Lou Reed
Rock'n'Roll Animal

I was about 14 years old when my brother, probably tired of seeing me get lost listening to Umberto Tozzi and disco music, decided to have mercy on me and save me. One fine day he presented me with an LP with the cover protected by a transparent plastic sleeve and said: "Try listening to this stuff."
I obeyed, and about 5 minutes into the record, I started thinking: "What the hell kind of music have you been listening to until an hour ago?" At the end of the first listen, I started it over again, and from there began an endless journey into ROCK (all the light music discs I mentioned before met an inglorious end, either sold or... PAFF! Disappeared into the trash can).

Let's get to the story. After the separation from the Velvet Underground, Lou moved to London where he recorded a first solo album with some nice songs but certainly not memorable, moreover, with a production that was nothing short of horrible and with the participation of musicians who had as much to do with him as cabbage with cheese. It was 1972, and in those days there was perhaps not the frantic race for immediate profit that there is now, so he was given a second chance. He took full advantage of it with the decisive help of David Bowie and Mick Ronson, and out came "Transformer."
Success, however, was not something that suited Lou Reed, and he followed it with a quintessentially anti-commercial album, the masterpiece "Berlin."

In the wake of that album, the "Rock'n'roll Animal Tour" was organized where Lou simply played the role of the singer, accompanied by the guitars of Dick Wagner (already with Alice Cooper) and Steve Hunter (ex-Detroit), the bass of Prakesh John (also with Alice Cooper), the keyboards of Ray Colcord, and the drums of Pentti Glan.
The entrance is insane: an over three-minute intro where the two guitars chase and intertwine wonderfully, awaiting the leader's entrance. After about 3'30" of solos and various wonders, a familiar riff. It's the one from "Sweet Jane," with applause accompanying the entrance of a very skinny Lou Reed, with teased blond hair and dark glasses, who proves to be in shape, despite his rather tormenting period, and starts with that cursed voice of his: "Standin' on the corner, suitcase in my hand." The guitar solos then follow throughout the piece with Dick & Steve swapping roles, one now playing the riff, then the solo, and vice versa.
After the sensational debut comes a song from the depths of the Lou Reedian soul: it's "Heroin," here stretched to the limit (over 12 minutes), a version that towards the end, from a very sad description of what heroin addiction is, turns into a tight rock'n'roll. It's probably the track on the album where Colcord's keyboards are most heard.
"White light/White heat" is the third velvet recovery and the third transformation, the band plays a metallic and mean rock'n'roll that well describes the New York environment of those times.
Then comes "Lady Day," the only track on the album from "Berlin," and probably the least convincing of the concert, while "Rock'n'roll" is astonishing for its rhythm, power, and for the magnificent guitar duet that stretches over three minutes before reaching the grand finale where all the instrumentalists unleash in a war for the last note.
Note that in the 2000 reissue, two bonus tracks from "Berlin" were added.

Of course, for those who only know the Lou Reed of today, it might be a bit difficult to recognize him in this rock'n'roll animal, but for those who don't know him and are interested in getting a taste, this rock milestone is the perfect starting point.