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lou reed rock | Year: 1998 Classification: Music Video - Pop/Rock Directed: - Timothy Greenfield-Sanders Lou the Artist This PBS video makes the case that Lou Reed is not just a guy who makes thrilling rock music. He is an Artist (with a capitol A) in the great modernist tradition who experiments with his life in order to test the limits. This sounds forbidding, but this documentary is fun and unpretentious and exhilarating. should have concentrated on his early career Lou Reed, like many artists, peaked early. He put out a few interesting solo albums, but by the mid seventies, his creativity had dried up. It would have been better to have spent more time on the early Velvet years, and skimmed over the years following 1975. It's amazing, though, to see that the film makers could line people up to heap praise on Reed's arid, barren pieces of his later period. Just shows how bogus the art and music world is. The filmmakers should have sought out impartial commentators, at least that would have rung true. The Icon In Context The strong use of vintage footage, and interviews of contemporaries places Lou Reed in his proper cultural context. Lou Reed's lack of need to fit himself into a readily commercially exploitable groove, and stay there for more than a minute, his keeping away from a recognizable group aside from the Velvet Underground places him in niche by himself. The information provided about Reed, his music and the influences on him removes him from that isolation. Interesting On Many Levels This video is intellectualy, musically and photographically interesting. Intellectual and Artistic Roots The examination of Reed's poetic roots dating back to Reed's time at Syracuse helps to explain the literacy of his lyrics. The material covering his interaction with the Warhol Factory also gives some depth to what Reed was doing with the Velvet Underground. How he fit into the New York art scene, and how he didn't fit into the San Francsico art scene, provides some insight into his personality. Musical Development The roots of Reed's music, its development, its changes are fairly well covered. This video is somewhat lacking in covering the period after "Rock and Roll Animal" and before "New York". This is one of it's few failings. Eye Candy The videographers made excellent use of the vintage footage available. What they did on their own is also quite interesting. Although some might see it as a gimmick the use of a dissolve from a older portrait to a contemporary video still of the interviewee was effective. It helped to reinforce in the viewer's mind just who was being interviewed. Buy Lou Reed Rock at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Lou Reed Rock Search with the Priority Search Engine on Lou Reed Rock This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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