Too LOW: ILM Artist Poll #111 - Low - RESULTS

I voted for ten pre-Trust songs, I think my ballot was fairly varied. I voted for five songs from "Things We Lost In The Fire", the most of any album. However, my two favourite albums are Double Negative and The Great Destroyer, which are about as different as it gets from the pre-Trust style.

My two favs are Ones and Sixes and Long Division, the latter of which seems to mark me as an outlier even among people who hold the early stuff in high regard. (s/o to Brad though!)

I put two songs from Long Division in my top 10, one of them at #1.

I'm impressed there's so little "I like the early stuff" bias in all these results, even if few of the tracks thus far were in my list (and probably most in my list won't place).

I've been a fan for 25 years, and loved "the early stuff". But I also loved the next phase thereafter, and the most recent phase. Seems like a shame to close the door after the first three records, just because those captured a certain crystaline sound and approach. The breadth and itch for experimentation was always there, even from the beginning. If they'd kept on retreading that ground faithfully, would we even be talking about them in the present tense?

Agree with that statement but I’m sure there will be more early stuff as go further in the poll.

i had to cut “lazy” from my ballot but i still hope the first low song i ever heard places

just catching up with the results! (spotify playlist is updated too)

so far...

61. Nightingale - 176 points, 5 voters
61. I Remember - 176 points, 5 voters
60. Gentle - 177 points, 6 voters
58. Spanish Translation - 186 points, 7 voters, 1 #1 vote
58. Like a Forest - 186 points, 6 voters
57. Days Like These - 202 points, 7 voters
55. John Prine - 206 points, 7 voters
55. Belarus - 206 points, 6 voters
54. Soon - 216 points, 8 voters, 1 #1 vote
53. Sleep at the Bottom - 233 points, 8 voters, 1 #1 vote
52. Dancing and Blood - 237 points, 7 voters
50. More - 238 points, 10 voters, 1 #1 vote
50. Especially Me - 238 points, 9 voters, 1 #1 vote
49. Immune - 250 points, 5 voters, 1 #1 vote
48. Anon - 257 points, 7 voters
47. Just Like Christmas - 266 points, 7 voters
46. Venus - 270 points, 11 voters
45. Always Up - 271 points, 6 voters
44. Lies - 273 points, 9 voters
43. July - 274 points, 10 voters
42. California - 276 points, 9 voters
41. The Price You Pay (It Must Be Wearing Off) - 277 points, 9 voters

40. Tempest - 278 points, 7 voters
39. Last Snowstorm of the Year - 279 points, 8 voters
37. Whitetail - 285 points, 8 voters
37. Landslide - 285 points, 11 voters
35. Weight of Water - 291 points, 9 voters, 1 #1 vote
35. No Comprende - 291 points, 11 voters
34. Broadway (So Many People) - 302 points, 7 voters
33. The Lamb - 303 points, 7 voters, 1 #1 vote
31. Will the Night - 310 points, 11 voters, 1 #1 vote
31. Violent Past - 310 points, 10 voters, 1 #1 vote
30. White Horses - 331 points, 10 voters
29. Shots & Ladders - 352 points, 14 voters
28. Breaker - 370 points, 13 voters
27. Shame - 394 points, 13 voters
26. In The Drugs - 397 points, 14 voters

https://i.imgur.com/m6JDG3r.png
25. Always Trying to Work It Out
Released on Double Negative (2018)
400 points, 12 voters
Music video
Live at NOX ORAE 2019

the bridge where it all dissolves into the most beautiful noise is incredible

it's one i expected that it could have made it to the top 10, since it seemed to be a favourite on double negative

https://i.imgur.com/SCThwpz.png
24. Monkey
Released on The Great Destroyer (2005)
405 points, 13 voters
Music video
Studio version

oh i didn't even consider that it's thanksgiving in the us lol that's why it's quiet on here today

"monkey" always reminds me of "bullet with butterfly wings" lol

I imagine there would be more early stuff bias if the band's later stuff weren't so awesome.

Late cut, undeniable album opener

yeah, it’s, how do you say, the mood

https://i.imgur.com/TxFtRDR.png
23. The Plan
Released on The Curtain Hits The Cast (1996)
417 points, 12 voters
Studio version
Demo

one of their prettiest moments

the best song ever

https://i.imgur.com/XZVL86H.png
22. Coattails
Released on The Curtain Hits The Cast (1996)
424 points, 13 voters
Studio version

first draft of my list, “coattails” was no. 1

otherworldly swirl of mystery

https://i.imgur.com/noRNq64.png
21. Starfire
Released on Secret Name (1999)
428 points, 15 voters, 1 #1 vote
Studio version

Yes, voted for these last three. The Plan and Coattails both my top ten. All fucking time. What a band.

https://i.imgur.com/FefVd4T.png
20. Fly
Released on Double Negative (2018)
433 points, 12 voters, 1 #1 vote
Music video
Live at NOX ORAE 2019

probably steve garrington's greatest moment? both that bass line & those keyboards

! Had written it off placing at this point. One of my SN that made the cut.

There's a lot of this record isn't there.

https://i.imgur.com/caWh8cK.png
19. Quorum
Released on Double Negative (2018)
438 points, 14 voters
Music video
Live at NOX ORAE 2019

remember when they premiered the first three tracks of double negative and since then we’ve been living in a fundamentally different universe

That was such a brilliant way to announce what they were doing. As a long-time fan of 'weird' Low, I was so proud and excited.

https://i.imgur.com/QQrfhf8.png
18. Dinosaur Act
Released on Things We Lost In The Fire (2001)
440 points, 14 voters, 1 #1 vote
Music video

dinosaur aaaaaaact

dinosaur aaaaaaaaact

Again. Expected this really high. Great track. This poll is weird.

This was the first of their songs where I got Neil Young vibes.

love Dinosaur Act

https://i.imgur.com/4AJOMWJ.png
17. Hey
Released on HEY WHAT (2021)
461 points, 15 voters
Studio version

heyyyyyyyyyy

this is the only song from hey what that made my ballot. rest of the album still feels too new, but “hey”… first time i heard it i thought it was the best song ever

https://i.imgur.com/BjC9Scg.png
16. Pissing
Released on The Great Destroyer (2005)
479 points, 16 voters
Studio version
Live from the Fitzgerald Theater 2018

does it make sense to stop here for today with thanksgiving and everythin? i can do another 5 if people want but i think it makes more sense to do the top 15 tomorrow?

the studio version of "pissing" is good but doesn't really compare to how immense the live versions are

Sounds good!

15 tomorrow is good!

The first three words of Starfire sound like Alan's about to sing "They call him Flipper, Flipper, Flipper the dolphin."

starfire was my #1 - too low!

Friday is also a holiday in the US but I hope we can get some people to check in for the final 15

"Coattails" is so simply constructed: a single one-note vocal line under a repeated arpeggio, bookended by a trudging riff. Amazing what they turn that into

"Fly" was my #1. Love everything about it: the mood they spin, the electronic touches, the haunting melody line and lyrics. everything I want from this band!

"Pissing" never stood out for me on Great Destroyer, maybe because it follows "Broadway". but I'm listening back now and realizing this song is way better than I gave it credit for

It's their best song about pissing!

Overall, revisiting their oeuvre in full these last weeks has really just hit home how excellent even all the tracks I didn't register over the years as "favorites" really are excellent (things like "Pissing" as an example prompting the thought).

'C'mon,' 'Invisible Way,' and 'Ones & Sixes' still don't really hit me like 10 or so other albums... But they're at worst "good" even so. Made me realize I like 'The Great Destroyer' much more than I did at the time--I think at the time I was hoping for more "weird" Low (which I got in spades on the next album), and I was disappointed by the guitar-god-ness of it, but now I hear it as a cohesive collection of really stellar songs, produced in a way I wouldn't want ever song to be, but that was well warranted.

I'd easily say they're my favorite "rock" band of my lifetime, more consistently great than Radiohead (probably the only other rock band that's kept my attention over all these years).