Mistrial - Lou Reed

Advantages: a couple of decent songs
Disadvantages: too much avearge material and average production

...Arguably the least regarded Lou Reed album, Mistrial just seems to receive indifference from most people. It doesn't upset anyone, like Metal Machine Music did, nor does it excite audiences in the way that Transformer did. Mistrial consists of ten average songs, played competently, sung ok, and produced ok. And that's about it. There's nothing that really stands out, the resolutely 1986 production utilises very basic drum machines for the first and last time in Lou's history, and everything sounds rather boomy and upfront, but hollow and lacking in substance. The ttle track at least features a cracking melody, but Mama's Got A Lover, whilst not a bad song, sounds like a bad Lloyd Cole copy. A rather bizarre achievment sounds like a bad copy of someone who sounds like a bad copy of Lou Reed. "Video Violence" has a sparky sound but...

adams66 17.09.2008 · Read review
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Review of Mistrial - Lou Reed

Take No Prisoners (Live) - Lou Reed

Advantages: superb sound, superb performances
Disadvantages: a couple of songs drag a bit

...Lou Reed himself originally wanted to call this album Lou Reed Talk And Talk And Talks. It's certainly an odd album, pitched midway between a straight live album and stand up comedy. There's over 100 minutes of music but only ten tracks which gives you an idea straight away that these are not simple live renditions of Lou's songs. By 1978 Lou had pretty much come out of his mid 1970s drug period. He was still not entirely clean, but was in better shape than he had been for at least five years. He had a superb band behind him, led by keyboard player Michael Fonfara, and most of them had been touring with Lou for a few years. The musicians were capable of playing the most tender ballad before suddenly and shockingly roaring off like a locomotive at full speed. Lou had a habit of extending or shortening songs on a whim, but the band...

adams66 25.09.2008 · Read review
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Review of Take No Prisoners (Live) [Remastered] - Lou Reed

Reed's Love Song To Poe

Advantages: Some good songs and performances
Disadvantages: Overlength, inconsistent and some bad performances

...So often formerly interesting and cutting edge musicians lack grace when entering their twighlight years. Prime examples would include Paul MCartney, Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart (yes, I think some of Rod's early work was both interesting and cutting edge). There seems to be a need to either keep up with kids or lose originality altogether. This has thankfully never been the case for Lou Reed who has remained constantly interesting, whether you like him or not, and this release from 2003 is no difference. This record is essentially Reed's tribute to Edgar Alan Poe. Rife with guest appearances from the likes of William Dafoe, David Bowie, Ornette Coleman and Antony Heggarty, this is an intriguing if sometimes patchy album. Some songs are wonderful, others meander and he gets too involved in contrived spoken word in places. When it...

Nixu1980 04.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of Raven, The - Lou Reed

Lou's Best Moment

Advantages: Totally original
Disadvantages: none

...Tracklisting 1. Berlin 2. Lady Day 3. Men Of Good Fortune 4. Caroline Says I 5. How Do You Think It Feels 6. Oh, Jim 7. Caroline Says II 8. Kids, The 9. Bed, The 10. Sad Song I wouldn't recommend this album to anyone who has just bought Transformer because they like Perfect day or Walk on the Wild Side or anyone with just a passing interest in the man. This is not an easy listen - its Lou Reeds concept album about the breakdown of a marriage between Jim & Caroline and the mental collapse that follows. It was produced by Bob Ezrin - a legendary producer who has worked with everyone from Lou to Pink Floyd to Janes Addiction - and the album sounds like it was recorded in Reeds head. Opening song Berlin sets the tone with its creepy opening bars and its sparse lyrics about how they met by the Berlin Wall...

tilly77 16.05.2005 · Read review
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Review of Berlin - Lou Reed

Old Owl Eyes Is Back

Advantages: Some Essential Reed Songs
Disadvantages: A lot of filler

...This was Lou Reed's second solo album, post Velvet Underground, produced under the aegis of his mentor and RCA label mate of the time David Bowie. The album is heavily influenced by "Ziggy" era Bowie, which ironic considering that Bowie was heavily influenced by the work of Reed with the Velvet Underground. Reed influencing Bowie influencing Reed. The album is none the worse for Ziggy's influence. The cover is interesting featuring a scary stark pure black and white photograph of Reed on the front and models representing Reed's male / female personae on the back. There are some fine songs here, opening with the excellent "Vicious" which could have graced a VU album, this is floowed by "Andy's Chest" about Mr Warhol. Next up we have "Perfect Day" which was also the "B" side of the stand out song here "Walk On The Wildside" with that...

mikeydred 17.03.2001 · Read review
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Review of Transformer [Remastered] - Lou Reed

Rock n Roll Animal

Advantages: A good selection of songs
Disadvantages: none

...Track listing 1. Walk On The Wild Side 2. Satellite Of Love 3. I Love You Suzanne 4. Wild Child 5. How Do You Think It Feels 6. Lady Day 7. Coney Island Baby 8. Sweet Jane (Live) 9. Vicious 10. Sally Can't Dance 11. Berlin 12. Caroline Says II 13. Perfect Day 14. Kill Your Sons 15. White Light White Heat (live) 16. I'm Waiting For The Man (CD only.) - Reed, Lou/Velvet Underground 17. Heroin (CD only.) - Reed, Lou/Velvet Underground For anyone only familiar with Lou Reed through Walk On The Wildside/Trainspotting/Perfect Day then this is the ideal intorduction to his back catalogue. If you are a fan of Bowie it is an essential purchase - Reed is the darker twin of Bowie and their 70's careers owed alot to each other and their love/hate relationship. This selection takes in everything from...

tilly77 16.05.2005 (09.06.2005) · Read review
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Review of Retro - Lou Reed

I Love You, Hate You...Love You, Hate You...

Advantages: Great lyrics, good music
Disadvantages: Some may find lyrics too pessimistic

...Lou Reed embarked on a journey of rock and roll excess following his departure from Velvet Underground. It took David Bowie's mentorship to give the guy some measure of commercial success. It still did not stop him from doing things such as releasing an unlistenable album "Metal Machine Music". Many wondered if Reed was just another washed-up rockstar with little or nothing to say. And then he released "New York" a love-hate paean to his hometown - he is after all a "Coney Island Baby". The first notes tell you that Rees is going to rock. It has attack, rhythm and is going places. It is dirty, it is grungy, it is rock n roll. "Romeo Had Juliette" is a fitting opener to the album and if it ended there no-one could complain either. Reed compresses into four minutes all that is low and sordid and yet desperately worth living for. This...

JoePoirot 05.07.2005 · Read review
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Review of New York - Lou Reed

Read all I know about Reeds

Advantages: A good plant
Disadvantages: a bit invasive

...Reed is a name that is used to describe many similar plants that grow in water.A reed is a plant that is grasslike with long flat leaves. The edges of the reed leaf can sometimes be very sharp .I have actually cut myself on them sometimes . One reed is used for thatching that is a reed called Norfolk reed but some reeds are used that are grown in other countries. Water reed is a stronger more durable thatch then long wheat straw which are also used to thatch roofs. Norfolk reed is also used for fencing panels . The Norfolk reed beds are well known as good places to go birding. Cley marsh has an area of reed bed. The bearded tit nests in these east anglian reed beds. The Sedge and the Reed warbler, the bittern and the great crested grebe are amongst other birds that use the reed beds making their nests from the reeds. There are...

mumsymary 05.07.2007 · Read review
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Review of Reed

Cheap Reeds For Clarinet, But Poor Quality

Advantages: cheap
Disadvantages: low quality, split easily

...Rico clarinet reeds were the first ones I was introduced to when I started to play clarinet. These a re natural reeds and tend to vary in quality. I started with a very soft one (they range form 1 to 5) and progressed through to a three. I have never got any further. Reeds can be expensive and beginning and less practised clarinet players tend to go through quite a lot of them. I have found a few split reeds and ones that were so thin that they were almost like paper at their tips among the reeds in a box of Rico standard ones. Rico reeds are cheap but they are also low quality. The Rico reeds tend to take time to break in and once they are suitably moist and playing well, they tend to split and have to be replaced. The Vandoren reeds are more expensive and they last longer but they tend to be a little bit harder than the Rico...

jan007 07.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Rico Clarinet Reeds

Beware of Reeds Rains Lettings

Advantages: None
Disadvantages: Many

...Reeds Rains Lettings. My wife and I have been renting a house Ferryhill now for five months and all we can say is when the 6 months contract is over we cannot wait to leave the property and we never want to hear the name Reeds Rains ever again. I have never known anything like it in my life. They have not fulfilled any of there resposabilities and as for the contract, that is a complete joke. I seems that the people renting are responsable for everything and they are not responsable for anything at all. From the minute we moved in we have had nothiong but problems starting with the hand rail up the stairs falling off the wall. The hand rail was screwed into a plasterboard wall and some of the fixings were just into plasterboard only. How a hand rail is suposed to have the strenth to fulfill it perpose screwed into plasterboard I dont...

housemove 04.09.2008 · Read review
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Review of Reeds Rains