Low Vs. Diamond
Life After Love
Epic Records
By Jose Fritz
In 2004 they were known as 1984. Aside from the connection to the eerily prophetic book by Orwell, 1984 was also a bad year for music. Michael Jackson got set on fire. Def Leppard's drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a car wreck. Jerry Lee Lewis was arrested for tax evasion. Marvin Gaye was shot by his own father. Tipper Gore formed the PMRC. And (shudder) the first MTV Video Music Awards were held. They were Californians and the negative vibes were bad for their aura. They changed their name briefly to Colored Shadows and pounded out two respectable EPs. Then after the departure of their guitarist they changed names again to the even less encumbering Low vs. Diamond.
Regardless of the game of musical chairs with the name changes, the line up change and the time passed seem to have done them right. Their Colored Shadows EPs have a tedious similarity to ELO that’s completely gone now. I’ll say also, the painful Casio keyboard synths are curtailed as well. On the upside they held onto that broad Doves-like expansiveness in the arrangements.
I’ve seen a few reviewers throw around the adjective “orchestral.” It’s a misnomer. They’re groping for words to describe how big the songs feel. The feeling is disingenuous though as Low vs. Diamond is still a rock band. LeSac said it better of course: “Thou shall not put musicians and recording artists on ridiculous pedestals no matter how great they are or were… Radiohead: just a band.” The point is no matter how big the sound of how much it feels like they are God putting his heels down to Earth, they are just a rock band. Suffice it to say the full lush sound is almost cinematic, bursting with drama as it were. Like David Bowie when he was still pretending to be gay so that people would think he was yiffing with Mick Jagger.
The songs have that grandiose cadence like “Your Black Star”, and everything “Ours” did after Dave came back to prop up Jimmy Gnecco’s limp smack-addicted self. Low vs. Diamond is the arena rock for a new century. By this time next year well all be standing in line with scalped tickets we hope are real to see them with Foreigner at the Meadowlands.
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