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Originally Posted by Bytor Peltor
The box set has been on my "want list" for many years now. About the time it was released is when I became burnt out / fed up with LOW. I took a giant step away and didn't listen to any LOW for over a year. This is also close to the time they did away with their message board, switched labels and Alan kept falling in and out of depression.
'Drums & Guns' had been out a few years when I picked it up on Memorial Day 2009. The last LOW vinyl I purchased is 'Trust.' Also the last tour I saw them on. So hard to believe it's been eleven years since, 'Things We Lost In The Fire' was released.
Thanks to this thread and some conversation with you, I'm slowly coming back......the box set might be a Christmas gift to myself : )
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They indeed went through some harsh situations. Who could forget Alan showing his own state of mind publicly via a post on their message board? I thought it was a shame those kinds of problems were a contributing factor in leading Zak Sally to leave the band. Fortunately they are a tight unit now and things in general doesn't seem to be so grim anymore. From my point of view, "C'Mon" is lots better than "Drums And Guns", which at the time i didn't like too much especially because of the production; judging by the live recordings i got to hear the songs sounded much more up to my alley when performed live. I've come to appreciate "Drums And Guns" more than i initially did.
If you get the box-set, i think you'll be able to appreciate the musical interests they've had through the different stages of their career. In this sense, i heard comments and read reviews that would dismiss their incursion in electronic sound (refer for instance to the demo of "I Remember" and the alternate version of "Immune" with vocals by Mimi Parker; Alan would consider accurate to define this one as an Hospital People song with Mimi as guest vocalist), and if i were to agree that these types of tunes were somehow inferior to their other work, i still would rescue the value they have in providing some context to put things in perspective and end up realizing that "Drums And Guns", for instance, was simply the culmination of their own desires to explore the kind of sounds which are very present in that album. Just a reiteration of my idea that there is no material worthy of getting rid of in this collection as some other people has claimed. Also, have in mind that there are some easter eggs hidden both in the DVDs and on one of the CDs as well.
Anyway, Low have been added to the line-up of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival curated by Jeff Mangum:
http://www.atpfestival.com/events/jeffmangum.php