AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #383: LOU REED (2)

A guest posting by Walter (A Few Good Times In My Life)

JC writes……

It was at the tail end of last November that I lazily posted a Lou Reed ICA, basing entirely on a compilation album released by RCA Records in 1977.  Just a few days later, another of my dear friends from Germany, Walter, whose blog A Few Good Times In My Life has been such a consistently wonderful read for many years, send me an e-mail, which for some reason or other, I never saw.  The most likely explanation is that it likely found its way into a Junk folder and then was automatically deleted after a period of time.

Walter got back in touch yesterday, and kindly re-sent the e-mail.  I’m really pleased he did.

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Hi Jim,

I hope everything is well with you and your family.

I’ve been trying to put together an ICA of Lou Reed for several weeks now. But as you may know, a pensioner has many other things to do and it is difficult to choose ten songs from Lou Reed’s complete works. In the end, your ICA was the deciding factor in finalising my compilation.

Of his probably best-known albums, Perfect Day stands out because it is extremely quiet and introverted by his standards. To this day, it has not been conclusively clarified whether this is a glorification of drugs or not. Presumably it is – why else would it have made it onto the soundtrack of Trainspotting.

1. Perfect Day (from Transformer, 1973)

Reed released his first live album Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal in 1974. For many, it was too heavy at the time, but it also expressed his inner turmoil, the effects of his drug addiction and his separation from the Velvet Underground. A contemporary document of how he saw the song.

2 Heroin (from Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal , 1974)

Occasionally Lou Reed also recorded cover versions. Surprisingly, however, he did so with a song originally recorded by the Drifters. The song actually only consists of the plucked guitar and Lou’s vocals. In its radical reduction, it is the perfect soundtrack to David Lynch‘s movie.

3 This Magic Moment (from Lost Highway OST, 1997)

Towards the end of the 70s, his albums fluctuate between good and not so good. For me, his first album for Arista falls more into the first category, which with its final track still produced a highlight of his career. A dark atmosphere, a sawing guitar, reduced drums and vocals that have not been heard from him for a long time.

4 Temporary Thing (from Rock ‘n’ Roll Heart, 1976)

Lou Reed has always been a great storyteller for me too. Whenever he took on the events of the day, it was always terrific. Sentimental, of course, but also intense and believable. Songs that will outlast everything.

5 The Day John Kennedy Died (from The Blue Mask, 1982)

6 Halloween Parade (from New York, 1989)

Two albums from the 80s stand out, which had the old magic of him again. On The Blue Mask he returned to his roots and released an album full of guitars. Together with Robert Quine, he managed to give guitars new possibilities by mixing the guitars on two different channels. The best examples are these songs

7 Waves Of Fear (from The Blue Mask, 1982)

8 Underneath The Bottle (from The Blue Mask, 1982)

In 1989, he released New York. This album was well-received critically, thanks in part to it having a more straight-forward rock and roll sound. Reed said at the time he required simple music so that it would not distract from the frank lyrics.

9 Hold On (from New York, 1989)

10 Romeo Had Juliette (from New York, 1989)

Bonus Track

In 1990 he released a song cycle together with John Cale for their mentor Andy Warhol under his nickname Drella. There is also a lot of sentimentality here, but without falling into kitsch

11 I Believe (from Songs For Drella)

Enjoy

WALTER