David Bowie: "Low" Album (1977)

David Bowie’s Low was released as an LP album in the UK by RCA Records (catalog number PL 12030) on January 14, 1977.

It is the first of three collaborations with producer Tony Visconti and musician Brian Eno, collectively known as the Berlin Trilogy. The project began after Bowie moved to France in 1976 with his friend Iggy Pop to overcome their drug addictions. In France, Bowie produced and co-wrote Pop's debut studio album, The Idiot, which included sounds that Bowie would later explore on his own album. After finishing The Idiot, recording sessions for Low started at Château d'Hérouville in Hérouville in September 1976 and concluded in October at Hansa Studios in West Berlin, where Bowie and Pop had moved.

An art rock album inspired by German bands like Tangerine Dream, Neu!, Harmonia, and Kraftwerk, "Low" marks Bowie's initial foray into electronic and ambient music styles. The first side primarily features short, direct avant-pop song fragments with mostly somber lyrics reflecting Bowie's mindset, while the second side includes longer, mostly instrumental tracks that capture musical impressions of Berlin. Visconti crafted the unique drum sound using an Eventide H910 Harmonizer, a pitch-shifting device. The cover art, showing a profile of Bowie from the film "The Man Who Fell to Earth" (1976), was meant as a visual pun, indicating a "low profile."

RCA delayed the release of Low for three months, concerned it might not succeed commercially. When it finally came out, it sparked mixed reviews and received minimal promotion from RCA and Bowie, who chose to tour as Pop's keyboardist instead. Despite this, it climbed to number 2 in the UK and number 11 in the US charts. Two singles were released: "Sound and Vision", which reached the UK top five, and "Be My Wife". The album's success led RCA to release The Idiot in March 1977. In mid-1977, Bowie contributed to Pop's next album Lust for Life before working on his album "Heroes", which built upon Low's musical style and included a similar blend of songs and instrumentals.

In subsequent decades, critics have regarded Low as one of Bowie's finest works, and it has been featured on numerous lists of the greatest albums ever. It inspired many post-punk bands, and its drum sound has been extensively emulated. As a precursor to the post-rock genre of the 1990s, Low has been reissued multiple times and was remastered in 2017 as part of the A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982) box set.