Lou Reed - The Raven
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CD Details
Artist: Lou ReedEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2003-01-28
Music Label: Reprise / Wea
Soundtracks:
- Overture
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Call On Me
- The Valley of Unrest
- A Thousand Departed Friends
- Change
- The Bed
- Perfect Day
- The Raven
- Balloon
- Broadway Song
- Blind Rage
- Burning Embers
- Vanishing Act
- Guilty
- I Wanna Know (The Pit and the Pendulum)
- Science of the Mind
- Hop Frog
- Tripitena's Speech
- Who Am I? (Tripitena's Song)
- Guardian Angel
Music reviews of The Raven
Music Review: LEAVE YOUR EXPECTATIONS HOME
Rating: 5 Stars
"The Raven" is an album so stylistically varied that everyone is going to find something to love and hate about it. That said, if we take Lou's own advice to "leave your expectations home" the reward is another great record from Uncle Lou.
There's a handful of songs that for me push this album into the realm of greatness, warranting a five-star rating. "Edgar Allen Poe" is one of the fiercest rockers Reed has ever put on tape. The SOUND of the record is fabulous, with ultra-crunchy guitars, crisp horns, and throbbing drums. Reed works himself into such a frenzy on "Edgar Allen Poe" that's it impossible for the listener to not feel the enthusiasm Reed has for his latest work.
Strangely enough, the remake of "The Bed" fits right in here and is one of the highlights of the album. Antony's take on "Perfect Day" will never outdo the original (or Lou's rendition on "Perfect Night") but it IS an interesting take on one of Reed's greatest songs.
I love the rewritten "Raven"--it's hard to tell where Poe ends and Reed begins, which I suspect is just what Reed was going for.
The only out-and-out clunker is "Balloon," at least to my ears. But I love Steve Buscemi on "Broadway Song," such a different song for Reed to be doing. It's a nice change of pace.
"Blind Rage" is a fierce rocker with noisy guitars that recall the Velvets and Metal Machine Music, in the best sense. "Burning Embers" is another instant classic, and I feel that this is where Reed is most successful at merging his songwriting with the ideas and words of Poe. By the time the track builds to it's crescendo you'll swear you hear John Cale's viola somewhere in the cacophony of sound.
"Science Of The Mind" find Lou in his best singing voice since the 70's--this could be an outtake from "Berlin," Reed's voice sounds that good. "Hop Frog" is a fun, catchy rocker featuring vocals from David Bowie that will grab you right away and imbed itself in your brain.
I have to agree, though, with the previous reviewer who said the highlight of the album is "Who Am I?" This is simply one of Reed's best songs period.
Overall, you might have to utilize the "skip" button once of twice to suit your preference and mood, but the stronger tracks definitely bring "The Raven" up to the level of a five-star work.
Description of The Raven
It's not surprising that Lou Reed finds a kindred spirit in Edgar Allan Poe. The godfather of punk's early ambition was to bring the darker elements of great literature--decay, death, and decadence--to rock & roll. The Raven was born following a spoken-word performance of Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" during which Reed "came to understand it in a way I never had before." Accordingly, The Raven may strike Reed's longtime fans in a way the artist never has before. Although dark, the music is stylistically all over the place--from Velvet Underground-like rock instrumentals to actor Steve Buscemi's creepy lounge-lizard take on the anti-showbiz "Broadway Song," to moments that recall such diverse past Reed ventures as Metal Machine Music and the Bells. He even reprises two classics--"Perfect Day" and "The Bed" from Transformer and Berlin, respectively -- in almost unrecognizable forms. Ornette Coleman and David Bowie drop in, and actors read text in which Reed mixes Poe's poems and stories with his own words. The opium references are surely Poe's; the explicit images probably all Reed's. It's hard to tell, though; the blend's that good. --Bill HoldshipGeneral CDs
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