Have You Listened to Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music?

You mean like "European Son"?

 

Yes I have listened to it. In fact, I was considering doing a Side By Side thread on it. I am sure it will be a hit here!

 

I voted NO even though I have listened to the excerpt on the box set. I think I have every other Lou album or at least listened to them once.

 

Yes, repeatedly. But then again I'm one of those weirdos who can listen intently to that weird noise the water heater makes as if it were a performance.

I really don't care if Lou did intend it as a joke or a screw you to RCA or ... what. was. on. his. miiiiiind.

It fascinates me.

 

Well Lou still had one more record owed to RCA after MMM, so it doesn't really make sense for it to be a joke or throw-away intended to fulfill the contract. He did Coney Island Baby for them next. From what I gather, it was meant as a statement, that he was going to do whatever he wanted to do - i.e. not make Sally Can't Dance/ Rock n Roll Animal part 2. I think at that point in his career he felt he wasn't in control, and MMM was his way of taking it back. Even if no one liked it, he could still say hey at least I did it my way (*cue Frank Sinatra*). So I don't think it was a joke - I think he took it seriously musically as he could at the time - but it did have some purpose to it. After all, it's a neat idea, guitars playing themselves with feedback. It's almost organic.

And I do listen to it now and then and actually enjoy it. I find it totally clears your mind of thoughts and distractions. Maybe because it totally fills your auditory space. Very nice to paint or do other creative work to, or just sit and space out to. It's like listening to waves crashing or a waterfall. Kinda sublime.

 

Oh come on just do it! It's not that bad! And it's reached the status of cultural artifact so don't you want to know what people are talking about?
(also then like me, you can decide whether you trust someone else's aesthetic judgement based on their opinion of it)

 

Yes, sort of. I got a copy of the Great Expectations re-issue on cassette back in the early 90s. I was warned well in advance it was a hard listen and I might not make it through all it in one sitting. So what I did was I kept it fixed in one of the decks of my double cassette player on my old hi-fi for a while & listened to into in short sequential bursts. Took a few weeks but each burst (anything from 1 minute to 5 depending on mood/time) was always interesting. Dunno if could hack it all in one go now even with my changes in musical tastes.

I have a friend who uses it as a 'ambient' music to drown out the noise of the Melbourne transport system so he can read his book on his commute each day. No kidding!

 

I used to listen to a side each on the bus ride to college. Blocked everything out nicely.

 

I’ve got the Blu Ray quad release. Lou put a lot into a supposedly joke album.

The HUDSON release is very nice. Reed put it together to play along with his Tai Chi workouts and I’ve found it complements mine well.

 

Only once on the day of its original release.

 

I have a German compilation, which includes an 1:31 excerpt. It doesn't make me want more.

 

I’ve owned the 8 Track, which I got from Sam Goody’s for a quarter along with Yoko Ono’s Fly when they were liquidating the format in the early 80’s. I found a record that had been played once, if that for next to nothing at a used record store in Ithaca around 1981, and finally, I bought the CD (full price.) I played it daily for a month or so when I was going through a phase and it would clear my head. Free jazz would also work. As Thelonius Monk would say, ugly beautiful. I play it a few times a year now. I really like it when in the mood.

 

At the time Arista was owned by Columbia pictures, Ariola didn't get ownership of Arista until 78/79, and RCA would not enter into agreements with BMG until the 80s. It wouldn't be surprising if it did feed into Lou's paranoia that he couldn't escape BMG.

 

ok, that makes MMM seem like Burt Bacharach

 

i think he meant it seriously, he supposedly had a falling out with his road manager when she wasn't praising MMM like his other albums. ive listened to it as background music. it is not baby making music tho

ps lou is the one guy i wished had written an honest no holds barred autobiography (in miles davis style) the Warhol stories alonewould make it worth it

 

I want to know where he recorded it.

 

Not all the way through. I've listened to snippets, but never made it through the whole thing.

I think it's wild that these guys decided it was the second worst rock 'n' roll album of all time. Who knew that an album of Elvis Presley talking to the audience could be worse?

 

I'm a big Lou fan but I didn't buy it and on YouTube or somewhere, I didn't get passed 30 seconds of it.

 

If they're still around, I'll send those guys a complimentary copy of my list of the 50 worst ever music books and articles. They're this week's highest entry...

 

Why not make a poll where the users can rate it from 1-10 ?

 

Not all the way through.
This is not music, it's a joke

 

Only in parts. I would listen to all of it if I could find what for me would be an affordable vinyl copy.

 

When Lou died, I was on the bus in Los Angeles and the public transport TV channel (yeah, there’s no escaping TV even on the bus) reported his death then played quite a long clip of Metal Machine Music. I always wonder if the channel just picked a Lou Reed title at random to play, or if some mischievous intern was responsible. It was odd to hear it in a public context.

 

I have tried on several occasions but each time found myself reaching for the off button after a few minutes. So I voted no. It is unlistenable nonsense and not music. Anyone who says they enjoy it are basically lying.

 

I made it to about the 8:00 minute mark myself.

At first, it had a very creepy quality about it, almost what I would imagine dying would sound like in your head as your brain goes.

However, once that spookiness wore off around the aforementioned 8:00 mark, it became nothing more to me than just mindless white noise.

To each his own, though.