Bataclan 72

Lou Reed, Lou Reed, John Cale & Nico | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 13, 2004)
• Original Release Date: 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Pilot
• ASIN: B0000DBK5S
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #183,075 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Waiting for the Man

2. Berlin

3. Black Angel's Death Song

4. Wild Child

5. Heroin

6. Ghost Story

7. The Biggest, Loudest, Hairiest Group of All

8. Empty Bottles

9. Femme Fatale

10. No One Is There

11. Frozen Warnings

12. Janitor of Lunacy

13. I'll Be Your Mirror

14. All Tomorrows Parties

15. Pale Blue Eyes [*]

16. Candy Says [*]

Editorial Reviews

Limited edition numbered deluxe digipak features 16 tracks including 2 exclusive bonus tracks (both rehearsals - 'Pale Blue Eyes' & 'Candy Says'). This is the legendary show recorded at the Bataclan Club in Paris, on January 29th, 1972. Lou Reed is accompanied by John Cale & Nico, on stage for the first time since the break up of the Velvet Underground. Only 10,000 copies of the digipak edition with bonus tracks will be pressed after which it will revert to standard packaging with no bonus. Includes 16-page booklet with extensive liner notes with photos. Alchemy. 2003.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I guess I just don't know..., April 13, 2004

By 

greasy (now here) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bataclan 72 (Audio CD)

I am a die-hard Velvets freak, and have had the Bataclan bootleg in various forms for some time now. I thus consider myself reasonably qualified to assess this release.

The overall performance is very tastey. This version of "Black Angel's" is spooky and dark, but not blood curdling as it is on the Banana album. It conjurs visions of Gypsies dancing around a trash can fire in some littered Lower East Side back alley under a crimson moon (or at least an orange sky). Likewise, Cale's "Ghost Story" and all of Nico's material are at once creepy and pretty. They represent a certain bittersweet maturity that prevails throughout this set much like the dry wisdom and blushing warmth one might detect in a well-aged cabernet. "I'm Waiting for the Man" is perfectly introduced by Lou ("Hello. Took us a while to get here. This is a song about copping drugs in New York"). The song is given sublime treatment until Lou F***s up the lyrics by substituting the "brownstone" segment with a repeat of the "here he comes" verse. I sadly have to admit that this flub turns what would have been a stellar version into a decent version that gets monotonous toward the end. Oh well...

The highlight is Heroin. With this version (my favorite), we are treated to one of Lou's best vocal performances of all time. I also find the simple but poignant accompaniment of Lou's acoustic and Cale's droning viola to be much more compelling than the Banana arrangement (and certainly light years better than those wretched Peel Slowly and See demo versions).

What we get in performance, however, we lose in quality. Now granted, this should be no surprise considering the low-fi nature of most other officially released live VU material (I actually have a pristine copy from the End of Cole Ave master that sounds far better than the sources used for the original Live album). Nevertheless, there really is no excuse for having been so totally asleep at the wheel while remastering this release (In truth, I suspect there really was no remastering whatsoever). At the very least, it is in dire need of pitch correction. There are times when Lou's voice sounds so slowed down that I half expect to hear secretly embedded satanic messages. I actually took it upon myself to fix the speed in Cool Edit Pro, and in 15 minutes I was done.

Which brings me to my point. This set is worth getting for VU fans, especially if they have access to pitch correction software. But this is probably not for n00bs or casual fans. Nice that it's out there, but shame on those who were supposedly "overseeing" this project. ZzzzZzzzZzzzz....

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars VERY DISAPPOINTING AND POORLY EDITED, March 18, 2004

By 

MJG (Burke, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bataclan 72 (Audio CD)

If you are a die-hard VU fan, then you probably had this show already in one bootleg format or another. I must admit, that this packaging job is outstanding. The booklet, the photos, the slipcase...everything about it, visually, is extraordinary and immaculate. However, what is it they say about "judging a book...?"

The actual recording is CRAP. When this was originally issued on bootleg vinyl, the mix was recorded quite a bit too slow...which is the problem here. Unfortunately, the sound editors for this potentially stellar CD ignored modern technology completely, which is to say they did not download a sound editor for free off of the internet! Any freeware editing program could speed the mix up enough for Lou, Cale, and Nico to sound normal.

I have a bootleg of this that not only sounds better, but has more songs! My 20 year old VHS tape of the concert sounds better than this.

What a disappointment. Hopefully, this can be reissued after it is properly edited.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars BEWARE CUT AT WRONG SPEED, August 18, 2005

By 

Syd (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Le Bataclan '72 (Audio CD)

How they could release such a great, classic outstanding concert, which even Reed called 'a night of pure heaven' (or something like that) at the wrong speed is beyond me. You have to transfer this to cassette and then re-dubb it with the pitch at correct speed. Yea, the boot CD is better, hard to find.