Lou Reed
Live In Italy

THE REVIEW

Lou Reed - "Live in Italy": the master, the icon, the history of rock n' roll and rock in general performing in Italy, first at the Arena of Verona and then at the Olimpico of Rome, and who decides to record everything and make it his fourth official live album. This is the brief introduction to recount and describe what happened on those historic dates of September 7th and 10th, 1983, just to crown the tour following "The Blue Mask," an album that had brought Lou back to a forceful critical success, not fully matched by the public in terms of sales.

There would be much to say about him, and particularly about the period he was going through at that time, between the ever-contrasting relationship with record labels, to the love/hate relationship with Robert Quine. But perhaps it's better to move directly to the album in question without too much fuss.

Talking about a live album by Lou Reed is never easy, and there's always the risk of being unoriginal and predictable, so let's start by saying that the setlist is what it is: after all, if one dares to place a legendary piece like "Sweet Jane" in the first spot (a historical habit of old Lou, this time in its shorter and lighter version), it means there's fun to be had... The classics that have shaped his legendary career are all there: from his solo pieces like "Satellite Of Love," "Waves Of Fear," "Walk On The Wild Side"; to the Velvet ones like "I'm Waiting For My Man," "White Light White Heat", up to "Heroin" and "Rock N' Roll" which close the album. The peak is reached, unsurprisingly, with the historical "Sister Ray", in which it's a real pity the medley with "Some Kinda Love", without taking anything away from the latter, alone and integral, the classic from the second Velvet album would have been better and more exciting.

This is the brief account of the album, because in fact it is not an album that stands out for something in particular, that is, it is an album that smoothly glides like oil, without lapses but also without particular jolts worthy of the best episodes of Lou live. If in the previous ones there was always something to affirm its status as a historical album, such as the long instrumental rides of "Rock N' Roll Animal," or even more the uncontrollable polemic and sarcastic aspect of the artist, manifested at its peak in the even more epochal "Live Take No Prisoners" of a few years earlier; here there are no particular aspects to report.

In short, here we find ourselves in front of a Lou who simply stages his music, which obviously speaks for itself, but in the absence of other particular factors as previously listed, makes this "Live In Italy" the testimony of a normal concert, if you can call a concert of a guy like Lou Reed normal, who literally wrote by his own hand the history of rock. The testimony of a live performance like any other, exceptional for the extraordinary quality of the artist and his band (by the way, the always acclaimed Quine also here demonstrates his class, but without overdoing it), but without anything particular to make this album epochal as happened with the previous ones.

In short, an album recommended more to fans of the artist, remembering that many others can only dream of live performances like this anyway. As said, it wasn't very easy to describe this album at its best, I hope I've succeeded in my first review.

Trevor Reznik