[Note: this was written back in October] This weekend BBC 6music was celebrating the brilliant Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground (Reed’s former band) with a number of special shows including Lou Reed’s very own show new to the radio station. This got me thinking about the amount of music that is indebted to Lou Reed. He is nowadays thought of as that grumpy old guy who sang ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ in the 70’s and did an (unappreciated) album with Metallica last year that almost everyone hated. However Lou Reed is so much more. He and the Velvets, specifically John Cale, were revolutionary in their approach to music, with Reed producing some of the most groundbreaking lyrics ever to be put to song. He wrote about taboos such as sexuality, drug use and the seedy underbelly of New York with a social commentary that was as beautiful and alluring as it was dark and horrific.
So why does this all matter? Well if it wasn’t for Reed and his cohorts a lot of the music you listen to today wouldn’t exist. Never again has a band been so ahead of its time in its innovation, experimentation and subject matter. Something that is not often commented on is Lou Reed’s much underrated work as a solo artist. While it can be a bit patchy in consistency Reed has hit the mark perfectly in many classics such as Transformer, Berlin, Street Hassle, The Blue Mask and his poetic masterpiece New York. When I’m listening to something by Reed or The Velvet Underground it feels as if he is speaking to no one in the world but me. He is by no means the greatest singer and is well known for his monotone, almost spoken word delivery but yet this makes the songs so affecting. The poetry conveyed in his lyrics speaks for itself and doesn’t necessarily need a pitch perfect vocalist to get the message across.
Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground’s influence is so far reaching that they are collectively essential when looking back at the history of popular music. As famously put by Brian Eno, "The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band", and the famous rock critic Lester Bangs, "modern music begins with the Velvets and the implications and influence of what they did seem to go on forever". Electrifying and utterly uncompromising; Lou Reed is definitely one of the greatest artists to have ever lived.
Don’t just take my word for it. Here are two songs to listen to:
Pale Blue Eyes (The Velvet Underground) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KisHhIRihMY&feature=fvwrel
Dirty Boulevard (Lou Reed)
No comments:
Post a Comment