[bikeboy999]

I read ablot of the Beatles vs Dylan influnce/who is/was better. And it makes me think of Lou Reed, and how many current rock/prog rock bands were influnced by his music. I wonder how you would classify his style because it changed much over the many years. He went from pure punk, before the first non-tv boy band the Sex Pistols. To hard driving Rock and Roll, where I read somewhere that Jeff Beck thought Lou's guitar riff on the long version of White Light White Heat was one of the best he'd heard. He must have helped the prog rock world as his music has layers of violoins/chelos/horns/big organs etc.. His discography has some real amazing music in it.

So what are people's favourite Lou Reed albums?
Or what is their favourite song if you can not relate the who album, as a lot of his are complete stories in the albums. Like Coney Island Baby.


B

 

[markl]

Prog from Lou Reed?

Not a chance.

Lou's influence is:

1. Bringing explicit, street-level content to formerly escapist, happy rock 'n roll.

2. Every noise-rock band that uses dissonance and feedback.

3. Gothic music might arguably have its roots in the Nico-sung Velvet underground songs.

4. Making rock music for adults, not for teens.

5. Classic scratchy, spindly, rough "indie rock" from outsider artists (as opposed to modern "indie rock" from over-produced cry-baby emo "artists" marketed by major labels to Hot Topic mall teens).

 

[markl]

And where did this lie that the Sex Pistols were somehow a "boy band" come from? I see a lot of younger people spouting this nonesense (sorry dude). If you want the truth, watch The Filth and the Fury.

 

[sejarzo]

Where? On the wild side, of course......

 

[quiksliver]

although I don't agree with it, the sex pistols DID have some boy band esque qualities; emphasis on "attitude" and "style" over their simplistic and "raw" music, a bad boy like sid vicious etc etc

 

[ken36]

I'm sorry, wrong thread.

 

[tru blu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by quiksliver /img/forum/go_quote.gif although I don't agree with it, the sex pistols DID have some boy band esque qualities; emphasis on "attitude" and "style" over their simplistic and "raw" music, a bad boy like sid vicious etc etc

Hmm...I think we're confusing two meanings of attitude. "Punk" was definitely an "attitude" that had to do with defining one's self outside the mainstream, but when the Pistols did it it wasn't necessarily a "hustle," a manufactured or processed formula that could be counted on to sell records to millions of people. In discussions like these, we always seem to forget that rock-n-roll was still being defined as a mainstream entity in the mid-to-late '70s—before the advent of MTV. I always think of that line in the Lovin' Spoonful song "Do You Believe In Magic" that says something about "trying to tell a stranger about rock-n-roll." Everyone knows what rock is now, which is to say that we've learned to be suspicious of rock moves.

Lou Reed held onto his outsider status longer than most of the rockers of his generation, though, primarily because questions about his sexuality kept him "on the wild side." Where does he fit? Well, everyone knows he's a pretty clear-eyed (and yes, adult) storyteller, but I think his guitar prowess is often glossed over. He can REALLY play guitar. I'd agree that his influence is much more New York avant-garde than prog; in my opinion, the prog guys always think they're "elevating" rock-n-roll with their knowledge of older forms of classicism, whereas Reed might partake of minimalist classical music because it's rock's contemporary or peer. I think he's at his best as an album artist when he's the most stripped-down, though: those '80s records, The Blue Mask, Legendary Hearts, New Sensations and New York, are where he shows what excited him about rock-n-roll before he went off to college.

 

[zombieDave]

Everything markl & tru blu said!

 

[immtbiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sejarzo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Where? On the wild side, of course......

Darn...beat me to it!

 

[dura]

I love his album Rock and Roll Animal, but all his other solo-stuff leaves me unimpressed, The Velvet Underground was an original and inspiring band, but there were more talented people involved then just mr Reed.

 

[bikeboy999]

Lou Reed Online Store

You may want to check out the variety of Lou's music, yes there are some he did that were not inspiring. But Transformer, with it's saxaphones, violins, bass lines (before Fernando Suanders joined the band). Berlin with it's eerie theme, and great audio quality. Coney Island Baby for its fun music. Rock and Roll animal for some really heavy rock. NY for it's story of inner NY city (as I imagine it anyways). His poetry and lyrics are worth a listen to in my mind anyways. And I have not found an album/CD that had sub-standard quality recording. After getting my Headsix burnt in I listened to Sticky Fingers and can not believe the noise floor in the music.


B

 

[goldenratiophi]

Lou Reed did Metal Machine Music = best album ever. That makes Lou Reed the best artist ever, right?

 

[immtbiker]

Wow...freaky stuff.

When I opened this page, there was Lou Reed, staring right at me on the right side of the page in the FEATURED box. It was an ad for Lou Reed ringtones.
I know the box automatically uses keywords for Google to place related banners there, but it was a freaky, butterfly in the stomach

, walk on the wild side.

 

[tru blu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bikeboy999 /img/forum/go_quote.gif And I have not found an album/CD that had sub-standard quality recording.

Yeah, he's kind of an audio head.

http://www.klipsch.com/media/news-ce...d-the-fury.pdf

 

[DavidMahler]

For me Lou Reed fits in the "Shouldn't have been a success" pile. I cant stand anything Lou Reed has ever been a part of, and worse, I can't stand anyone who claims lou reed to be a prime influence. Yeah, the VU was interesting.......but was their music good?

Aside from the fact that I think there are better 7 year old songwriters than Mr. Reed, I like singers that can keep pitch and have versatile emotion in their voice