It's Lou Reed's best tunes, remastered and sounding good. A pretty good anthology from the New York Master.
February 1, 2007I like this alot. A lot of classics and some lesser known stuff. Some live, some studio. A good mix. Someone else mentioned they preferred the studio Velvet version of "Heroin" and I have to agree. At least maybe have the live and the studio version both included. The insert write up was nice and pretty informative as well. Check this out if you are a Lou Reed or Velvet Underground fan or want a good starting point to see if you will like his/their other stuff.
May 25, 2005 |  | A mix of VU and solo cuts, how can it not be anything less.. |  |
Considering how far across the spectrum Lou has gone over a 40 year period, the songs manage to interweave nicely, and is not a conventional "greatest hits" by any stretch to be called "Ultimate" or "Essential". But it's typical of Reed to confuse, confound, frustrate, and upset critics and fans...
He wrote these songs and sequenced them in order to a way that he was satisfied with listening to as an album in its own right versus a chronological "hits" package, pulled the masters and gave a short commentary of each song in the booklet (including revealing that the epic "Street Hassle" cut features an uncredited Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith on part of the song).
He chose to go with the edited "Sweet Jane" versus the found extended version or the 70s radio classic from "Rock and Roll Animal". The VU songs at times go with the original recordings, and others (I'll Be Your Mirror, White Light White Heat and Heroin) go with his solo versions in concert.
In the notes he felt a lot of the songs took years to catch on, and gave "Perfect Day" as an example, even though he prefers "Hangin' Around" as a favorite. He includes cuts from "Live In Italy" and "Take No Prisoners", although leaves hits like "I Love You Suzanne" off.
For an intro it's essential. But most people would be better off with the original CDs these came off of.
May 3, 2005Despite the mastering Lou gave to some of those Velvet Underground tracks ( is it just me or did he put his vocals up higher into the mix ), I find this a rather solid best-of collection. It's a rather neat and tidy collection for those willing to buy this collection. Frankly I see this collection is better than the recent NYC Man with the added crap remix of Sattelite of Love which is here in it's original format ( and best ). I say this is better because I think you get a better feel for all the tracks and you get a more rounded idea of the personality that was put into the records. It's worth a try to see the many different levels/facets of Lou Reed's work on two compact discs. As the man himself says " try it."
January 20, 2005 | | A collection by the man himself! | |
I have heard many of his albums including compilations. It is surprising some of the songs he chose but the collection works out well. I am glad this collection is up to date. I like "Magic and Loss", "ecstacy" and many velvet's classics. He takes pride in the sound quality in his music to improve the clarity of his songs. All in all a great overview of his work.
August 29, 2004More reviews at Amazon.com ...
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