DAVID BOWIE - LOW

so this recorded followed the coke fuelled 'station to station'. bowie called it low due to the fact he had curtailed his gak intake to a much more managable degree and was because of this feeling a little bit low.

so i listened to 'low' with a tomato flavored cup-a-soup to see if it might enhance the experience. to be honest it didn't make much difference. i had kind of hoped it might take things to the next level but aside of the warm tomatoey taste in my mouth it was bowie based business as usual. i mean the soup was nice, watery but still totally drinkable, it just didn't do anything to re-contextualize the music.

i've had conversations with pink floyd idiots about the time they took *INSERT DRUG HERE* while listening to 'dark side of the moon' and they had somekind of out of body experience, a cosmic revalation that made them re-evaluate not just music but the very fabric of their existence. the sad reality is that pretty much anything could improve both 'dark side of the moon' and 'the wall'.

'yeah, i listened to dark side of the moon whilst repeatedly punching myself in the face and y'know what? it sounded soooo much better.'

the answer is, stop listening to 'dark side of the moon'. stop listening to 'the wall' they are dispicable records and roger waters is so fucking ugly just looking at his face on the sleeve of 'piper at the gates of dawn' (admittedly a great record) makes me want to build a time machine go back in time to mr and mrs water's house and forsively sterilize them to provent the world having to see such an ugly, ugly, ugly child. seriously how many teeth does he have? he looks like the guy that played jaws in the bond films but only less attractive. he looks like he has eaten everybody elses teeth. i need to find a happy place so i dont google him and start spitting at the monitor again.

'low' is quite literally a work of two sides, the second side being (with the exception of some quite annoying wailing) entirely instrumental. i'm sure i read somewhere that he had intended to add lyrics but forgot or ran out of time or just got really bored and went partying around berlin with iggy and eno instead. i could look it up but being in posession of the facts isn't always as much fun and can, as i learnt with 'balaklava' actually have a damaging effect on the overall listening experience.

bowie's hair is looking particulary good here, the sleeve shot was originally taken as a promo photo for the 'the man who fell to earth' film. i've thought about trying to re-produce the bowie low hair but i just think it makes anyone who isn't bowie look like a ginger NED'S ATOMIC DUSTBIN fan. that aside, low ranks as bowie's second best album sleeve behind 'lodger'.

side one is owned by 'sound and vision' and 'be my wife'. the instrumental that closes the first side 'a new career in a new town' is also a winner. i have a question though, why not relegate this to side two if it's an instrumental? it would make for a much cleaner picture.

a lot of people go on about 'warazawa' the opener of side 2 and it's nice that joy division liked it so much they names themselves after it but it's never really grabbed me to be honest.

so in conclusion, great sleeve, bowies best hair, good album with or without cup-a-soup but bowie's best album? not sure.

in closing and i also have the 1999 remastered CD and it sounds way fucking better than my vinyl copy. there, i said it.