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Rating: On December 21, 1973, Lou Reed and his band held a concert at the Academy of Music, a theater in the heart of Manhattan just a few blocks from his home. Thirteen songs were on the setlist, or rather fourteen, including the initial instrumental intro composed by his lead guitarist Steve Hunter. Five episodes were taken from the repertoire of his old group Velvet Underground, the rest from his solo albums "Transformer" (1972) and "Berlin" (1973).
A few months later, in 1974, "Rock'n'Roll Animal" was released, a single LP containing six of the pieces performed on that occasion (four of them by Velvet), and it was the definitive success for Lou: the powerful and chrome-plated hard/glam rock appeal with which the brilliant musicians at his side covered the skeletal proto punk marches of the late sixties as well as a couple of more recent things expanded his fame to rockers all over the world. Many in reality paid more attention to the dazzling ensemble sound, the impeccable bass/drum groove, and the particular feeling created by the work of the two lead guitars than to the out-of-tune, shadowy, and fascinating rants of the ultra-metropolitan bisexual junkie temporarily loaned to the rock arena.
Lou was not happy about this and soon fired the group, keeping only the rhythm section for his next studio work "Sally Can’t Dance." Another good success, but RCA, his record label, was gnawing because that Lou Reed was more marketable and universal. In 1975 they then decided, without consulting the artist, to release this new live album, with another six tracks drawn from the same, identical concert in Manhattan from nearly two years earlier, with the evident desire to scrape the bottom of the barrel.
Lou's revenge would be terrible: "Metal Machine Music," that is, four entire vinyl sides of pure, iconoclastic feedback generated by two electric guitars left leaned against maxed-out amplifiers for quarters of an hour while the recording tape ran: among the most unlistenable, incommunicable, and useless (except to himself) things in the history of musical commerce.
Finally closing the affair, when the time came, several years later, to master the award-winning "Rock'n'Roll Animal" on CD, RCA would add, as bonus tracks, the last couple of songs performed that evening still missing from the roll call. In this way, the two works in question contain, in their digital format, the entire performance at the Academy even if in a random order, without respecting the actual setlist.
There are some strange music enthusiasts who love "Rock'n'Roll Animal" and cannot stand "Live," going so far as to say that the former is a bomb and this sounds limp... how is that possible? It's the same evening; they're the same tapes! Lou Reed is that: late 1973, completely wasted, bleached blond, and full of eye make-up, thankfully without a guitar on him (he's inept, even if he would not get rid of it anymore and even today entertains us with his very poor skill, "solos" included) and pushed by five very talented and greatly cohesive musicians.
The sound is round, creamy, rich. Hunter and Dick Wagner's guitars unleash in proto-punk and pre-glam rock, transforming them into sonorous melodic hard rock ("Vicious", "I’m Waiting For The Man"). When the compositions are more atmospheric, sick, and dangerous ("Oh Jim", "Sad Song"), Ray Colcord's keyboards and the metronomic advancing of Prakash John's instrument, a highly talented Indian bassist, take center stage. The nightmares of "Berlin" and the lasciviousness of "Transformer" are rendered in a professional manner but also attenuated by the group, which evidently enjoys itself more when the rhythm is fast.
It would have been nice if these six songs had been released together with the other eight in "Rock'n'Roll Animal" from the start, thus making that album double and linking it to super classics of generous duration like "Made in Japan" by the Purple, "Absolutely" by the Doors, or "Live At Fillmore" by the Allman. This work, instead, opposed by the protagonist himself, shares a meager life in the shadow of its older brother, despite being of the same substance and especially value.
Final tidbit: Lou's cover photo, featuring one of those narrow-brimmed hats that still infest New York today, is a shot by Oliviero Toscani, at the time at the beginning of his career.Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Sweet Jane (04:07)
Standing on the corner, suitcase in my hand
Jack is in his corset, jane is in her vest
And me, I'm in a rock'n'roll band
Ridin'a stutz bearcat, jim
You know, those were different times
Oh, all the poets, they studied rules of verse
And those ladies, they rolled their eyes
Sweet jane, sweet jane, sweet jane
jack, he is a banker
And jane, she is a clerk
And both of them save their monies
when they come home from work
Ooh, they be sittin' down by the fire
Oh, the radio does play
The classical music, said jim, the `march of the wooden soldiers`
All you protest kids, you can hear jack say, get ready
Sweet jane, come on, baby
Sweet jane, sweet jane
Some people, they like to go out dancing
Other peoples, they have to work
Just watch me now
And there's some evil mothers
Well they're gonna tell you that everything is just dirt
You know, that women never really faint
And that villains always blink their eyes
And that, you know, children are the only ones who blush
And that life is just to die
But anyone who ever had a heart
Oh, they wouldn't turn around and break it
And anyone who's ever played a part
Oh, they wouldn't turn around and hate it
Sweet jane, sweet jane, sweet jane ...
02 Kill Your Sons (05:46)
All your two-bit psychiatrists
are giving you electroshock
They said, they'd let you live at home with mom and dad
instead of mental hospitals
But every time you tried to read a book
you couldn't get to page 17
'Cause you forgot where you were
so you couldn't even read
Don't you know they're gonna kill your sons
don't you know gonna kill, kill your sons
They're gonna kill, kill your sons
until they run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run away
Mom informed me on the phone
she didn't know what to do about dad
Took an axe and broke the table
aren't you glad you're married
And sister, she got married on the island
and her husband takes the train
He's big and he's fat
and he doesn't even have a brain
They're gonna kill your sons
don't you know they're gonna kill, kill your sons
Don't you know they're gonna kill, kill your sons
until they run away
Creedmore treated me very good
but Paine Whitney was even better
And when I flipped out on PHC
I was so sad, I didn't even get a letter
All of the drugs, that we took
it really was lots of fun
But when they shoot you up with thorizene on crystal smoke
you choke like a son of a gun
Don't you know they're gonna kill your sons
don't you know they're gonna kill, kill your sons
Don't you know they're gonna kill, kill your sons
until they run, run, run, run, run, run, run away
03 Satellite Of Love (05:58)
Satellite's gone up to the skies
Things like that drive me out of my mind
I watched it for a little while
I like to watch things on TV
*BUM BUM BUM* Satellite of love
*BUM BUM BUM* Satellite of love
*BUM BUM BUM* Satellite of love
Satellite of
Satellite's gone way up to Mars
Soon it'll be filled with parkin' cars
I watched it for a little while
I love to watch things on TV
*BUM BUM BUM* Satellite of love
*BUM BUM BUM* Satellite of love
*BUM BUM BUM* Satellite of love
Satellite of
I've been told that you've been bold
With Harry, Mark, and John
Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday through Thursday
With Harry, Mark, and John
Satellite's gone up to the skies
Things like that drive me out of my mind
I watched it for a little while
I love to watch things on TV
*BUM BUM BUM* Satellite of love
*BUM BUM BUM* Satellite of love
*BUM BUM BUM* Satellite of love
Satellite of
Satellite of love
04 White Light/White Heat (03:55)
White light goin' messin' up my mind
don't you know, it's gonna make me go blind
White heat, goin' down to my toes
Lord have mercy, white light had it, goodness knows
White light goin' down to my brain
hey, don't you know it's gonna make me insane
White heat, down to my toes
Lord have mercy, white light had it, goodness knows
forget it
White light
Ooohhh, white light
Ahhh, white heat
Ooohhh, yeah, white light
White light goin' messin' up my mind
don't you know, it's gonna make me go blind
White light, goin' down to my toes
Lord have mercy, white light had it, goodness knows
White light goin' messin' up my brain
don't you know it's gonna make me insane
White heat, goin' down to my toes
Lord have mercy, white light had it, goodness knows
forget it
Ooohhh, white light
Yeah, aaah, white light
White heat
Oh, baby, white light
white light, now, now, now
White light goin' messin' up my mind
don't you know, it's gonna make me go blind
White heat, goin' down to my toes
Lord have mercy, white light had it, goodness knows
White light goin' down to my brain, ooohhh
Oh, don't you know it's gonna make me insane
White heat, goin' down to my toes
Lord have mercy, white light had it, goodness knows
forget it
White light
Ooohhh, white light
Ooohhh, baby, white heat
Yeah, white light
07 Martial Law (03:40)
I've declared a truce, so stop your fighting
the marshall is in town
I won't put up with no big mouth yapping
at least not while I'm around
This is my friend Ace, he's from the 8th precinct
nothing goes on that he don't know
And we've been send cause your arguments
have been going on for too long
And before one of you hurts the other one of you
I'm declaring martial law
I came, I saw, I declared martial law
I'm the marshall in the city
The jails are filled with people like you
you oughta listen to your diddy-wah-diddy
What's a girl like you doing with that lamp
you better drop it down on the floor
And son, that isn't very smart
kicking a hole in that door
Hey, Ace will you take a look at this place
and get those neighbors out of the hall
I'm declaring martial law
I came, I saw, I declared martial law
'cause I'm the marshall in the city
And if you stand away, I've got something to say
that I might even help you
Keep your hands to yourself and keep your big mouth shut
don't you touch nobody with hate-hate-hate-hate
And if all you've got is poison in your mouth
make sure that you don't speak
It's 3:30 in the early morning
don't punch, don't scratch, don't bite
Try not to take the garbage of the day
any place but outside
Now me and Mr. Ace are gonna leave this place
and this fighting's gonna end
And if we're called back, I'm gonna knock you flat
and stack you end to end
Ah, I came, I saw, I declared martial law
I'm the marshall in the city
I came, I saw, I declared martial law
I'm the marshall in the city, ooohhh
I came, I saw, I declared martial law
I'm the marshall in the city
I came, I saw, I declared martial law
'cause I'm the marshall in the city
10 Waves Of Fear (03:19)
Waves of fear, attack in the night
waves if revulsion, sickening sights
My heart's nearly bursting, my chest's choking tight
Waves of fear, waves of fear
Waves of fear, squat on the floor
looking for some pill, the liquor is gone
Blood trips from my nose, I can barely breathe
waves of fear, I'm too scared to leave
Waves of fear, waves of fear
waves of fear, waves of fear
I'm too afraid to use the phone
I'm too afraid to put the light on
I'm so afraid I've lost control
I'm suffocating without a word
Crazy with sweat, spittle on my jaw
what's that funny noise, what's that on the floor
Waves of fear, pulsing with death
I curse my tremors, I jump at my own step
I cringe at my terror, I hate my own smell
I know where I must be, I must be in hell
Waves of fear, waves of fear
waves of fear, waves of fear
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