Rock pioneer Lou Reed is dead at the age of 71.
While Reed is best known as a vocalist, guitarist and songwriter in The Velvet Underground and as a solo artist, he also leaves behind a legacy of more experimental noise music.
His Metal Machine Music – an hourlong noise music double-album – has no recognizable songs, melodies or structure, offering, instead, feedback and effects-drenched electric guitar. When it was released in 1975, it was seen by many as a throw-away album to fulfill contractual obligations to his record company or as a self-indulgent experiment. In the years since, though, Metal Machine Music has been embraced as an important example of drone music, industrial music and noise rock.
Reed was married to performance artist Laurie Anderson.
R.I.P Lou. I really enjoyed your music.
Thank you for Berlin .
Thank you for all your music Lou 🙂 You will be greatly missed 🙁
For a guy who never used synths much, he was a massive influence on so many electronic musicians. A paradox, he was. I will miss the bally old thug, he was one of a kind.
I’m putting _Magic and Loss_ on a loop for awhile.
What’s Good indeed.
🙁 RIP Lou.
I learned about Lou Reed from “The Power of Positive Drinking” outwards. In digging into his earlier releases, I was never wowed by the Velvet Underground, but his later work refined his real songwriting strengths. He was like a cockeyed Ry Cooder run through a punk filter. I’m amused by how his influence caused so many others to tweak their own work for the better, but I sure don’t have to ask WHY. Its a great legacy. Excellent run, Lou.