Tag Archives: Lou Reed

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Happy birthday to Lou Reed, today would have been his 78th bithday…

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Lou Reed definitely was one of the most misunderstood and controversial musicians of all time and that’s one of the reasons why I loved him as a musician and songwriter. Whether you loved him or hate him, you’ll have to admit that he definitely was one of the most prolific musicians ever. As long as he was alive back in the day,  he kept himself busy with music until he died.

His final musical project was that album he did Metallica, the double album “Lulu”. Obviously, that album sparked a lot of controversy and outrage in the music industry. It also had mixed criticism… some loved it and many hated it. If you think “Lulu” pissed a lot of people off, Lou is no stranger in pissing people off with his music ’cause he already did piss a lot of people off years ago when he released “Metal Machine Music” (released in 1975). That album sparked a lot of controversy ’cause it had no songs on it… the album had nothing but noise from Lou’s guitar and amp.

People thought Lou wasn’t the greatest singer in the world but I thought he was. I thought he had a great voice. He wasn’t perfect but you don’t have to have the greatest singing voice in the world if you want to play music and Lou proved that.

People thought he was a jerk over the years ’cause of his interviews but I never thought he was. He was just an honest man and he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind in interviews, it didn’t matter if it offended people. He just liked to speak his mind just like he does in his songs.

As a music artist, one thing I respected the hell out of him for was that Lou never played his songs the same way twice at his live performances. Listen to his live albums for proof of that and watch his live performances on youtube. He was never one to play songs the same way that was recorded on the studio album. There were too many versions of “Sweet Jane”, too many versions of “I’ll Be Your Mirror” and he played “A Perfect Day” differently every time as well.

Lou was never afraid to take big risks in his music and that’s another reason I respected him so much for. He just did what he wanted to do and didn’t care whether people liked it or not.

Most everyone hated that “Lulu” record he did with Metallica but I thought it was a beautiful album, I really did. It was different and totally original. I think years from now, everyone will come around and give that album more respect  like it deserves.

Lou was a genius and I’m a huge fan. Happy birthday Lou and RIP.

Kev

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Lou Reed was really hurt by negative reception of his album with Metallica, “LuLu”…

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Iggy Pop and Lars Ulrich did a sit-down interview and had an interesting conversation at Metallica.com. I didn’t read the whole thing but skipped over to the parts where they were talking about the Lou Reed & Metallica collaboration album, “Lulu”.

Lars explains that before Lou passed, Lou was really hurt and upset of the negative reception he got of the album. Lars explains that Metallica didn’t give a shit about negative reception but Lou did. I guess Lou really wanted people to like the album.

Iggy says Lou was trying to be a real artist which I totally agree with.

https://metallica.com/blog/so-what-article/445074/the-so-what-interview-lars-ulrich-iggy-pop

Despite the album’s negative reaction, I still stand by it that I thought the album was a real masterpiece. It’s a beautiful album if you take the time to listen to it again. I loved the whole thing from start to finish. While I loved the whole album, the best song on it was “Junior Dad” and you can hear the track above.

I really hope the haters of this album really feel proud of themselves, though. Of course, in a age where popular music continues to dominate, it’s hard for people to like real music these days and this is real music.

A lot of kids these days wanna listen to crap like Korn and all this nu-metal crap, they also want to listen to garbage like rap & pop music. This album “Lulu” wasn’t all that commercial and wanted to stay away from mainstream music. In my opinion, this album didn’t deserve to get negatively criticized ’cause it really was a beautiful record and I still stand by it today.

If this album was made in the 60’s or the 70’s, I’m sure it would have been loved by everyone back then but since the industry is dominated by pop music today, once again, it’s a real challenge to get people to enjoy real music.

I think the only reason this record got slammed is ’cause people didn’t understand Lou Reed. They don’t listen to his music much. Sure, Lou Reed wasn’t much of a singer but he was still amazing at what he did. The man was a poet and a storyteller, that’s how he always performed his songs. I’m a huge Lou Reed fan. Lou Reed would have wanted this album to be his final album. It’s a great record and I’m planning on listening to it again this week.
Kev

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Laurie Anderson says David Bowie thinks “Lulu” was Lou Reed’s best work and I agree…

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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame had their ceremony over the weekend, just last Saturday. Laurie Anderson who is Lou Reed’s wife/widow gave a speech at the Hall of Fame in honor of her late husband who just got inducted.

While she spoke, she revealed that David Bowie told her that Lou Reed’s final album with Metallica, “Lulu” was his best work. Bowie said to Laurie, “Listen, this is Lou’s greatest work. This is his masterpiece. Just wait, it will be like Berlin. It will take everyone a while to catch up.”

When Bowie mentioned the album, “Berlin” that was Lou’s solo album released in 1973. When that album first came out, that album wasn’t received well by critics and fans either. Today, “Berlin” is considered a masterpiece.

Bowie is saying the same thing will happen to “Lulu” and I agree.

Music lovers today may have a hard time enjoying the Lou Reed and Metallica album, “Lulu” but give it time… 10 to 20 years from now, everyone will look at it as a masterpiece. Sometimes it does take 20 years to get people to realize how good of an album it is.

I’ve always thought, “Lulu” was a work of genius ever since I heard it. I couldn’t stop listening to the album. The music was really powerful and so were the lyrics.

When people shit on the album, they just don’t understand “art”. The music on “Lulu” wasn’t made to entertain people. They were meant to tell stories and create art, the way I look at it. I thought “Lulu” was a beautiful record. Despite the negative criticism of the album, it made no. 36 on the Billboard 200 so that’s pretty successful.

While I do love the album myself dearly, “Junior Dad” was the best song off of it, though. Listen to the track below.

Congrats to Lou on making the Hall of Fame finally and RIP. I really was bummed about his passing, he was my favorite artist for years.

Kev

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Happy with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees with the exception of…

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… Green Day making it instead of NIN. Really???? Look like NIN got snubbed this year when they had a pretty good chance in making it.

I’m happy with Lou Reed solo making it in ’cause I’m a huge Lou Reed fan. I’m happy that Joan Jett & The Blackhearts making it in ’cause I’ve always been a fan of Joan’s music. I still need to get Joan’s music for my Ipod/Itunes… I’ll probably just get a Greatest Hits album of hers soon. I’m happy that SRV finally made it in which is long overdue. I’m happy that Ringo Starr finally made it in. The other three Beatles: Paul, John and George made it in with their solo careers but Ringo is the last Beatle finally getting his chance.

I haven’t even heard of the other acts, though… I don’t know who Paul Butterfield, Bill Withers and the 5 Royals are, though.

See the new inductees here:

https://rockhall.com/inductees/

I feel that Green Day doesn’t deserve it. I used to be a fan of the band back in the early 90’s and early 2000’s but I don’t like them anymore, though. Green Day is a bit overrated.

There are still a large number of rock acts that are deserving of an induction, though. Hopefully Deep Purple will finally get their time next year ’cause they are long overdue as well. Other rock bands/artists who deserve an induction that haven’t yet… a top 10: 1) Deep Purple 2) Jethro Tull 3) Ted Nugent 4) Billy Idol 5) Iron Maiden 6) Megadeth 7) Slayer 8) The Scorpions 9) U.F.O. 10) Phish

Yeah, I named Phish but love ’em or hate ’em… they are eligible and they are successful/legendary. Phish deserves an induction.

You’ve probably never heard of the band U.F.O. but they are a legendary UK band that made guitarist, Michael Schenker famous. You probably know them by their songs: “Rock Bottom”, “Lights Out” and “Doctor, Doctor”.

Kev

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2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominations announced…

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Finally, Stevie Ray Vaughn got a nomination. If he gets ignored for an induction, then I think I will be boycotting the Hall of Fame. SRV should have got an induction a long time ago.

You can only vote for 5 so I’m gonna vote for: SRV, Lou Reed, The Smiths, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and War. I think they are definitely worthy!

http://rockhall.com/voting/2015-rock-hall-nominees-fan-vote/

So far SRV, Green Day and NIN are in the lead, though. Which doesn’t surprise me.

Some of you may ask, why did Green Day get the nomination? In order to be eligible a band/artist must have their first album that was released 25 years before. Welp, Green Day’s first album was released in 1990 so the album will hit 25 years in 2015 so that makes the band officially eligible. It may not seem like it but Green Day have been in the music business for years. I used to like Green Day, just not anymore. All they play is power chords and Billie Joe’s singing is amateur at best.

I don’t agree with Green Day getting inducted this soon when there are tons of other rock acts that are more deserving of a nomination like: Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, Ted Nugent, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Yes, etc.

I wasn’t much of NIN fails either and I think it’s too soon for them.

I can now understand why people call this, “The Rock and Roll Hall of Shame” ’cause it’s true.

Kev

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Macaulay Culkin forms Velvet Underground tribute band but…

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Remember Macaulay Culkin that Home Alone kid? Apparently, he happens to be a huge Lou Reed fan himself. He just formed a Velvet Underground tribute band but re-wrote all the lyrics for them to be about pizza. The band’s name is The Pizza Underground so obviously this is a parody. The Pizza Underground parodied songs by the Velvet Underground and Lou’s solo material.

Listen to the demo of all the songs, here. Sounds pretty good actually!

If Lou was still alive, I’m sure he would have loved this and got a pretty good laugh out of it!

Kev

Kev Brock music

All of my Lou Reed covers in one posting…

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I love Lou’s music so much. Been a lifelong fan of his so I was pretty bummed out about his passing. This was just a celebration of his music over the years. I wanted to do a 10 song tribute to perform my favorite songs of his. Of course, these 10 songs are his most famous ones, anyway.

I had a blast doing this tribute.

Thanks for watching and listening.

1. Waiting For the Man: http://youtu.be/dHvAcuDpZ34

2. Sweet Jane: http://youtu.be/kODDqFITX48

3. I’ll Be Your Mirror: http://youtu.be/m4pgJDlkIE4

4. Heroin: http://youtu.be/xLun6kPjxoQ

5. Rock and Roll: http://youtu.be/ghCkjfXwfpU

6. Dirty Blvd.: http://youtu.be/CE1P9YSj4OQ

7. Vicious: http://youtu.be/KpXiCvgnizA

8. Satellite of Love: http://youtu.be/aY9mhHZjpWk

9. Walk On The Wild Side: http://youtu.be/tsFe1k0zYGg

10. Perfect Day: http://youtu.be/pr2PC5SEE0c

I’m off to doing other covers for youtube ’cause there’s so many I wanna do. Of course, I won’t neglect the originals too… will perform originals for youtube as well.

Kev