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Lou Reed, 1990 and beyond |
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nick_h_nz 
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Prog Metal / Heavy Prog Team Joined: March 01 2013 Location: Suffolk, UK Status: Offline Points: 6742 |
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 Topic: Lou Reed, 1990 and beyondPosted: February 24 2021 at 04:58 |
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inspired by Lulu’s inclusion in a 2011 poll (which I voted for, because I enjoy it more than some pretty darn terrific prog releases from that year that were also in the poll, and perhaps more obvious contenders), I thought I’d put up this poll for Lou Reed’s studio albums released after New York (often cited as his last great album).
I actually prefer most of these albums to New York, so I definitely don’t think New York was Reed’s last great album. I love Magic and Loss, Ecstasy, The Raven and Lulu. I get why some people don’t like these albums, as none are particularly “easy” listens, but that’s also possibly why I enjoy them so much. As much as I like Songs for Drella and Twilight, which were probably the more commercially and critically successful albums from this bunch, they don’t create such a visceral response as the other less safe, and and less beautiful albums. I guess you could say they play it safe, which does not mean boring or bad. They’re definitely good albums, but there’s just not enough edge for me. Some might note that there is no “none of the above” option, but that’s only because I’m not a great fan of negativity. I suspect the none option would win the poll easily, but if you really feel so strongly then just write a post saying none. 😄 |
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nick_h_nz
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Prog Metal / Heavy Prog Team Joined: March 01 2013 Location: Suffolk, UK Status: Offline Points: 6742 |
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Posted: February 24 2021 at 06:14 |
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Someone voted Lulu - and it wasn’t me! 😄
Unfortunately, for now, the Lulu voter remains anonymous - but I very much thank you anyway. I was tempted to vote for Lulu, even though Magic and Loss is my favourite from this selection, just because I though otherwise Lulu would be voteless. I’m so glad someone saw fit to give it a vote! 🤗 |
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Ronstein
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Joined: October 13 2020 Location: Wiltshire, UK Status: Offline Points: 1280 |
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Posted: February 24 2021 at 07:08 |
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Can't get on with most of Lou Reed's stuff, but I recommend sampling John Cale's back catalogue!! Some excellent stuff there.
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Easy Money
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Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin Joined: August 11 2007 Location: Memphis Status: Offline Points: 10743 |
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Posted: February 24 2021 at 07:23 |
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I started listening to the album and found I couldn't stop until it finished. Vey interesting album. It seemed to me that this was the closest Lou had been to early Velvet Underground in a long time. Basically he had Metallica doing the rock drone minimalist thing that VU did. I bet Metallica learned a lot about the essence of primal rock from the experience, something that they really needed as their music had weakened over the years. I'm also impressed that Metallica was willing to try something new and different for them. That takes a certain amount of admirable guts. Very good primal rock album overall. |
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nick_h_nz
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Prog Metal / Heavy Prog Team Joined: March 01 2013 Location: Suffolk, UK Status: Offline Points: 6742 |
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Posted: February 24 2021 at 09:08 |
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Absolutely! I have only half a dozen or so Cale albums, and at least twice as many Reed albums, but I find both enjoyable (for the most part) in different ways.
I’ve never been a great Metallica fan, but I ought really highly of them for taking this album onboard. It definitely was something very different for them, and deferring to someone else - particularly someone as alien to their music as Lou Reed - must have been taking a giant step into the unknown. Guts indeed. And I think they must have known that their core fa base would hate it (which they did), so that also took some guts, and gained my respect. I can totally see, or rather hear, the comparison you make with VU, and I think Reed foreshadowed this return to a more primal sound on Ecstasy. Indeed, ironically to me, that album was reasonably well appreciated when it came out, yet it has a few tracks that wouldn’t sound at all out of place on Lulu. I honestly don’t feel Lulu is as much of an outlier in Reed’s discography as some people make out, and I think if I were to make a list of my top ten Reed albums, it would probably be in it. Sometimes I think people just love to hate something because everyone else does. I would like to think people in this forum are less likely to do so, and that those who dislike it do so genuinely. But I definitely think a lot of people never gave Lulu a chance because it was given such a hiding by the public and the press. 🤷🏻♂️ |
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Easy Money
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Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin Joined: August 11 2007 Location: Memphis Status: Offline Points: 10743 |
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Posted: February 24 2021 at 09:20 |
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"Sometimes I think people just love to hate something because everyone else does." I think you just described "Metal Machine Music" there. Another album of his I like.
Probably my favorite Reed album is "Street Hassle", especially the songs, "Dirt" and "Leave Me Alone". |
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ExittheLemming
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Posted: February 24 2021 at 10:05 |
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I lost interest after New York in '89 (which was brilliant)
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A Crimson Mellotron
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Joined: September 10 2020 Location: Sofia, Bulgaria Status: Offline Points: 5913 |
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Posted: February 24 2021 at 10:11 |
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As you might predict, I voted 'Lulu'!
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nick_h_nz
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Prog Metal / Heavy Prog Team Joined: March 01 2013 Location: Suffolk, UK Status: Offline Points: 6742 |
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Posted: February 24 2021 at 10:19 |
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Yeah, MMM is definitely another album that is not as bad as is made out, though to be fair to a lot of those who don’t like it, it is a LOT more challenging than Lulu.
See, I think New York was alright, and Magic and Loss was brilliant. People put New York up there on a pedestal with Berlin, and I often wonder if that is just because it happens to be a good album with a geographic title. Berlin is a far more enjoyable album for me than New York. Berlin would make my top ten. New York would not. But it would be a boring world if we all liked the same things! |
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nick_h_nz
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Prog Metal / Heavy Prog Team Joined: March 01 2013 Location: Suffolk, UK Status: Offline Points: 6742 |
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Posted: February 24 2021 at 10:21 |
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I will love it if Lulu wins this poll. Given how little interest Lou Reed is likely to arouse within the PA forum, I guess it might have actually have a good chance of doing so. After all, this might be it for the voting! 😄🤪 |
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AZF
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Posted: February 24 2021 at 10:50 |
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Songs For Drella, Magic And Loss. Lou Reed's later albums tell a richer listen than Dylan's efforts.
But you have no idea how much I love Lulu. No, I haven't read the plays it's based on. If struggling with it, just play the second disc only. That's got the best sequence of songs. Lou does sound aged, but nowhere near as Grandpa Simpson as claimed. "Dragon" is my favourite. "Iced Honey" should have been the lead single instead of "The View". And we never did get to hear Lou write a revenge song about the hate he received for making the album. Please make a thread about the Lulu album and find me posting it's praises. Magic And Loss, however, if ever polled again with Lulu removed as unfair advantage. |
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nick_h_nz
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Prog Metal / Heavy Prog Team Joined: March 01 2013 Location: Suffolk, UK Status: Offline Points: 6742 |
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Posted: February 24 2021 at 12:13 |
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I never realised I was giving Lulu unfair advantage. I assumed it would get no votes, even though I absolutely love it. It seems to get such near-universal disdain and hate that I often feel like it’s only fan. I find the whole album (both discs) phenomenal. I’ve never read the plays it’s based on either, nor never felt the need or desire. The drama that Reed and Metallica provide is more than enough to satisfy me. 🥰 I cannot state just how happy it makes me to read other people who obviously appreciate Lulu as I do. I’ve never come across anyone else until now. I don’t need others to like what I like, but it sometimes feels like perhaps I’m missing something. Why am I getting so much enjoyment from something no one else seems to be? Well here they are - others who like it, too! As Austin Powers might say, yeah baby! 😜 |
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AZF
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Posted: February 24 2021 at 13:02 |
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Like I'd know any better about the subject, but maybe the production does sound scrappy and thin? It's not dealbreaking enough to put off. Bare instrumentation as the first Soft Machine album. Light years ahead of Roger Waters solo or Floyd, lyrically. Moshes harder than King Crimson when it gets going.
In the world that accepts (and rightly) Johnny Cash's version of Hurt, "Little Dog" is just as loveable and engrossing. Of course what would the world look like if the Net was around Metal Machine Music's release? Lulu will have it's time in the sun again. And if never listened properly, it sucks you in! It looks basic but there's such depth. #TeamLuluLouLars unite! |
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Man With Hat
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Posted: February 24 2021 at 14:01 |
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obvs lu x2
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Dig me...But don't...Bury me
I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect. |
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nick_h_nz
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Prog Metal / Heavy Prog Team Joined: March 01 2013 Location: Suffolk, UK Status: Offline Points: 6742 |
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Posted: February 25 2021 at 03:55 |
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Wow! Well this is definitely not a result I was expecting. The only vote not for Lulu is my own. I’d almost feel guilty about not voting for it myself, but I do prefer Magic and Loss.
Ok, so it’s not a great sample size, so the result is hardly statistically valid, but I was never expecting many people to vote anyway, and I wasn’t expecting (m)any of those who did vote, to vote for Luke. I love having my preconceptions challenged, so thanks guys! 🤗 |
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nick_h_nz
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Posted: February 25 2021 at 10:36 |
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Bizarrely, approaching ten years later, the promotional website for Lulu still seems to be up.
I just had a look, not expecting to find it, and there it was, in all it's glory/gory - waiting for Lou to cut his legs and t*ts off, in the dark of the moon. |
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Intruder
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Posted: February 27 2021 at 11:26 |
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Velvet Lou had a resurgence of sorts starting with the New York LP. Twilight and Ecstasy are excellent latter era albums - Twilight edges it out as a favorite simply because of the title track.
A soul singer stands on the stage The spotlight shows him sweatingHe sinks to one knee, seems to cry The horns are unrelenting But as the drums beat he finds himself growing hard In the microphone's face he sees her face growing large And the swelling crescendo no longer retards I accept the new found man and set the twilight reeling |
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I like to feel the suspense when you're certain you know I am there.....
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nick_h_nz
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Posted: February 27 2021 at 14:37 |
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I don’t know why, but I’ve never really gone for Twilight much, but I also haven’t listened to it in a long time. Maybe I need to revisit it? 🤔 I love Ecstasy, though the cover photo of Reed climaxing during masturbation is not particularly tasteful (even if it is a depiction of ecstasy). It’s probably one of my favourites from this list. In fact, I think my top three from these later recording would probably be Magic > Lulu > Ecstasy. I really like Raven, too, which was mauled by the critics perhaps even more than Lulu, but didn’t get quite so savage a reception from the general public (perhaps because it wasn’t a collaboration with one of the biggest bands on the planet). |
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nick_h_nz wrote: