Lou Reed: The Blue Mask / Legendary Hearts song by song review

Yeah but that counts as in the poetical camp to me.

 

I totally would put all of Berlin in the poetry section in terms of what I'm trying to get at. But like Families would be narrative. I don't know how to put it exactly.

 

I guess when I say narrative I mean stuff that is "about" something and you can clearly say what the underlying meaning is and when I say poetic I mean that what it's "about" is its own mysterious language and nothing else is about it except that one song.

 

You could also say that a lot of what Lou does is a kind of rock'n'roll reportage. Certainly a lot of what he wrote during The Velvets was observational, and solo the subject is oftentimes Lou. He had the ability to look into himself and others with a clear eye and put down what he saw without editing out the bad bits. Like Celine, Genet, Albertine Sarrazin, Selby, James Purdy, Rechy, all the great writers who were unafraid to wallow in the depths (whether it be what was around them or in them) and report back what they saw and learned. The fact that he never lost empathy or a certain hard boiled love for his subjects, the fact that he could surround it all with amazing music, is all testament to his genius.

 

No clue, always got a lot of joy out of R n R Heart. It's funky, jazzy and even danceable!

 

It is worthwhile I think he called VU to lulu show or tour

 

Lou said something to the effect of when I put out a new record 40000 people here it when Metallica does millions do. I think he was speaking to the critical bashing the record took. I have heard (I think) in a lars interview that Lou took the criticism quite hard

 

It's released?! I have been there. Must check the video.

 

yes i saw it in it's entirety on Amazon Prime.it is really amazing actually.

 

RayS your cultural references are the best. "The Blue Mask" is a kind of Frankenstein but in a twisted way much like the way the best Mel Brooks films are.

 

Terrific set list (IMO), bold reinterpretations of both old (VU) and new (Lulu). For the most part I prefer these versions of the Lulu songs to the album versions. Also great to see Tony working so hard that his glasses either get fogged up or awash in sweat and have to come off. On the downside, the squeaky sax that fits perfectly into "Heroin" sounds out of place on the more, shall we say, melodic songs. And Lou's health is clearly not so great as he reverts to "talk singing" (with lots of staring at the teleprompter) more than one might like. But holy cow - unique takes on "Lulu" songs, "Street Hassle", an absolutely kinetic "Heroin", and (for me) the highlight - "Cremation".

 

Listening to this right now...a German 12''. It sounds tremendous, but TBM is the album version, not a "disco remix" .

 

When he appeared on stage, I thought he would not get through the set. He looked really fragile and weak. When they hang a guitar on his shoulder it was like he was about to fall. But after a while something kicked in and it worked well.

 

Great pic! Any idea what type of guitar that is? I know Lou loves his unusual and custom guitars.

 

Great blogspot!!! Thanks for the share!

 

I gave it a re-listen at work yesterday, after a few posters here mentioned they liked it, after for years thinking it was his worst album. Someone else mentioned it may have been coming from the same place as Young Americans. This is a good observation as it shows Lou's interest in soul and funk. I do still find the sax on I Believe in Love pretty grim, and the hilarious spaced out Lou backing vox "good time music"...However there is some surprisingly cool guitar on other tunes, and overall if you take into account he was staying awake for weeks on end due to his speed addiction, I think it is certainly interesting.

I think a lot of his music sounds so much better live and I found this very good bootleg with Don Cherry from 1976 which goes fully jazz which people here may enjoy.

 

I think in those days certain artists were signed due to the prestige factor more than sales. Also Lou was a good concert draw so that maybe balanced out inconsistant record sales.

 

Good point. Guys like John Martyn or even Dylan were usually no big sellers. Or Neil Young; his records sell peanuts by now and he's still on Reprise. It's prestige.

 

You fan throw Bowie and Iggy into that mix too in the late 70s.

 

You fan throw Bowie and Iggy into that mix too in the late 70s.

 

Around 1982 RCA used that frame on most of their 12-inches. I've got a Bowie "Heroes/Helden" 12" from that xact period and it also says "Disco Remix" but "all" you get are the standard German and French versions of "Heroes".

 

That's a really good one. There used to be a Youtube channel, Metalmachinemaniac, which had many bootleg recordings on it. I was looking for one of Providence 1975 with Doug Yule on it the other day and found out the channel was no longer active. On my search for this particular recording I came across information about the guy who taped it. This drew me into something I hadn't really considered before - the history of bootleg recording, another fascinating detour. As well as having listened to a lot of LR material since this thread, there have been quite a few.

 

I collected Lou concert recordings for years. He was remarkably consistent on stage, and had a kind off jazzy approach to performing, which many don't recognize; played around a lot with his vocal phrasing, just like Dylan does. And he was fearless, trying out new songs or improvising in front of huge crowds. The 1975-80 bands were kind of jazzy, lots of keyboards and with Marty Fogel on sax and occasionally Don Cherry on trumpet. The tour with Doug Yule is interesting; he plays lead guitar and he'd developed quite a bit as guitar player, plays much better than on Loaded.

 

Yes, he was very talented. Those live keyboards on 'What Goes on' were Doug Yule weren't they? I suppose a song by song Squeeze is out of the question! Seriously though i think it's unfair to blame him for the collapse of VU and that album. He just did what he could at the time. Musically it's not that bad, it's just not up to VU standards.

I like the 76 tour sound with Don Cherry also.

 

Fortunately, before the maniac closed up shop I downloaded a number of those boots.