At the start of this year I undertook the totally self- imposed decision to explore the world of Lou Reed's back catalogue with fresh ears and an open mind. This was based on a post at The Vinyl Villain at the tail end of 2024 where JC posted the songs from a 1980 Lou Reed compilation and some of them, songs I hadn't heard for decades, really caught my attention. I went back to some albums unplayed for ages and found much to enjoy. Berlin I opined, is a masterpiece. I then decided to do Lou Reed solo, album by album, on second hand vinyl wherever possible. Not long after I was in a second hand record shop- dangerous places I know- and Lou's self titled debut album was in the rack. I bought it, listened to it several times and then wrote about it here. After that Transformer (one I already had on vinyl). Then I bought a copy of Sally Can't Dance and was not disappointed. Sally Can't Dance but Lou Can Write.
And that was as far as I got. Summer drifted on and I was looking for a copy of Coney Island Baby, the next logical place to go but I couldn't find a copy at a price I was happy with. Then, while browsing the Lou Reed/ Velvets section in a second hand shop I found a copy of The Blue Mask for under a tenner. This meant jumping out of the 70s and into the 80s. Lou Reed, like many other 60s stars had a very bad 80s- but, some Lou Reed fans speak highly of The Blue Mask, an 80s highlight, one to play alongside the best of his solo albums.
I can't completely agree. The Blue Mask has some good moments and with Robert Quine on guitar some really good playing, Lou's guitar in the right hand channel and Robert's in the left. Lou sounds alive, sarcastic, snarly, full of New York skronk and grime and when it's good, it's good enough. The run of songs towards the end of side two are good- Waves Of Fear is nasty (in a good way), with squally guitars and feedback, lyrics of revulsion, panic and alcoholism. Lou has cleaned up, got married and is looking at two decades of squalor and drug addiction in the rear view mirror.
It's followed by The Day John Kennedy Died which is I suppose well meaning but there's something about the simplistic, spoken word lyrics that don't quite work for me- although the sound and feel of his 1989 album New York can be found in the song. He ends with the line 'I dreamed that I could comprehend that someone shot him in the face' (which is for the record, historically wrong- JFK was hit in the top of the head and the throat. Pedantry maybe but it jars).
It finishes with Heavenly Arms which is a good song, a nod to the sound of Transformer (along with the front cover shot).
Side one was a struggle though, I nearly took it off. Opener My House is good, sympathetic twin guitars, lead bass and Lou singing about his house out of the city near the lake, a new found domestic lifestyle, his luck at having a wife, house and motorcycle- and the spirit of Delmore Schwartz haunting him.
Women is knuckle bitingly bad.
'I love women/ I think they're great/ They're a solace to a world in a terrible state'.
'I love women/ We all love women'
This is from the man who wrote All Tomorrow's Parties, The Black Angel's Death Song, Heroin, Pale Blue Eyes, Foggy Notion, Sad Song, Satellite Of Love and I Can't Stand It. The Gun is a mess. I'm sure Lou's satirising gun owners and gun culture but he does with such a display of deadpan machismo it's difficult to tell. Average Guy is awful. It's like he's deliberately writing shit to see if he can get away with it.
The Blue Mask hasn't exactly sent me scurrying into Lou's 80s with a spring in my step. If this is a good 80s Lou Reed album, I'm not looking forward to the bad ones. I'm still on the look out for the rest of the 70s ones though, I haven't given up and there's still Street Hassle to do too. I'll try to leave The Blue Mask on a positive note. Robert Quine said they hardly rehearsed and everything was first or second take with few overdubs. If that's the case the playing is remarkably focused and the twin guitars and playing on this song are right up there.
4 comments:
Never heard 'The Blue Mask' before and happy to let it rest with your selected tracks. The only 80s album I have apart from the mighty 'New York' is 'New Sensation'. Not totally awful but not a career highlight.
I wasn't sure from the last paragraph whether you already have 'Street Hassle'. If you i can assist.
I have Street Hassle on cd but not vinyl Ernie.
Swiss Adam
Hadn't spotted it was specifically vinyl you're after. I can't help in that case.
Part of the commitment was to listen to them on the format they were released on- dunno why, it seemed important at the time- so either vinyl or cassette. I had quite a few of these solo albums on cassette once but all have gone to landfill at some point since the late 80s. I'm losing enthusiasm for having all these LR albums on vinyl though so will no doubt do Street Hassle in CD format
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