Lou Reed: The Raven -- Now new & over to you!

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Musically this is the best thing in ages, but lyrically it feels like a return to mistrial-era stupidity.

"Imp Of The Perverse" gets into some real Playing With Fire territory, but then he has to TALK over it.

GRWARRERWRWRQWWRRW.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 31 January 2003 17:10 (twenty-three years ago)

I kind of dread hearing it. I love Lou (see?) but when he decides to do a "concept" - I worry - especially about the lyrics..

― dave225 (Dave225), Friday, 31 January 2003 18:20 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd have to agree with dave225 -- the description of it in the last Wire frightened me, especially considering what Lou Reed has released in the last twenty years. Then again, if I actually heard it, I might be surprised -- but I'll have to wait until my Lou Reed obsessed friend gets back to the Continous 48 from Mexico -- he will surely buy it and I will surely listened to it repeatedly when he does just like every time a Lou Reed album comes out.

― jack cole (jackcole), Friday, 31 January 2003 18:30 (twenty-three years ago)

The drones are spectacular. Really teriffic. But the lyrics!? Why can't lou pick a "concept" which doesn't shriek "overdo me"?

Or is that the point?

Sinker to thread for an impassioned contrarian defense of Lou's "dumb as my thumb" lyrics.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 31 January 2003 19:55 (twenty-three years ago)

heard one track of this (the really noisy one, I can't remember hearing any vocals). I'm surprised he got back to this MMM type stuff.

(the guy who presented the show in which i heard the track thought that Lou was getting into nine inch nails)

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 31 January 2003 22:14 (twenty-three years ago)

I heard the first few songs on disc 2, and the man is on the pipe. Hysterically awful rendition of the "Tell-Tale Heart" and a song called "Blind Rage" that, suhPRIZE! is hardly evocative of that.

Back cover says it all. He's still wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket. Only now he's in a car (implies more domesticity than a motorcycle), and he's got a big SWORD.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 31 January 2003 22:21 (twenty-three years ago)

HA HA HA!!! That's a grebt back cover (there should be a thread on back covers now i suppose)

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 31 January 2003 22:23 (twenty-three years ago)

The back-cover photo sounds like the best thing about it!

― Sean (Sean), Friday, 31 January 2003 22:24 (twenty-three years ago)

I saw the show at BAM. It was in German. I had a martini before hand. The martinis at BAM are really good. The show music was not that great. LR recycling, again. Robert Wilson is weird. Afterwards I had multiple gin&tonics. It was a good night. I'd like to hear the album. But not enough to buy it.

― Mary (Mary), Friday, 31 January 2003 22:38 (twenty-three years ago)

'LR recycling'? what, as in 'recycling old ideas?'

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 31 January 2003 22:41 (twenty-three years ago)

Um, recycling old tunes. I don't think he did that much work for the show. But what is LR if not a recycler. Btw he is one of my most favorite musicians ever. Why can't I meet him?

Lyrical refrain C/D?: "These are the stories of Edgar Allan Poe/Not exactly the boy next door."

― Mary (Mary), Friday, 31 January 2003 23:19 (twenty-three years ago)

''Why can't I meet him?''

never meet yr heroes (I know you said 'favourite musicians but heroes sounds better). you will always be disappointed.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 31 January 2003 23:31 (twenty-three years ago)

Especially what with Lou having been a total embarrassment for ages. I love the Velvets and several of his solo albums, but he's been appalling for ages.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Friday, 31 January 2003 23:35 (twenty-three years ago)

b-but that track sounded like MMM. do you realize how GRATE that is martin?

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 31 January 2003 23:35 (twenty-three years ago)

I know but I want to meet to meet him anyway! It's been over ten years living in the same city and it's just not fair! I want to hear him say something like, "Fuck off, bitch" to me. (Swoon.)

― Mary (Mary), Friday, 31 January 2003 23:37 (twenty-three years ago)

Mary, have you seen the video for "I Love You Suzanne"? You could easily use it as a fantasy blueprint.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 31 January 2003 23:38 (twenty-three years ago)

heh...

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 31 January 2003 23:41 (twenty-three years ago)

Thank you Anthony, I am not sure I have. I'll look for it: that may well be the next best thing:)

― Mary (Mary), Friday, 31 January 2003 23:53 (twenty-three years ago)

You must see that vid: Lou dances in it!

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 1 February 2003 14:26 (twenty-three years ago)

haha sterl i *do* actually like the terribleness of some of lou's lyrics, but i've never worked out a full-on fits-all-cases defence for them (erm, like in new york he gets the names of half the ppl he's talking abt wrong, which is kind of cool cz if you're yakking abt politics in a bat you DO say bebe buell when you mean bebe rebozo...)

― mark s (mark s), Sunday, 2 February 2003 01:14 (twenty-three years ago)

Why would anybody want to meet Lou Reed? He's well known for being one of the biggest assholes to ever put out a record. And that's a dubious achievement considering the number of asshole musicians out there.

― Chris Davis (Chris Davis), Sunday, 2 February 2003 07:46 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah but he might let you DEFECATE on his FACE!!

― forbidden or obsolete (24 hour troubleshooter), Sunday, 2 February 2003 13:27 (twenty-three years ago)

The album's at its best when Lou's not doing that chugga-chugga growly-lyric thing, and he's letting his actor friends ham it up with minimal interference. Overacting's really the only way to do Poe (Steven Berkoff did a cracking monologue of "The Tell-Tale Heart" on TV a few years ago). In fact, Berkoff should have been on the album. Bowie's virtually inaudible (hooray!), Ornette is out of place but it's always good to hear him. Conceptually it's a mess. Reed tries to do a few of the well-known stories, but at the climax of "Hop-Frog" and "The Cask of Amontillado" he fluffs it, opting to do Merzbow impersonations instead of telling the story, so you need to know the original tales to make sense of the album. I've got the double, maybe the single album makes more sense but I suspect Reed's cut out the best bits to include all the sub-heavy-metal rubbish.

― Andrew Norman, Wednesday, 5 February 2003 21:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Fire Music is really great...

― Juan (Juan), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 22:30 (twenty-three years ago)

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