But for most, such recognition is secondary, at best. What really matters to them are catchy tunes, flashy lyrics, and the bucket-loads of money that come with a hit.
While Lou began his career composing catchy tunes at the hit-making Pickwick Records, his true passion was in creating art, music, poetry, and stories. Looking back over his entire oeuvre, we see that he remained true to his ideals. All along, he strived to create “intelligent” art, the type we find in good novels and films, not in most pop or rock music.
Of course, it was not always apparent that Lou was such an authentic artist. (Even to a die-hard fan like me.) Because he was working in the “popular” art from of rock music, he was generally viewed within the limits of the genre.
In retrospect, however, it’s very clear. His work was characterized by “the intelligence that once inhabited novels or films.”
Metal Machine Music is like no other album in the history of music. There is no rhythm, no melody, no lyrics, and no songs. Essentially, it's just noise – albeit a unique, groundbreaking sort of noise.
Nobody has ever determined if Lou did this as a joke, as a bizarre experiment, or as a way to fulfill some outstanding contractual obligations with his record company at the time.
(The following link is to an mp3 version. Therefore, it does not present Metal Machine Music in all its strident aural horror, and you may not fully experience the incessant “aural flagellation” of the original (as Lester Bangs said). Still, a few seconds’ listen will give you an idea of what Lou intended and accomplished.)
Metal Machine Music, Lou Reed ... (Warning! You will not like this.)
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Lou Reed, Anthology of Memorable Lyrics.
Images sourced from Google Images