Seducing Down the Door: A Collection 1970-1990

John Cale

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 19, 1994)
• Original Release Date: July 5, 1994
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B0000033AE
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #109,460 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Welsh composer, viola terrorist, and art rocker John Cale remains a unique link between "dirty ass rock & roll" (as one '70s mission statement was titled), the avant garde and classicism--a droll, thoughtful musician who studied with John Cage, joined the Velvet Underground, and went on to craft a series of often divergent post-Velvets solo projects. Early projects that confronted the clash of classicism and pop head-on, like The Academy In Peril and the classic Paris 1919, which mixed string sections with electric slide guitars, gave way to more stripped-down, primal rock in the '70s, but Cale's music has always left a door open to musical and thematic invention. This intelligently assembled two-CD anthology offers a smart entry point into a beguiling maze of Cale personae. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This collection proves Cale is better than Reed., September 15, 1998

By A Customer

I knew a coupla guys in college many years ago who were constantly trying to convince me that John Cale, not Lou Reed, was the superior force to emerge from the legendary Velvet Underground. As a die-hard Lou Reed fan, I would have none of it. And, even though I still prefer much of Reed's 70s work to Cale's, "Seducing Down the Door" is a career-spanning collection that showcases Cale's amazing talents as a rocker, classical composer, and ambient music stylist. Compared against Reed's "Between Thought and Expression" boxed set--indisputable evidence of Reed's uneven career--Cale wins, hands down.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shows How Good Cale is, April 6, 2000

By	M. Scagnelli (Brandon, Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Seducing down the door is an excellent overview of John Cale's career after the Velvet Underground. It really shows how much Cale changed over the years; The beautiful Beatlesque Parisi 1919 to the wrenching Fear is A Man's Best Friend and Gun to his dismal cover of Heartbreak Hotel to the great Jack The Ripper to the peaceful Strange Times in Casablanca to his songs with Lou Reed Trouble With Classicists and Faces and Names. If you are looking for only one album to get by John Cale, Seducing Down The Door is the best choice. It is just about one step away from a box set. Buy It.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CALE IS KING, June 26, 2000

By	Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This dude should not be a cult artist only! This vast swathe of prime cuts from his magnificent oeuvre contains lots of very melodic, even hummable songs that should have ruled the charts. I was pleasantly surprised by those tracks I had not heard before (Protege, Dixieland, Coral Moon, Ooh La La). I bought "The Island Years" compilation at the same time, because "Dirtyass Rock 'n Roll" should be heard as a sequence together with "Roll a Roll" and "Where were you when I needed you" from the Slow Dazzle album. Although "One Word" & "Cordoba" are good choices from the Wrong Way Up abum, I would also have included "Lay My Love" and "The River." Very pleased to have "Soul of Carmen Miranda" from Words For The Dying album ; to me, it's one of his most glorious creations. The following songs are accessible enough to have been top 5 chart material: Paris 1919, Andalucia, Fear Is A Man's Best Friend, Dirtyass R'n R, Guts (perhaps too extreme? -- I love it), Dead Or Alive, Ooh La La, Carmen, One Word, Cordoba. Get this one and The Island Years too -- only about 7 tracks are repeated.