The Raven

First and foremost, this is NOT your typical LOU REED album.
It's not your typical album...period!

What this is, is a tour de force combining the mind and music of LOU REED, his inner demons mingling with those of the writings of like-mind; EDGAR ALLEN POE.

How many times have you encountered a performer who was brave (and cool) enough to include POETRY (spoken verse) and conceptual tracks interspersed with his musical interpretions?
Not very often at all, I can assure you.

This album; RAVEN, was ORIGINALLY performed ON STAGE (in a spectacle of sound and fury) as a PLAY written by LOU REED.

It was conceived in Germany for the THALIA THEATRE and was later brought to the U.S. for the Brooklyn Academy of Music (B.A.M.), where I saw it performed at the Howard Gilman Opera House in December of 2001.

I have been searching for this album ever since.
(It was to be released shortly thereafter...assumidly under the name of POEtry, but obviously it never manifested.)
I can only assume (until I do more research) that there was some contractual problems that prevented a "cast-album", and instead graced us with celebrity voice-overs from the likes of WILLEM DEFOE (SHADOW of the VAMPIRE & SPIDER-MAN) and STEVE BUSCEMI (FARGO, RESEVOIR DOGS & ANY Adam Sandler flick).

I for one, as a POE fan, as well as one who enjoyes REED's darker musical tendancies, will enjoy hearing the haunting melodies once again (nearly 2 years after the live performance)!

Will I listen to this again and again?
To this, the RAVEN could not say; NEVERMORE.
Oh No...the only response is...EVER more!

Enjoy!

The album starts off poorly: the instrumental "Overture" may work in concert but is just filler here. The show tune, "Edgar Allen Poe," is a somewhat clever but mostly grating summary of Poe's work set to the tune of "Future Farmers of America." It is fun to hear Reed, with his NY accent, naturally rhyme "Poe" with "Door."

Things then get better. "Call on Me" starts off pretentiously, discussing the "other selves' mournings", but becomes a thing of beauty, transitioning into a stanza of verse read by Laurie Anderson and concluding with her singing the refrain. The instrumental, "A Thousand Departed Friends," sounds not like "Metal Machine Music" as some have suggested, but more like the instrumental conclusion of "What Goes On" on "1969 Live," where musical repetition grows ever so slightly in intensity and tempo and you wish it would never end. An apt tribute to the victims of 9/11.

Reed's stripped down remake of "The Bed" from "Berlin" is perfect: it captures the original's pathos while eschewing its bathos. Speaking of remakes, Reed has a singer name Antony perform "Perfect Day"; Antony's warbly high tenor is almost surreal in its beauty: I've never heard anyone quite like him. When Antony sings background vocals on tracks like "Science of the Mind" and "Guardian Angel," the combination of Reed's voice and his is almost a religious experience.

Other highlights include "Burning Embers," where Reed adopts a Tom Waite-like singing voice and sounds convincingly like the undead. "Vanishing Act" is the "Oh Jim" of The Raven: simple and powerful lyrics with minimal accompaniment. "I Wanna Know" is bizarre and fun: a gospel call and response tune(!) where Reed sings his heart out about Poe's concept of "preverseness" and the lead singer of the Blind Boys of Alabama offers a powerful echo. "Hop Frog" with David Bowie is just plain fun: pure power pop with lyrics for a children's song. "Who Am I" is simply magesterial--a beautiful track--and "Guardian Angel" reaches the sublime when Antony and Reed sing together. Finally, "Change" is an impassioned and somewhat humorous song about fear and aging.

The poetry readings are all fine and entertaining.

Now for the ugly. "Balloon" is a nothing a capella song echoing but not improving upon "I'm a Little Teapot." Reed wastes Ornette Coleman on the insipid "Guilty." "Blind Rage" is poorly conceived: if one experiences "blind rage," then one usually isn't capable of saying "I'm in a blind rage!" It's as if Reed suddenly introduced lyrics like "I'm experiencing existential despair!" into "Heroin." He knows better than this. "Broadway Song" is a throwaway, ironic show tune; its only value is the novelty of hearing Steve Buscemi sing a Reed song.

Reed has rarely sung with more heart and soul, ranging from soft and soulful ("Science of the Mind") to impassioned and yearning. Reed is experimenting and extending his usual musical and lyrical range. There are some failures, but these are more than outweighed by the glorious successes. As to whether Reed is "true to Poe," I don't particularly care: I'd rather have a Lou Reed album than a soundtrack.