The Great Destroyer

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The Great Destroyer
Low The Great Destroyer.jpg
Studio album by
Low
ReleasedJanuary 25, 2005 (2005-01-25)
RecordedMay 3 – September 27, 2004
StudioTarbox Road Studios, Cassadaga, New York, United States
Genre Slowcore
Length52:48
Label Sub Pop
Producer
Low chronology
Trust
(2002)		The Great Destroyer
(2005)		 Drums and Guns
(2007)

The Great Destroyer is the seventh studio album by American indie rock band Low. It was released on January 25, 2005, as their first recording on Sub Pop Records. [1]

Contents

"California", a song about Sparhawk's mother, was released as the album's first single, backed with a demo of "Cue the Strings". [2] A remix EP of "Monkey", entitled "Tonight the Monkeys Die", soon followed. [3] Music videos were created for both. [2] [3]

The title of the album (as well as the song "Silver Rider") is taken from the story within the album art. [4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 82/100 [5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Blender Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Entertainment Weekly A− [7]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Mojo Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
NME 8/10 [10]
Pitchfork 5.5/10 [11]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [12]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [13]
Spin A− [14]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic , The Great Destroyer received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 82 out of 100 from 34 critic scores. The site named it the 46th-best reviewed album of 2005. [5]

Track listing

All songs written by Mimi Parker, Zak Sally, and Alan Sparhawk

  1. "Monkey" – 4:19
  2. "California" – 3:23
  3. "Everybody's Song" – 3:55
  4. "Silver Rider" – 5:03
  5. "Just Stand Back" – 3:04
  6. "On the Edge Of" – 3:49
  7. "Cue the Strings" – 3:30
  8. "Step" – 3:18
  9. "When I Go Deaf" – 4:41
  10. "Broadway (So Many People)" – 7:14
  11. "Pissing" – 5:08
  12. "Death of a Salesman" – 2:28
  13. "Walk into the Sea" – 2:56

Personnel

Low

Additional personnel

Charts

Chart (2005)Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [15] 67
French Albums (SNEP) [16] 190
Irish Albums (IRMA) [17] 30
UK Albums (OCC) [18] 72
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [19] 13
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [20] 19

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References

  1. 1 2 Phares, Heather. "The Great Destroyer – Low". AllMusic . Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Sub Pop Records : Low : California Single". Subpop.com. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
  3. 1 2 "Sub Pop Records : Low : Tonight The Monkeys Die". Subpop.com. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
  4. ↑ "RELEVANT Magazine - Low, The Great Destroyer". Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
  5. 1 2 "Reviews for The Great Destroyer by Low". Metacritic . Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  6. ↑ Wolk, Douglas (March 2005). "Low: The Great Destroyer". Blender (34): 141. Archived from the original on April 3, 2005. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  7. ↑ Chen, Steven (January 21, 2005). "Low: The Great Destroyer". Entertainment Weekly . p. 88.
  8. ↑ Peschek, David (February 11, 2005). "Low, The Great Destroyer". The Guardian . Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Low: The Great Destroyer". Mojo (135): 94. February 2005.
  10. ↑ "Low: The Great Destroyer". NME : 59. January 29, 2005.
  11. ↑ Raposa, David (January 26, 2005). "Low: The Great Destroyer". Pitchfork . Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Low: The Great Destroyer". Q (224): 100. March 2005.
  13. ↑ Fricke, David (February 10, 2005). "Low: The Great Destroyer". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  14. ↑ Scholtes, Peter S. (February 2005). "Low: The Great Destroyer". Spin . 21 (2): 91. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Low – The Great Destroyer" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  16. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Low – The Great Destroyer". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  17. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 5, 2005". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  18. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  19. ↑ "Low Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Low Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
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