blue That's the color of my room Where I will live Blue, blue Pale blinds drawn all day Nothing to do, nothing to say Blue, blue” The lyrics shows he seems to be in low spirits, he’s in his room, blinds are drawn and he has nothing to do and nothing to say, he’s blue (sad). But in the next part of the verse he seems to be determined to get out of this rut and find his creative spark. “I will sit right down, waiting for the gift of sound and vision And I will sing, waiting for the gift of sound and vision Drifting into my solitude, over my head” The last line “Drifting into my solitude, over my head”, I think is telling us that he’s going back into his isolation to find himself and that he’s baffled at his current situation. This video talks about more of the idea and meaning behind the whole album: ua-cam.com/video/M7D4OU0C3JE/v-deo.htmlsi=O6dDdwCquRw2di8J
1:13 Speed of Life 2:41 Breaking Glass 4:03 What in the World 5:26 Sound and Vision 7:05 Always Crashing in the Same Car 9:43 Be My Wife 11:41 A New Career in a New Town 13:37 Warszawa 16:04 Art Decade 18:09 Weeping Wall 20:07 Subterraneans
Here’s a bit of context. Bowie was dealing with a lot of things in this time period. He had a big cocaine addiction, which was obvious on his previous album Station to Station. He was also working on a soundtrack for the movie The Man Who Fell to Earth. This fell through and really upset and depressed Bowie. One song made it to Low, Subterraneans. Bowie was spiraling and escaped to Europe. He met with Brian Eno after a show in 1976, Bowie was a big fan of Brian’s albums like Another Green World. Those albums and a lot of German krautrock bands like Tangerine Dream, Neu! and Kraftwerk inspired the sound on this album. That’s why this album sounds more artsy, experimental and synth heavy. Without context and instant appreciation of the sounds and songwriting I find this can be a hard Bowie album to get into for some. Which I thought was interesting that people wanted this to be your second Bowie album. But I understand because they know you really enjoy ambient music elements. I enjoy this one, all his Eno albums are dope. Sound and Vision is one of my fav Bowie songs. I think whenever you listen to more you should check out either Aladdin Sane or Hunky Dory, but if you want more artsy Bowie stuff like Low, either “Heroes” or Station to Station. Can’t really miss with any of them lol Keep up the great work Smags! Hope everyone has a great one! 🙂
The record company wondered what the hell Bowie was doing, making this the follow-up to the grandiose Station To Station. Still, as so often the case, he knew what he was doing.
They wondered what he was doing with Station to Station too. They were still pressuring him for another Young Americans, even after StS came out and he was finishing Low.
There's a whole Bowie/Iggy Pop/Kraftwerk interface going on around this time. With a dollop of Eno. You've got Bowie's follow up to Low, Heroes and then the two albums he worked on for Iggy Pop, Lust for Life and The Idiot. Then throw in Trans Europe Express by Kraftwerk which namechecks Bowie. That whole Kraftwerk/Neu!/Cluster/Eno/Bowie/Pop period has always been one of my favourite little time periods in music.
This is the first of his Berlin trilogy of albums, Heroes and Lodger are the others. Station To Station is his second big leap into more American music. Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane and Diamond Dogs are more glammy but they sound different from each other. Keep doing is discography and you really won’t be disappointed bro.
"I thought he was gay" is frying me, fr though he was bisexual (had a straight rebrand during the 80s when he got popular popular but went back on it later on). Low is such a shift in his music, I cannot imagine how it must have felt as a fan, you went from glam, to soul, to funk and industrial-ish rock, then out of nowhere you get an instrumental electronic ambient album, I feel like your reaction must have been similar lmao. Low is very much defined in its title, it was Bowie's lowest point in his life, having escaped to Berlin to try recover from a cocaine addiction that was killing him, in the midst of a divorce too. It's cryptic lyrics, the terribly melancholic and sad instrumentals, inspired by both his state of mind and the sights of a Berlin still recovering from everything, the wall, it's so well encapsulated. There's a slight optimism, I think it especially shows in A New Career, but for the most part you can tell it came from a dark place (Always Crashing had lyrics inspired by an incident in which he and Iggy Pop, his friend who also moved to Berlin with him, drove around the hotel parking lot at high speed as Bowie screamed he wanted to end it all, until they ran out of gas). I think it's a wonderful, heavily influential piece, Subterraneans always gets me, the moment the saxophone comes in is something special. Everybody is already telling you all the classic albums you need to listen to (and please please do Station to Station and Scary Monsters at one point), but I also want to bring up some of his later catalog, which I think has stuff worth checking out, mainly Outside (1995), Earthling (1997) and Heathen (2002), all fantastic records!!
"I cannot imagine how it must have felt as a fan..." Bewildering for some, fascinating for others. He lost fans with pretty much every change of musical direction. Fortunately, he did it so well, he gained new fans at the same time. People usually quote Young Americans as the album that first lost him a lot of rock/pop fans, but even Aladdin Sane was divisive within the fandom. Although it was a huge hit on the back of Ziggy and his extravagantly theatrical world tour, it wasn't uncommon to hear fans say "Mike Garson ruined Bowie." For the fans who stuck with him throughout (like me!), it was more disappointing when he released an album that DIDN'T go somewhere new. Even if you didn't particularly like a new Bowie album, the most damning criticism you could make was that it sounded like something he'd done before.
This album is is surprisingly influential especially for how little mainstream exposure it has had, it inspired a lot of people to think about making music differently, particularly in the post punk scene. Maybe not quite as much as the velvet underground but it's right up there.
Please do not encourage him, or we'll have to endure more insightful and brilliantly witty comments like "Sounds like you have a problem, David" etc. Awful.
Subterraneans and other bits from Low was written by Bowie for the film in which he plays the lead (The Man who Fell to Earth 1976). The only problem was that he was never asked to do the score. The cover of Low is a still from the movie. Type David bowie-Subterraneans-redux-1977 to hear the song paired with footage from that great movie
Great to see you review some more Bowie. Would love to see your thoughts on his 1995 album Outside - or to give its full title: 1. Outside (The Nathan Adler Diaries Or The Art Ritual Murder Of Baby Grace Blue : A Non-Linear Gothic Drama Hyper-Cycle) That alone has got to have piqued your curiosity. And if the title alone wasn't enough, it saw him reunite with Eno after a 16 year gap. It's a fantastic album, barking mad in places, but fantastic.
He made this album after escaping the trappings of LA and was going through some terrible management issues whilst trying to clean himself up from a cocaine addicted. On top of that, he was going through a separation from Angie. He truly was at a low point and this album is him laying his emotions out on the table. I love seeing you getting into this record. Takes me back to 1993 when I heard Low for the very first time. Thank you for sharing.
I would love, if you are going to do Blackstar sometime, that you do a listen of the bowie discography. It's so rich and has a lot of mixed genres. Personally I'm a fan of "1.outside, Scary monsters, Diamond Dogs and The man who sold the world". Thank you for your reaction. ❤
Pitching in my two cents for what Low represents. Lots of people have given great context on where Bowie was and what he was going through during the Low sessions/Berlin era of his career, but emotionally I think this can be read as a soul-searching journey from start to finish. From the frantic, eccentric nature of side 1 (Speed Of Life to New Career) up to the subdued and tranquil ambience of side 2 (Warszawa to Subterraneans), Low reads like Bowie detaching himself from the rock personas and lifestyle that was literally killing him and trying to find the raw, naked sparks of creativity that got him into music in the first place in a very abstract and removed setting from anything he was familiar with before. Apart from the sheer flex of creativity all over this album, I personally find a very deep and unspoken layer of emotional restlessness and yearning that ties this album together not too different from the likes of Pet Sounds. Perhaps this is what makes it such a fan favorite and beloved classic: it may not an album you can understand very well, but it’s one that you can *feel* from its energy and passion alone.
U should listen to yo la tengo I can hear the heart beating as one I think there’s a few songs you would absolutely love based off what I’ve seen u like in other vids
Once you eventually get around to Blackstar, A new career in a new town is sampled in one of the songs, so it’s a nice call back if your paying attention.
I agree with the people recommanding you Station to Station, (altough it precedes Low, it's an essential Bowie album). And also, you absolutely need at least 1 album from the the 90's : I vote for "1-Outside" :D !
I guess youtube doesn't like putting links in comments, but I recommend looking up Adam Buxton's short cartoon he made about the making of "Warszawa", it'll provide some context and it's funny.
This album turned me into a superfan. I knew his radio hits and even saw him live but in the summer of 85 a friend had this on vinyl. I borrowed it and was blown away. Its infectious. Once i heard it i was drawn back over and over.
Subterranians and other bits of this album origins from the soundtrack Bowie thought he was asked to do for the movie “The man who fell to earth” in which he played the lead. ua-cam.com/video/GIG0eIjHEPY/v-deo.htmlfeature=shared
Bowie described this music as 'new language', insisting it wasn't rock. You're right about Eno's input and influence. If you like Eno, check out early Roxy Music: the first two albums are insanely good
Bowie tried writing lyrics for "Speed of Life", but he ultimately decided it was better as an instrumental. He had trouble writing more lyrics for "Breaking Glass", but Eno said to just leave it like it was, so that's why it's so short. The words in Warszawa are based on Polish words, but they're made up.
This is my favorite Bowie album by far. Everything is perfect. I remember listening to ""A New Carrer in a New Town" and "Warzsawa" for the first time, I was in the subway going to my uni, and there was this sad girl. Those tracks are unreal You only do great albums mostly. I like your commentary between songs. May I suggest you to review "Half Machine Lip Moves" by Chrome ( industrial punk on acid made by robot aliens)
Album recommendations: Waiting to Spill- The backseat lovers When we Were Friends- The backseat lovers Something you needed- Flipturn Shadowglow- Flipturn Songs- Adrianne Lenker Unreal Unearth- Hozier Close to Paradise- Patrick Watson Young Americans- David Bowie Everything so far- Pinegrove RMCM- Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners Good For You- Houndmouth The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We- Mitski
You're lucky man, I wish I recorded my first listen of this album. It only gets better, but the first listen always fleets you at the same time. I think this and King Crimson's Three of a Perfect Pair are quite similar
This and the album after it called "Heroes" have heavy Eno influence. Synths, treated guitars, instrumentals, etc. This is a different era than the Ziggy stuff. If you like this one, you will love "Heroes" . It's basically Low plus Robert Fripp on guitar. These two records plus Station To Station (and the various live recordings from this time period) are my favorite Era Bowie. I think it's smart to wait on Blackstar. I LOVE that record, but hearing more of his catalogue before you jump to that one is an excellent idea.
if you like brian eno's contributions to this album, i would recommend listening more albums on his discography but he has a lot of albums so it is hard to pick one. here is a few fan favorites: 1- Apollo 2- Here Come the Warm Jets 3- The Pearl (collab with Harold Budd) 4- Before and After Science 5- Ambient 1: Music for Airports
Low is considered the first of the "berlin trilogy" of albums produced by brian eno, named "the Berlin trilogy" by fans because about half of the first album and almost all of the second album were recorded in West Berlin, while David was recovering from a cocaine addiction with his buddy Iggy Pop. The first two of the Berlin trilogy were the products of that recovery, and can often be interpreted as an expression of psychological transformation. It was also one of the most radical transformations in Bowie's Career. So I tend to interpret it as an autobiographical concept album of sorts. Low has one side that I interpret as being about Bowie's life on cocaine, traveling to Berlin ("A New Career in a new town") and then undergoes transformation on side b. That transformation continues on "Heroes", which has a similar structure of vocal tracks on side A and instrumentals on side B. So what I'm saying is you should do "heroes" next given that Low and "Heroes" are both products of a particular time and place in Bowie's life, it's one of the best examples of why Bowie was considered a musical chameleon, a lot of his creative inspiration came from the place where he was creating, one of the reasons he was often moving around all over the world.
I’m putting my vote out for Music For Nine Postcards by Hiroshi Yoshimura. He was a pioneer in Japanese ambient music (Kankyo Ongaku), and this album is a masterpiece. It borrows many aspects from Eno’s ambient albums, and it is a gem of a record.
You really should check out Brian Eno’s first album “Here Come the Warm Jets” for some glam rock goodness, “Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy” for really odd art rock and some ambient, and “Before and After Science” for the best of both worlds
this is kinda late but.. LOVE YOUR VIDEOS MY GUY a few recommendations: Process - Sampha (experimental r&b, great production) Nurture - Porter Robinson (light summer electric with fun production) Koi No Yokan - Deftones (very heavy, sexier and heavier radiohead imo) Hypochondriac - Brakence (very experimental emo rap, glitch pop) Reading Writing And Arithmetic - The Sundays (the smiths ish, with beautiful female vocals)
I fucking love Sound and Vision. One of my favorite David Bowie songs. Gotta put a plug in for reviewing an album by the band "Spoon". I think you would like them. Start with "Gimme Fiction" or "Kill the Moonlight" and work forwards or backwards.
11:30 - In his younger years, he said he was bisexual and did have sexual relationships with men and women, but he only pursued serious romantic relationships with women and later said he was straight but sexually experimental in his youth.
Bowie was definitely experimenting and trying to find something new during this period (as he did through most of his career, excepting his 1980s commercial period) other Bowie albums that I personally consider essential (though one can find something exceptional on any of them)... _Aladdin_ _Sane_ (1973) _Diamond_ _Dogs_ (1974) _Station_ _to_ _Station_ (1976) _Scary_ _Monsters_ (1980) _Earthling_ (1997) _Reality_ (2003)
You should check out the band Les Rallizes Denudes You don’t need to record a reaction or anything but I think you’d enjoy their sound They were making noise rock wayyy before anyone else (60s-90s) Check out Cable Hogue Soundtrack or 77Live
DO STATION TO STATION AND BLACKSTAR PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
and Hunky Dory
Station to Station is an absolute must!
Word on a Wing is one of the best songs of all time.
smellystem
@@nicknickson3650real asf
My favorite Bowie album!! "Warszawa" is gorgeous, a masterpiece.
The idea behind low I think is Bowie just quit cocaine, He felt liked he lost his creativity with making music. since he’s always in a character (ziggy, thin white duke etc..), He didn’t know what to do next, so he moved to Berlin to try and discover his true self.
I think The song sound and vision sums up his problem with finding himself.
“Blue, blue, electric blue
That's the color of my room
Where I will live
Blue, blue
Pale blinds drawn all day
Nothing to do, nothing to say
Blue, blue”
The lyrics shows he seems to be in low spirits, he’s in his room, blinds are drawn and he has nothing to do and nothing to say, he’s blue (sad).
But in the next part of the verse he seems to be determined to get out of this rut and find his creative spark.
“I will sit right down, waiting for the gift of sound and vision
And I will sing, waiting for the gift of sound and vision
Drifting into my solitude, over my head”
The last line “Drifting into my solitude, over my head”, I think is telling us that he’s going back into his isolation to find himself and that he’s baffled at his current situation.
This video talks about more of the idea and meaning behind the whole album: ua-cam.com/video/M7D4OU0C3JE/v-deo.htmlsi=O6dDdwCquRw2di8J
1:13 Speed of Life
2:41 Breaking Glass
4:03 What in the World
5:26 Sound and Vision
7:05 Always Crashing in the Same Car
9:43 Be My Wife
11:41 A New Career in a New Town
13:37 Warszawa
16:04 Art Decade
18:09 Weeping Wall
20:07 Subterraneans
W
@@smags1082 IN
Here’s a bit of context. Bowie was dealing with a lot of things in this time period. He had a big cocaine addiction, which was obvious on his previous album Station to Station. He was also working on a soundtrack for the movie The Man Who Fell to Earth. This fell through and really upset and depressed Bowie. One song made it to Low, Subterraneans. Bowie was spiraling and escaped to Europe. He met with Brian Eno after a show in 1976, Bowie was a big fan of Brian’s albums like Another Green World. Those albums and a lot of German krautrock bands like Tangerine Dream, Neu! and Kraftwerk inspired the sound on this album. That’s why this album sounds more artsy, experimental and synth heavy.
Without context and instant appreciation of the sounds and songwriting I find this can be a hard Bowie album to get into for some. Which I thought was interesting that people wanted this to be your second Bowie album. But I understand because they know you really enjoy ambient music elements. I enjoy this one, all his Eno albums are dope. Sound and Vision is one of my fav Bowie songs. I think whenever you listen to more you should check out either Aladdin Sane or Hunky Dory, but if you want more artsy Bowie stuff like Low, either “Heroes” or Station to Station. Can’t really miss with any of them lol Keep up the great work Smags! Hope everyone has a great one! 🙂
this album is ahead of its time, a masterpiece
The record company wondered what the hell Bowie was doing, making this the follow-up to the grandiose Station To Station. Still, as so often the case, he knew what he was doing.
They wondered what he was doing with Station to Station too. They were still pressuring him for another Young Americans, even after StS came out and he was finishing Low.
@@shelleys9603It was the same with Young Americans. Nobody wanted Bowie to record a soul album
Station to Station and Aladdin Sane are some other Bowie albums worth checking out
HOLY FUCK THIS IS MY FAVORITE BOWIE ALBUM this channel is so goated man I love your picks
There's a whole Bowie/Iggy Pop/Kraftwerk interface going on around this time. With a dollop of Eno. You've got Bowie's follow up to Low, Heroes and then the two albums he worked on for Iggy Pop, Lust for Life and The Idiot. Then throw in Trans Europe Express by Kraftwerk which namechecks Bowie. That whole Kraftwerk/Neu!/Cluster/Eno/Bowie/Pop period has always been one of my favourite little time periods in music.
Track 8 - Warszawa is pronounced "Varsharva". It's the Polish name for Warsaw, the capital city of Poland.
This is one of my most treasured albums ever, reminds me of when I recovered from my long term illness, left my bedroom and met my girlfriend
Did you ask her to Be Your Wife?
@@lukesewell8294she took the house :(
Always Crashing In the Same Car... That song always hits me in the feels for some reason.
Everybody asking for Station to Station, I'll go for Diamond Dogs, an overlooked masterpiece, so crunchy and tasty in its sound.
His masterpiece in my opinion. He played all the guitars.
This is the first of his Berlin trilogy of albums, Heroes and Lodger are the others. Station To Station is his second big leap into more American music. Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane and Diamond Dogs are more glammy but they sound different from each other.
Keep doing is discography and you really won’t be disappointed bro.
"I thought he was gay" is frying me, fr though he was bisexual (had a straight rebrand during the 80s when he got popular popular but went back on it later on).
Low is such a shift in his music, I cannot imagine how it must have felt as a fan, you went from glam, to soul, to funk and industrial-ish rock, then out of nowhere you get an instrumental electronic ambient album, I feel like your reaction must have been similar lmao.
Low is very much defined in its title, it was Bowie's lowest point in his life, having escaped to Berlin to try recover from a cocaine addiction that was killing him, in the midst of a divorce too. It's cryptic lyrics, the terribly melancholic and sad instrumentals, inspired by both his state of mind and the sights of a Berlin still recovering from everything, the wall, it's so well encapsulated. There's a slight optimism, I think it especially shows in A New Career, but for the most part you can tell it came from a dark place (Always Crashing had lyrics inspired by an incident in which he and Iggy Pop, his friend who also moved to Berlin with him, drove around the hotel parking lot at high speed as Bowie screamed he wanted to end it all, until they ran out of gas). I think it's a wonderful, heavily influential piece, Subterraneans always gets me, the moment the saxophone comes in is something special.
Everybody is already telling you all the classic albums you need to listen to (and please please do Station to Station and Scary Monsters at one point), but I also want to bring up some of his later catalog, which I think has stuff worth checking out, mainly Outside (1995), Earthling (1997) and Heathen (2002), all fantastic records!!
"I cannot imagine how it must have felt as a fan..."
Bewildering for some, fascinating for others. He lost fans with pretty much every change of musical direction. Fortunately, he did it so well, he gained new fans at the same time. People usually quote Young Americans as the album that first lost him a lot of rock/pop fans, but even Aladdin Sane was divisive within the fandom. Although it was a huge hit on the back of Ziggy and his extravagantly theatrical world tour, it wasn't uncommon to hear fans say "Mike Garson ruined Bowie."
For the fans who stuck with him throughout (like me!), it was more disappointing when he released an album that DIDN'T go somewhere new. Even if you didn't particularly like a new Bowie album, the most damning criticism you could make was that it sounded like something he'd done before.
@@davida.j.berner776 Thanks for the insight, always love hearing how things were during those years!
This album is is surprisingly influential especially for how little mainstream exposure it has had, it inspired a lot of people to think about making music differently, particularly in the post punk scene. Maybe not quite as much as the velvet underground but it's right up there.
love this album, definitely do station to station next it was released the year before
Some recommendations:
David Bowie - Hunky Dory
Gary Numan - Telekon
Sparks - Kimono My House
MGMT - Congratulations
Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues
I love Kimono My House :)
This odd little album changed the world of music in so many ways. Wonderful in so many ways back in 76 and still is.
You gotta do Station to Station by Bowie too. Probably my favorite from him and was written around the same period this was
Please do not encourage him, or we'll have to endure more insightful and brilliantly witty comments like "Sounds like you have a problem, David" etc.
Awful.
smags we love u :3333 please listen to the rest of his main stuff like blackstar, heros etc
Lets gooo my favourite bowie record... Also i would love to see you react to the idiot by iggy pop. It showcases bowies talent as a producer.
Eno is just the best. this feels like a collab album before collab albums were really a thing
Heroes is one of his best albums, it’s so overlooked for no reason! Please listen to it!
Subterraneans and other bits from Low was written by Bowie for the film in which he plays the lead (The Man who Fell to Earth 1976). The only problem was that he was never asked to do the score. The cover of Low is a still from the movie.
Type David bowie-Subterraneans-redux-1977 to hear the song paired with footage from that great movie
Great to see you review some more Bowie. Would love to see your thoughts on his 1995 album Outside - or to give its full title: 1. Outside (The Nathan Adler Diaries Or The Art Ritual Murder Of Baby Grace Blue : A Non-Linear Gothic Drama Hyper-Cycle) That alone has got to have piqued your curiosity. And if the title alone wasn't enough, it saw him reunite with Eno after a 16 year gap. It's a fantastic album, barking mad in places, but fantastic.
He made this album after escaping the trappings of LA and was going through some terrible management issues whilst trying to clean himself up from a cocaine addicted. On top of that, he was going through a separation from Angie.
He truly was at a low point and this album is him laying his emotions out on the table.
I love seeing you getting into this record. Takes me back to 1993 when I heard Low for the very first time.
Thank you for sharing.
Speaking of Brian Eno (he worked on this album), check out his solo-debut, “Here Come the Warm Jets”.
fuck yeaaa station to station & heroes from around this period would be good places to go next i think
do volcanic bird enemy by lil ugly mane tho
Please listen to Station ti Station and Heroes too. They’re also masterpieces!
Check out "Nine inch nails' album, "With Teeth".
U gotta spin some Desertshore by Nico
Greatest album of all time
yess
You just listen to my all time favorite album
Thank you I hope you enjoyed it, it means so much to me
I would love, if you are going to do Blackstar sometime, that you do a listen of the bowie discography. It's so rich and has a lot of mixed genres. Personally I'm a fan of "1.outside, Scary monsters, Diamond Dogs and The man who sold the world". Thank you for your reaction. ❤
Pitching in my two cents for what Low represents. Lots of people have given great context on where Bowie was and what he was going through during the Low sessions/Berlin era of his career, but emotionally I think this can be read as a soul-searching journey from start to finish.
From the frantic, eccentric nature of side 1 (Speed Of Life to New Career) up to the subdued and tranquil ambience of side 2 (Warszawa to Subterraneans), Low reads like Bowie detaching himself from the rock personas and lifestyle that was literally killing him and trying to find the raw, naked sparks of creativity that got him into music in the first place in a very abstract and removed setting from anything he was familiar with before.
Apart from the sheer flex of creativity all over this album, I personally find a very deep and unspoken layer of emotional restlessness and yearning that ties this album together not too different from the likes of Pet Sounds.
Perhaps this is what makes it such a fan favorite and beloved classic: it may not an album you can understand very well, but it’s one that you can *feel* from its energy and passion alone.
Violent Femmes? Maybe haha, just maybe...
You gotta do Station to Station man. My favourite Bowie album and he was crazed on coke during the recording. Great review!
Let’s gooooo such a fire album, just bought it on vinyl
U should listen to yo la tengo I can hear the heart beating as one I think there’s a few songs you would absolutely love based off what I’ve seen u like in other vids
ALL THINGS MUST PASS NEXT PLEASE 🙏🙏🙏
Goated video.
Imo you should know at least Hunky Dory, Station to Station, Heroes and Scary Monsters before Blackstar.
Smags always helps me when I’m feeling low
PLEASE check out station to station, some of the best songcrafting of the entire decade and my personal favorite bowie album :) low is my close second
Low took guts. Risks. Panned by critics at first,now adored by them. In my top 3 Bowie for sure. Thank u!
Lodger is fabulous and often overlooked.
DO SCARY MONSTERS!!!!!!! And its a wonderful life by sparklehorse
thank you smags for the banger vids they make doing chores after a long day of work bearable
If you don't do God's Country by Chat Pile I'll start putting pins in your voodoo doll
lol he needs to do this
Once you eventually get around to Blackstar, A new career in a new town is sampled in one of the songs, so it’s a nice call back if your paying attention.
I agree with the people recommanding you Station to Station, (altough it precedes Low, it's an essential Bowie album). And also, you absolutely need at least 1 album from the the 90's : I vote for "1-Outside" :D !
Also, this Bowie album is one of my favs, I do recommend black star too, that one hits you in the heart
Brian eno is a genius
YESSSS LETSSSSS GOOOO YOU GOTTA DO ALL OF THE BERLIN TRILOGY NOW
station to station please!!
I guess youtube doesn't like putting links in comments, but I recommend looking up Adam Buxton's short cartoon he made about the making of "Warszawa", it'll provide some context and it's funny.
heroes plssss
This album turned me into a superfan. I knew his radio hits and even saw him live but in the summer of 85 a friend had this on vinyl. I borrowed it and was blown away. Its infectious. Once i heard it i was drawn back over and over.
Subterranians and other bits of this album origins from the soundtrack Bowie thought he was asked to do for the movie “The man who fell to earth” in which he played the lead. ua-cam.com/video/GIG0eIjHEPY/v-deo.htmlfeature=shared
ANOTHER SMAGS BANGER WHEN’S STATION TO STATION
You have to do his album Station to Station. It's beautiful.
Bowie described this music as 'new language', insisting it wasn't rock. You're right about Eno's input and influence. If you like Eno, check out early Roxy Music: the first two albums are insanely good
Bowie tried writing lyrics for "Speed of Life", but he ultimately decided it was better as an instrumental. He had trouble writing more lyrics for "Breaking Glass", but Eno said to just leave it like it was, so that's why it's so short. The words in Warszawa are based on Polish words, but they're made up.
This is my favorite Bowie album by far. Everything is perfect. I remember listening to ""A New Carrer in a New Town" and "Warzsawa" for the first time, I was in the subway going to my uni, and there was this sad girl. Those tracks are unreal
You only do great albums mostly. I like your commentary between songs.
May I suggest you to review "Half Machine Lip Moves" by Chrome ( industrial punk on acid made by robot aliens)
Album recommendations:
Waiting to Spill- The backseat lovers
When we Were Friends- The backseat lovers
Something you needed- Flipturn
Shadowglow- Flipturn
Songs- Adrianne Lenker
Unreal Unearth- Hozier
Close to Paradise- Patrick Watson
Young Americans- David Bowie
Everything so far- Pinegrove
RMCM- Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners
Good For You- Houndmouth
The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We- Mitski
Like your reactions!
I recommend you Unkle - War Stories
review yellow magic orchestra- solid state survivor its a great 1970s Japanese synth rock album that fans of Low may like
can we get d’angelo’s voodoo or depeche mode’s violator soon ? 🙏🏿🙏🏿
I'm so glad you reviewed this
Day 64 of asking Smags to listen to:
Portishead - Third
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Polygondwanaland
Cool reaction! This is definitely my favorite album of his.
You're lucky man, I wish I recorded my first listen of this album. It only gets better, but the first listen always fleets you at the same time. I think this and King Crimson's Three of a Perfect Pair are quite similar
This and the album after it called "Heroes" have heavy Eno influence. Synths, treated guitars, instrumentals, etc. This is a different era than the Ziggy stuff. If you like this one, you will love "Heroes" . It's basically Low plus Robert Fripp on guitar.
These two records plus Station To Station (and the various live recordings from this time period) are my favorite Era Bowie.
I think it's smart to wait on Blackstar. I LOVE that record, but hearing more of his catalogue before you jump to that one is an excellent idea.
if you like brian eno's contributions to this album, i would recommend listening more albums on his discography but he has a lot of albums so it is hard to pick one. here is a few fan favorites:
1- Apollo
2- Here Come the Warm Jets
3- The Pearl (collab with Harold Budd)
4- Before and After Science
5- Ambient 1: Music for Airports
Low is considered the first of the "berlin trilogy" of albums produced by brian eno, named "the Berlin trilogy" by fans because about half of the first album and almost all of the second album were recorded in West Berlin, while David was recovering from a cocaine addiction with his buddy Iggy Pop. The first two of the Berlin trilogy were the products of that recovery, and can often be interpreted as an expression of psychological transformation. It was also one of the most radical transformations in Bowie's Career. So I tend to interpret it as an autobiographical concept album of sorts. Low has one side that I interpret as being about Bowie's life on cocaine, traveling to Berlin ("A New Career in a new town") and then undergoes transformation on side b. That transformation continues on "Heroes", which has a similar structure of vocal tracks on side A and instrumentals on side B.
So what I'm saying is you should do "heroes" next given that Low and "Heroes" are both products of a particular time and place in Bowie's life, it's one of the best examples of why Bowie was considered a musical chameleon, a lot of his creative inspiration came from the place where he was creating, one of the reasons he was often moving around all over the world.
They weren't produced by Brian Eno, but by Tony Visconti.
Can't wait until you hear his best album Blackstar
I’m putting my vote out for Music For Nine Postcards by Hiroshi Yoshimura. He was a pioneer in Japanese ambient music (Kankyo Ongaku), and this album is a masterpiece. It borrows many aspects from Eno’s ambient albums, and it is a gem of a record.
1977, a busy peak year for Bowie, four albums: Low, Heroes and the two album he co-wrote and produced with Iggy Pop (The Idiot and Lust for Life)
I'd have probably gone with "Heroes". The two albums are kind of cousins, however I think "Heroes" is more accessible.
David was actually in a Spongebob episode. The blue-looking gallery owner with the huge lips.
You really should check out Brian Eno’s first album “Here Come the Warm Jets” for some glam rock goodness, “Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy” for really odd art rock and some ambient, and “Before and After Science” for the best of both worlds
I remember buying this album in the discount bin for like 4.99. This is my favorite Bowie album. The best 5 bucks i ever spent.
im wide awake its morning by bright eyes pleaseeeee
this is kinda late but..
LOVE YOUR VIDEOS MY GUY
a few recommendations:
Process - Sampha (experimental r&b, great production)
Nurture - Porter Robinson (light summer electric with fun production)
Koi No Yokan - Deftones (very heavy, sexier and heavier radiohead imo)
Hypochondriac - Brakence (very experimental emo rap, glitch pop)
Reading Writing And Arithmetic - The Sundays (the smiths ish, with beautiful female vocals)
After this album, Nick Lowe released an ep called Bowi.
Hell yeah, the best album ever!
best bowie album in my opinion 🙏
I fucking love Sound and Vision. One of my favorite David Bowie songs. Gotta put a plug in for reviewing an album by the band "Spoon". I think you would like them. Start with "Gimme Fiction" or "Kill the Moonlight" and work forwards or backwards.
My all time favourite album ,that i have listened to ????? of times since its release in 1977.
11:30 - In his younger years, he said he was bisexual and did have sexual relationships with men and women, but he only pursued serious romantic relationships with women and later said he was straight but sexually experimental in his youth.
Bowie was definitely experimenting and trying to find something new during this period (as he did through most of his career, excepting his 1980s commercial period)
other Bowie albums that I personally consider essential (though one can find something exceptional on any of them)...
_Aladdin_ _Sane_ (1973)
_Diamond_ _Dogs_ (1974)
_Station_ _to_ _Station_ (1976)
_Scary_ _Monsters_ (1980)
_Earthling_ (1997)
_Reality_ (2003)
You should check out the band Les Rallizes Denudes
You don’t need to record a reaction or anything but I think you’d enjoy their sound
They were making noise rock wayyy before anyone else (60s-90s)
Check out Cable Hogue Soundtrack or 77Live
You'd love Eno's Apollo
Kurt Cobain passed away 30 years ago today. Can I suggest a reaction to either Bleach or Nevermind.
Sound and Vision has to be a one of my favorite songs of all time
At the drive in please relationship of command please
Jazz punk by rimera, reminds me of Tyler the creator but it is very VERY good and I recommend it, I think you’d enjoy it
BABE NEW SMAGS VIDEO DROPPED (please do heroes next for bowie :D)
Please do time n place by Kero kero bonito 🙏
please listen to moon safari by air my lord