Tune of the Week: Confrontational Lou Reed

Apparently Lou Reed was really going through it in 1978 when this live recording was made. His feisty, aggressive and blabbermouth tone sounds like a mix of alcohol, drugs and the strain of being considered a “living legend”. All the while his very good live band tries to hold down the proceedings by keeping up with very different arrangements of some of his classics. While most (if not all) acts overdub their live records to make them sound as good as possible, Reed clearly was taking a “warts and all” stance with this release. I’m not sure who was more brave in putting this out: Reed or his record company?