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Low - The Great Destroyer


Now how about that? And here I thought I knew what Low sounded like.
Surely not going to make anybody's top ten list of the year, one of the most controversial releases of 2005 has been Low's seventh full-length and Sub-Pop debut, The Great Destroyer, which saw the "slow-core" trio sound almost like a rock and roll band. Granted, compared to all the other rock and roll out there nowadays, this Low record still sounds like the gutteral moan of your grandfather after thanksgiving dinner slowed down 40%, but compared to the Low that had inexplicably garnered acolades from both music critics and brooding goth kids alike, the music is noticably faster and somewhat upbeat. Alot of people saw this as a direct violation to the music they loved and met the new record with bitterness. Others welcomed it with open arms but were still only liking it. And alot of people were saddened by the fact that Mimi Parker doesn't sing lead on any of the thirteen tracks, though her backup vocals are everywhere and she's hitting those drums as hard as ever.
Personally, I didn't mind, personally, as one of my favorite Low songs is the slightly rockish "Dinosaur Act" from 2001's Things We Lost in the Fire, and looked forward to more from that. My wish was granted by the album's opener "Monkey," with its pounding drums and bass and vocals that suggest a contained aggression, as Alan sings "It's a suicide. Shut up and drive. We're never going to make the light, but it's all right. Tonight you will be mine. Tonight the monkey dies"
Still, though, Alan can break my heart with his slow songs, especially The Great Destroyer's penultimate track "Death of a Salesman," the intimate ballad in which Alan confesses "And I soon had a song, I played it around for some friends but they all said the same. They said 'music's for fools, you should go back to school. The future is prisms and math.' So I did what they said, now my children are fed 'cause they pay me to do what I'm asked. I forgot all my songs. The words now are wrong, and I burned my guitar in a rage."
Chilling.

Monkey MP3
Death of a Salesman MP3