I Could Live in Hope

I Could Live in Hope
Studio album by
Low
ReleasedFebruary 18, 1994 (1994-02-18)
RecordedAutumn 1993
StudioNoise New Jersey[1]
Genre
Length56:17
LabelVernon Yard
ProducerKramer
Low chronology
I Could Live in Hope
(1994) 		Long Division
(1995)

I Could Live in Hope is the debut studio album by American indie rock band Low. It was released on February 18, 1994, on Vernon Yard Recordings.[2]

Background and composition

A reaction to the abrasiveness of alternative rock in the early 1990s, when grunge had reigning popularity, Low "eschewed conventional songwriting in favour of mood and movement."[4][5] Influenced by Brian Eno and Joy Division, the band, collaborating with long-time producer and New York underground mainstay Kramer, favored slow-paced compositions characterized by minimal instrumentation and an economy of language.[5][6][7][8]

The band named the album after stopping for sandwiches in Hope Township, New Jersey.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Chicago Tribune[9]
Mojo[10]
NME7/10[11]
Pitchfork9.3/10[12]
Q[13]
Uncut8/10[14]
Vox6/10[15]

I Could Live in Hope received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics. Writing for the Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot felt that "its heavy-lidded drama creeps by in all-enveloping slow motion" and called it "the best record made for those dreary, nothing's-going-on-and-I-want-to-crawl-into-a-hole afternoons since Galaxie 500's debut", which was also produced by Kramer.[9] Q critic Martin Aston remarked that "not since Galaxie 500's On Fire have rippling guitars and hammock swinging dynamics seemed so beatific, this beautiful and not at any time depressing".[13]

Legacy

Featuring music played at an "unprecedented pace in the then-flowering underground,"[5] I Could Live in Hope helped to birth the genre known as slowcore, which encompassed acts from Bedhead to Codeine throughout the 1990s.[7]

Pitchfork placed I Could Live in Hope at number 49 on its 1999 list of the best albums of the 1990s.[16] The same year, critic Ned Raggett ranked it at number 37 on his list of "The Top 136 or So Albums of the Nineties" for Freaky Trigger.[17] In 2004, the album was included in Les Inrockuptibles' "50 Years of Rock'n'Roll" list.[18] In 2018, Pitchfork placed it at number 22 on its list of the 30 best dream pop albums.[19]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Alan Sparhawk, Mimi Parker and John Nichols, except where noted.

I Could Live in Hope track listing
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
1."Words"Sparhawk5:45
2."Fear"Sparhawk2:12
3."Cut"Sparhawk5:43
4."Slide"Parker3:46
5."Lazy"Sparhawk5:35
6."Lullaby"Parker9:46
7."Sea"Sparhawk, Parker1:45
8."Down"Sparhawk7:24
9."Drag"Sparhawk5:11
10."Rope"Sparhawk6:11
11."Sunshine" (Jimmie Davis, Charles Mitchell)Sparhawk, Parker2:59
Total length:56:17

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of I Could Live in Hope.[20]

Low

  • Alan Sparhawk – guitar, vocals
  • Mimi Parker – percussion, vocals
  • John Nichols – bass

Production

  • Kramer – production
  • Steve Watson – assistant production

Design

  • Low – artwork
  • Gerree Small – inner sleeve photography

References

  1. ^ a b "Interview (part 2)". Low Live at KJHK-FM on 1994-05-02 (radio broadcast). KJHK. May 2, 1994. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  2. ^ Wray, Daniel Dylan (February 13, 2019). "Calm Amidst The Storm: Low's Debut 25 Years On". The Quietus. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
  3. ^ Swensson, Andrea (November 7, 2022). "Remembering Low's Mimi Parker With 6 Essential Tracks". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  4. ^ Simmonds, Jeremy (October 30, 2003). "Low". In Buckley, Peter (ed.). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. pp. 615–616. ISBN 978-1843531050.
  5. ^ a b c Earles, Andrew (October 9, 2014). "Low: I Could Live in Hope". Gimme Indie Rock: 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981–1996. Voyageur Press. pp. 177–178. ISBN 978-0760346488.
  6. ^ a b Taylor, Ken. "I Could Live in Hope – Low". AllMusic. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
  7. ^ a b Everhart, John (June 7, 2013). "Low Albums From Worst To Best". Stereogum. p. 3. Archived from the original on June 11, 2013. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  8. ^ Sprague, David (April 1, 1995). "Vernon Yard/Virgin Is Counting on Low's 'Long-Division'". Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 13. p. 14. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  9. ^ a b Kot, Greg (February 24, 1994). "Lovely Lethargy". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on November 8, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  10. ^ Segal, Victoria (October 2021). "The Nether World". Mojo. No. 335. p. 50.
  11. ^ Fortnam, Ian (September 3, 1994). "Low: I Could Live in Hope". NME. p. 52.
  12. ^ Richardson, Mark (March 15, 2026). "Low: I Could Live in Hope". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
  13. ^ a b Aston, Martin (September 1994). "Low: I Could Live in Hope". Q. No. 96. p. 102.
  14. ^ Thomson, Graeme (April 2013). "How to Buy... Low". Uncut. No. 191. p. 62.
  15. ^ Scanlon, Ann (September 1994). "Low: I Could Live in Hope". Vox. No. 48. p. 104.
  16. ^ "Top 100 Albums of the '90s". Pitchfork. p. 6. Archived from the original on February 25, 2003. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  17. ^ Raggett, Ned. "The Top 136 Or So Albums Of The Nineties". Freaky Trigger. Archived from the original on January 20, 2000. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  18. ^ 50 ans de rock. 01 : Hors-série Les Inrocks 2, Les années 80–90 (in French). Paris: Les Inrockuptibles. 2004. OCLC 419731573.
  19. ^ "The 30 Best Dream Pop Albums". Pitchfork. April 16, 2018. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  20. ^ I Could Live in Hope (liner notes). Low. Vernon Yard Recordings. 1994. YARD CD6.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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