Lou Reed of Velvet Underground (Rock ‘n’ Roll)

Lou Reed. After the Album Review of the brand-new reinterpretation of the Velvet Underground by the Castle Face Record crew (here), I could only write today’s article about the man who ran the band with an iron hand, the indispensable one. Need proof? Squeeze, the last official Velvet album, which Lou Reed is not on, is by far the weakest of them all.

Since the Velvet, Lou Reed has meant twenty solo albums, many conflicts with band members, and always the same nonchalance. Today I want to highlight the great quality of the record American Poet, released in 1972. Being in fact a live version of his album Transformer, Lou Reed performs then-new songs such as “Vicious” (here), “Walk on the Wild Side” (here) or “Satellite of Love” (here), no less. A few Velvet standards are also covered. Note that this record is interspersed with an interview in which Lou wishes death upon Doug Yule of the Velvet, rather extreme. This record also has the best (rock) version ever recorded of the song “Heroin”. He even explains how he wrote this track, which might well never have seen the light of day. In short, American Poet, because it is live, is probably Lou Reed’s most sincere record and definitely one of his most extraordinary. Two tracks are available to listen to here, the perfect way to start the week.

Related link:

Album Review of the Velvet Underground by Castle Face