“Speed of Life” by David Bowie

"Speed of Life" throws open Low, David Bowie's 1977 album, and it doesn't say a word: it's his first instrumental, and a gutsy way to start a record. He had meant to put lyrics on it, took several runs at them and then gave up, figuring the music worked better on its own. Synthesizers do double duty as sound effects and as instruments, and together with Dennis Davis's drums and an overlaid harmonizer they give it a mix unlike any Bowie album before it. He even slips in the refrain of "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again".

Bowie produced with Tony Visconti, who mixed it and engineered alongside Eduard Meyer and Laurent Thibault. Bowie plays chamberlin, with Carlos Alomar on guitar, George Murray on bass and Roy Young on piano, and with "A New Career in a New Town" it bookends the album's first side.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.