Lou's Metal Machine Hits The Road

Lou Reed has always gone against the grain. During 1967's so-called summer of love, his band The Velvet Underground released a debut album about prostitution and heroin addiction. Then, when the hippy revolution turned sour, the VU released their happy, trippy pop album, Loaded, starting with the decidedly hippyish "Who Loves The Sun."

But most contrary of all was Reed's 1975 solo album, Metal Machine Music (1975), four sides of unlistenable noise which divided fans: 99% hated it, while 1% considered it a challenging but worthwhile work of conceptual art. Last year a Rolling Stone reviewer described it live as "a continuous blaring fog that rose and decreased in its deafening intensity, marked by shrill electronic shrieks, long demented sax solos and Reed’s occasional yelling voice."

Warning: This video should not be listened to by anyone

Great news (!) - Lou Reed is taking his blaring fog, shrill shrieking and demented soloing on tour! So far only European dates have been announced, but the April shows will coincide with a full reissue program which will include Metal Machine Music on Blu-Ray for the first time. Perhaps a marginal improvement in audio clarity will make it an easier listen? Probably not.

April dates:

17 Cambridge, England - The Cambridge Junction
18 Oxford, England - O2 Academy
19 London, England - Royal Festival Hall
21 Paris, France - La Cigale
22 Brussels, Belgium - A/B (Domino Festival)
24 Copenhagen, Denmark - DR Koncerthuset
26 Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene
27 Bergen, Norway - Ole Bull Scene (Bergen Festival)
30 Mallorca, Spain - Teatre Principal de Palma

--Ally @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We also post a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.