RIP Lou Reed

Bubbler · Oct 29, 2013

Versatile said:

Bubbler said:

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.
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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.
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I would agree that its not psychedelia, but it gets lumped in being from the same era. It's definitely dirgy.

dooley_womack1 · Oct 29, 2013

It's sad that my last memory of Lou Reed is that rockabilly flavored tripe Suzanne from the early MTV years, the same period in which he did a TV motorcycle ad. I have no idea what he did since. He and Laurie Anderson had to constitute the most bountiful amount of artistic cred in any marriage in history. Definitely the chronicler of a New York City that exised long before being gentrified and Disneyfied. That had to be a hard 71 years. Sweet Jane was probably my favorite song out of the small part of his ouerve that I heard. R.I.P.

Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell · Oct 29, 2013

Bubbler said:

Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell said:

Bubbler said:

I think the Velvets' first album is wildly overrated, and one of the worst examples of Jann Wenner-ism, but I know many disagree.
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What is wrong with you?

Anyway, Lou was amazing.
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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.
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This is weird because Cale's most famous solo material (Vintage Violence/Paris 1919) sounds a lot more like Loaded than the first two VU albums.

P.S. "All Tomorrow's Parties" was written solely by Lou.

Huggy · Nov 1, 2013

Lou's obit, as placed by Laurie Anderson in their local paper:

http://www.easthamptonstar.com/Obituaries/20131031/Lou-Reed

jr/shotglass · Nov 1, 2013

They removed it. Wonder why.

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RIP Lou Reed

Bubbler Well-Known Member

dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell Active Member

Huggy Well-Known Member

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RIP Lou Reed

Bubbler Well-Known Member

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