Huh? Meets Why?: Lou Reed and Metallica Make an Album
Most musical collaborations these days are so freaking obvious that they match up as perfectly as the zeroes on the check that was written to make it happen. Which makes this marriage of icons all the more weird: It makes no bloody sense. Metallica has more money than you, me and all our ancestors put together and everybody they ever knew (unless you’re a billionaire then I will trade you one of your personal jets for the honor of reading this.). And Lou Reed doesn’t need money. He’s Lou Reed. Let’s put it this way. If Lou Reed showed up at your door and asked if you could bake him a pizza would you say no? Exactly. Play me a song and you can borrow my house for a few days.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuYcbEYbN_A
So how in the heck did this happen? Well in October of 2009 Mr. Reed and Metallica played a few songs together at the 25th anniversary Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame concert in New York City. Which of course totally tingles like that part of the story was put together by a booking dream team. From that first date something clicked and now album makes three. The album which is entitled Lulu was originally supposed to be made up of Lou Reed songs that he had lost along the way but ended up being a collection that is far more complex. The songs were written for American avant-garde theater director Robert Wilson and the German theater group The Berliner Ensemble’s production of the Lulu Plays, which premiered in Aprilat theTheatre am Schiffbauerdamm in Berlin. The songs are inspired by German expressionist Frank Wedekind’s early 20th century plays Earth Spirit and Pandora’s Box, and were a rewrite of Edgar Allan Poe’s, The Raven. It appears this album’s sandbox digs pretty deep.
As far as the actual sound of the album little is known except that Metallica is the backing band and James Hetfield won’t be “Cookie Monstering” on Lulu at all. This is Lou Reed backed by Metallica playing hard rock which as weird as it sounds might just be what both artistic camps need to remember how the hell they once climbed the impossible rock n roll mountain to begin with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Miut8CfGno&feature=related
Lulu, the album’s character, is described as “an inverted-Eve-like cipher-mirror of desire and abuse, and the people who fall desperately in love with her. Then she meets Jack the Ripper” Lulu the album drops on November 1st. I don’t see this album as a middle of the road adventure. It’s either going to be major rock n roll notch on the belt or the kind of train wreck that VH1 makes specials about where people yell stuff at each other. I have high hopes for Lulu because the website isn’t even finished yet and they just now announced the cover art. It’s almost like they focused on the music before the media blitz. But even if it sucks I will still make Lou Reed a pizza. Metallica actually owes me a large with extra everything for those last couple/three albums.
www.loureedmetallica.com