Great review. It's been a while since I listened to MMM but back in my 20s I used a rotation of it, early Swans, Celtic Frost and Napalm Death to help me power through college essays. There's a ton of raw power in the music and a LOT of hidden secrets. It's like Lou took us along for a series of aural hallucinations.
I guess you've never read the first issue of PUNK Magazine, but when I interviewed Lou Reed at CBGB in 1975, we talked a bit about the album and we published a glowing review and called it a "Methedrine Love Letter." A year later we published an excerpt of the court decision, where Lou win the lawsuit brought by his manager Steve Katz... I think the issue (and other reviews) helped sway the court decision, since Katz called me to congratulate us for helping Lou win... You know, there was a theory that Lou produced the LP toget out of his contract (which called for him to deliver two more albums)... Just thought you'd like to know... Anyhow, I always thought MMM was the first true punk rock album.
It definitely took me well into my 40s to dig this record at all, but what really sealed the deal was hearing the Metal Machine Trio version that was played over a massive “listening room” sound system as part of the NY Public Library’s Lou Reed exhibition at Lincoln Center. I only caught about 20 minutes of it, but it was absolutely gripping; I really wish I’d been able to return before the exhibition ended and hear the whole thing in that setting.
I appreciate you doing the experiment. I haven't listened to the album, but I do appreciate (and recommend) the reader comments on George Starostin's site: https://starlingdb.org/music/reedc.htm#Music
I think my favorite is the first one:
"I actually have this, I actually listened to it all the way through, and I actually liked it. I don't know why - there's something about all those squeals and squelches and mechanical drones and fast mini-melodies I found interesting. Which isn't to say I've listened to it again. Someday soon, I'll get the urge and I'll probably like it again. For an album that's nothing but God-awful atonal noise, it's pretty good. It's certainly more of an artistic statement than my wife's vacuum cleaner although I had a Buick that was much more expressive and heartfelt ..."
Great review. It's been a while since I listened to MMM but back in my 20s I used a rotation of it, early Swans, Celtic Frost and Napalm Death to help me power through college essays. There's a ton of raw power in the music and a LOT of hidden secrets. It's like Lou took us along for a series of aural hallucinations.
Yeah, well put! Thanks.
I guess you've never read the first issue of PUNK Magazine, but when I interviewed Lou Reed at CBGB in 1975, we talked a bit about the album and we published a glowing review and called it a "Methedrine Love Letter." A year later we published an excerpt of the court decision, where Lou win the lawsuit brought by his manager Steve Katz... I think the issue (and other reviews) helped sway the court decision, since Katz called me to congratulate us for helping Lou win... You know, there was a theory that Lou produced the LP toget out of his contract (which called for him to deliver two more albums)... Just thought you'd like to know... Anyhow, I always thought MMM was the first true punk rock album.
Thanks, John. If I read it I'd forgotten that. Great stuff. And I totally agree with you about MMM's legacy.
It definitely took me well into my 40s to dig this record at all, but what really sealed the deal was hearing the Metal Machine Trio version that was played over a massive “listening room” sound system as part of the NY Public Library’s Lou Reed exhibition at Lincoln Center. I only caught about 20 minutes of it, but it was absolutely gripping; I really wish I’d been able to return before the exhibition ended and hear the whole thing in that setting.
I so wish I'd been able to swing that exhibit!
Man, that sounds amazing, and revelatory.
I appreciate you doing the experiment. I haven't listened to the album, but I do appreciate (and recommend) the reader comments on George Starostin's site: https://starlingdb.org/music/reedc.htm#Music
I think my favorite is the first one:
"I actually have this, I actually listened to it all the way through, and I actually liked it. I don't know why - there's something about all those squeals and squelches and mechanical drones and fast mini-melodies I found interesting. Which isn't to say I've listened to it again. Someday soon, I'll get the urge and I'll probably like it again. For an album that's nothing but God-awful atonal noise, it's pretty good. It's certainly more of an artistic statement than my wife's vacuum cleaner although I had a Buick that was much more expressive and heartfelt ..."