The year is 1975. Radio airwaves are ruled by artists like Styx and The Captain & Tennille. Even Harry Chapin and David Bowie were making Pop hits. Somewhere in New York, I am being born. In the midst of it all, Lou Reed emerges with Metal Machine Music, an album so anti anything else that was going on at the time that it’s almost incomprehensible. Billed as an “Electronic Instrumental Composition,” Metal Machine Music is full of feedback, blips, bleeps, screeches, and ticks that were largely unheard of before this. This album directly spawned an entire underground Electronic movement that exists to this day.
It’s been 35 years since Metal Machine Music was originally released. As a matter if fact, this isn’t even the first time it’s been reissued. Mr. Reed has definitely gone out of his way to make this version the definitive one though, releasing it on vinyl, Blu-Ray and as a DVD audio disc. The album has been digitally remastered from the original analog recordings by Reed and mastering guru Scott Hull. The duo even went so far as to pay some mind to Bob Ludwig’s original production notes.
The version I’m currently listening to is the DVD audio version, which is reproduced in four channel and stereo audio form the original quad. Basically that means that if you have a penchant for oddities or feedback and a nice home theater system then this will sound better than it likely did when it was being recorded. Everything about this album is crystal clear this time around, so much so in fact that even if this isn’t really your thing, the quality will impress you still.
When it comes to the album itself, it’s no secret that this is an acquired taste. It was never meant for and has never been accepted by the masses. There are no vocals, no keys, no distinguishable parts, just a little over an hours worth of organized feedback that birthed almost every kind of Electronic music save for the Rave genre. Fans of Nine Inch Nails, Kraftwerk, VNV Nation, Godflesh, even Kid A era Radiohead (as well as a host of music from independent Ambient labels) will find this a serious history lesson, if not enjoyable, and should definitely check it out.
For our European fans, Lou Reed will be doing a series of Metal Machine Trio concerts in Cambridge Junction (April 17), Oxford O2 Academy (April 18), and London Royal Festival Hall (April 19, part of the Ether Festival) to celebrate this groundbreaking album’s anniversary. Like the album, these concerts are going to be once in a lifetime moments that die hard Lou Reed fans must not miss, hopefully inspiring Reed to continue the celebration worldwide.
Reviewed by Mark Fisher
