
Low is the 11th studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on January 14, 1977 through 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 American producer Tony Visconti and English 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 relocated.
Grounded in art rock and experimental rock and influenced by German bands such as Tangerine Dream, Neu!, Harmonia and Kraftwerk, Low features Bowie’s first explorations in electronic and ambient styles. Side one consists primarily of short, direct avant-pop song-fragments, with mostly downbeat lyrics reflecting Bowie’s state of mind, and side two comprises longer, mostly instrumental tracks, conveying musical observations of Berlin. Visconti created the distinctive drum sound using an Eventide H910 Harmonizer, a pitch-shifting device. The cover artwork, a profile of Bowie from the film The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), was intended as a visual pun, meaning “low profile”.
RCA refused to issue Low for three months, fearing it would be a commercial failure. Upon release, it divided critical opinion and received little promotion from RCA or Bowie, who opted to tour as Pop’s keyboardist. Nevertheless, it reached number two on the UK Albums Chart and number 11 on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. Two singles were released: “Sound and Vision”, which peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart, and “Be My Wife”. The success prompted RCA to release The Idiot in March 1977. In mid-1977, Bowie played on Pop’s follow-up album Lust for Life before recording his album “Heroes”, which expanded on Low’s musical approach and features a similar mix of songs and instrumentals.
- “Speed of Life” 2:46
- “Breaking Glass” 1:51
- “What in the World” 2:23
- “Sound and Vision” 3:03
- “Always Crashing in the Same Car” 3:29
- “Be My Wife” 2:55
- “A New Career in a New Town” 2:51
- “Warszawa” 6:20
- “Art Decade” 3:43
- “Weeping Wall” 3:26
- “Subterraneans” 5:39
David Bowie – vocals (2–6, 8, 10–11), saxophones (4, 11), guitar (6, 9–11), pump bass (6), harmonica (7), vibraphone (9–10), xylophone (10), pre-arranged percussion (10), keyboards: ARP synthesiser (1, 10–11), Chamberlin: Credited on the album sleeve notes as “tape horn and brass” (1), “synthetic strings” (1, 4, 9–10), “tape cellos” (5) and “tape sax section” (7), piano (7, 9–11)
Brian Eno – keyboards: Minimoog (2, 8–9), ARP (3, 11), EMS Synthi AKS (listed as “E.M.I.”) (3, 5), piano (7–9, 11), Chamberlin (8–9), other synthesisers, vocals (4), guitar treatments (5), synthetics (7)
Carlos Alomar – rhythm guitars (1, 3–7), lead guitar (1, 2)
Dennis Davis – percussion (1–7)
George Murray – bass (1–7, 11)
Ricky Gardiner – rhythm guitar (2), lead guitar (3–7)
Roy Young – piano (1, 3–7), Farfisa organ (3, 5)
Iggy Pop – backing vocals (3)
Mary Visconti – backing vocals (4)
Eduard Meyer – cellos (9)
Peter and Paul – pianos and ARP (11) (a.k.a. J. Peter Robinson and Paul Buckmaster, who had worked with Bowie on The Man Who Fell to Earth soundtrack)