RIP Lou Reed

I always knew West was "big" but holy crap I thought that was Mama Cass at first.

 

Yeah, some guys are fat for rock stars, but West was fat even for a fat guy.

 

West might have been better off walking through Nantucket than taking a sleigh ride.

 

West today:

 

What's wrong with you?

It doesn't appeal to my tastes. I like their later stuff better. I'd rather gurgle toilet cleaner than listen to All Tomorrow's Parties. Sue me.

Besides, its more John Cale's record than Lou Reed's anyway. Cale created the sound for it ... and that's the main reason I don't like it. It's no accident that the Velvets' stuff I do like is inversely related to Cale's participation in the band. I own White Light/White Heat, but I can't remember the last time I put it on. I listen to late-Velvets stuff -- the stuff most-influenced by Reed -- all the time.

Cale's music, to me, sounds like a soundtrack to commit suicide to. I know he's influential, but he influenced bands I don't like. No thanks.

 

White Light/White Heat is John Cale's record, and I understand not liking or even hating it. I like it, but it's No. 4 on my Velvet Underground list.

The Velvet Underground and Nico is both, with songs like "Sunday Morning" and "Femme Fatale" showing off Lou Reed's dark pop sensibilities and "European Son" and "Venus in Furs" showing what Cale brings to the table. It would have been interesting to hear what they could have done with better studio quality, where Cale's discord could have been more fleshed out.

The Velvet Underground is probably the band's fullest vision, but I don't think the songs are as good as on the debut. It's very, very good, though.

Loaded to me sounds like a Lou Reed solo album. It's good, but I think it falls short of the previous standards for Reed's songwriting.

 

The sound quality of Velvet Underground & Nico IS awful. That doesn't help it.

Femme Fatale is a good song. I prefer Big Star's excellent version as Nico does nothing for me.

I guess that's part of it for me. Cale and Nico cancel out Reed's contributions as far as I'm concerned. Two against one. That ... and I've never been into dirgy psychedelia/avant garde rock. If I want avant garde, I far prefer it in jazz.

This is not a new argument for Z-Man and I. He likes dirgy psychedelia. I don't. He also prefers early, Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd which I have virtually no use for. Different strokes, etc., there's nothing wrong with liking or disliking it, I just hate the notion that you're some sort of ignoramus if you don't bow down to the greatness of Velvet Undergrond & Nico.

 

black is slimming...

 

I don't go for psychedelia, but I don't think that's a fair way to describe The Velvet Underground or John Cale. It's more noise experimentation, more Sonic Youth and (at the far end) shoegaze like My Bloody Valentine than it is Jimi Hendrix or Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd. Lou Reed was more the psychedelic, drug-influenced one. Cale was the one who wanted to test the boundaries of music.

From what I understand, Reed and Cale got along even after the breakup, but I can't help but feel that Rock and Roll Animal was recorded because Reed wanted clean, Cale-free versions of his favorite Velvet Underground songs.

 

Evidently, so is diabetes.

 

RIP Lou...Bega?

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