Search - Lou Reed :: Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse

Lou Reed
Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse
Genres: Alternative Rock, Folk, Pop, Rock, Classic Rock

Track Listings (14) - Disc #1
1. Intro
2. Berlin
3. Lady Day
4. Men Of Good Fortune
5. Carline Says, Pt. 1
6. How Do You Think It Feels
7. Oh, Jim
8. Caroline Says, Pt. 2
9. The Kids
10. The Bed
11. Sad Song
12. Candy Says
13. Rock Minuet
14. Sweet Jane

CD Details

All Artists: Lou Reed
Title: Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse
Members Wishing: 8
Total Copies: 0
Label: Matador Records
Original Release Date: 1/1/2008
Re-Release Date: 11/4/2008
Genres: Alternative Rock, Folk, Pop, Rock, Classic Rock
Styles: Hardcore & Punk, Singer-Songwriters, Album-Oriented Rock (AOR)
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 744861084921

Synopsis

Album Description

Berlin: Live At St. Anns Warehouse is a concert film and live album by Lou Reed released in October 2008. The concert film was directed by Julian Schnabel, live at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, NY during five nights in December 2006. Background shots of the characters Jim and Caroline were done by Lola Schnabel. The Berlin tour was the first time Lou Reed had played the full album live in over 30 years, after the original album was a critical and commercial flop. Individual songs had been played, but not the whole thing. The concert film and album both feature three additional songs, Candy Says, Rock Minuet and Sweet Jane, not from the original Berlin.

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CD Reviews

Absolutely 5+ stars

Jim Z | 12/15/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Truly remarkable. This recording (33 years in the making) takes Reed's classic "Berlin" and stages the entire original LP live.

Live recordings often leave a lot to be desired due to sound quality. Not this one ! This sound is stunning for a live recording. The mix is perfect , and Lou is in perfect "voice".

I played the disc 3 times straight through upon purchase (minus the "extra" non-Berlin tracks) (which I will get to sometime). The entire disc is nothing short of amazing , but "The Kids" and "Sad Song" are the standouts for this listener.......PUT IT IN YOUR BASKET!!!!!"

An excellent circle

B. Cox | woodstock ga usa | 11/20/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"a commercial flop when released berlin has always been one of lou reeds masterpiece works. as a rock opera it has a better story than pete towshends tommy. what this live version offers is both a fresh look and a fuller sound quality which makes this release a newer experience. the inclusion of steve hunter of rock and roll animal fame on guitar makes this album worth the price! lou reed has grown as an artist over the years and his best music stands as a testimony. lou reed has made an excellent circle!"

An Exploration into Desperation

Mr. Richard D. Coreno | Berea, Ohio USA | 02/18/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Though Lou Reed has seemingly taken pleasure to twist the noses of the suits who operate the record industry - Metal-Machine Music comes to mind - his true creative energy was behind his third solo effort, the rock-opera, Berlin.

Exploring the reality of living in the anonymous shadows - with the landscape being the cracked sidewalks and dilapidated buildings of urban decay - Reed tackled the bleakness of drugs, depression and desperation of a doomed couple. A planned stage adaptation was abandoned in 1973 after mixed (mostly negative) reviews by critics and poor record sales.

But nearly 35 years later, Reed picked up the pieces of this shattered project by enlisting the Brooklyn Youth Chorus and a 30-piece band for a series of Berlin performances. Prior to the 2007 concert dates, Reed never played the rock-opera in its entirety and rarely utilized the music while on tour.

The power contained in the music has not diminished and Reed is in full flight artistically as the director and performer. A maligned masterpiece, this is street life as the slow storm rises to soon engulf those who believe they can win the game of roulette that's played with a shattered rotating disk ."

Beautiful even if outright depressing, as revisited 33 years

Paul Allaer | Cincinnati | 02/01/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Following the unexpected commercial mainstream success of the 1972 "Transformer" album, Lou Reed celebrated his newly found status of successful rock star by recording the 1973 album "Berlin", one of the most depressing albums of all time. The album tanked commercially (not surprising, since this isn't a single hummable tune on it), but more importantly also critically.

In his 40+ year career, Lou Reed has taken more twists and turns than anyone could possible keep track off. So it was somewhat surprising that in 2006, Reed announced to take the "Berlin" album on the road to perform it in its entirety. "Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse" (14 tracks; 79 min.) was recorded during a 5 evening span of these performances in December, 2006. Couple of things that strike me immediately when I listened to this and re-listened to the original album. First of all, Lou Reed's voice has, quite understandably, changed (lowered), and at times this actually helps the (re)interpretation of the original songs (in particular on "The Kids" and "Sad Song". Second, the album is helped very nicely with the addition of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus (check out the outro on "The Bed", for example). Third, Lou Reed features electric guitar prominently (check for example "Men of Good Fortune"), which was lacking altogether on the original songs. The encores are unnecessary frankly (certainly, we don't need yet another version of "Sweet Jane"), as they don't connect with the "Berlin" songs, and make this CD 18 min. longer than it needs to be.

In all, this is quite a nice reconstruction of the original "Berlin" album. But I can't imagine too many wanting to replay this again and again, for the sheer "joy" of it all! Please note that there is also a DVD of these performances, directed by Julian Schnabel (the Oscar-nominated director of "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"), and that this CD serves as basically the soundtrack for the DVD."