Lou Reed's solo career
Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 8:40 pm
This is more of an announcement than a review, but some generous soul(s) have uploaded Legendary Hearts and New Sensations on to Pedro's. Don't know what's going on with that tracker, but if you're already using it, I highly recommend getting those two.
Both albums have been out-of-print for awhile, even longer in the U.S., and if you don't have a turntable (like MOST people), you'd have to pay $50-80 to get either one on CD, used, and paying that much won't help Lou any.
Both CD's were mastered in the late 80's, with Legendary Hearts mastered at RCA in 1989, so none of that crappy, in-your-face mastering. It may not be audiophile heaven, but who cares, they sound fine.
For any VU fans who aren't familiar with Lou's solo career, I understand if you approach it with trepidation. I know Greil Marcus and to a lesser extent Robert Christgau love his body of work post-Velvets, but it's definitely a rough ride.
If you want good, solid albums that are listenable start-to-finish, Lou spit out three in a row from 1982-1984: Blue Mask, Legendary Hearts, and New Sensations. Blue Mask was a comeback, with a lot of credit going to the late, great Robert Quine, who convinced Lou to unleash his guitar again.
Before then, he had a rocky professional and personal life. From what I hear, people thought he was on the road to oblivion during the late 70's, something Lou addresses in his comeback albums. Starts out good, but IMHO, none of 70's albums are completely satisfying. The self-titled debut has some good songs leftover from the Velvets, but I prefer the versions on VU. Nothing against Yes (whose members back Lou), they aren't bad, but still...
Transformer is overrated, pretty uneven. Some excellent songs, but some slight ditties and sometimes the production feels spineless. Berlin gets points for trying, but it's a failure and often sounds abysmal. Some interesting songs, but not a good album. It still has its fans.
After that, things really go all over the map.Street Hassle and The Bells got raves in their time, but they sound mediocre to me, with some poorly dated 'experimental' production, especially on the latter.
Growing Up Public or whatever it's called is probably his worst. After that, BAM!, the three comeback albums that came out of NOWHERE. Seriously, after the 70's ended, who would've thought Lou would make one really good album, much less THREE in a row, with each one more tuneful than the last?
Mistrial is mediocre, but there's two, maybe three good pop tunes as well as the terrible but unintentionally amusing rap novelty, "The Original Wrapper."
New York goes on too long, it could use some pruning in the middle where it drags, but otherwise it's another solid album.
Magic and Loss is boring. Some good songs, at least four, but the rest drag and over the course of the album, Lou's explorations of death don't seem profound. You could say the same with Songs For Drella, which feels a bit slight, like it was written over a week, but it's got a nice, off-hand charm, especially since John Cale is back with Lou and both put aside all animosity to pay tribute to Andy Warhol. Lightweight, but never boring and occasionally moving.
Not big on the rest, though Ecstasy has its devoted fans - a few claim it's one of his best...it ain't bad, but IMHO, it doesn't reach any great heights and isn't very cohesive. Some good tracks, it goes places Lou hasn't gone to in awhile, but not one of his best.
Finally, if you want a good compilation, I think most of them suck. The recent Rolling Stone Album Guide trashes the three CD RCA box set, but they're totally full of shit. Compared to the other compilations out there, you should get that box set used. The mastering by Bob Ludwig is excellent, and you can't beat the booklet. Yeah, it's a box set AND out-of-print, but it's surprisingly easy to find for really cheap. BMG Music Club might still offer it, but used copies aren't hard to find on the web, and I got one in near-mint condition for $12, which is cheap even for a SINGLE CD, let alone three.
Both albums have been out-of-print for awhile, even longer in the U.S., and if you don't have a turntable (like MOST people), you'd have to pay $50-80 to get either one on CD, used, and paying that much won't help Lou any.
Both CD's were mastered in the late 80's, with Legendary Hearts mastered at RCA in 1989, so none of that crappy, in-your-face mastering. It may not be audiophile heaven, but who cares, they sound fine.
For any VU fans who aren't familiar with Lou's solo career, I understand if you approach it with trepidation. I know Greil Marcus and to a lesser extent Robert Christgau love his body of work post-Velvets, but it's definitely a rough ride.
If you want good, solid albums that are listenable start-to-finish, Lou spit out three in a row from 1982-1984: Blue Mask, Legendary Hearts, and New Sensations. Blue Mask was a comeback, with a lot of credit going to the late, great Robert Quine, who convinced Lou to unleash his guitar again.
Before then, he had a rocky professional and personal life. From what I hear, people thought he was on the road to oblivion during the late 70's, something Lou addresses in his comeback albums. Starts out good, but IMHO, none of 70's albums are completely satisfying. The self-titled debut has some good songs leftover from the Velvets, but I prefer the versions on VU. Nothing against Yes (whose members back Lou), they aren't bad, but still...
Transformer is overrated, pretty uneven. Some excellent songs, but some slight ditties and sometimes the production feels spineless. Berlin gets points for trying, but it's a failure and often sounds abysmal. Some interesting songs, but not a good album. It still has its fans.
After that, things really go all over the map.Street Hassle and The Bells got raves in their time, but they sound mediocre to me, with some poorly dated 'experimental' production, especially on the latter.
Growing Up Public or whatever it's called is probably his worst. After that, BAM!, the three comeback albums that came out of NOWHERE. Seriously, after the 70's ended, who would've thought Lou would make one really good album, much less THREE in a row, with each one more tuneful than the last?
Mistrial is mediocre, but there's two, maybe three good pop tunes as well as the terrible but unintentionally amusing rap novelty, "The Original Wrapper."
New York goes on too long, it could use some pruning in the middle where it drags, but otherwise it's another solid album.
Magic and Loss is boring. Some good songs, at least four, but the rest drag and over the course of the album, Lou's explorations of death don't seem profound. You could say the same with Songs For Drella, which feels a bit slight, like it was written over a week, but it's got a nice, off-hand charm, especially since John Cale is back with Lou and both put aside all animosity to pay tribute to Andy Warhol. Lightweight, but never boring and occasionally moving.
Not big on the rest, though Ecstasy has its devoted fans - a few claim it's one of his best...it ain't bad, but IMHO, it doesn't reach any great heights and isn't very cohesive. Some good tracks, it goes places Lou hasn't gone to in awhile, but not one of his best.
Finally, if you want a good compilation, I think most of them suck. The recent Rolling Stone Album Guide trashes the three CD RCA box set, but they're totally full of shit. Compared to the other compilations out there, you should get that box set used. The mastering by Bob Ludwig is excellent, and you can't beat the booklet. Yeah, it's a box set AND out-of-print, but it's surprisingly easy to find for really cheap. BMG Music Club might still offer it, but used copies aren't hard to find on the web, and I got one in near-mint condition for $12, which is cheap even for a SINGLE CD, let alone three.