Lou Reed - The Bells

 

The follow up to Street Hassle, The Bells is not nearly as successful, although it is also fairly experimental - some calling it a jazz fusion record, which I'm not sure that I agree with, but I guess it's almost as close as anything!

Certainly more keyboard'n'horn-oriented, there are also lots of disco/funk rhythms, which don't necessarily work for me, although the opening "Stupid Man" is upbeat enough to be engaging. "Disco Mystic" is mired in effects, and while it has a dirgey disco beat, it also drags and there are essentially (literally?) no lyrics other than the title, which gets a bit tiring over four and a half minutes. Although the title is (purposely?) dumb, "I Want To Boogie With You" is actually a pretty strong, soulful tune, horn-drenched'n'funky, with some hip guitar licks, as well, "With You" is one of several Nils Lofgren collaborations, but Reed is singing with his over-the-top-warble and that kind of takes away from the jazzy background.

"Looking For Love" is more of a guitar rocker, starting with a noisy riff, although the full band'n'horns tend to bury the gits after the opening and there are continued vocal affectations - definitely more straight forward overall though. "City Lights", an ode to Charlie Chaplin, apparently, is a bit jazz/fusion-y, in a Zappa-ish way, with Lou this time singing in an affected baritone, "All Through the Night" is musically reminiscent of his previous "Kicks", with plenty of horns'n'keys again, and "self-consciously sleazy conversation going on in the background" (that is actually quite loud in the mix), Reed has always had a troubled relationship with "Families" and he explores that here with a funky backing slightly similar to some stuff that the Stones did on Some Girls, and everything concludes with a nod to Edgar Allen Poe in the title cut, an atmospheric, drone-y, free-jazz-ish exploration with Lou on guitar synthesizer and Don Cherry on trumpet, making it practically a successor to Metal Machine Music, albeit a bit more musical (and eventually, with lyrics), making it one of the more interesting tracks on the album.

Not as thoroughly entertaining and engrossing as Street Hassle, by any means, but an interesting follow up. I actually saw Lou on his tour for this album and while I don't remember a lot about it, I believe that a good portion of the show was more noisy/ambient and less song-oriented, although I'm sure he mixed it up. Wish I had been writing reviews back in the 70's!