I know, but it is amazingly boring 
Mmm, I can understand it not necessarily being to everyoneās tastes (I mean I canāt, but) boring?!!
1 Like
Itās just nothing I want to listen to. 
1 Like
Iāve listened to it a few times now. I like Warszawa but I sort of lose track during it. Then Art Decade really drags me out. I keep thinking Spotify has somehow switched to an obscure game soundtrack. It actually reminds me of some of the ambient music for the Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis adventure game.
1 Like
Aye this has become the emotional centre of the album for me now as well, where it used to be a palate cleanser for heavier things.
It makes I Canāt Give Everything Away even more devastating too.
2 Likes
Great record, only got into it properly off the back of Blackstar. I have no idea how it was made (could probably find out, I know), but I love the way it sounds like the band recorded the music and then Bowie turned up to do his vocals andā¦ didnāt really have much prepared. And was too wasted to do anything about it.
I love how the vocals donāt come in on Sound and Vision for a full two minutes, yet it was still a hit.
1 Like
And when the vocals do come in heās really just playing with the words and the cadence! How they managed to make all of those disparate elements resonate so deeply is kind of magic.
No-one can say the word blue or decorate a room in this house without this being quoted.
1 Like
The fadeout/segue from āDollar Daysā to āI Canāt Give Everything Awayā is one of the biggest emotional gut punches Iāve ever heard in music and as a result Blackstar somehow, impossibly, elevates a 40+ year old, 10/10 album to something even greater. That harmonica riff - and the general air of wistful nostalgia thatās also prevalent in āA New Careerā¦ā - is now, for me, loaded with a huge emotional weight that carries through to side 2 of Low.
6 Likes
Itās like two completely different albums. Just gave āside 2ā a listen on its own. Lovely stuff. Coming from āside 1ā though is just a huge ask. Trying to think of the last album I heard where itās genuinely lessened by the CD/digital age.
Blimey, I had assumed it was just name. There really are 69 songs on there? And theyāre all love songs, the worst type of song? Wow.
Oh okay
makes me feel a bit more confident about listening to it.
Out of interest have you listened to Heroes in full?
Yeah I think so but long ago. Most of my Bowie listening was in the last century and after that I just tended to stick to those early albums that always hit more, plus Iāve always had a soft spot for 1.Outside and Earthling.
The reason why I ask is because it basically follows the same formula as Low, so was interested in if you had a preference
Yeah I assumed as much. I am listening to the Life Without Buildings live album (never considered it before but itās good) and Iāll give Heroes a listen after.
Thought Iād have to skip āHeroesā itself due to having heard it so much but nah, still an all-time banger.
3 Likes
This is interesting to read
I saw on Wikipedia they said that the volume issue in the track āHeroesā was amended later so I guess Spotify maybe has that version. I didnāt hear it.
Iād guess the āmore bottom endā mastering has stuck though.
Yes, as it says in that wikipedia link itās not an album of love songs, itās an album of songs about love songs where Stephin Merritt takes the tropes youād associate with love songs and twists them, sometimes so much that they become completely inverted. Now, I can imagine some people find this too arch or may find it insincere to the point of being annoying but I think it totally works and I love it
2 Likes
I started giving it a listen. I got about 15 tracks in I think (maybe farther) but Iām unsure if thereās anyway to digest something that big.
The only triple album I recall really listening to before is that Kamasi Washington one and I loved that but itās a slower, less frantic sort of thing.
First time Iāve listened to Low all the way through in probably 8 or 9 years. Itās just excellent really
2 Likes
I donāt want to hijack this thread with too much 69 Love Songs talk so this is the last Iāll say on it until next week. Here is a 15 track sampler. Not necessarily my favourite songs but itāll give you an idea of what the album is all about and whether youāll want to investigate further
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1jgUyRSEbtLcNnTR2YOtFh?si=X1ZB3Rj7Q3ascOddAUEUYg