On 'Low,' instead of creating a new world for his new album, Bowie ventured out into the real world. Amazed, appalled and anxious, he responded with a side of fractured modern pop and a side of trying to make sense of any/everything. Side 1 is jittery, jagged, claustrophobic and daring you to deny its hooks. Side 2 dares you to STFU and just listen for 20 minutes.
There's so much going on musically on opener 'Like a Rolling Stone" that it's easy to overlook that this supposed generational anthem is mostly just Dylan being pissy about Edie Sedgewick. 'Ballad of a Thin Man' targets everyone less hip than Bob, the melodramatic melody and arrangement struggling to match Dylan's spleen-venting. Still, this is as essential an album as your grandparents claim, with less celebrated tunes such as "From a Buick 6" and 'It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry' are raucous and funny and delivered with a sneer that easily turns into a snarl. Also - Side 2 is damn near perfect.
Ziggy goes to America. Complications ensue.
(This is a review of the U.S. version on Columbia)
As good as "My Aim Is True" was, it in no way prepared listeners for the unleashed power of Elvis Costello joined by musicians who sound wired into an unholy mixture of garage rock sneer, "Aftermath"-worthy disdain and punk's dystopian rage. Elvis never recorded anything nearly as rocking which may be for the best. Only the Clash were making music as tough as this in 1978.
Has this much fuss ever been made about such nothing music? The aural equivalent of a blank expression.
Still tenuously clinging to listenability. In spots, at least.
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Not as good as 'You're Living All Over Me.' But you could say that about a lot of things.
A rare instance of ambition in sync with talent, Stephen Stills' goes for broke here with a lethal lineup and, likely, a reaction to the collaborative formats of CS&N and Buffalo Springfield. Probably Stills' last great album as well.
Loud, proud and all over the place. Replaces It Takes a Million's laser focus for a scattergun approach that plays to Chuck's and especially Flav's strengths., A barely contained and highly flammable mix of rage, wit and beats.
Everything you've heard. Based on the doomed Lifehouse project,. We should all fail so well.
Fulfills the promise of the first two albums and then some. Corin Tucker's voice is a air-raid siren for the ages.
The last album before Wayne and fwiends disappeared up their own assholes.
Still carries as strong a whiff of "where the hell did THIS come from?" as it did in 1977. Backing band Clover's country rock and bar band R&B is polite compared to the rude snarl the Attractions brought to MAiT's follow-up, 1978's "This Year's Model," but it never gets in the way of the songs, and John McFee's guitar is always worth a listen.
Should be 2.5 stars. Not a bad album but a definite step down from '83's Power, Corruption and Lies. As on 'Movement," N.O. sounds so unsure of its next move that it can't focus on the move it's making here.
I've listened to this album once: driving to work in he pre-dawn hours of Jan., 11, 2016 having seen the blackstar video three days before and having just found out Bowie passed that morning., Adjust my rating accordingly,
