6: May 4th — Low and “Heroes”
Listen to both albums.
Watch:
- “Heroes”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXgkuM2NhYI
- “Breaking Down David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q2scPrc1WE
- "Be My Wife": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjCM_X3xpRM
Blog question: The influence ob Brian Eno is very clear on these records, as is the influence of Krautrock. What has been added to the Bowie catalogue with these influences?
Hey professor, do you have links to some of Brian Eno's stuff that we can listen to to help notice his influence on Bowie in this record? Is there a particular set of stuff from Eno that you think of when you hear this stuff from Bowie?
ReplyDeleteI read that Bowie, in his detox from the LA darkness, wanted his new work with Eno in Europe on these two albums wanted to "evolve...a new musical language." I think this was no better achived than with scientist Brian Eno, and his influence on Bowie's sharp new turn on these albums is very apparent. Low is very "spacey," with crazy new keyboard and harmonizer sounds at play. I mostly noticed Eno's creative push on the song "Warszawa" which sounded so Medieval but clearly had Eno's influence in its sense of space and formlessness and yet contained so fashionably and emotionally. I'd probably laugh at the idea of someone tripping out to Bowie's music until being introduced to his work with Eno in this era. "Heroes" is a little more happy and takes more conventional shape than "Low" to me, but the lengthy harmonizing sounds remain in the instrumental behind Bowie's singing. "The Secret Life of Arabia" was a fun experimental song with a lot of untraditional sounds but it still has a familiar feel. I found it impressive.
ReplyDeleteThis was my first time listening to both Low and “Heroes” all the way through, but I loved seeing a completely new side of Bowie’s repertoire. I definitely noticed the transition from Station-to-Station to these two albums with the increased focus on the instrumentation and sounds over lyricism, in contrast to his glam rock era. While Bowie relied on his lyrics and various personas in the past to world-build, these two albums showcase a shift where Bowie relies on the music itself to create a new atmosphere for the listener. I think the term “ambient music” is a perfect descriptor for this genre because the sounds transport listeners to a more desolate, spacey world and act as background noise for the experience. The tone of Low is melancholy and wistful, whereas “Heroes” has one of cautious hope - “We can be Heroes, just for one day/ We can be us, just for one day”, likely reflecting Bowie’s struggles with addiction at the time. Bowie also foreshadows his more pop-aligned persona of the 80s with the titular track of “Heroes” and “The Secret Life of Arabia”.
ReplyDeleteI didn't fully recognize Eno’s influence until I heard a couple tracks from his albums Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) and Another Green World. After listening to “Fat Lady of Limbourg”, I genuinely thought Bowie was singing on the track because the vibe and usage of a saxophone was so similar to that of Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy albums. I also noticed a lot of similarities between “Golden Hours” on Another Green World and several tracks on Low. Personally, I think I preferred a lot of Eno’s songs over Bowie’s during this era but the similarities in the use of keyboards, synthesizers, and experimental sounds are overwhelming between both artists’ discographies. Eno’s influence helps add another layer to Bowie’s mysticism and allows him to deliver a completely different style of music than his previous eras.
Tanvi Gaitonde
Eno’s clearest influence on Bowie’s music is especially felt in “Lows”, given how instrumental the album is. At one point, I forgot I was listening to Bowie and honestly thought that my Spotify suggested just started playing a movie soundtrack. That being said, I loved how different this album was! While the start of the album still felt Bowie-esque as it used funky tunes and used rock instruments, as the album progressed, the music became less like experimental rock and more abstract, like a soundtrack. The fact that the latter half of the album did not feature any vocals from Bowie himself made me wonder how much of it was actually him and how much was Eno. After doing some research, I found out that most of it was actually created in Bowie’s absence when he had to leave and deal with legal business, which I found really funny: more than half of this album’s mystery and beauty was created by Brian Eno rather than Bowie himself.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to Eno’s instrumentals making the album more mysterious and abstract, the influence of Krautrock on “Lows” makes Bowie’s catalogue much more haunting and unique. Warszawa’s haunting gong-like sounds in the background added a sense of unease and holiness to the album, diversifying the tone of the album from the happy, upbeat tones from the start of the album in songs like “Breaking glass” and “What in the World”.
- Natasha Mubeen
In Bowie’s albums Low and Heroes, the influence of Brian Eno and Krautrock can definitely be felt, as they go in a direction that compounds onto Bowie’s previous pop, rock, and soul to create more atmospheric and experimental music. What was pretty interesting about both of these records, particularly Low, was how their beginning halves included songs that were somewhat “conventional” and lyrical, while their second halves were mostly composed of ambient music and sounds that added a very otherworldly and expansive mood to them. As Bowie moved back to Europe from LA and strove to overcome his drug addiction, this shift on the albums, from music more similar to Bowie’s earlier works in their first halves, to something new and strange in their second halves, somewhat followed Bowie’s own life changes, as he let go of the places and things that controlled him and tried to reestablish his hold on the world, one which was changed and different from how he last found it. This shift to a healthier world can also be interpreted from the shift in Low’s darker and more oppressive tones felt in pieces like “Weeping Wall” to the more positive tone in Heroes. Seeing the video of Tony Visconti breaking down the numerous layers of instrumentation and vocals in “Heroes” further showed how much creativity and nuance went into the crafting of these albums, making them something wholly unique.
ReplyDeleteThe influences of Eno and the german bands he was inspired by at the time is clear through the larger focus on instrumentation, especially percussion and synthesizers. Relative to his previous works, the emphasis on more intricate unusual percussion in these two albums is very prevalent. Through the various instrumental tracks on Low, we can see how Bowie is straying away from the conventional rock and roll/ blues that was popular and had been popular in America, following in the footsteps of the German bands such as Neu!, Can, and Faust, for example, who didn’t want to draw from America, British, nor German influences and felt inspired to create something completely new. A lot of his songs on these albums are more atmospheric, other worldly sounding, and experimental. The use of synthesizers, especially in the mostly instrumental tracks like V-2 Schneider and Speed of life for example, sound very non-American. In general, in terms of influences, including Kraftwerk founding member Florian Schneider’s name in a song title really just speaks for itself.
ReplyDeleteMia Sparks
When compared to Bowie’s two previous albums, Low and Heroes venture into an entirely new territory. Industrialized futurism is the term that comes to mind when I try to find the words to describe the sound of these albums. The influence of Kraftwerk is obvious -- some of the tracks sounded like they were composed against the backdrop of Das Model. In the interview with Tony Visconti, he mentioned that Brian Eno added the synth sounds on Heroes, and when he separated the synth from the rest of the sounds, it sounded a lot like the instrumental portion of Warszawa. I also noticed that the album as a whole slowly moves away from the lyrical tracks to solely instrumental ones. From the upbeat sound of Speed of Life and Sound and Vision to Art Decade and Subterraneans, the trajectory feels like a journey into an amorphous abyss. The title of the track reminded me of Jack Kerouac’s novella The Subterraneans, which is most noted for its fragmented syntax and meandering plot line. I was curious whether it had any influence on the track’s title and was surprised to know that Kerouac’s novella was in fact the inspiration behind the title of Bowie’s song.
ReplyDelete- Oksana M.
Brain Eno makes his presence known on these albums through the addition of more synthesizer melodies and harmonies, as well as the creation of broader synthetic sonic landscapes. Eno was one of the first architects of ambient music - his influence is clear in the broad swaths of slowly developing sonic motion that Low features so frequently. Throughout both albums, a lot of time is devoted to creating tone with instrumentals, as opposed to the lyrics that took precedent on much of Bowie’s earlier work. “Sound and Vision” in particular sticks out as an encapsulation of Eno tweaking Bowie’s sound - the synth melodies come in feels very Eno, as does the lyrical consideration of sound and vision together. To me, the effects on “Heroes” feel less like Brian Eno ideas in the studio, and more like Bowie figured out to work with him, or at least learned from him and put his interpretation of Eno’s sound into the album. Songs like “Sense of Doubt” felt like an alien tried to channel Eno into their own music, but eventually Eno got to the spaceship and stepped in. The song culminates in a dark, but well rounded and mildly optimistic, final minute of the song. In this way, “Heroes” felt like Bowie taking these influences and really developing them into his own unique sound.
ReplyDelete- Elizabeth Gulli
Low and “Heroes,” but specifically Low, is unlike anything we have ever heard from Bowie before. The main influence of Brian Eno and Krautrock as a whole is the instrumentals and sounds. In Low, there are hardly any lyrics and the main focus is just on the beat. This is so different for Bowie because usually his work uses mainly lyrics and persona to make an entire production out of his songs. I listened to this while studying and I kept thinking that I would not recognize this as a Bowie album if I wasn’t paying attention. Even while watching live performances of “Heroes,” I kept comparing this style of Bowie to the Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane personas. Eno really influenced Bowie to take a more experimental and electronic approach to these albums. I think one of the most notable songs is “Warszawa” on Low. The song is around six and a half minutes and we do not hear any lyrics until around the four minute mark. Even then, there are very few lyrics and they are not sung in a typical fashion. This song sounds like it could be in a movie soundtrack because of how ambient it is. I think “Heroes” has less of such an apparent influence by Eno. There is still a lot of instrumental, synthesizing, and keyboards going on, but it seems a little bit more of Bowie’s style.
ReplyDeleteSofia Sabra
Upon listening to these two albums, I found that Bowie most definitely took a lot of inspiration from Krautrock and implemented it, and Brian Eno’s involvement definitely magnified that aspect while additionally incorporating his own unique flares. These albums sound very “spacey,” for lack of a better term, as a result of the electronic sounds and rhythms. There’s this great focus on instrumentation and mood, especially since many songs had no vocals whatsoever. I believe “A Career in a New Town” to be the perfect example of this; as a purely instrumental song, Bowie is able to highlight the freeing, hypnotic instrumentals, especially due to the echo effect. “Warzsawa” also encapsulates Krautrock elements of being very mysterious and dramatic, with it’s heavy use of electronic sounds (the song is almost entirely composed of them, I believe). From what I’ve read, Brain Eno had a hand in pioneering the ambient music genre, and this is something that I definitely recognized in these albums. From “Low”, the songs “Art Decade” and “Subterraneans” instill this tranquil, atmospheric, and mysterious feeling in the listener, having that quality of ambient music. In the first half of the album “‘Heroes’”, it’s certainly more subtle, but the trace of Eno is still there. The last half of the album takes on a very different persona, making this album feel as if it’s almost been split in half, with each side being very different (with the exception of “The Secret Life of Arabia” on the second half). From “Sense of Doubt” to “Neuköln,” the vocals drop off and the music becomes very different in tone and instrumentation, becoming less like classic rock, and instead becoming very hazy, dramatic, calming; I’d assume this portion is where the music is most representative of Eno’s influence. Before listening to this album, if someone were to tell me the song “Joe the Lion” and “Moss Garden” were on the same album, I wouldn’t believe them because of just how starkly different they are.
ReplyDelete-Mila Daniel
After escaping the crazy realm of LA and heading back to Europe to focus on his music, it is very apparent how personal Low was to Bowie. While being back in Europe, especially Germany, Bowie had the chance to play around with new sounds and gain influence from the sounds of Krautrock. He wanted to expand his musical language through new forms of sound and technology in his music. Brian Eno gave Bowie a look into the vast world of instrumental music and his advanced work with the keyboard. After listening to Brian Eno’s 1975 album, Another Green World, I saw the influence of his work on Bowie with strong instrumental sounds and songs that focused on the lyrics with dynamic sounds in the backgrounds. I find it very interesting to see how Bowie experimented with this album and really just led his music by influence and new sounds. With high notes and new instruments being added to his sounds, Bowie strongly worked to change the sound of his music ashes gained influence from Eno, Krautrock and being back in Europe. This album became a stepping stone for rock music all over the world as Bowie led the way into this new form of musical language.
ReplyDelete- Ella Barnes
These two albums were both enjoyable to listen to. I really was very unfamiliar with most of the songs on these albums, other than probably “Beauty and the Beast” and “Heroes” from the album “Heroes.” These albums both definitely feature some new sounds that David Bowie had yet to work with much before. These sounds are less typically “musical,” as is common with Krautrock. With these new sounds being included, many of the songs seem more dystopian and dreamy than the songs on some of his prior albums. Although some of his early songs featured some “dreamy” elements, this new sound is darker. I think the longer and deeper notes that he sings in some of these songs helps to create this darker, yet dreamlike, sound. It is almost as if some of this music would be played with the arrival of the villain in a Disney movie, or something else of that sort. It seems that the influences of Brian Eno and Krautrock helped lead Bowie to implement more non-typical Western musical sounds in his tracks for these two albums, which worked to continue to expand the type of musical styles replicated/created by Bowie in his musical catalog.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
I don't think I have anything new to add that hasn't been said in other people's responses, but regardless, both of these albums (but especially Low) have an atmospheric element that wasn't there before, which I suspect is the work of Brian Eno. Low is sort of like a Cocteau Twins album but darker in tone (and more comprehensible). Bowie had some tracks that took a while to get to any lyrics before, but I can't remember any tracks that were purely instrumental before Low. It's a total 180 from the Americana rock influence and references of his prior popular albums, but I think "Heroes" brings some of those elements back, while still staying true to the more atmospheric theme of Low. I think "Be My Wife" from Low and the title track of "Heroes" are a lot more reminiscent of "old Bowie," as someone who wasn't super familiar with long stretches of his discography before this class, I don't think I would have placed either of them in the middle of his more abstract era. I think both Brian Eno and the city of Berlin also influenced his greater willingness to experiment musically on both Low and "Heroes," with tracks like "Moss Garden" and "Neukoln" especially sounding almost like spa music (in the most flattering way possible... that was the only descriptor I could think of).
ReplyDeleteSofia Potter
I thought both Low and Heroes were extremely unique albums that differed from what I thought was Bowie's signature sounds. Brian Eno came in and changed Bowie's entire sound by adding in these sci-fi like keyboard sounds and long guitar solos (some almost sounded punk like). Also, Krautrock had a huge influence on the psychedelic rock/electronic music sounds we heard in songs like "Warsawa" and "Neukoln." Such songs embodied ambient music, setting a mood and tone for the rest of the album; the dark mood that was created in several songs was reinforced by a spacey background and solemn guitar sounds. At first, I thought I had clicked on the wrong album because the first song in Low, "Speed of Life," had no lyrics. After listening through the rest of Low and Heroes, I noticed that Bowie really stepped away from lyric heavy songs. If he had lyrics, they were really sparse and not too detailed. Only a few songs in Low had lyrics, but I noticed that Bowie steered back towards using lyrics mainly in Heroes. In Heroes, Bowie repeated a lot of the same words in his songs over and over again, something he had not done too much in his previous albums. In songs like "Beauty and the Beast," he repeatedly sings "You can't say no to the beauty and the beast." My favorite song in Heroes was "Heroes" because it felt the most Bowie-esque. I think his vocals and style of signing were unique so I am surprised he allowed people like Brian Eno to change his entire sound, taking away most of Bowie's voice and replacing it with purely instrumental songs.
ReplyDelete-Amanda Cohen
First things first, the production on these albums is pretty insane. After a couple albums that I thought were pretty aesthetically draining and uninteresting, the instrumentation on these were a very happy surprise. Having listened to quite a bit of Eno's solo work, the influences of his production are instantly recognizable. The guitar and synth tones on the albums sound really raw and interesting as well as very 'Eno,' however, they mesh well with Bowie's songwriting and singing voice. I think, to me, the best thing about these albums was a kind-of 'distancing' from a more American sound that was found on the last two albums we listened to. The songwriting comes to be much deeper and more refined than on the last two albums and it's clear that Bowie is in a period of lucid creativity. This songwriting, mixed with Eno's production, leave the listener with a pleasant sound and lovely experience with these two albums.
ReplyDeletethat was me by the way
Delete- Charlie Whitcomb
While I am not very familiar with Brian Eno and his individual work, his influence on the albums Low and Heroes is easy to discern, as the two are incredibly distinct from Bowie’s previous projects. I had no specific expectations going into Low, yet the album still managed to leave me somewhat dumbfounded. It was, honestly, one of the most equally strange and captivating albums I have ever listened to, and it definitely reflects an uncharacteristic new direction for Bowie. Especially following Station to Station, a lyrically complex album where the songs range from 4 to 10 minutes long, Low’s orchestrally-based, short tunes were quite a wild transition. Bowie, as an artist, I would say, is defined by his deep, transportive, and often confusing lyrics, so it was interesting to see his talent with immersion instead be infused into the backing tracks, letting the music speak for itself. I noticed the mesmeric elements most in the last few songs on the album, where there are few, if no, words at all. Both “Subterraneans” and “Art Decade,” in particular, felt as if the listener was floating in space, aided by the electronic, drawn-out sounds of the piano and almost futuristic beeping of machines. The arcade noises implemented in the song “What in the World” similarly reflect the utilization of untraditional sounds throughout this work, a unique trend that spills over into the next album, Heroes. Heroes, I believe, is tamer than Low in regard to sound usage, feeling more traditionally rock; however, the album still holds similar elements to its predecessor, notably songs lacking lyrics. To be specific, “Moss Garden” feels as if it could have easily been on Low, featuring wind and bird noises.
ReplyDelete- Devin Bosley
Before this week, I had only really listened to "Sound and Vision" from Low and the first half of the "Heroes" album and I am sad it took me this long to actually hear these two albums in their entirety. Brian Eno is a perfect complement to Bowie and his influence shines through very clearly on these two albums. I am not super familiar with Eno's work but after listening to a couple of his songs like "The Big Ship", "By This River", and "Fat Lady of Limbourg" the similarities between the Berlin Trilogy and his personal work are clear. I saw these albums as a sort of return to form for Bowie while also being something completely new and unique. Perhaps Eno's background in glam rock brought Bowie back toward his roots in a way. The futuristic themes on both Low and "Heroes" were very reminiscent of Bowie's Ziggy days and songs like "Breaking Glass" and "What in the World" sounded somewhat similar to his earlier works but with a clear avant-garde twist. And although there may be some similarities between these two albums and Bowie's previous work, it is clear that he has also ventured into new creative territory with these tracks. The latter half of both of these albums are almost entirely instrumental which is completely different for Bowie but somehow work perfectly. Instrumental tracks such as "Warszawa", "Art Decade", and "Neuköln" reminded me of scores for science-fiction films. Without saying any words, Bowie and Eno manage to create ambient electronic music that is dystopian, desolate, dreamy, and dramatic. Even within these new instrumental tracks, Bowie is able to show his range. For instance, the songs "Moss Garden" and "Neuköln" are back-to-back on "Heroes" but sound nothing alike. Moreover, I love the use of synthesizers and Krautrock influence on these albums. These albums are a complete 180s from the albums we listened to last week and show how Bowie can never be confined to one genre or one style: he is simply himself.
ReplyDelete- Addison Harms
David Bowie once again transitions his musical genres with the albums “Low” and “Heroes”. To me, “Low” was very interesting because it was less about the lyrical stories that Bowie has told in previous albums. Instead it seemed very abstract and musically driven. This makes sense as Bowie needed to move on from the music and drug scene in LA and start fresh. Brian Eno’s influence is apparent in the albums, especially during songs like “Heroes" in which the synthesizer helps make electronic space sounds. I always enjoy listening to Bowie’s albums as each transcends into something new and unique.
ReplyDelete-Sydney Beale
While I am not very familiar with Brian Eno and his individual work, his influence on the albums Low and Heroes is easy to discern, as the two are incredibly distinct from Bowie’s previous projects. I had no specific expectations going into Low, yet the album still managed to leave me somewhat dumbfounded. It was, honestly, one of the most equally strange and captivating albums I have ever listened to, and it definitely reflects an uncharacteristic new direction for Bowie. Especially following Station to Station, a lyrically complex album where the songs range from 4 to 10 minutes long, Low’s orchestrally-based, short tunes were quite a wild transition. Bowie, as an artist, I would say, is defined by his deep, transportive, and often confusing lyrics, so it was interesting to see his talent with immersion instead be infused into the backing tracks, letting the music speak for itself. I noticed the mesmeric elements most in the last few songs on the album, where there are few, if no, words at all. Both “Subterraneans” and “Art Decade,” in particular, felt as if the listener was floating in space, aided by the electronic, drawn-out sounds of the piano and almost futuristic beeping of machines. The arcade noises implemented in the song “What in the World” similarly reflect the utilization of untraditional sounds throughout this work, a unique trend that spills over into the next album, Heroes. Heroes, I believe, is tamer than Low in regard to sound usage, feeling more traditionally rock; however, the album still holds similar elements to its predecessor, notably songs lacking lyrics. To be specific, “Moss Garden” feels as if it could have easily been on Low, featuring wind and bird noises.
ReplyDelete- Devin Bosley
Sorry I don't know why this posted twice! I refreshed my page and for some reason it posted again. My first post is the same and it is posted above!
DeleteOnce again, Bowie is ebbing towards another sort of transition in his musical and tonal style. In this Berlin Era, I really think that this is where Bowie was able to be everything he was before yet something new at the same time. With Eno on the scene for Low, he was able to really influence both Low and "Heroes." The sound is very heavily influenced by Eno, with synthesizer and other sounds playing into the music. Both albums seem to be this interesting way of avant garde as well as a sort of mix of meaningless lyrics and exploration through improvisation. In a sense, its a given that Bowie would continue to change his persona once again for at this point it isn't unusual. For me, I wasn't as familiar with the songs other than the titular song "Heroes" that always seems to be in popular media (from Perks of Being a Wallflower to a, very interestingly, german-version in Jojo Rabbit). Hearing these two albums all the way through was able to be a wonderful experience that was able to explore a different part of Bowie's life through song, almost different than the music of before that seemed, in a way, unexplainable. Low really feels like one of the lowest points of Bowie.
ReplyDeleteListening to “Low,” I immediately noticed the influence of Brian Eno, but even more I noticed it in “Heroes”, with Bowie’s use of ambient sounds and instrumental music. From Brian Eno’s music, I can tell he specializes in ambient, electronic based music, which obviously influenced the two albums by Bowie. I think with these two albums, along with his move to Germany, Bowie moved away from his glam-rock superstar persona and music style to a more avante-garde style of music. I honestly enjoyed “Low” more than “Heroes,” because it had a lot more variety of sounds and instruments, and because it had more vocals. “Heroes” as a whole was not as impressive from its lack of lyrics and lack of uniqueness, though I did like a few songs from the album. The majority of the album wasn’t necessarily bad, but I think it doesn’t have the same, breathtaking “Bowie” personality from his earlier albums. The songs that really stuck out to me in “Low” were “Speed of Life”, “What in the World”, and “Sound and Vision”, because they all sound very unique and have good lyrics. Overall, both albums were not bad at all, and I think David Bowie’s changing feelings and personality show through these albums a lot.
ReplyDeleteListening to “Low,” I immediately noticed the influence of Brian Eno, but even more I noticed it in “Heroes”, with Bowie’s use of ambient sounds and instrumental music. From Brian Eno’s music, I can tell he specializes in ambient, electronic based music, which obviously influenced the two albums by Bowie. I think with these two albums, along with his move to Germany, Bowie moved away from his glam-rock superstar persona and music style to a more avante-garde style of music. I honestly enjoyed “Low” more than “Heroes,” because it had a lot more variety of sounds and instruments, and because it had more vocals. “Heroes” as a whole was not as impressive from its lack of lyrics and lack of uniqueness, though I did like a few songs from the album. The majority of the album wasn’t necessarily bad, but I think it doesn’t have the same, breathtaking “Bowie” personality from his earlier albums. The songs that really stuck out to me in “Low” were “Speed of Life”, “What in the World”, and “Sound and Vision”, because they all sound very unique and have good lyrics. Overall, both albums were not bad at all, and I think David Bowie’s changing feelings and personality show through these albums a lot.
ReplyDelete