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tatters
He fits the accepted definition of a one-hit wonder in the sense that WOTWS was his only Top 40 single (it peaked at #16). It was, in fact, his only charting single ever.
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stonehearted
Not even Dirty Boulevard managed to crack the Top 100, much to my surprise--I thought it might have cracked the top 50 at least.
He hated that... "They made me sing" was his usual response...Quote
tattersQuote
stonehearted
Not even Dirty Boulevard managed to crack the Top 100, much to my surprise--I thought it might have cracked the top 50 at least.
I'd rate "I Love You Suzanne" as Lou's most obvious try for a second hit.
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RollingFreak
Would love to know anyone else's thoughts on this album, just because its fresh in my mind. And hopefully people didn't find it annoying I did a track by track analysis lol! The thread has been going for awhile now so I assumed its kind of free game for anything Lou Reed at this point.
Spot on analysis of exactly what I think as well. Magic And Loss is the one album I still haven't heard yet on my iTunes (but I have heard it before). I've been avoiding it because I remember it boring me last listen through, but now that its the sole album I haven't heard since his death (still feels weird to write that) I figure I will end up listening to it tomorrow. Won't do a track by track analysis because I'll probably hear it sometime in the car, but most likely I'll have a quick paragraph summary of my thoughts.Quote
Edward TwiningQuote
RollingFreak
Would love to know anyone else's thoughts on this album, just because its fresh in my mind. And hopefully people didn't find it annoying I did a track by track analysis lol! The thread has been going for awhile now so I assumed its kind of free game for anything Lou Reed at this point.
Yes, pretty accurate summary, RollingFreak. MISTRIAL is mildly infectious throughout, but a bit thin on the ground, when it comes to songs that are substantial enough to stand up alongside Lou's best work, aside from perhaps 'Tell It To Your Heart'. The rhythmic eighties sound, on songs like 'Outside', i actually rather like, and i also have a sneeking regard for the ballad, 'Don't Hurt A Woman', too. 'Spit It Out' is a song i'm not especially keen on either, and it comes under the 'clunky lyrics' tag, for me, which i think Lou was occasionally guilty of, when he began honing his lyrics increasing to a more conversational style, from GROWING UP IN PUBLIC onwards. I'n not crazy about 'No Money Down' and 'Video Violence' either, because i think that they are songs which primarily rely more on an eighties sound, than anything else. Despite some interesting social commentry on 'Video Violence', it has that bold, mid eighties loud sound of nothingness, which was all too common in that period. What i do like a lot about MISTRIAL, though, are Lou's vocals. They have a sharpness and an edge about them, that i think starts to fade a little on NEW YORK, and which becomes pretty much merely a speaking tool by the time of SONGS FOR DRELLA and MAGIC AND LOSS, despite those later albums possessing far greater artistic merit.
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RollingFreak
Spot on analysis of exactly what I think as well. Magic And Loss is the one album I still haven't heard yet on my iTunes (but I have heard it before). I've been avoiding it because I remember it boring me last listen through, but now that its the sole album I haven't heard since his death (still feels weird to write that) I figure I will end up listening to it tomorrow. Won't do a track by track analysis because I'll probably hear it sometime in the car, but most likely I'll have a quick paragraph summary of my thoughts.
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RollingFreak
You can't really compare anything to Berlin. IMO (and it sounds like its yours too) thats his peak musically and vocally. His voice is just so perfect on that album (he really is singing a lot of the time) mixed with his just stone cold speaking voice on Sad Song which is exactly what those songs needed. And the oompf that Ezrin gave those melodies is perfect. The songs pop out at you and there's a power to Lady Day and Oh Jim and How Do You Think It Feels. Its an ambitious record, but the whole thing fires on all cylinders. Then again, thats why I've always thought its his best, because even more than Transformer, its Lou at his most inventive, especially in terms of musical arrangement, which is so refreshing and surprisingly works well for the guy who made a living on 3 chords.