The real Lou Reed Poll

john williams · April-27th-2003, 11:18 PM

Vote for your favorite Lou Red album. I hope I picked a representative selection.

BFrank · April-27th-2003, 11:29 PM

Just because no one else will probably vote for this - and I like it.

john williams · April-27th-2003, 11:32 PM

I am a big fan of the Blue Mask - a big comeback album for Lou. It is hard to pick just one.

Who edited my post and added Coney Island Baby??? No objection just thought there was a limit of 10 choices.

moneyp · April-28th-2003, 12:07 AM

Guilty party here. Thar ain't no limit.

Fred K · April-28th-2003, 01:20 AM

For me, Transformer has a slight edge over New York and New Sensations.

HenryMc · April-28th-2003, 09:01 AM

I am surprised that no one has voted for this. A classic of the genre!!!!

HenryMc · April-28th-2003, 09:03 AM

the crap genre that is

Gary Sisco · April-28th-2003, 09:05 AM

Hard choice for me, as I love Lou, and especially Rock And Roll Animal and New York. Was a difficult choice but in the end Rock And Roll Animal won out when forced to choose. A good thing such choices aren't really necessary....

Brian Olewnick · April-28th-2003, 09:07 AM

JBW, how could you leave out Metal Machine Music? It's actually the only post-Velvets Reed (with the arguable exception of his rendition of 'September Song' from the Weill/Wilner album) that I've liked....(not that I've heard all that much, admittedly).

Joe Milazzo · April-28th-2003, 09:45 AM

Said with no intent to be ironic:

MMM is the greatest easy listening album of all time. (Whether its a great Lou Reed recording is another matter altogether.)

stonemonkts · April-28th-2003, 10:26 AM

Rock and Roll Animal was my choice, based on my experience of seeing him perform it (and previous stuff) at the Felt Forum back in 1974 or so. Walked into that show with a friend who followed Reed from the beginning, swore by him up and down (this guy also turned me on to Eno, not that there is any connection, only that in my neighborhood this guy was definitely hipper than the average bear).

Talk about pollitically incorrect! Reed did his heroin thing dressed in sleeveless black T and dungarees just like the album cover. Tied his arm with a rubber hose, tapped his vein, and pretended to inject himself. It was bizarre but certainly fit the persona he was projecting, for sure.

Christ that was almost 30 years ago. %$#$#$!

walto · April-28th-2003, 10:49 AM

You gotta add MMM, mone!

(Plus, maybe you could get Lois to respond to my personal message?)

Jim Dye · April-28th-2003, 10:57 AM

Magic & Loss came out shortly after I lost my father to Lung Cancer. It was instrumental in helping me through the grieving process. Hell, the whole record IS the grieving process. A very special album that will always be close to my heart.

moneyp · April-28th-2003, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by walto
You gotta add MMM, mone!

(Plus, maybe you could get Lois to respond to my personal message?)

Added!

Walt, she don't check the PMs. E-mail her!

Chris D · April-28th-2003, 02:00 PM

I guess no one cares that much for the first solo album, which had a few reworked Velvets cuts (like "I Can't Stand It"), played mainly with Brits.
I still play it a lot.

For me, it came down to "Street Hassle," hampered greatly by "I Wanna Be Black"; "Rock 'n' Roll Animal," hampered by the junkie pose; the underrated "Coney Island Baby," she's my best friend!; and "Transformer," maybe Bowie's best outside production work (a close battle with "All the Young Dudes" and "The Idiot").

I loved "Blue Mask" when it came out, but have you played it much lately?
The guitars and Fernando Saunders sound great, but it's not the revelation I thought it at the time.

Came down to most playable album. "Transformer."

moneyp · April-28th-2003, 02:26 PM

Actually, my favorite Reed album is probably LOADED, which, while technically a Velvets album, is Reed's show the whole way.

john williams · April-28th-2003, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Brian Olewnick
JBW, how could you leave out Metal Machine Music? It's actually the only post-Velvets Reed (with the arguable exception of his rendition of 'September Song' from the Weill/Wilner album) that I've liked....(not that I've heard all that much, admittedly).

Sorry, I thought there was a limit on the number of poll items. Thurston Mooore of SY said in the documentary "Rock 'n'Roll Heart" that MMM was hugely influential. Its hard to know whether he was taking the piss when he said it though.

Dr Dave · April-28th-2003, 11:52 PM

Berlin was great, but Rock'n'Roll Animal was greater.

john williams · April-29th-2003, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dr Dave
Berlin was great, but Rock'n'Roll Animal was greater.

I have to disagree respectfully with those who reckon Rock n Roll Animal is the best. I think the versions of VU songs are pretty tepid, and I also loath those pseudo-heavy metal guitars. Lou did much better versions of most of these songs on "American Poet", which was recorded around the same time as Transformer, but only released in the last year or so. I should hve included it in the poll, but figured not many would know about it.

AMG review ****1/2
Finally, this is an official release of the December 26, 1972, performance of Reed on a New York radio show, which had been floating around on numerous bootlegs for many years. The sound is at least as good as it's been on any of those bootlegs. As for the music, it's inarguably among the finest of Reed's solo work, released or unreleased. The set's split evenly between the Velvet Underground classics and highlights from Reed's early solo albums, with backing by the Tots, the group of unknown musicians who played with him in concert during the period. The fidelity is very good, Reed's singing is great, and the band plays in a raw and urgent manner that Reed should have employed on his solo albums, but didn't. The Velvet Underground songs are well-done and considerably different from the originals, and the versions of solo classics like "Vicious," "Walk on the Wild Side," "I'm So Free," "Berlin," and "Satellite of Love" slay the studio takes to shreds. If you're looking for one interesting bonus that doesn't seem to have made it onto many of the prior bootleg releases of this material, there's a brief interview with Reed in which the naïve-sounding DJ asks him where Doug Yule is. "Dead, I hope," Reed deadpans, to sincere gasps of shock from the audience. For those who take their Reed seriously, that one moment might actually make this CD worthy of purchase, even if they already have the music on bootleg. This is essential for Reed fanatics, though it's unfortunate that the liner notes are poorly written and poorly proofread, with no details about the show itself, instead offering a general history of his activities in the early '70s. — Richie Unterberger

Gentle Giant · April-29th-2003, 09:25 AM

Live: Take No Prisoners. It has to be heard to be believed. A two-LP set now available on a single CD.

lazarus · April-29th-2003, 09:49 AM

I voted for Street Hassle. I thought I was alone to have that album as my personel favourite but was pleasently surprised to discover there are other fans of this great album . Berlin and The Blue Mask comes next.

I have to check out the American Poet cd.

I´m also an admirer of Metal Machine Music. I recently bought it on cd and like it a lot.

I agree with Gentle Giant about Take No Prisoners. It´s my favorite live album.

Gentle Giant · April-29th-2003, 11:50 AM

Right on, laz (it's amazing how similar our tastes are!). BTW, I've decided to play nice and vote for one of the albums listed. My choice is Berlin because it's artful and disturbing, and who really wants to dance to Lou Reed anyway?

I will add, though, that I caught him on Leno last week and it was almost unlistenable. I'm not sure his latest Poe thing will be among his most celebrated works.

His version of "Foot of Pride" on the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Celebration CD and video, however, rocks.

Chris D · April-29th-2003, 05:49 PM

I was playing "Take No Prisoners" one day while I was in college, and my girlfriend of the time walked in. "Oh, great," she said. "Music to slit your wrists to."
Which would be a good capsule review of "Berlin," too.
I remember getting into a violent argument in an Intro to Philosophy class. We were doing the stock glossing over of aesthetics, and the prof, a really sharp guy, brought in "Berlin" and played some of it for the class.
They all reacted as you might expect, making wretching noises, saying "How could anyone release that?" -- crap like that.

I got on the soapbox to expound on how art should reveal the human soul in all its aspects, light and shadow, blah, blah. I was literally quaking by the time I finished.
Wound up getting an A in the course.

Root Doctor · July-14th-2004, 09:53 AM

Inspired by the MMM thread, I broke out my battered vinyl copy of "Coney Island Baby" last night and enjoyed it tremendously. This captures Lou in his "let's make up the lyrics as the tape rolls" phase for more successfully than the shoddy "Sally Can't Dance." Besides, "Ooohhh Baby" is a hoot.

As for the other discs under discussion, "Rock and Roll Animal" and "Take No Prisoners" are good records for very different reasons. The former successfully translates Lou into the language of '70s style arena rock, while the latter shows off his stand-up chops. He's a funny bastard.

I'd also like to put in a kind word for the low key "Legendary Hearts." It has some excellent songs: the title track, "Don't Talk to Me About Work," "Bottoming Out," and "The Last Shot."

Chris D · July-14th-2004, 12:27 PM

'Fess up. Who voted for "The Bells"?

lazarus · July-14th-2004, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris D

'Fess up. Who voted for "The Bells"?

Not me!
Some Don Cherry fan maybe? He plays on that album.

Rob C · July-14th-2004, 01:21 PM

I don't know a lot of Reed's work, but I've always liked New York.

GodSpeliZed · July-14th-2004, 04:22 PM

I voted for Berlin, even if my favorite albums of Lou are VU with Nico and White Light/White Heat
(P.S. Did someone of you have seen "The VU and Nico" by Andy Warhol?)

Enforcer · July-14th-2004, 04:24 PM

Nothing to do with the poll, really, but...

One of my best friends and I came up with something involving Lou and also Christopher Walken. One night, we were talking about music and film and the subject of both of these guys came up. For some reason, maybe too much scotch, we couldn't remember either guy's name. Luckily, we were able to fix that problem by making a reference that worked for both of us. In Walken's case, it was, "That New York actor." We both immediately knew we were talking about the same guy, Christopher Walken. Well, Lou Reed was "that New York musician." I guess we both formed associations with both those guys that ties very strongly to New York.

The only other association we were able to work with on a similar level when we couldn't remember a name (we drink a lot, I guess) was "that French Canadian singer." Neither of us needed to actually say Celine Dion to figure that one out.

Larry

tippy · July-14th-2004, 07:20 PM

Roflmao.