I'm listening to the boxset right now, pondering whether or not to buy the new release- Great Destroyer. I'm afraid. I may not like their new heavier sound I'm reading about in the reviews. The songs on A Lifetime Of Temporary Relief are welcomed more than ever (currently Tear Down, Tomorrow One, I Started A Joke) and feel their going forward into a louder scene, may actually be wrong. Anyone listened yet?? Feedback....

I'm way psyched about their new album, but I haven't heard about the new "heavier sound" you're referring to. Low being heavy is like Metallica releasing an album with next to no bass and a bizarre clangy drum sound.

I don't know how "heavy" it is...it's certainly a lot more aggressively LOUD than previous Low records. It's not the whisper quiet Low that you might already love, but it's still quite good. I can also really hear the influence of producer Dave Fridmann on that trademark Low sound.

I think the Great Destroyer definitely is louder than their previous records, but I still enjoyed it. Before listening to The Great Destroyer, I only knew Trust and the songs Sunflowers and Dinosaur act, which drew me to explore some of their work in the first place. There are some quieter songs on The Great Destroyer that ressemble those of Trust (e.g. Silver rider, Just stand back). Along with the louder ones (Monkey, Everybody's song, ...) they make for one of my favourite recent albums.

"The Great Destroyer" is one of 2005's best albums, and certainly one of the year's most underappreciated albums. "Death of a Salesman," "Silver Rider," "Monkey," "Step Back," and "California" are standout songs. They're more aggressive than, say, the album "Things We Lost In The Fire," but the new element to their sound doesn't sacrifice any of their unique qualities. It's still that tuneful, "(relatively) quiet-is-the-new-loud" sound, supported by the best boy/girl harmonies in rock music, except perhaps for The New Pornographers.

The only "Low" albums I'm familiar with are Great Destroyer and Trust. Are there other full lengths that are worth exploring? It seems that "Low" is pretty obscure, even in Indie circles, excluding Great Destroyer, of course.