Lou Reed - Bells
List Price:
Our Price: $4.97
You Save: $2.02 (29%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.96 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Artist: Lou ReedEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2008-03-01
Music Label: Sbme Special Mkts.
Soundtracks:
- Stupid Man
- Disco Mystic
- I Want to Boogie With You
- With You
- Looking for Love
- City Lights
- All Through the Night
- Families
- The Bells
Music reviews of Bells
Music Review: Three extraordinary songs
Rating: 4 Stars
The 3 tracks All Through The Night, Families and The Bells are enough to make this a must-have. The first describes an all-night drunken party or pub crawl in stunning observations with trenchant imagery over a propulsive rhythm and a backdrop of bar crowd sounds. Co-written with Don Cherry (who contributes trumpet and African Hunting Guitar to the album), All Though The Night is an exploration of the "post natal" depression that follows the completion of a novel or an album, plus various other types of Weltschmerz.
Families is autobiographical and moving, with a line or two imploring his dad to let his sister manage the family business. The sound is dominated by electric guitars and guitar- and bass guitar synthesizers and the mood is mournful. The Bells itself is a breathtaking, majestic experience, something Reed has never done before or since. Hard to describe, perhaps it is his exploration of what Bowie did on Low in those atmospheric tracks like Warszawa, Art Decade, Weeping Wall, etc. but with more vocals. Dissonant, atmospheric and jazzy, the sound consists of a barely audible monologue under the wails and drones of the saxophones and gong sounds to create an eerie mood. The instrumenation builds up slowly while the vocals become audible and at its height, Reed repeats the line Here Come The Bells in a dramatic conclusion.
The others are short songs - Disco Mystic is an amusing comment on the disco fever of the late 70s, whilst I Want To Boogie With You is more sombre and serious. These fall in the disco commentary genre like Frank Zappa's Dancing Fool and Cristina Monet's Blame It On Disco on her Doll in the Box album, and as such are good, not great.
The Bells is an uneven album, but the aforementioned three exceptional songs merit the four stars. All Through The Night is a brilliant rock song with a lilting rhythm, Families is a slow, brooding piece whilst the title track is Reed at his experimental best. I recommend the album for all devoted fans, but not for newcomers to the world of Lou Reed.
Description of Bells
The Bells - Lou ReedThis product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.
The Bells is one of the forgotten titles in Lou Reed's extensive oeuvre, though it's a mystery why. Perhaps because it was sandwiched (along with the less intriguing Growing Up in Public) between two triumphs--1978's fired-by-punk Street Hassle and 1982's revelatory The Blue Mask. But The Bells, despite its obscurity, ranks with Reed's best works. Arguably his jazziest outing, the nine-song collection is marked by woozy brass (some supplied by free-jazz icon Don Cherry), a unique ambience (Reed was experimenting with binaural production in the late '70s), and characteristically incisive wordplay. "With You" targets those who live on the edge ("Don't you think you could be less capricious / Unlike you I don't have no death wish"), while "All Through the Night" is empathetic toward the same precarious souls ("With a daytime of sin and a nighttime of hell / Everybody's gonna look for a bell to ring / All through the night"). An uncommonly cohesive set, The Bells wraps up with the lengthy title track--a stunning amalgamation of brooding synthesizer, barbed brass, and extemporaneous poetics. --Steven Stolder
Classic Rock CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Classic Rock CDs
Paul Mccartney, Wings - Wings at the Speed of SoundRelease date: 1996-09-24; Music CD
Best price: $269.99
Small Faces - BoxedRelease date: 1997-11-01; Music CD
Best price: $43.38
Dr John - Gris GrisRelease date: 1994-07-15; Music CD
Price in other shops:
![Eric Clapton: Live in Hyde Park [VHS] Image](/images/Eric-Clapton-Live-in-Hyde-Park-VHS-6304817037-X.jpg){kind=small}
Eric Clapton: Live in Hyde Park [VHS]Warner Bros / Wea; Release date: 1998-02-17; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.75
Price in other shops:
![Human Highway [VHS] Image](/images/Human-Highway-VHS-6303589219-X.jpg){kind=small}
Human Highway [VHS]Warner Bros / Wea; Release date: 1995-08-08; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $120.79
![The Monkees - Head [VHS] Image](/images/The-Monkees-Head-VHS-6303337023-X.jpg){kind=small}
The Monkees - Head [VHS]Rhino / Wea; Release date: 1995-01-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.42
Price in other shops:
![Live & Loud [VHS] Image](/images/Live-Loud-VHS-630276193X-X.jpg){kind=small}
Ozzy Osbourne - Live & Loud [VHS]Sony; Release date: 1993-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $3.96
Price in other shops:
![Unplugged [VHS] Image](/images/Unplugged-VHS-6302639859-X.jpg){kind=small}
Bruce Springsteen - Unplugged [VHS]Sony; Release date: 1992-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops:
![Peter Gabriel - P.O.V. [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel - P.O.V. [VHS]Virgin Records Us; Release date: 1992-06-29; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $121.90
![Past to Present [VHS] Image](/images/Past-to-Present-VHS-6301817664-X.jpg){kind=small}
Toto - Past to Present [VHS]Sony; Release date: 1991-07-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $72.82
Similar CDs
Lou Reed - MistrialRelease date: 1986-06-26; Music CD
Best price: $56.27
Lou Reed - BerlinREED,LOU; Release date: 1998-03-24; Music CD
Best price: $4.32
Price in other shops:
Lou Reed - Lou ReedRelease date: 1993-08-26; Music CD
Best price: $3.79
Price in other shops:
Lou Reed - Sally Can't DanceRelease date: 2008-03-01; Music CD
Best price: $2.64
Price in other shops:
Lou Reed - Legendary HeartsRelease date: 2009-11-10; Music CD
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops:
Lou Reed - New SensationsRelease date: 2009-11-10; Music CD
Best price: $9.86
Price in other shops:
Lou Reed - Rock and Roll HeartRelease date: 2000-04-04; Music CD
Best price: $5.16
Price in other shops:
Lou Reed - Street HassleRelease date: 2003-05-12; Music CD
Best price: $4.34
Price in other shops:
Lou Reed - The Blue MaskRelease date: 2009-08-04; Music CD
Best price: $2.54
Price in other shops:
Lou Reed - Coney Island Baby (Aniv)Release date: 2006-09-19; Music CD
Best price: $5.01
Price in other shops: