Saturday, June 21, 2025

A Fun Ride Through the Creation of a Classic

 David Bowie's Low by Hugo Wilcken

Low book cover

I enjoyed Wilcken’s book about the seminal Bowie album Low. Not only was this album important in helping to bring in more electronics in music, but it also presented a strange period in Bowie’s life where he was flirting with the idea of the Thin White Duke and completely strung out on cocaine. It’s amazing that he was able to create this album during the period of artistic chaos. Yet, Wilcken’s book explores some of the events of Bowie’s life that led to the album’s development as well as the stories behind the music and lyrics. I love Bowie’s work, and I think that Wilcken did well zooming in on this particular era of Bowie’s work and how it fits in with his overall body of work. Although Wilcken doesn’t interview Bowie, he does talk with some other members of Bowie’s band and the production crew to give some details about the creation of the album. This was a solid entry into the 33 1/3 library providing useful context and history about this significant album. 




No comments:

Post a Comment