Lou Reed Live In Italy CD

Robert Quine has said that the personal and musical differences that led to the end of his working relationship with Lou Reed had put a wall between them well before he finally gave Reed his notice. While Quine never failed to deliver on-stage, the tension became audible in their music, and Live in Italy captures the best band of Reed's solo career about a year past its peak, not long before it fell apart for the first time (Lou would reassemble the group for the world tour that followed New Sensations -- a job Quine said he took solely for the money). Consequently, this isn't the ideal document of this band -- but it also makes clear that even on a lesser night, Reed, Quine, Fernando Saunders, and Fred Maher were a force to be reckoned with. While Quine's performance isn't flattered by this album's mix, his edgy lines blend superbly with Reed's, and both are in fine fettle, while Saunders shines on bass and Maher's rock-solid drumming holds everything firmly in place. Reed is on fire on most of these songs, and while this plays for the most part like a "Best of Lou Reed" set, he pulls out sharp, impassioned performances on every cut, doing lean-and-mean justice to Velvet Underground classics like "White Light/White Heat" and "Sister Ray," and rescuing the unnerving "Kill Your Sons" from the oblivion of Sally Can't Dance. Are there bootlegs or live videos that capture this band on better nights? Yes. Does that change the fact this is Reed's strongest live album? Not a bit. ~ Mark Deming

It's widely agreed among Lou Reed connoisseurs that his 1984 release Live in Italy is one of the best live albums of his recording career. But since it was never issued domestically (only available as an import), it has become increasingly harder and harder to find over the years. So in 1996, BMG got the rights to the recordings and reissued the album with a different cover (a well-known shot of Reed playing guitar, which also served as the cover to his 1983 video A Night With Lou Reed, and retitled it Live in Concert. Reed is backed by one of the finest bands he's ever played with -- guitarist Robert Quine, bassist Fernando Saunders, and drummer Fred Maher -- who thrash and burn through 14 solo Reed and Velvet Underground classics (taped over two nights in September 1983). Featured are explosively cacophonic versions of such allegedly autobiographical tunes as "Kill Your Sons," "Waves of Fear," and "Rock N' Roll," as well as a must-hear 15-and-a-half-minute medley of "Some Kinda Love/Sister Ray," and an amped-up version of "White Light/White Heat." Although the aforementioned home video/DVD A Night With Lou Reed is the better of the two and an absolute must-see (taped at N.Y.C.'s Bottom Line the same year), Live in Concert remains a powerful listen all these years later. ~ Greg Prato

14 total tracks featuring live recordings from 1983, which is regarded by Lou Reed aficionados as one of his best live performances ever recorded! BMG. 2005.