Lulu

Metallica, Lou Reed | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 1, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Warner Bros.
• ASIN: B005NPLXJ4
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (305 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,991 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Brandenburg Gate

2. The View

3. Pumping Blood

4. Mistress Dread

5. Iced Honey

6. Cheat On Me

Disc: 2

1. Frustration

2. Little Dog

3. Dragon

4. Junior Dad

Editorial Reviews

Lulu was inspired by German expressionist writer Frank Wedekind's plays Earth Spirit and Pandora's Box, which tell a story of a young abused dancer's life and relationships and are now collectively known as the "Lulu Plays." Since their publication in the early 1900's, the plays have been the inspiration for a silent film (Pandora's Box, 1929), an opera, and countless other creative endeavors.

Originally the lyrics and musical landscape were sketched out by Lou for a theatrical production in Berlin, but after coming together with the 'Tallica boys for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concerts in New York in 2009 all guilty parties knew they wanted to make more music together. Lou was inspired enough by that performance to recently ask the band to join him in taking his theatrical Lulu piece to the next level and so starting in early May of this year they were all camped out recording at HQ studios in Northern California, bringing us to today and ten complete songs.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

208 of 255 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Lulu, The Lou Reed-Metallica Train Wreck November 1, 2011

By J. Hill TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

So Lou Reed has this idea kicking around for a few years that he wants to write music for a German theatre group based on a series of old plays about an abused dancer who crosses paths with Jack the Ripper. He can't get it to sound how he wants, but then he jams with Metallica at a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame show. Eureka! Lou finds some young, hip rockers (compared to him, anyway) who can give him that dark, dangerous atmosphere he's been looking for. According to both sides, he casually says, "Hey, let's do an album together," after the jam and goes on his way. And now, two years later, we have Lulu. After listening to the album in its entirety, I have to wonder if Lou proposed this mess honestly when he brought it back up. I wonder if he said, "Hey, guys, are you willing to jump the shark and alienate the majority of your fan base (again) to be on an album with me?" And `Tallica, ever the experimenters, say, "Sure, Lou. We cranked out a decent metal album a couple years ago that went #1 around the world and energized millions of our fans, but hey, you're Lou Reed! Count us in!" I'm not complaining because I'm narrow-minded or don't like variety or risk-taking. The problem here is that, musically, vocally, and lyrically, repetition is the general idea behind these songs. Find a basic riff and just repeat it for anywhere from 4 to 20 minutes. Add in some noise and feedback here and there for at least some dynamics, and let Lou talk/"sing"/ramble over it until he's done. I know this is more of a Lou Reed album than a Metallica one, but whoever it belongs to, it's not very interesting or listenable. Considering the negative attention it's drawn, I'm not sure if many people will spring for this, but then again, since it is Metallica, it will probably sell millions of copies anyway.... Oh well. This album will almost surely end up being just as much an anomaly as other odd forays into metal by the likes of Pat Boone and William Shatner, remembered more for its novelty than its quality. Now, for anyone still interested, here's a track-by-track breakdown.

Brandenburg Gate--Very, very repetitive music and rambling from Lou; terrible vocals from both Reed and Hetfield, with Reed doing his talking/poetry reading/embarrassing random stabs at singing, and Het yodeling, "Small town guh-r-rrl!" throughout.

The View--Simple, repetitive riff that goes nowhere; harsh, aggressive vocals from Het are somewhat surprising and hopefully hint at where he's going on the next Metallica album. However, this song has the most ridiculed lyric so far; Het hilariously reminds us over and over that he is the table, making many listeners question his sanity (I know, the lyrics are from Lulu's POV, but it still sounds hilarious). Lou's talking doesn't sound interesting, the boring riff doesn't sound interesting; what's to keep a person listening?

Pumping Blood--Reed sounds ridiculous repeating the track's title over the opening riff. The riff sounds like a prelude to some actual rocking...instead it just repeats again and again, then eventually goes into some ambient Metalli-noise over more Reed rambling. Not something that will call out to be heard again. The riff at the end of the song was the first time I found anything remotely interesting. Even still, without Reed's talking, it would sound like Metallica just fooling around with their instruments.

Mistress Dread--Starts with a riff that's faster and better than anything from Death Magnetic, but then it's ruined by Lou's attempts at singing, which are unlistenable, and constant repetition. Seriously, the riff gets very boring after hearing it about two thousand times in a row. No direction to this whatsoever.

Iced Honey--Only track so far that starts out sounding like an actual song. It's pretty bland, though. Very simplistic hard rock track. If they release a single, this will most likely be it; it's only about four-and-a-half minutes long, and has actual structure. Unfortunately, it's forgettable.

Cheat on Me--Ambient guitar sounds, in parts a bit Irish or Celtic-sounding...not bad to have in the background, until Reed comes in. It would be different if he sounded good, but what he does vocally doesn't sound like it requires talent. A track of mostly sounds, with a decent hard rock riff used here and there. Some pretty bad vocals from Het. This is the first track that I might actually like if it was an instrumental. Musically, it builds up nicely to a fairly heavy ending. Vocals from both singers ruin the song.

Frustration--Reed's vocals border on ludicrous on this track; it feels more like a joke than music. Anxiety-filled ambient noise goes into a Sabbath-inspired doomy riff that doesn't sound too bad, but Lou sure does. Again, if this was an instrumental, it would be much more tolerable; not great, but tolerable. It rocks out admirably near the end of the song, but there's almost a straight rip-off of the riff from C.O.C.'s Paranoid Opioid at 7:14 and 7:48.

Little Dog--At this point, after seven songs and about 48 minutes, it's all starting to sound the same. Some low-key acoustic playing, ambient background noise, Lou talking/rambling, sometimes trying to sing a few notes seemingly at random, a somewhat heavy hard rock riff. It gets a bit redundant this far in, and there's still over half an hour left after this song. I'm ready to do something else now, which is not a good sign when I'm listening to a new album.

Dragon--Beginning doesn't sound any different from the last song. Now it's getting extremely redundant...what seemed random during the first half now seems formulaic...some noise, throw in a riff, back to some noise. Lou talks, tries to sing, goes back to talking. Mighty boring. Once the riff kicks in, it sounds like a Load throwaway. There's a heavier riff in the second half of the song, but it sounds tired.

Junior Dad--This one could sum up the whole album; 19˝ long minutes of the same formula; acoustic, noise, riff, repeat. With almost twenty minutes to fill, though, Junior Dad goes long on the noise, with minutes-long sections of droning guitar sounds. It's not that it sounds particularly bad, it just gets boring after so much repetition. Maybe if an instrumental version comes out, I'll give it another chance, but for now I don't expect to be listening to Lulu again anytime soon.

I know these guys are Rock n' Roll Hall of Famers and all, but both artists involved have done far better in their careers. I have no problem with them doing whatever they want to do. It's their right and they've earned it. However, this is a review of the music on the album, not the artists' careers, and the music is not very interesting from a metal/ hard rock fan's perspective. There are rare moments (and I do mean rare) when Lou's vocal style actually complements the music, and for a few seconds it works. But those moments are fleeting, and the rest of the time it just doesn't even sound serious. I don't blame Metallica; I'm sure if Mick Jagger asked them to play music for him on an album, they'd do it in a heartbeat, just to say they played all of the music on an album from a rock legend. Unfortunately, an honest assessment of the overall musical quality of Lulu doesn't yield high marks. Read more ›

236 of 298 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars The thing that should not be! November 1, 2011

By Shannon Crowley

Format:Audio CD

I have never written a review for anything in my life. This cd is so horrible that I feel that it is my duty as a human being to inform people. This album is like bad angel dust in audio form. The real words to describe this cd are not allowed in these reviews, all profanity and all bad. If you want to waste your money that bad, I could sell you a cd of farts and burps, that would even be better than Lulu.

130 of 168 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars NOT What You Were Expecting November 1, 2011

By J. Loudon

Format:Audio CD

Metallica fans, before you get too excited at the prospect of a follow-up to 2008's "Death Magnetic," please know that this is in no way a Metallica album. Lou Reed fans, before you begin to think your favorite member of The Velvet Underground has finally gotten off of his concept album kick following his four track ambient meditational album, "Hudson River Wind Meditations," please know that he has not.

When Lou Reed and Metallica first announced they would be collaborating for a full album, imaginations of fans ran wild. Metallica is easily one of the most successful and influential metal acts of all time and Lou Reed's work with The Velvet Underground created his legacy as both a songwriter and musical innovator. Their combined efforts had to result in something extraordinary, right?

Wrong.

Even in his prime, Lou Reed was never much of a vocalist. As a songwriter, he ranks among the best, but his voice is not the reason his albums sell. At 69 years of age, his voice has only gotten worse and it shows on "Lulu." For 87 minutes, what Lou Reed does on "Lulu" could rarely be classified as singing. In fact, most of the time "Lulu" sounds like a cross between a drunken rant and the mumbles of a crazy person talking to himself. To be honest, I'm not convinced it isn't literally a combination of those two things.

The concept of "Lulu" is basically Lou Reed taking on the persona of a young woman who has had terrible experiences with men and decides to give a drawn out monologue. The creepiness of a 69 year old man playing the part of a young woman aside, Metallica's backdrop feels terribly out of place.... Their trademark guitars still create a staggering wall of sound, but the energy of each chord quickly dies as they're sustained through Reed's banter.

It's obvious neither Lou Reed nor Metallica truly care what people think of this record. "Lulu" is a musical experiment by a group of artists that can afford to do it, nothing more. The unfortunate side-effect is that it punishes the most loyal of fans who blindly purchase the album expecting greatness.

For those of you who pre-ordered "Lulu" as soon as you heard about it, I'm sorry to say it isn't even worth listening to once. Take the album, stick it in your blender and press the liquefy button; you'll be doing your ears a favor. At least the dreadful noise created by that should only last twenty seconds or so. Read more ›

61 of 83 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Crazy Deaf Grandpa talking over "Music" November 1, 2011

By Just Me

Format:Audio CD

This is seriously the absolute worst thing Metallica has ever put their name on. I've been a Metallica fan since I was 9 years old, I'm 31 now. I thought St. Anger was bad, but this album now makes St. Anger seem like gold and that's hard to do. Why did Metallica shoot themselves in the foot right after they had a decent album with "Death Magnetic"? All I can figure is Metallica has a bunch of "yes men" surrounding them and are afraid to tell them when something sucks. Although a normal person shouldn't need someone to tell them that this album sucks. If I was Metallica I would have NEVER put this out.

And now on to Lou flippin Reed. Oh My, don't get me wrong Lou Reed had his day, but the guy is old, apparently a weird perv, and totally tone deaf now. He sounds like the Grandpa from the Simpsons talking over music that he has no idea is playing in the background.

Some good news for Metallica though.
They have finally came up with a way to get people to stop downloading there music....Make absolute crap. Not only will I not buy this album, I will not waste the ridiculously small amount of memory it would take to save this album on my hard drive.

The only reason I gave this album one star is because their was not an option for zero stars.

Shame on you Metallica for putting crap out and expecting fans to buy it,....