Album
Low
Low is David Bowie's eleventh studio album, released on 14 January 1977 through RCA. It is the first of the three records he made with producer Tony Visconti and Brian Eno that became known as the Berlin Trilogy. The seeds were sown when Bowie moved to France in 1976 with Iggy Pop to shake off their drug addictions, and he produced and co-wrote Pop's debut, The Idiot, along the way. Sessions began at Château d'Hérouville and finished at Hansa Studios in West Berlin.
Influenced by German acts such as Tangerine Dream, Neu!, Harmonia and Kraftwerk, it marks Bowie's first venture into electronic and ambient sounds. Side one holds short, downbeat song-fragments, while side two stretches out into mostly instrumental pieces inspired by Berlin. Visconti's pitch-shifted drum sound became much imitated. RCA delayed release by three months, yet it reached number 2 in the UK, and "Sound and Vision" was a UK top five hit. Its successor, "Heroes", took the approach further.
Low: tracklist, credits and charts
11 tracks · 38:49Tracklist
- 1Speed of LifeDavid Bowie2:47
- 2Breaking GlassBowie, Davis, Murray1:53
- 3What in the WorldDavid Bowie2:23
- 4Sound and VisionDavid Bowie3:03
- 5Always Crashing in the Same CarDavid Bowie3:34
- 6Be My WifeDavid Bowie2:57
- 7A New Career in a New TownDavid Bowie2:53
- 8WarszawaDavid Bowie and Brian Eno6:24
- 9Art DecadeDavid Bowie3:47
- 10Weeping WallDavid Bowie3:28
- 11SubterraneansDavid Bowie5:39
- Produced by
- Tony Visconti, David Bowie
- Recorded at
- Château d'Hérouville, Hansa Studios, Cherokee Studios, Château d'Hérouville (Hérouville, France), Hansa (West Berlin, Germany)
- Recorded
- September–October 1976
- Mixed by
- Tony Visconti
- Mixed at
- Hansa Studios
- Engineered by
- Eduard Meyer, Laurent Thibault, Tony Visconti, David Hines
- Labels
- RCA, RCA Victor
- Length
- 38:49
Line-up
- Carlos Alomar · guitar
- David Bowie · chamberlin, background vocals, baritone saxophone, guitar, harmonica, piano, drum machine, synthesizer, vibraphone, xylophone, vocals, Rhodes piano, tenor saxophone, lead vocals
- Dennis Davis · drums (drum set), percussion
- George Murray · bass guitar
- Roy Young · piano, farfisa
- Brian Eno · Minimoog, synthesizer, background vocals, analog synthesizer, guitar, piano, chamberlin
- Ricky Gardiner · guitar
- Iggy Pop · background vocals · guest
- Mary Hopkin · background vocals · guest
- Eduard Meyer · cello · guest
- Paul Buckmaster · piano, keyboard · guest
- J. Peter Robinson · string synthesizer, Rhodes piano, analog synthesizer · guest
Singles
- “Sound and Vision" / "A New Career in a New Town” · 11 February 1977
- “Be My Wife" / "Speed of Life” · 17 June 1977
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1977 | 2 |
| Dutch Albums (MegaCharts) · 1977 | 6 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1977 | 10 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) · 1977 | 10 |
| US Billboard Top LPs & Tape · 1977 | 11 |
| New Zealand Albums (RIANZ) · 1977 | 12 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) · 1977 | 12 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) · 2018 reissue | 14 |
| Austrian Albums · 2016 | 16 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) · 1977 | 17 |
All 20 charts
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) · 1977 | 30 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1977 | 35 |
| Hungarian Albums · 2018 reissue | 36 |
| Swiss Albums · 2016 | 40 |
| Greek Albums (IFPI) · 2018 reissue | 44 |
| Italian Albums · 2016 | 52 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1977 | 56 |
| Ireland 2 · 2016 | 72 |
| French Albums · 2016 | 80 |
| Spanish Albums · 2018 reissue | 89 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada | Gold |
| United Kingdom · 2013 | Gold |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
90.3
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
6.3k
ListenBrainz listeners
241k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
25k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 14 January
Every year →
More from David Bowie
Full discography →
David Bowie
1967
David Bowie
1969
The World of David Bowie
1970
The Man Who Sold the World
1970
Hunky Dory
1971
Do Anything You Say
1972
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
1972
Rebel Rebel / Queen Bitch / Sorrow / Amsterdam
1973
Images 1966–1967
1973
Aladdin Sane
1973
Pin Ups
1973
Diamond Dogs
1974
David Live
1974
Young Americans
1975
Station to Station
1976
ChangesOneBowie
1976
“Heroes”
1977
David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf
1978
Stage
1978
Lodger
1979
David Bowie
1980
Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps
1980
The Best of Bowie
1980
Christiane F.: Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo
1981
ChangesTwoBowie
1981
In Bertolt Brecht’s Baal
1982
Rare
1982
Supergroups
1983
Serious Moonlight
1983
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars: The Motion Picture Soundtrack
1983
Let’s Dance
1983
Golden Years
1983
Fame and Fashion (David Bowie’s All Time Greatest Hits)
1984
Love You Till Tuesday
1984
Tonight
1984
Labyrinth: From the Original Soundtrack of the Jim Henson Film
1986
Never Let Me Down
1987
Glass Spider
1988
Sound + Vision
1989
Changesbowie
1990
Early On (1964–1966)
1991
Black Tie White Noise
1993
The Singles Collection
1993
The Buddha of Suburbia
1993
Live Santa Monica ’72
1994
RarestOneBowie
1995
1.Outside: The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper Cycle
1995
Earthling
1997
The Deram Anthology 1966–1968
1997
The Best of David Bowie 1969/1974
1997
The Best of David Bowie 1974/1979
1998
‘hours…’
1999
Liveandwell.com
2000
Bowie at the Beeb: The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions 68–72
2000
All Saints (Collected Instrumentals 1977–1999)
2001
Heathen
2002
Best of Bowie
2002
Reality
2003
Club Bowie: Rare and Unreleased 12″ Mixes
2003
Live EP (live at Fashion Rocks)
2005
The Collection
2005
The Platinum Collection
2005
Bowie 1965!
2006
The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987
2007
Outside / Earthling / Hours / Heathen / Reality
2007
iSELECT
2008
VH1 Storytellers
2009
Space Oddity
2009
A Reality Tour
2010
The Next Day
2013
Pin-Ups Radio Show
2013
The Next Day Extra EP
2013
Nothing has changed.
2014
Five Years 1969–1973
2015
★
2016
Who Can I Be Now? 1974–1976
2016
Lazarus
2016
Legacy
2016
No Plan
2017
Live Nassau Coliseum ’76
2017
Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles ’74)
2017
A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982)
2017
Welcome to the Blackout (live London ’78)
2018
Loving the Alien (1983–1988)
2018
Glastonbury 2000
2018
Conversation Piece
2019
Is It Any Wonder?
2020
ChangesNowBowie
2020
I’m Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74)
2020
The Width of a Circle
2021
Toy
2021
Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001)
2021
Brilliant Adventure EP
2022
Toy E.P.
2022
Fun Mix
2022
Moonage Daydream: A Film by Brett Morgen
2022
Divine Symmetry
2022
Rock ’n’ Roll Star!
2024
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2025
I Can’t Give Everything Away (2002–2016)
2025
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The best of 1977
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Pink Floyd · 1977
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David Bowie · 1977
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AC/DC · 1977
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Sex Pistols · 1977
The Clash
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News of the World
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Love Gun
KISS · 1977
A Farewell to Kings
Rush · 1977
Rocket to Russia
Ramones · 1977
Leave Home
Ramones · 1977
Smoke on the Water
Deep Purple · 1977
More on RCA
The label →Hunky Dory
David Bowie · 1971
Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps
David Bowie · 1980
“Heroes”
David Bowie · 1977
Rebel Rebel / Queen Bitch / Sorrow / Amsterdam
David Bowie · 1973
There Is Nothing Left to Lose
Foo Fighters · 1999
Wasting Light
Foo Fighters · 2011
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Foo Fighters · 2007
Diamond Dogs
David Bowie · 1974
Young Americans
David Bowie · 1975
One by One
Foo Fighters · 2002
Fear Inoculum
Tool · 2019
Pin Ups
David Bowie · 1973
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 14 January 1977 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 14 January 1977 | |
| Wikidata | 14 January 1977 | |
| US release | January 1977 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 14 January 1977 | earliest UK or European date |
25 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | JP | RCA | other | |
| January 1977 | US | RCA | other | |
| 14 January 1977 | GB | RCA Victor | original | |
| 1980 | US | RCA | other | |
| 1981 | DE | RCA | other | |
| 1984 | US | RCA | 078635203028 | other |
| 1984 | XE | RCA International | 0035628385611 | other |
| March 1984 | DE | RCA | 0035628385628 | other |
| 1991 | XE | EMI | 0077779771929 | other |
| 20 August 1991 | US | Rykodisc | 014431014222 | remaster |
| 27 September 1991 | JP | 東芝EMI 株式会社 | 4988006660960 | other |
| 2 July 1996 | US | Rykodisc | 014431814228 | other |
| 20 September 1999 | XE | EMI | 724352190706 | remaster |
| 20 September 1999 | XE | EMI | 724352190706 | remaster |
| 28 September 1999 | US | Virgin | 0724352190706 | other |
| 21 August 2006 | XW | EMI UK | 724352190751 | remaster |
| 7 February 2007 | JP | EMI | 4988006850590 | other |
| 25 November 2009 | JP | EMI Music Japan Inc. | 4988006876354 | other |
| 2014 | US | Parlophone | 724352190706 | other |
| 2017 | XW | — | 0190295842888 | other |
| 1 December 2017 | XW | Parlophone | 190295842901 | other |
| 23 February 2018 | US | Parlophone | 0190295842918 | other |
| 23 February 2018 | XE | Parlophone | 0190295842918 | other |
| 23 February 2018 | XE | Parlophone | 190295842925 | other |
| 14 January 2022 | — | — | 190296726798 | deluxe |
Cover art sources
deezer · native: native 1800x1800
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1800×1800 | native: native 1800x1800 |
| coverartarchive | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |