R8M3

[rayge]

A Lou Reed – Cremation (Ashes to Ashes)



B Fantasy - PI-R-Squared

[toomanyhatz]

B is one hell of a groove. Love it for the first half, like it OK for a few minutes thereafter. Only really want it to stop after about the 8-minute mark.

A is from, to me, the last great Lou Reed album. Perhaps it's because a lot of friends, friends of friends, and people who I've admired from afar but have never met have kicked off lately, but it's particularly hitting the spot right now. I've always had a weakness for "meditations on mortality," but there's a directness to the project that he's lacked, for the most part, since...well, 1972 or so. He uses dark humor, he uses anger, he uses surrealism - and in this one, folk-song simplicity - but the main thing is, he's confronting the finality of death head on and not flinching. Amidst the "literary projects" and "granddad still rocks" releases surrounding it, it's always been an oasis for me.

[DarknessFish]

Hmm, another very slight song. Don't know what to make of this one, really, I normally like the understated, minimal approach to this kind of thing, but I don't think Lou's got the right voice, or right approach to it. He doesn't sound committed to the track, and the lyrics just don't carry the weight that you feel they're trying to. It's odd.

Is this a prog intro, or is all the track like this? I was hoping it was going to be some obscure techno stomper, but I fear it is much older. And indeed, it's gone into the funk thing again. Pity about that cymbal splash, the drumming could almost be Liebezeitian here, it's quite tight indeed. The rhythm section is cool, it seems a shame that there's very little else interesting going on. Don't need swooshy noises. I've had enough of it now, even though the rhythm has picked up again. I dunno, it had some kind of potential, but it seems like a waste of some session musicians' time.



A

[Deleted]

Abstain

[Crunchy Col]

IMMEDIATELY obvious who picked A! he's praised this album several times over the years. It's....I don't know. There's something good there but it doesn't appeal to me much, I have to say. I mean, you can maybe admire the artistic integrity or whatever but it's no fun at all.

B is special, I'm enjoying it. I like to get my votes in quickly but this one really captured my attention. Yes it's a GROOVE and a GAS!!!

[Deleted]

A is tweed jacket Lou as opposed to leather jacket Lou. It's professorial, a bit musty and, I'm afraid, rather dull. I want to buy into the idea of mature Lou because in a way this is the kind of thing an artist like him should've been doing at this stage. But did it have to be so plodding and monotonous?
B is a hell of a trip. It begins like something being played on the moon before getting into a really dirty groove. The playing on this is superb and the time flies by. Excellent.

B

[Deleted]

The cold black sea is forever..Vote A

[T. Willy Rye]

B, even though I don't need 9 minutes of it.

[lokie]

[bungo the mungo]

reed didn't record anything of much worth after the 3rd VU album.

B overstays its welcome somewhat, but still does enough.

[fange]

I'm with G regarding A - i want to like much of Lou's stuff from this period more than i do, because on some level it feels right that he would go in that direction at some point, the elder statesman of rock and roll making maturer music. But a lot of it, like this one, just doesn't hit me much. It's nice, but, it's not my fave LR.
B is, as they say in the classics, the fucking shit. Funky stoned groove that is all loose/tight like i like it. Moody and badass.

[osgood]

I had M&L taped back in the day. Played it maybe three times and, while I can sympathise with it, it is not something I feel keen to revisit, and never thought about getting a legit copy, specially after seeing him live (ahem) playing the whole album from start to end. Playing A confirms my impression, it's ok, Lou, next please.

I enjoyed B a lot and in fact it felt much shorter than nine minutes. Cheers to

B

[Half Machine Lipschitz]

Sorry Lou, but there's just not enough for me to grab onto in that tune.

B is quite good, and something I'd expect to hear from the old Friday night crew at my local, when they were spinning albums on the turntable in the kitchen. I like its budget David Axelrod-meets-Isaac Hayes stylings a bunch. An easy win.

B

[rayge]

Laughing Lou strikes again. Never a fan of late-period, serious, grown-up Reed. I tried with this album, but his mojo had fallen down the back of the sofa just before the release of New York, and he never got it back. Sad, considering he was responsible for the GOAT electric guitar noisefest 4.5 / 10
Jesus, nine fucking minutes. I don't care how good it is, I don't have nine minutes to spare to listen to fu*k. Although I'm three minutes in and I havent heard a wah wah or indeed much bashing on The One.Ah, there it is on the five minute mark. \wah wah widdoly wah. Just shove that pedal up your fundament, young man. This is basically black session musicians having a pointless prog jam, and it can fuck right off. I lasted seven minutes. 4 / 10

UnenthusiAstically

[rankingted]

After the excellent 1-2 of New York and Songs For Drella, I found M&L a bit of a worthy chore at the time - and I was 21, what the hell did I want all these low key death ruminations for? I've more time for it now but, still... B is a groove, alright, this is a heads' jam and I can imagine wearing my rollneck and feeling smugly hip digging it at the coffee shop. Its more enjoyable ultimately.

B