What is the best Low album/release?

And these are in rough chronological order, though I may have misplaced an EP or two.

I'm tempted to opt for Christmas given the time of year (and it is really, really good), but I think Things We Lost In the Fire is the most outstanding of this practically flawless series of albums.

I refuse to choose because I can't.

Nailed it with Fire

Though a greatest hits album would trump all.

yknow, i voted "curtain" because it contains my favorite Low song ever on it. and is just...god.damn.amazing.

okay, i've got a few days to think about this. which is good.

i can say with confidence that my choice won't be "destroyer" or "fire". or any of the pre-96 stuff.

[thinks harder]

it will be between "secret name", "anthony", "trust" and -- HERESY? -- "drums and guns".

it contains my favorite Low song ever on it

"the plan"?

The Curtain Hits the Cast

(and, just to complete this little triptych of little posts: "things we lost in the fire" is a fucking wonderful album. it's just it's not, for some reason, quite as emotionally resonant for me. i have a feeling it will win this poll. "the great destroyer" never quite worked for me -- i think it's the weakest of the bunch, although "weakest" in this context is still "borderline godlike" in any sane universe ... and "pissing" is right up there in my all-time low top five.)

xpost

It's interesting to compare the production values of the various stages of their discography, given that the list of producers/technicians they've worked with reads like an indie band's fantasy wish list (Kramer, Fisk, Albini, Fridmann) and that the latter two are notorious for imprinting their own trademark sounds/styles on the records they're involved with.

While the Friddman albums sound like Friddman albums (which is not a bad thing, unless you happen to be The Delgados), it's curious that Albini actually worked against type and helped/encouraged them to expand their sound on Secret Name and ..Fire - this has to be the only instance of Albini adding to, rather than subtracting from. Whatever the case, it worked. While Low's songwriting has always been consistently excellent, I think those two records definitely sound the best.

this has to be the only instance of Albini adding to, rather than subtracting from

"seamonsters", surely?!

Heresy? Drums and guns is definitively up there with the other contenders.

"seamonsters", surely?!

Arguably. But, compared to Bizarro, it seems Albini just did the loud/quiet volume thing, pushed the drums to the fore & bought them a distortion pedal. Great album, though. One of the best, probably.

Whereas with the Low albums he added, you know, like strings and stuff.

ach, maybe you're right about seamonsters -- but it still SOUNDS like he summoned the elemental force of a thousand gedges (and a million simon smiths).

and stan, yes, i knew you'd agree ... i just seem to remember the ILM consensus being "WHAT'S WITH THIS FUNNY MIX? OH NOES I AM DEAF IN ONE EAR, OR SOMETHING", which was just, y'know, wrong. then again: i seem to misread the ILM consensus, or misremember it, with alarming regularity.

Trust.

grimly, my fave low song every is "Over the Ocean," with "Coattails" coming in on a close second. then third is clearly "In the Drugs."

trust. i was well and truly off the low bus by that point and it got me right back on

trust is probably my favourite. in interviews the band seems to indicate they weren't satisfied with it, which baffles me.

the production is very different/slicker than the other albums, which is probably why they don't care for it. I think it suits the material, though, and Blake was smart enough to let songs like "John Prine" retain their spare power.

but I mean, c'mon, it's got "in the drugs", "little argument with myself", "amazing grace", "point of disgust", "snowstorm"...

i love the austere brutality of the songs like "john prine" and "the lamb".

re: Albini adding to Low's sound with strings - who's to say it wasn't the band's decision to add those elements and flesh out their sound a bit more? i'm not sure it was Albini's choice to add strings and such; maybe he was chosen, rather coincidentally, to produce the two records where they happened to add those elements. i just can't picture Albini asking for strings, you know?

i think it's the weakest of the bunch, although "weakest" in this context is still "borderline godlike" in any sane universe

and basically, this ^^^ can be said about any record in the Low canon - it's a very subjective/relative catalog, not really an album that is *clearly* stronger or weaker than the ones before or after it, just consistently great songs on consistently solid albums - which pretty much sums up their Godlike-ness to me.

i just can't picture Albini asking for strings, you know? - yeah, you're probably right about this. If so, it's still odd for a band that started out with such a minimalistic approach to select Albini as a producer when they want to expand their sound. It's as if they were going in the opposite direction on the line of logic that inspires most musicians when they hire Albini: "Hey that last record was way too prog, we'd better give Steve a call and get back to basics"

Things We Lost In The Fire for me.

Another "curtain" here. And "over the ocean" is my favourite Low song too.

Trust for me. I think Blake's production really pushes the material over the top.

earlier the better, imo

Long Division! Violence is the best Low song!

'Curtain' again - my gut reaction to the question was immediate. If i sit thinking about this I will change ny answer a hundred times. Grimley is correct - best implies that the others aren't up to scratch but with Low this can't be further form the truth.

And I'm not complaining about it's exclusion, but I play a selection from 'A Lifetime of Temporary Relief' more than most of the other albums now. It's right that it is not included, but it's a damn fine box set.

Things We Lost In The Fire for me; "Laser Beam" is the Platonic ideal of a Low song for me.

Next Low poll suggestion: "which of these releases would you never ever choose as your favourite one?"

Next Low poll suggestion: "which of these releases would you never ever choose as your favourite one

I think most people would choose The Great Destroyer, which might be my favorite Low disc. Now that's heresy, I suppose.

i luv luv luv the great destroyer - its the only one ive ever really gotten in to - cause you know the rest are insanely boring - sorry low fans!

^ ban

;-)

theres something so glorious abt such a disciplined tightly wound band lightening up and expanding like that. i was hoping they'd continue the trend w/drums and guns - needless to say: wicked disappointed.

I like all Low albums, but The Great Destroyer is up there as one of my favourites. Don't think I'd pick as the best though.

surprisingly almost impossible, although it def. isn't destroyer....I'll go with Curtain

also, drums and guns had plenty of experimentation!

http://www.sfu.ca/~jdo1/low/sleeve.jpg

http://www.sfu.ca/~jdo1/low/sleeve.jpg

Now if only Low released something called David Bowie, we'd have another Green/REM - REM/Green!

*waves at people who use ILM for inspiration for their music quizzes*

I love Low. Voted earlier, and I think I picked Things We Lost..., but could just as easily have been Trust. They're consistently brilliant, and yes, including The Great Destroyer. "Pissing" and "Silver Rider" are both gorgeous for a start.

"Things we lost", I guess. Here's a theory: "The Great Destroyer" was made for the people at shows who shout, "Canada, Canada!" Well, maybe I went to the wrong shows. God, that guy was annoying.

Now if only Low released something called David Bowie

http://www.waiting4louise.de/cover/Cover-NickLowe-Bowi.jpg

omg! I didn't know that, brilliant!

Too hard! I might pick the Great Destroyer, actually - but some days it's Long Division (Violence is probably my favourite Low song, still). The Curtain Hits The Cast is near-perfect, too. And One More Reason to Forget has two of my all-time favourite Low tracks - the original If You Were Born Today, and that astonishing version of Do You Know How To Waltz?

I wonder if this will be a poll that lots of people find so tricky that they abstain?

"Laser Beam" is the Platonic ideal of a Low song for me.

True - although it's definitely one of the ones which is 10x better live than on record.

Long Division. It has Caroline, Shame, Throw Out The line, Violence... this is easy for me.

i just can't picture Albini asking for strings, you know? - yeah, you're probably right about this. If so, it's still odd for a band that started out with such a minimalistic approach to select Albini as a producer when they want to expand their sound. It's as if they were going in the opposite direction on the line of logic that inspires most musicians when they hire Albini: "Hey that last record was way too prog, we'd better give Steve a call and get back to basics"

-- Pillbox, Sunday, December 23, 2007 4:56 AM (18 hours ago) Bookmark Link

Actually, as I've heard it the sound of their first three records was very influenced by Kramer, and I've never heard them make similar comments about subsequent producers.

The thing I notice most about the Albini albums (and everything after) is that the band's flaws are left exposed. For instance Mimi hardly double-tracks her vocals post-Curtain, and likewise Alan stretches himself vocally more; and you can hear the band paying much closer attention to every small sound their instruments make. Listen to Songs for a Dead Pilot, especially "Born by the Wires," and how Alan plays that one chord over and over. It is brilliant, because the chord is nice and muddy but every strum is just a little different. No song better illustrates the idea of Low as a minimalist band. Elsewhere, "Two Step" on Secret Name, which is a nearly pristine song except that Mimi's voice cracks here and there--something that previously never happened on a Low song. If anything, in the post-Kramer era the band made a conscious decision to become more raw and more explicitly minimalist (not just "slow and quiet"), and Albini, among others, seems like the perfect candidate to complement that aesthetic. Even if there are strings.

i dunno, Alan is definitely hitting some fucking high notes on tracks from Curtain. i'm a pretty high baritone or low tenor and have trouble singin with him.

A nearly impossible task. Went with first instinct, Things We Lost. Someone on one of the other Low threads described Things We Lost as the Low gateway drug. Very OTM. One hit of that disc pulled me right into their universe. Happy to have never escaped.

Xmas EP.

"I Could Live In Hope" was like the only thing I really wanted to own of them. Seriously.

But I do have the new album and I know exactly where it is.

I could live in hope was some really nice sub-Joy Division stuff. I'm worried I don't have it anymore. Life sucks.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Things We... has disappeared as an option!?

The Curtain.... has disappeared too!

and secret name wtf

It's a fix!!

Haha, ILM should be dropped a (long) division for match fixing!

abini has worked on other albums that use strings and ornate production, it's not weird at all.

i can't really decide between secret name and things we lost...i guess secret name cuz it was the first one i bought by them and "Starfire" is maybe my fav song by them.

FYI ( can someone fix the source for the "disappearing images = disappearing poll answers" LOW poll? )

I would vote for Curtain if it was an option

I like A Lifetime of Temporary Relief

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

So was Curtain 1st or 3rd?

Er, what happened to The Great Destroyer?

So we're missing I Could Live in Hope, Long Division, Things We Lost in the Fire, The Great Destroyer, and Drums and Guns on the results list. Now that's just ridiculous.

what the fuck happened here, then?

we need a re-poll :)

Where's a good place to start with Low? I've only heard 'over the ocean', which I really like. Things we lost in the fire is supposedly great, yet seems to be missing from the poll...unless I'm blind.

Yeah God knows what is up with that. Things We Lost In The Fire and Secret Name are the two essential Low albums for me. The others are all great as well though!

Awesome, I'll check those out. Thanks!

I asked for a mod to intervene, but they didn't/couldn't - can someone fix the source for the "disappearing images = disappearing poll answers" LOW poll? :-(