Well over one decade later, what do you all think about Lulu? I have a tendency to avoid works that either get an unduly amount of hype or (sometimes) a huge amount of derision until much later. Lulu is one of the cases of the latter, so even though I'm a big fan of Metallica and Lou Reed/The Velvet Underground, I have yet to listen to album in full, except for a few songs. I won't opine or vote until I give this album a fair thorough listen later this week.

I remember reading Steve's opinion on this here premier rock forum saying that something along the lines he liked some of the songs on this album (I would search the forum archives, but sadly, a lot of the old posts are gone). In particular, I remember Steve praising "Junior Dad". I watched their live performance of "Junior Dad", and I gotta admit, I think the performance is great.



I'm pretty sure that a lot of people are going to vote crap, but I won't be surprised if I wind up liking this album more than I expected.

Wholly predictable, but NC because Junior Dad. Fucking great track.

I'm a fan of both artists but admittedly never really explored this album.

I'll take it as a homework assignment and will report back.

Post ..And Justice for All Metallica is just too painful to overcome to get to whatever accidental greatness this album holds.

I'm not sure if this was a career low for either entity. It's atrocious, for sure.

penningtron wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 9:28 am Post ..And Justice for All Metallica is just too painful to overcome to get to whatever accidental greatness this album holds.

Yep. And even Justice is pretty weak compared to the first 3 IMO.

I gave the vid above a shot, the drone intro was nice but once the song actually started I just fell asleep. From memory there's a few nice spacy guitar bits on this record and maybe a decent riff or two, but....crap.

In related metallinews, I watched a current vid of them playing Blackened, and it was surprisingly not terrible. They actually played it ok, even Lars. Kirk even played some interesting notes in the solo! Something no one's said since 1986.

My initial reactions after listening to it the entire way through for the first time:

Many Metallica fans who had never heard of Lou Reed would have fucking hated this.

Lou Reed at times sounds a LOT like Johnny Cash on his American Recordings album series. Other times, he sounds like Ian Curtis.

It's a bizarre combination that I need to listen to again. It definitely requires some acclimation.

I find it very interesting, but not sure I can say I enjoy it, BUT I am compelled to listen it to it once a year or so. NC

NC.

"Junior Dad" is amazing, kind of a perfect send off since it's the last song on the last Lou album.

I don't "love" the album but absolutely back it; have always been happy that Metallica don't really give a shit that everyone shit on it when it came out.

I'm glad if Lou made a record w/ a contemporary band he went with such a weird choice instead of something safe like Luna that's obviously VU derived.

Not Lulu but I really love Lou's version of "Jealous Guy" from 2001:

I just listened to the ~ 20-minute closing track again ("Junior Dad") at the end of the evening.

I almost find it cliched at this point, reading other posts, but I have to agree that it is the track that most immediately works. As does some of the quieter stuff, stuff with drones, stuff with acoustic guitars, etc. A lot of this is in the second half of the album.

I feel like I'm not being fair, but my initial reaction to some of the earlier parts of the album that involve spoken word over heavier music is to giggle because of how awkward it sounds. There's also a point later in the album that reminds me of a chant you'd hear in church. Lou Reed fucking sounds like a pastor/priest!

I will listen a few more times. Some parts of the album remind me of nothing else, which intrigues me.