Lou Reed, 1973.
A Bob Ezrin production, this one (he produced Floyd's The Wall, and MANY well-known concept albums in the 70s).
It's dark, tragic, poignant and beautiful.
I don't know if Lou Reed ever beat this one - all the songs fit and flow together perfectly, the story line is all too easy to follow, and is delivered with just the right balance of pathos and (very dry New York) humour.
The album charts the meeting of Caroline and Jim, and the inevitable, dug-fuelled descent into emotional despair for both, but especially Caroline.
The orchestration is possibly a teensy bit big at times, with woodwind blasting away over full strings, but I find it very attractive and transcendental, and I'm glad Ezrin was hired to blow things up a bit - I reckon it works.
The emotional tour-de-force is "The Kids", sung by Reed-as-Jim, commenting cynically on the sidelines as Caroline's children are taken into custody - but be warned - you will need a box of tissues beside you when you hear this the first time!
I think we all know that Lou Reed can't really sing - it's more a dramatic style of vocalising that he uses - but he uses it perfectly in this set, conveying a full gamut of emotions.
Check out the recent DVD of a live multi-media performance of Berlin, in New York - it's fabulous!
To the CD - harrowing, demanding and genius!
20/10.
G.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment