Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal: Remastered
Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal: Remastered
Customer Review: Slighty better than Frampton comes alive!!!
The greatest live album ever bar none. Velvet’s snobs hate it because of the “rock outs” and the the extended guitar play of Wagner and Hunter. Look I love the Velvets with Nico and all the early stuff but the this is equally sublime. The band is tighter than a shark with lock jaw and Reed’s singing is fantastic. No whooping or howling out of place either. Clearly an audience who love the material and add to the occasion. I dare anyone not to marvel at the brilliance of Sweet Jane as Hunter and Wagner do a jazzy intro to be joined half way through by Lou Reed walking on stage to the crunchiest riff of all time and the audience losing the plot. Heroin is stunning and builds to such a crescendo you feel exhausted at the end of it. The best ever version of Rock n Roll is also included for good measure. All in all Reed doing what Reed does best, surprising the audience and moving the goalposts. Who has ever followed this up? Possibly Television which is the best compliment anyone can pay.
Customer Review: Doesn’t Represent Lou’s Core Values
The main problem i find with ‘Rock n Roll Animal’ is it really fails to represent Lou Reed as an artist. The overblown arena rock style of the album is a thousand miles away from Lou’s core musical values although the band do play incredibly well (if you appreciate that style of music).
I prefer the songs in their original form as they were more subtle in arrangement which gave each song its own distinct sound.
There is really nothing like that on ‘Rock n Roll Animal’ as each song just seems to be an excuse to indulge in a welter of heavy guitars.
Lou had certainly changed his style again. My problem is though whereas in most instances Lou is the man who instigates his own musical endeavours this time round he tends to be the side show and the highlight is the twin guitars potency.
Lou definitely takes a back seat this time round.
-
