Lou Reed Rock 'N' Roll Animal CD

2 Unreleased Performances

Personnel: Lou Reed (vocals); Steve Hunter (guitar); Dick Wagner, Ray Colcord (keyboards); Prakash John (bass instrument); Pentti Glan (drums).
Liner Note Author: Michael Hill.
In 1974, after the commercial disaster of his album Berlin, Lou Reed needed a hit, and Rock N Roll Animal was a rare display of commercial acumen on his part, just the right album at just the right time. Recorded in concert with Reed's crack road band at the peak of their form, Rock N Roll Animal offered a set of his most anthemic songs (most dating from his days with the Velvet Underground) in arrangements that presented his lean, effective melodies and street-level lyrics in their most user-friendly form (or at least as user friendly as an album with a song called "Heroin" can get). Early-'70s arena rock bombast is often the order of the day, but guitarists Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter use their six-string muscle to lift these songs up, not weigh them down, and with Reed's passionate but controlled vocals riding over the top, "Sweet Jane," "White Light/White Heat," and "Rock 'n' Roll" finally sound like the radio hits they always should have been. Reed would rarely sound this commercial again, but Rock N Roll Animal proves he could please a crowd when he had to. The revised CD reissue of Rock N Roll Animal released in 2000 offers markedly better sound than the album's initial release, along with two bonus cuts that give a better idea of how this band approached the material from Berlin on-stage, as well as an amusing moment of Reed verbally sparring with a heckler. ~ Mark Deming
Lou Reed has always dabbled in contrasts, so it comes as no surprise that the follow-up to his darkly serious concept album BERLIN was a commercially oriented, good-time rock & roll fest. ROCK N' ROLL ANIMAL is a live set that finds Reed stretching out on some of his best-loved Velvet Underground tunes with the help of his crack touring band at the time. Though the songs are somewhat given to stylistic excess, the overall sound is streamlined, accessible, and visceral.
The twin guitar attack of Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter help transform Velvet classics like "White Light White Heat," "Sweet Jane," and "Rock 'N' Roll" into pomp/glam-rock [is pomp the word meant here? not pop?] showpieces, complete with extended arrangements, elaborate instrumental sections, and of course, plenty of long guitar solos. Those who cling to the image of Reed as punk godfather might be mystified by his transformation here into Rock God. But the heart of rock & roll beats in the chest of all of Reed's chameleon-like personalities, and ROCK 'N' ROLL ANIMAL amplifies the sound of that heart to great effect.

Uncut (8/00, p.94) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Classic examples of Lou getting medieval on his own ass....Turn it up and have an imperfect day..."
The Wire (6/00, p.37) - "...Showcases newer Reed hits and the legendary VU songs....the heartless cyborg brilliance of these performances is absolutely stunning..."