Born in 1942, Lou Reed (real name: Louis Firbank) wrote music history as the leader of The Velvet Underground. Their 1967 'banana album' is considered by pop critics to be one of the five best records of all time. Lou Reed has also earned his spurs as a solo artist. Just think of albums like Transformer (1972) and Berlin (1973) and the hits Perfect Day and Walk On The Wild Side. He experienced a
… new creative high in his career with the masterpieces New York (1989) and the tribute to Andy Warhol (Songs For Drella) recorded in 1990 with John Cale. The solo CDs that followed were a lot inferior in quality, although Ecstasy (2000) caused positive reactions due to the sober approach. Successor The Raven is anything but sober; it is a very ambitious project for which Reed invited a large number of befriended musicians and actors. It is a tribute to writer / poet Edgar Allen Poe and contains many so-called 'spoken word' tracks. This sometimes gives you the impression that you are listening to a radio play instead of a rock album. Fortunately for the loyal fans, The Raven also contains a lot of good music, such as Guilty (with beautiful saxophone playing by jazz musician Ornette Coleman), I Wanna Know (with The Blind Boys Of Alabama), Hop Frog (with David Bowie) and the old-fashioned rocking songs Edgar. Allen Poe and Blind Rage. (MvP) Fortunately for the loyal fans, The Raven also contains a lot of good music, such as Guilty (with beautiful saxophone playing by jazz musician Ornette Coleman), I Wanna Know (with The Blind Boys Of Alabama), Hop Frog (with David Bowie) and the old-fashioned rocking songs Edgar. Allen Poe and Blind Rage. (MvP) Fortunately for the loyal fans, The Raven also contains a lot of good music, such as Guilty (with beautiful saxophone playing by jazz musician Ornette Coleman), I Wanna Know (with The Blind Boys Of Alabama), Hop Frog (with David Bowie) and the old-fashioned rocking songs Edgar. Allen Poe and Blind Rage. (MvP)more
