Remastered Lou Reed Box Set: The RCA and Arista Album Collection

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MJG196
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Re: Remastered Lou Reed Box Set: The RCA and Arista Album Collection

Post by MJG196 » 03 Nov 2016 20:29

peppergomez wrote:Am I the only one here who can't bring themselves to listen to most of Reed's solo material?

When I have, it's just served to remind me how much better his work with VU was. I caught serious flack on FB in a thread for suggesting that he is perhaps rock and roll's biggest disappointment, in the sense of failing to live up to his early promise in VU. Lyrically he continued to show ambition I guess, but the music is tepid so much of the time. And overall his hit/miss ratio is IMO really bad after 1970. It all comes down to taste, I realize.

Anyway, I guess this post serves no constructive purpose, so I'll STFU.

Well, I will ask this: what albums other than Blue Mask and New York are worth listening to, for someone who wants to hear harder, intense music (though not indulgent nonsense like MMM)? Transformer is catchy but gutless. Thanks.
Millions of people didn't like solo Lou...or any musical endeavor Lou was part of for his entire life, hence the minimal record sales relative to his contemporaries.

As far as R&R's biggest disappointment, I don't understand what you mean - disappointment how?

I guess I'm a little confused by your comment, because first you call him a huge disappointment and can't listen to his solo stuff, and then you ask what other albums are worth listening to. If you have listened to it all and don't dig it, why are you asking which ones you should listen to? You know which ones you like - Blue Mask and New York.

Transformer may seem gutless (to you) now, but in 1973 it sure wasn't.

We all have our opinions, so I'm not knocking yours at all. I'm just not picking up what you're laying down.
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Re: Remastered Lou Reed Box Set: The RCA and Arista Album Collection

Post by Sterling » 04 Nov 2016 11:46

peppergomez wrote:Am I the only one here who can't bring themselves to listen to most of Reed's solo material?

When I have, it's just served to remind me how much better his work with VU was. I caught serious flack on FB in a thread for suggesting that he is perhaps rock and roll's biggest disappointment, in the sense of failing to live up to his early promise in VU. Lyrically he continued to show ambition I guess, but the music is tepid so much of the time. And overall his hit/miss ratio is IMO really bad after 1970. It all comes down to taste, I realize.

Anyway, I guess this post serves no constructive purpose, so I'll STFU.

Well, I will ask this: what albums other than Blue Mask and New York are worth listening to, for someone who wants to hear harder, intense music (though not indulgent nonsense like MMM)? Transformer is catchy but gutless. Thanks.
It would be rare that people are going to like everything an artist does.

If the VU are his favorite stuff, then the only solo albums I can suggest to you are Transformer, Berlin, maybe Street Hassle, The Blue Mask, New York, Ecstasy, Lulu

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Re: Remastered Lou Reed Box Set: The RCA and Arista Album Collection

Post by dial4 » 05 Nov 2016 11:45

Perhaps but like Bowie without his spiders or Prince without the revolution, there's a lack of MAGIC in his work, especially after 1975 (except the horrible MMM of course !) : the filler tracks on his LPs become very boring.

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Re: Remastered Lou Reed Box Set: The RCA and Arista Album Collection

Post by iaredatsun » 05 Nov 2016 14:33

I think Lou became a kind of singer-songwriter. For the long term haul. It seems to me that he wanted to keep things simple, especially after the 70s. I suspect he just did not like working with others – things Cale said support this idea – and that led to him self-producing. Self-producing is hard and leads to a kind of singular perhaps reductionist approach. He no longer had others producing and that is where new ideas about sound and producing are often introduced.

I think that if you look at other singer-songwriter careers, Lou's output is not usual in it's long-term shape. One example is Dylan who wrote good songs but seemed to have no real interest in musical presentation (imo) after the mid 60s.

It's what he did, what he chose to do. Take it or leave it.
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iaredatsun
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Re: Remastered Lou Reed Box Set: The RCA and Arista Album Collection

Post by iaredatsun » 05 Nov 2016 14:36

MJG196 wrote:
Transformer may seem gutless (to you) now, but in 1973 it sure wasn't.
I agree. It sizzled with attitude, flair and style. There was nothing like it. Still sounds fresh today, to me.
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Re: Remastered Lou Reed Box Set: The RCA and Arista Album Collection

Post by MJG196 » 05 Nov 2016 19:58

iaredatsun wrote:Still sounds fresh today, to me.
Ditto. Ronno's guitar is outstanding.
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Re: Remastered Lou Reed Box Set: The RCA and Arista Album Collection

Post by peppergomez » 07 Nov 2016 03:53

MJG196 wrote:
peppergomez wrote:Am I the only one here who can't bring themselves to listen to most of Reed's solo material?

When I have, it's just served to remind me how much better his work with VU was. I caught serious flack on FB in a thread for suggesting that he is perhaps rock and roll's biggest disappointment, in the sense of failing to live up to his early promise in VU. Lyrically he continued to show ambition I guess, but the music is tepid so much of the time. And overall his hit/miss ratio is IMO really bad after 1970. It all comes down to taste, I realize.

Anyway, I guess this post serves no constructive purpose, so I'll STFU.

Well, I will ask this: what albums other than Blue Mask and New York are worth listening to, for someone who wants to hear harder, intense music (though not indulgent nonsense like MMM)? Transformer is catchy but gutless. Thanks.
Millions of people didn't like solo Lou...or any musical endeavor Lou was part of for his entire life, hence the minimal record sales relative to his contemporaries.

As far as R&R's biggest disappointment, I don't understand what you mean - disappointment how?

I guess I'm a little confused by your comment, because first you call him a huge disappointment and can't listen to his solo stuff, and then you ask what other albums are worth listening to. If you have listened to it all and don't dig it, why are you asking which ones you should listen to? You know which ones you like - Blue Mask and New York.

Transformer may seem gutless (to you) now, but in 1973 it sure wasn't.

We all have our opinions, so I'm not knocking yours at all. I'm just not picking up what you're laying down.
I should have clarified. His songs, singing, and playing in VU were fearless and powerful, and then after that, he became almost meek sounding until The Blue Mask, from what I've heard of his 70s output. So in that, for me, he's a huge disappointment as a solo artist. It's like he lost his nerve. I guess having studio musicians instead of a real band makes a big difference, plus Cale being gone of course is a massive factor. But even in later Yule-era Velvets, he played and sang with a lot more passion.

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