Sad news ,http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/10407726/Lou-Reed-dies-aged-71.html Take a Walk on the Wild Side , a classic ,although as a youngster it took me a few years to fully understand the lyrics
wrote some of the sweetest music and some of the most deranged. the band name came from a book on SM. think i'll go and listen to Berlin
Honky, wasn't Berlin voted one of the worst albums of all time? Up there with Bowie's 'Tin Machine' Sad loss though, a true pioneer.
"Berlin" is an extraordinarily depressing album - but brilliant nonetheless. First heard the Velvet Underground as a teenager about 35 years ago. Absolute quality. No band has ever come close to them. Good to know that one of the driving forces behind their unique sound was the only non-American member: John Cale from Crynant up the Neath Valley. Got to see them at Wembley in '93 - but would have sold my grandma to have seen them at their peak in Boston or NYC in 1968. RIP Lou Reed.
my Favourite: http://youtu.be/6nwq5aGw_O4 The band who introduced me to them: http://youtu.be/sacyCNc2fd0
tbh the guy could not sing, he was an arrogant prick in interviews, shame he passed away but hardly an icon of music unless one was that way inclined
Sorry musty couldn't disagree more! And the music should be judged on the art as a whole not just the vocals. And IMO perfect vocals would not suit the overall punk DIY sound the velvet's had. If it's not for you that's fine, but the band's that was influenced by then IMO are the greatest bands off the 70s, 80,s 90,s and 00!
Reed may not have been the most tolerant of interviewees, he certainly didn't suffer fools. however his musical legacy can't be doubted. i love the quote of eno's that only 30,000 people may have bought the Velvets first album, however everyone that did formed a band.
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgu...a=X&ei=odRvUvWBDcPwhQfxw4HABA&ved=0CDQQ9QEwAg Agree with that, swan and only. Vocally, Reed was pretty limited, but his voice is perfect for the songs he wrote. The acidic, sarcastic drawl of the vocal on "Waiting for the Man" is one of the coolest sounding deliveries ever. Dylan, technically, can't sing either - but imagine how neutered and daft his songs would sound if they were re-recorded by a "real" singer such as Michael Bolton. Various "proper" singers appeared on the charity version of "Perfect Day" but none come close to the intimacy, honesty or melancholy of Reed's defeated voice on the original. True, Reed was a cnut to interview. But I guess he had good reason to be: journalists were forever slating his albums. Reed, when with the VU, had the bollox and vision to bring literate lyrics into rock songs and to play determinedly rowdy, experimental and unfashionable music that was denied radio play and commercial success. The bloke is giant and a legend, whose VU songs, I've no doubt, will still be listened to in a 100 years time long after today's tinsel & tat pop music has been forgotten.