Lou Reed (Official Thread)

[micahistheballs]

Discuss one of the greatest and most frustrating songwriters of the rock era here.

[kearn1tm]

I adore him. I do.

For my money, Coney Island Baby is a brilliant record, especially considering it was his "comeback" work following a prolific stream of experimentation and shying away from accessible content. He mediated accessibility/mainstream acceptance with subversive pseudo-blues hits about sociopaths and wanting to play football for the coach (a sentiment containing just a dabble of irony while being slathered in sincerity). He was poor and living in a dilapidated apartment that was paid for by a RCA A&R guy who forced Reed back into the studio to write hits, and what came of it was the anti-hit hit album. It's awesome. Metal Machine Music, though much maligned, was really fun, if you can endure the indulgence. It's really cool to see a disillusioned and disheartened guy just fuck around with noise.

He's a treasure. Yum.

[kearn1tm]

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[micahistheballs]

Coney Island Baby is vastly underrated. Transformer and Metal Machine Music seem to get all the attention, but for vastly different reasons.

[kearn1tm]

New York gets a lot of hype/attention too. It's good, but Coney Island, to me anyway, is the culmination of Reed as a songwriter. He tempered his eccentricities just enough to write something poignant, while still being an iconoclast. Kicks was a Top 40 hit. Kicks! I mean, that's just...awesome.

[GreenDayStinks!]

I agree

[ohmessylife]

I really like his music, granted most of my opinion is based on his work with The Velvet Underground, but I rather enjoy Metal Machine Music. Maybe i'll look into picking up Coney Island Baby since it's receiving such high praise here.

[cshadows2887]

I love his VU stuff, but I haven't heard his solos stuff much at all. If I'm less into noise and more into him as a songwriter in the "Rock and Roll" and "Sweet Jane" mode, what records should I be starting with?

[SlappedActor]

Lou Reed's such a badass.

I love VU, but as far as his solo stuff goes, I don't listen to much except Transformer and Coney Island Baby.

[micahistheballs]

I love his VU stuff, but I haven't heard his solos stuff much at all. If I'm less into noise and more into him as a songwriter in the "Rock and Roll" and "Sweet Jane" mode, what records should I be starting with?
Transformer and/or Coney Island Baby.

[kearn1tm]

The Blue Mask is really good, and another of his albums that goes relatively overlooked.

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[jbaseball44]

Gotta love Lou Reed

[briewer]

So I guess Micah not actually dead then.

[jbaseball44]

It was like Christmas come early when he posted in the Dylan thread the other day

[micahistheballs]

So I guess Micah not actually dead then.

It was like Christmas come early when he posted in the Dylan thread the other day

Not dead, just busy with school and all that jazz. Also, I post rarely so when it happens, it's a big deal. I'd rather be like Jeff Mangum than Ryan Adams basically.

[First Assault]

you forget his machine music! Has anyone ever actually got to the end of listening to that record. I tried once but failed it melted my brain!

[Genuma]

could Street Hassle be any more unappreciated and fucking awesome?

[TheModernQ]

perfect day will be played at my funeral, i think

[AP_Punk]

recording an album w/ metallica (http://www.punknews.org/article/43088)

[cshadows2887]

Umm color me fucking excited.

[Rawrr]

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[cshadows2887]

Umm color me fucking excited.

In retrospect, too optimistic.

[xJesusFreakx]

Courtesy of Self Defense Family: (http://selfdefensemusic.com/post/12647652774/can-we-all-take-a-moment-to-suck-lou-reeds-giant)
CAN WE ALL TAKE A MOMENT TO SUCK LOU REED’S GIANT, PULSING COCK?

Here’s what dude had to say about some of the critical and fan blowback on the Lulu collaboration he did with Metallica:

“I don’t have any fans left. After Metal Machine Music (1975), they all fled. Who cares? I’m essentially in this for the fun of it.”

Seriously, this wizened old turd gets it. He knows posterity is a fucking joke and the people who claim they love you and you meant the world to them will eventually forget you outright. Fuck being loved. This dude was loved and now all he’s got is a few Pitchfork geeks defending his importance while never actually listening to his music.

Joy is making things; making things to be loved is joyless. Lou Reed gets it. No one loves his ass. Him and the bands people claim to love are all headed the same place: Nonexistence. Sun will eat the planet and all that “your music saved my life” bullshit will be worth as much as a bloody nose at a Hatebreed show. It’s all the same shit.

Best take on Lulu I've seen by far.

[cshadows2887]

Finally heard New York. It's a pretty spectacularly lean record. I'm a big fan.

[georgedcc]

Can't totally get into Lou Reed. He's got a few great albums, a few forgettable ones and a bunch of shit ones. He's consistently inconsistent. Which is a shame, because when he's good, he's fantastic,

[cshadows2887]

Really into Transformer today. "Goodnight Ladies" in particular I like way more than I once did.

[georgedcc]

I've tried listening to Metal Machine Music a few times over the past few years. I think I've managed to make it all the way through about twice ha.

I don't understand it at all really. I know there are some people out there who absolutely adore this record and think it is the best thing he's ever done. It reminds me a bit of Revolution 9 or John Lennon and Yoko Ono's avant garde experimental music, in the sense that I have no idea what I'm supposed to be hearing really. Does anyone hear like it and if they do, can they explain why they do to me?