“Just about the best you can hear“
Lulu, the 2011 collaboration between Lou Reed and Metallica, certainly had more than its fair share of detractors. However, it transpires that the album does have a particularly enthusiastic fan in David Bowie.
This information was shared with the audience at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday night (April 18), when Lou Reed’s widow, Laurie Anderson, gave a speech in tribute of her late husband.
Here’s an excerpt from it…
“One of his last projects was his album with Metallica, and this was really challenging, and I have a hard time with it. There are many struggles and so much radiance,“ she continued, “And after Lou’s death, David Bowie made a big point of saying to me, ‘Listen, this is Lou’s greatest work. This is his masterpiece. Just wait, it will be like Berlin. It will take everyone a while to catch up.’”
But even though Anderson admitted she may not have understood LULU at the time, the 18 months since Reed’s death in October 2013 have given her the opportunity to re-evaluate it.
“I’ve been reading the lyrics and it is so fierce. It’s written by a man who understood fear and rage and venom and terror and revenge and love. And it is raging. Anyone who heard Lou sing ‘Junior Dad’ will never forget the experience of that song, torn out of the Bible. This was rock & roll taken to whole new levels.”
And David Bowie knows all about some folk taking a while to catch up. Low anyone?