Lou Reed Berlin
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Movie Reviews of Lou Reed Berlin
Movie Review: WARHOLS DREAM HAS COME TRUE....BERLIN LIVE!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
After Lou's career was saved by Bowie IN 1972 with Lou's LP "Transformer", Lou went against expectation, creating his version of conceptual ARTROCK. BERLIN discribes the lives of two lovers, Jim and Caroline, her a singer, speed addict and mother, he a "waterboy". Berlin's reception in 1973 was cool, tho since that time, it has been critically reevaluated, and is now seen as his best, or second best solo LP. I love the heavy orchestration that has seldom been used before or since with Lou's work, and love the intensity of the relationship's tragedy at Berlin's core. Andy Warhol also loved the LP, and when it came out, he tried to get ahold of Lou, in order to mount a "cabaret" version of the LP. Sadly, Andy never connected with Lou, until Lou had morphed into his "ROCK AND ROLL ANIMAL" phase, shooting heroin, bleaching hair, etc. It took Lou only 35 years, to mount his cabaret version of BERLIN, but it was worth the wait. Lou's recent work has been sort of hit and miss, and I didnt expect this DVD to sound like the original album. Nevertheless, ALL the orchestration is intact from the album, and played note for note. Not only that, BERLIN adapts perfectly to the visual medium. Behind Lou, is a projection machine shows us, like the photographs in the BERLIN LP, a cinematic view of the lyrical storyline. Everything combines to bring forth an amazing show, that had me singing along for most of the album. Highlights, like "Caroline Says I", "Men of Good Fortune" and "Oh Jim" brought me goosebumps. When Jim beats Caroline up for shooting speed, and cheating on him, the guitar solo perfectly reflects the fight that destroyed the lover's relationship for the whole album. Its the dramatic summit of the piece. Backed up with the entire "rock orchestra" building on a riff, Lou attempts his Cecil Taylor-influenced guitar soloing, and pulls it off. BERLIN was amazing when it came out, its amazing now. All i can say to recommend this is, "IF" you are a fan of this album, then you wont be disappointed by the DVD, I can guarentee it. The only problem I had at all, was that Lou tried to speak/sing the parts, instead of singing the actual melodic vocal lines, as written in 1973. Since the production is very dense on the original BERLIN album, the vocal lines were often doubled by violin parts, or by the backing singers' harmonies. So, it's sort of sad not having Lou willing (or able?) to sing the original vocal parts. After the BERLIN album is performed, Lou and his basic rock band break into SWEET JANE. Then, CANDY SAYS begins, with ANTONY from ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS singing the song to heartbreaking perfection. The album BERLIN is so visual, so cinematic, that to watch it performed like this, reinforces and elucidates the literary concept so well. For Lou/VU fans that never saw Lou play live, or never got a chance to see BERLIN live when Lou toured it, this DVD is a great consilation prise. I only wish that, like the "A NIGHT WITH LOU REED" video from 1983, the camera could have turned to the audience, to show Andy Warhol enjoying the realization of his dream for the BERLIN concept album, all these years later. Bravo, Lou.Movie Review: How To Improve A Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
Saw the DVD last night. Very short review: 5 stars out of 5. I can't think of ANY other rocker in their mid 60's interpreting their early material from 1973 with this sort of INTEGRITY, power, musicianship, musicality & emotion.
This is MILES beyond anything the Stones, Who, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Deep Purple, Aerosmith, etc have done in the last 20 years.
The only artists I know who come CLOSE to making their early 70's material relevant like this in new performance are Bruce Cockburn & Bowie's 90's work with Reeves Gabrels, neither of whom pulled it off like Reed does here.
Doesn't hurt to have a CRACK band anchored by Steve Hunter & Rob Wasserman (the entire band is tremendous).
What both makes it so special & oddly also at the same time might be my only criticism is this is NOT a greatest hits show. The only song on Berlin that qualifies for ME as a "greatest hit" is Lady Day (though the feel of the song has nothing in common with Billie Holiday stylistically, this song catches her essence better then any book I've ever read!). Berlin has several other strong songs (Sad Songs, Caroline Says, Men Of Good Fortune; there are NO bad songs on it), but again; it's not a hits show. We do get Sweet Jane as an Encore.
There's just something about seeing Reed feel these songs about being a 31 year old love lorn junkie as much at 64 as he did at 31 that melts me.
Highly recommended.
Movie Review: Effective--But I Don't Know Why
Summary: 5 Stars
I have come across the name of Lou Reed in reading of the era; never have seen or heard anything of his work. Watching this disc was my first experience. He doesn't (or can, no longer) sing, he meets no conventional standard as a lyricist, he may play well but not so you'd notice, the band with which he is heard is a mix of Rock and pre-rock instrumentation, the "plot" of the long piece which makes up the core of the disc, we've heard a thousand or more times. Nonetheless, despite that, and the lack of any noticeable stage presence, an atmosphere, a feeling, an ambience, is created, which makes an impact on this member of the audience. Credit Reed, his supporting band, Julian Schnabel's direction, the accompanying choir, the film underlying the action, or a combination of all these and a bit of stage magic thrown in, I sure don't know what. All I can say by way of recommendation for this saga of a man's woman gone wrong, is that it was worth the watching and listening for me. Anyone else? I wouldn't try to guess.Movie Review: Mesmerized!
Summary: 5 Stars
Lou Reed was always a familiar name in music to me until about 6 yrs ago when my otherhalf turned me on to some tunes other than "Walk on the Wild Side" or "Sweet Jane", great songs, but he's so much more than those. When you watch this DVD, and listen, you become a part of his story, his life experience. He's so real, nothing fake about him, you can just feel his energy.
Anthony is absolutely amazing on this album. "Candy Says" a duo with Lou is amazing, and will have you in tears as the story is sung. Lou hides nothing as his face reveals his awe at Anthony.
Nice to see Rob Wasserman on standup bass (Bob Weir's band, Ratdog's basist).
Rented from Netflix and then had to have our own.
A MUST SEE/Have.
Lou seems like the kind of guy you could just hang out with, I'll bet he is. Glad to see he's getting more recognition these days, he's always kind of been "underground", he deserves the light now.
Movie Review: Incredible Concert Film
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the best concert films I've ever seen. Reed performs his sad, sad album 'Berlin" for the first time ever. The sound quality surpasses the album because there is a girls' choir, a horn section and a string section to fill out the sound as well as two fine background singers. And the returnees are no slouches either. Guitarist Steve Hunter from the original album (and, incidentally, Reed's live album "Rock and Roll Animal") rips astonishing solo after solo like a true guitar hero, and also provides tasty fills and riffs when required. Reed himself plays better rhythm guitar than on the original, and though his voice isn't what it used to be, you can see the pain in his face as he recalls the experiences that inspired the songs. Throughout, Schnabel projects interesting images behind the performers. Wish I had been there . . . .