Customer Reviews

Low Life

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Low Life is an incredible song. One of the best of the year. It is also the type of song that screams for a remix. It is layered, has several different sections where the song varies, and has a great beat that could be manipulated for a remix. It's a re-mixer's dream and I was very exicted to see the results. Unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed in the re-mixes. They basically stuck in some rapper who repeats a stupid line over and over and basically ruins everything about the song. Yuck. What a shame. Get a new remix outfit Roland!! The single version is just the album version minus a few bars to cut the time down as expected.

By the way, the album is great. It combines Roland's classic melodies and hooks with a nice new, trip-hop feel. Highly recommended--just don't get the remix single.

When I first heard this track from Roland's new album, TOMCATS SCREAMING OUTSIDE, I was slightly let down. Gone is the traditional guitar sound of RAOUL..., leaving behind an interesting, rhythmic electronic sound, more akin to the type of production he was using in the early '80s. BUT, this is NOT a step backwards. It is simply a progression of what Roland has been throwing at his fans for twenty years now, that is, an unpredictable pattern of songwriting and production. The most wise thing I have ever heard anyone say about Roland's work in general, was in the summer of 1995, right before RAOUL... hit stores. I was headlong in fanaticism after 1993's brilliantly unparalleled ELEMENTAL, and was talking to a friend of mine (who just happened to be the manager of an independent record store, and a huge fan of Rolands), when I asked him what he thought the new album would sound like. He simply replied, "I don't know, but you can bet it won't sound like anything we've ever heard before." How perfect a way to describe Roland's output! Roland has once again delighted in challenging himself and his fans by jumping headlong into dance and electronics. "Low Life" is a thrilling snippet from the superb new album. Its not as strong in a pop sense as, say, "Bullets For Brains," or "For The Love Of Cain." But its a wonderful introduction into the new album. Full of energy and exuberance... that insanely catchy guitar will be stuck in your head for weeks!!... and the beat is so funky and insistent, that you will HAVE to at least bob your head along. It combines a perfect balance of the familiar (Roland's rich voice, production, songwriting) with a nod-and-a-wink to the brand new (dance rhythms, pounding bass, and ENERGY!). Hmmm... I think the highest form of flattery I can give this song is this... My younger brother walked into the room the other day while this was playing. He has long "suffered" through my fanaticism, and I expected to hear a moan. But instead he looked strangely at the stereo and asked, "Is this Roland? This doesn't sound anything like him. This is pretty good... you know, I've kind of missed Tears For Fears since you left for school... Dangit!"

I'll leave the other [...] to try and out-do each other with their attempts at glossy, wanna-be-professional critic verbage in describing Roland Orzabal's new album. Instead, I'll use simple words like phenomenal, fantastic, and fat! to describe this killer new release. Listen to it twice in a row and it'll make you want to listen to it at least once a day after that. How does this man keep things fresh and constantly improving with each new release? As much as I LOVED TFF and having Curt Smith's distinct voice be a part of the band, Roland keeps proving that not only does he not need the TFF moniker anymore, but that he was the true talent in the band all along!! If there's anything negative I can share it's the fact that Roland keeps us waiting too long between studio releases!

I have listened to this album a dozen+ times, and every time a different song is my favorite. This is a rare, watershed album which touches the full range of emotions. There aren't enough stars in this system to rate this album!

Being an avid TFF fan for years who knew what to expect when RO dropped the Band moniker for RO. Same difference. RO, in my mind, is as, if not more talented than Gabriel or Sting with similarities in production prowess but vastly different in substance. He has lightened up after the last outing deeply thoughtful yet dark(RATKOS)and returns with a dichotic yet precisionly balanced CD that rocks yet breaks new experimental grounds...as usual. The band, Nick D on drums (huge fan)has arrived...far more musical than the SB barrages and now completely ranks up there with Manu, Vinnie, Gadd Etc. Dave Sutton shines as he did on the RATKOS tour...the bass player who has the perpetual smile while demonstating killer licks, Alan G., no guitarist on the planet can pull such atmospheres out of 6 strings. Highly rcommended. Note: I received both single CD and full CD Tomcats from the UK yesterday...makes my year.

This is the new & now withdrawn first single from Roland's "Tomcats Screaming Outside" CD. The track reminds me a bit of The Pet Shop Boys in one of their more experimental moods. Not sure about its commercial appeal, although I certainly like it enough to recommend it. It should be picked up by the dance clubs. But the fact that it has been reconsidered as the lead single means that other tracks must have more commercial potential. (As I write this, the album is due for release this week.) In any case, anyone who owns this already has a collector's item! There are 2 similar-sounding remixes as well as a slightly shorter "radio" version. I would have rated this 5 stars had there been more variety on this CD single, with at least one non-LP track.

This is Roland's latest single "Low Life", which appears on his new and up coming solo album "Tomcats Screaming Outside". This CD is a single that promotes his new hit "Low Life". The song is literally fantastic and to appeal to the younger generation, it is off the hook! This song has an unusual technoish kind of beat, filled with a monster guitar riff, that you'll catch yourself humming, and it has the usual vocal style of the man himself, Roland Orzabal! A fantastic song by a fantastic artist. I recommend this CD to anyone who is or has been a fan of Tears For Fears *Roland's previous/current band* Songs like "Shout" and "Everybody wants to Rule the World" rocked the 80s, and "Low Life" will rock the new generation of music. New artists are going to have to take a back seat to this song! Way to go Roland!!!!!

I thought rock died by 2000 with the horrible nu-metal garbage that luttered the charts recently. This song from the meistro of Tears For Fears has brought new life to what I think is a dying genre of music. Low Life is a heavy rock song with ambient guitar riffs with techno drums and electronic sound effects and a danceable beat. I missed the great sound of rock music that has been lacking since like 1994. Roland Orzabal amazes me with his incredible music. His former group Tears For Fears is my all-time favorite group.

This song is the first single off the Tomcats Screaming Outside. It was a smart choice to release it. It's sad it didn't make a dent on the American charts. If you have this single, go and get the Tomcats Screaming Outside CD. It's incredible.

I have been a Roland fan since 93, when one night I stayed up late and happened to catch "Elemental" on VH1. I was entranced, and bought the album the next day. A picky music lover, I NEVER do that. Now Roland is my favorite "popular" artist (surpassing a previous obsession with R.E.M.) On "Tomcats Screaming Outside" he finally lets himself just... be himself. No personal messages- just pure delight. THE WHOLE ALBUM IS FOOD FOR MY SOUL. Low Life is just one of its many excellent tracks. (...)

Almost 20 years before the TFF "change" Roland comes with a new album and this single using by the first time his own name instead of the tears for fears (TFF's "Elemental" and "Raoul And the Kings of Spain" were solo albums but he chose to continue using the name of the duo split up by the begginings of 1991.). And this change is not by chance because just a few things remains of the old TFF structure: His Magnificent voice and some "melodic Tricks" and thats all. It's notorious roland has been influencied in one side by american grunge but also he's been listening to electronica and all that stuff. Low Life is the first single of the album called "Tomcats Screaming Outside" and it is quite a strange piece of electronic sintetized souds (a strange mixture beetwen '80 sounds and actual) with a melodic structure according to roland's traditional but not old-fashioned voice. Yes, It Is quite strange. It's definitvely not Tears For Fears but fans will aprecciate because roland's still is the same and there are some things of the old TFF but also new people who has never liked TFF will find it interesting because roland is NOT A POP STAR ANYMORE. He became strange, ironic and almost dark.