Music
Lou Reed gives 'Yeezus' a glowing review
by Tyler Munro
July 2, 2013
Depending on who you talk to, Yeezus falls somewhere between Metal Machine Music and Transformer on the Lou Reed scale of insanity. But whether you like it or not, know that Reed’s a fan. A big one, actually. In his lengthy, nearly-2000 word review of Kanye West’s new album, Reed explains at length why Kanye isn’t just an innovator, but a genius.
via Adweek
Depending on who you talk to, Yeezus falls somewhere between Metal Machine Music and Transformer on the Lou Reed insanity-to-innovation sacle. But whether you like it or not, know that Reed’s a fan. A big one, actually.
In his lengthy, nearly-2000 word review of Kanye West’s new album, Reed explains at length why Kanye isn’t just an innovator, but a genius.
“There are moments of supreme beauty and greatness on this record, and then some of it is the same old shit. But the guy really, really, really is talented.,” writes Reed in his opening paragraph. “He’s really trying to raise the bar. No one’s near doing what he’s doing, it’s not even on the same planet.”
He continues on from there, making reference to the influences behind My Beautiful Dark, Twisted Fantasy and pontificating on Yeezy’s possible inspirations in a way that only a fan could. There’s no real indication as to how it came about, but as Reed expands throughout the lengthy piece it’s clear that he’s writing it not just from a peer’s perspective, but from a fan’s.
Comparing the notion of Yeezus being a challenging listen to the experiences he had with Metal Machine Music, Reed says the album’s jarring jump cuts are beautiful because there’s no reason for them to be. But as he abstracts the album’s sounds wider and wider throughout, what’s great about Reed’s write-up are his geeky, almost giddy observations about specific songs.
Writing on “Guilt Trip,” Reed says that the melody played on the strings towards the end is so beautiful it brought tears to his eyes. He says Chief Keef’s hook on “Hold My Liquor” is poignant because he’s a tough guy and calls the entire song “heartbreaking.” He gasps in italics—”Wow, wow, wow—talking about the lyrics in “New Slaves” and calls Justin Vernon’s bit on “I Am a God” “un-fucking-believable.” Most hilariously, Reed says opening the album with “that typical synth buzzsaw sound” is like “farting,” saying “On Sight” is Kanye daring the audience to like it. “Very perverse,” he writes.
The entire thing is surprising, not just because it exists, but because of how well stated Reed’s opinions are. We thought he’d lost it a bit with Lulu, but maybe Reed’s more tuned in than we thought?
Read the whole thing at The Talkhouse to find out in detail why he finds the album to be majestic and inspiring.
