Customer Reviews

Seducing Down the Door: Collection

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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.

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.

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.

This is some beautiful and scarey and intellectual music.
On of the items in heavy rotation on my stereo.

I bought this John Cale compilation primarily because of CD2. Since I already owned his early albums, which I by far find his most succesful, I thought the CD could be a way to get a better overview of his later recordings.

The first track on CD 2 "Jack the Ripper" sounds a lot like his Island material, and it is really a nice addition to my Cale collection. The song is an outtake from the 1977 "Animal Justice" EP.

There are other good songs, like "Dead or Alive" from "Honi Soit"and "Chinese Envoy" from "Music For a New Society", but most of the songs are rather dark and do not have the immediate charm of his earlier records.

CD1 obviously is very good, and recommended for everybody who do not want to but all his early albums.

This is a great compilation but if you have all his studio albums, then skip this. A good introduction double disc collection for a friend or relative but the only noted bonus for the Cale fan is Temper, a good The Academy In Pearl out-take. Wish there was more rare tracks here. Perhaps a 3rd disc.

I wish John Cale would release a film compilation box set or re-issue some of his out-of-print recordings, both live and studio.

He's great in concert and if you can, go see the magic of John Cale Live!