Customer Reviews

Live in Italy

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Forget about 'Lou Reed Live', 'Rock'n'Roll Animal' and even 'Perfect Night in London'(All great records, by the way), Lou Reed Live in Italy is the best Lou Reed live album, bar none.

Just look at the track list, for crying out loud. After a three seconds long introduction, you can hear Reed's guitar tears into the classic opening chords of Sweet Jane, the best riff he's ever written. This version of Sweet Jane is argueably the best version out there - Lou singing 'You know they're sayin' Jane, oh Sweet Jane' is Lou at his finest, and Robert Quine... we'll talk about Robert Quine.

Oh, why not talk about him now. Robert Quine is the best guitar player to have ever worked with Lou Reed. He is as good as Mike Ranson who worked with Bowie and Lyle workman who played lead for Frank Black. He's quite possibly even better. Listen to the lead guitar in 'Waves of Fear', it's incredible.

Lou's new stuff here is great - Waves of Fear and Average Guy are the stand outs, but the older Reed is what truly shines through. Sally Can't Dance no More is a vicious attack on fame, The Satellite of Love is lou's romance at it's best, and Walk on the Wild Side is, well, a walk on the wild side.

Still, to me this will allways be memorable because of the Velvet Songs. Before and after, Reed will atmpt to make the Velvet stuff feel at home in his sets, and, with the exception of the Loaded songs, he will allways fail. This is the exception. White Light/White Heat, Waiting for the Man and of course, Heroin, Reed's finest song, shine through the able musicians.

I'm way to young to have been alive through that Lou Reed tour, and even through I've seen Reed live, I'm still at agony for not have seen him live at those 1984 shows. This is the closest I'll ever get.

This is not the "best" Lou Reed-Robert Quine performance, but if you are even a casual Lou Reed fan you need to own this. The late R.Q. was credited (justifiably so) with encouraging Lou to pick up his guitar again after years of walking through his performances in a drugged, detached stupor. This was the age of "left channel, right channel" dogfights. On the "Blue Mask" album, it gets pretty terrifying. Here, Lou reinvents a few of his classics with a Neil Young & Crazy Horse kind of "Godfather of Grunge" intensity. Highlights? "Kill Your Sons," with the insane solos...and the killer, the "Some Kinda Love / Sister Ray" medley. "IIIIIIIIIIIIm...searchin' for my mainline...Woah, babe...I couldn't hit it side...woah, sideways..." The "Live In Italy" album makes "Rock & Roll Animal" sound like an Eric Carmen album, because Lou is EASILY ten times more insane than Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner will EVER be on guitar. After Quine, Lou never set the guitar down again. R.I.P., Bob...this is a great way for you to be remembered...and the high water mark of Lou's resurrected career.

This is, by far, the best post-VU record of Reed's career!! Lord have mercy, folks, consider only the line-up here: Lou and Robert Quine on the dual assault of white noise-drenched, growling acid guitars, Fernando Saunders on his soaring fuzz-drived bass and the outstanding Fred Maher pounding the drums with skill and fury!!! The set-list is also superb: raging, fast, punky-adrenalined renditions of VU classics like "White Light / White Heat", "Rock and Roll", "Heroin" and "I'm Waiting for my Man", with also great versions of Lou's solo material, with a special remark to a feeback-drived, powerfully scary "Kill your Sons".

The tour which gave us this album recorded live in Italy in 1984 was the first opportunity for Lou to present live the new material that would fuel his rebirth in the '80s. Not only was the material new - it was a new drug-free and sober Lou, and a blistering new band with Robert Quine on guitar. Featured are standard rockers like 'Sweet Jane,' 'Walk on the Wild Side' and 'Satellite of Love.' (Compare these versions to those included on Take No Prisoners!). Also here are new songs from the highly-acclaimed Blue Mask album and Legendary Hearts. These shining albums brought Lou out of the late 70's doldrums into which he had sunk, with the exception of classics such as Street Hassle, which unfortunately does not appear here. Highlights of the new material include Martial Law. For those interested in Lou's former career with the Velvet Underground, there are excellent renditions of Sister Ray, Some Kinda Love and Rock n Roll. Lou plays straight on this album. He's doing it right and the band are tight behind him. Live in Italy is full of energy and lasts the test of time. It's a worthwhile and rewarding addition to any rock collection, and serves as an excellent example of Lou Reed at his technical best.

Together with thrash wonder guitarist Robert Quine, Reed takes the stage to rush through a set of songs that will leave you panting just by listening. The key here is speed as the band delivers punk-ish and bare bones renditions that gallop along like a maniac on a mission. Add to this Quine's frenzied morse code solos and led heavy rhythm and the effect is nothing short of stunning. Reed's voice (he still growls and sings here) is irreverent and wrathful while the rest of the band contribute to the no-nonsense driving pace (Maher's drums) and timely countermelody (Saunder's bass). Live recordings seldom sounded this raw and enthralling. Without a doubt, Reed's best album of the 80's.

I READ OMERS REVIEW AND FIGURED I'D GIVE THIS LIVE LOU CD A TRY. I THINK OMER MIGHT OWN THE RECORD COMPANY OR SOMETHING...THIS SHOW IS SLICK. IT SOUNDS GOOD...ALMOST TOO GOOD. ROCK N ROLL ANIMAL IS RAW....AND THE PLAYING IS TOP SHELF....YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE RIGHT THERE. THIS LIVE IN ITALY SOUNDS LIKE A BUNCH OF STUDIO GUYS...AND LOU PLAYS OK RHYTHM GUITAR...I SAW LOU AT THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC IN NYC AROUND '76...IT WAS GOOD, BUT IT WASN'T STEVE HUNTER AND THOSE GUYS. ANYWAY, BUY ROCK N ROLL ANIMAL AND LOU REED LIVE....BOTH ARE FROM THE SAME SHOW, AND ARE THE BEST LIVE LOU YOU WILL HEAR.

I saw the Lou Reed concert when he was in Rome during his Italy tour and it was a concert never to forget! It was held in the ruins of Circus Maximus next to the Colosseum which is essentially a big hole in the ground. The concert was staged at the bottom of this ruin and temporary 12 foot fences were erected around the concert seating . Well you didn't have to have a ticket to see the concert because all round the concert was the former Circus Maximus seating areas which were on grassy slopes looking down into the concert area. I was part of the crowd in these free seats that sat and watched the concert has it started to begin. At first there was no opening act, just loud rock music played over the loudspeakers. During this time there was a crowd of non ticket holders who weren't content with sitting in the free seats. They decided to try and climb the fence to get into the paying seats. Security was doing the best it could to stop those persons from being successful but they soon were out numbered and they called in the riot police. The riot police formed a line on one side of the concert area and then shot tear gas into the crowd of rowdy fence climbers. Unfortunately they didn't realize they were down wind from their target so the tear gas blew right back into their faces. Embarrassed and angry they took out their batons and charged the crowd. By this time the concert had already started on schedule despite the ruckus going on and the first and only song I heard Lou Reed play was Sweet Jane. After that it wasn't safe for anyone to stay in the free seats and continue to watch the concert so we left. It was quite an incredible experience for me to be a part of that concert that day. Later I bought the album of this concert and it is great not only for the music but for the memories it brings back every time I listen to it.

Recorded in 1983 with Lou's most critically acclaimed band since the Velvet Underground.."Live In Italy" comes with a lot of hype and promise.
The band is far from tight and not in very fine form at all here. Reed's voice is totally shot and he compounds the problem by seemingly insisting upon shouting and screaming his way through much of the material.
Very raw and very hard to listen to..."Live In Italy", with all it's clamor, is almost the direct opposite of "Perfect Night In London"..meaning it's the weakest of Reed's live releases.
For hardcore Reed fanatics only.