Album Review: Lou Reed - Take No Prisoners

Album Review: Lou Reed - Take No Prisoners - Live

Just your typical 1970s Lou Reed night out

I know what you're thinking, that Holder guy and his reviews of old records again. But hear me out; this is a great album.

Recorded at the Bottom Line and released in 1978, the double-album captures Reed at his sarcastic, shit-talking best, talking to the crowd, the band, roadies, even himself at times. Rather than sing "Walk On The Wild Side," which Reed admits is a song he's become bored with, he tells the story of how the song came to be written, shedding light on the Warhol Superstars mentioned throughout.

"Coney Island Baby" has always been one of my favorite songs. The studio version of the song showed Reed at his subtle best. The Take No Prisoners version is anything but subtle, with wailing saxophone, sultry background vocals, and a thundering chorus transforms the piece from a song to an experience.

Take No Prisoners is an intense, honest, even funny album. It captures Reed at an interesting time, after his initial success as the Godfather of Punk and before his foray into pop ("New Sensations") and late 80s masterpieces ("New York" and "Magic and Loss"). The music itself is a mix of cabaret and punk, do wop and soul. It is a truly unique album in terms of delivering a concert experience, while the concert in question is as much comedy stand up in the Lenny Bruce style as it is a performance of songs from an artist's catalog.

Rough, gritty, hilarious, Take No Prisoners is a brilliant capture of an artist in his time, having a good time.

Comments

In Memorium: Shaun Mullen, A Most Generous Man

Author, editor, blogger, and so much more Shaun Mullen has passed. Noting his blog Kiko's House hadn't been updated in a while, I did a search and discovered his obituary . My friendship with Shaun goes back to 2006. While living in Australia, I'd discovered his blog when searching for informed commentary on US foreign policy in the Middle East. Sadly, much of that policy remains unchanged 14 years later, but that is for another post. Shaun had noticed that his blog wasn't rendering correctly in Internet Explorer and asked if anyone could suggest a fix. I, being a bit of a tech head at the time, suggested Firefox or similar browser, and the problem was solved. We kept in and out of touch, finding common ground in music (I mentioned my love for the Grateful Dead and Shaun sent a dozen CDs of concert recordings. By International mail. The man was generous to a fault.), worldview, and more. My old site got its greatest number of hits when Shaun linked to a few of m

Quote Of The Day, Kafka Edition

I usually solve problems by letting them devour me. - Franz Kafka

The World In Which We Live: Premature Reopening Edition

I don't even know where to begin. Despite there being no effective treatment, vaccination, or the much-discussed herd immunity, many states are relaxing social restrictions put in place to mitigate the spread of Covid-19. My home state of Georgia was among the first to do so (my sense of timing and location is impeccable). Instead of a state economy charging out of the gates like a racehorse, we get this: An 83% increase of confirmed cases in my county, which is mostly rural with a small industrial base, 90 miles from Atlanta. But freedom, amiright? I find it utterly amazing that people find being instructed to stay in their homes and take extra precautions to prevent becoming infected with a fatal disease a form of tyranny. When did "Wear a mask and wash your hands regularly" become equal to tanks in the streets? I understand wanting a haircut; Hell, I need one but don't want to kill my barber, a nice guy who fits nicely into the at-risk category. Do

www.markholder.org

Search This Blog