With the recent revelation that the Lou Reed-Metallica album Lulu is David Bowie’s fave, he dubbed it his masterpiece, by the iconic and dead grouch, here are two stories I wrote about the album back in 2011. So now there are two of of us on the record…
Lou Reeds Lulu Of A Reception, November 3, 2011
Here is the important thing to keep in mind about consensus opinion: sometimes the consensus is wrong.
After learning that Metacritic figured the Lou Reed/Metallica album received a ridiculous 39% approval rating from critics and an astounding 1.9% approval rating from fans, I had no choice but to listen to it myself.
And is, in its own way, a great album.
Sometimes beauty and ugliness are one and the same thing: Lou Reeds hellish vision (but how much more hellish than, say “Rock Minuet”?) and loud, ugly aggressive rock (but not as impenetratable as Metal Machine Music) has a beauty to it. It’s a sonic smack.
It is much better than, say Coldplay’s newbie.
But the reviews have been brutal. Pitchfork gave it a 1 out of 10. And Rolling Stone gave it three stars but that’s one star if they weren’t angling for the next Metallica front cover exclusive interview.
I despise consensus opinion, it seems to be an affront to freedom (freedom is always the freedom to dissent). Nothing is that black and white.
I might well be a contrary bastard, but Lulu is a pretty good album. I’ll get round to a review at a later date.
“Lulu” Is “Ceremonials” Evil Twin, November 3, 2011
Florence + The Machine’s Ceremonials has been roundly applauded as a starmaking turning and one of the albums of the year while Lou Reed And Metallica’s Lulu is considered a career worse by both stars and a the worst album of the year. And more than that connects em.
- Released the same day.
- F+M is female, LR+M male.
- Both albums delve into the metaphysics of fluids.
- Both are huge sounding albums, F+M is a much bigger sounding album than Coldplay’s latest.
- I love both albums.
- Both albums are precisely an hour (the deluxe version of Lulu is longer0
- F and LR and M’s are uniquely uncompromised.
- For every word of praise for F + M there is a word condemning LR + N
- The cursed Lulu is in a state of constant descent till she meets her death at the hands of Jack the Ripper, Florence begins the album by rebuilding herself and the entire album is in a state of constant ascent.
Finally,
- Both albums are sincere artistic statements
