Preamble

Lou Reed & Metallica’s Lulu is being called by many as the worst album of 2011. Naturally this got me curious on why people hate it so much. I’ll start off by saying that I had no idea who Lou Reed was, but after some research I found out that he was the guy that did the “Walk on the Wild Side” song. Eventually I went off and bought the album, and it sat on my shelf for a while…

Review

And now it will never go back to my shelf again. Quite simply, I have fallen in love with this album. My first listen wasn’t an amazing experience by any means but the album grew on me really quickly. It was something I haven’t really heard before, and it filled that void pretty well. It can be summarized as post-metal with some spoken word poetry on top of it. There are your generic metal moments, but then we have a few minutes of noise and feedback.

The album is based off of the “Lulu” plays by Frank Wedekind from the 1900s: Earth Spirit and Pandora’s Box. Basically, the story is really twisted and sexual. The Lou Reed & Metallica version is no different. Lyrics such as “I will swallow your sharpest cutter like a coloured-man’s dick” might leave a horrible taste in your mouth (or it might leave you sexually excited). Unfortunately it seems that the songs are a bit out of order chronologically, and while it doesn’t distract from the listening experience, it does trouble if you’re trying to follow along with the story.

One of the reasons I love this album is how well the album sets the mood and theme. While listening to Pumping Blood I actually felt a sense of panic when the guitars picked up. I really wish that were was an instrumental version of this album just so I could sit back and enjoy the music only. There are some parts where Lou Reed repeats himself a little too much and manages to fill up a 19 minute song. I would also love to see more James Hetfield on the album. On the songs he does sing on, he does a fantastic job contrasting with Lou Reed. Iced Honey is a perfect example of this.

Some of my favourites on the album are Pumping Blood, Frustration, Dragon, and Iced Honey.

It’s not a perfect album by a long shot, there are moments where the lyrics are a bit shitty or incorrect altogether. “I am the table!” James Hetfield sings on The View even though the lyrics in the booklet say tablet (as in the stones the 10 commandments were carved in). The funny thing is that it’s said correctly the first time, but then James fucks it up by yelling the incorrect line. I have no idea how this mistake could have slipped through.

Another quick point to make is that this album has one of the best cover art/booklets I have seen this year. It fits the theme of the album perfectly.

The Bottom Line

The main reason that Lulu is so hated, is quite simply because it is not metal. It seems that metalheads are just too conservative when it comes to their musical taste and refuse to listen to anything that might divert away from generic metal. I also think that a lot of the hate for the album came specifically from people who have never heard the album but just jump on the hating bandwagon. The album is not perfect, but I really enjoyed it and I couldn’t stop listening to it. Lou Reed & Metallica did a great job of putting this one together, now all I hope is that a limited edition instrumental version comes out.