ANIMAL SERENADE
by LOU REED

Just when you thought you'd seen it all....

By Rick Hines, June 22, 2004

First, I'm writing this to correct the last writer who said there are indeed drums on the album. For the non-musicians out there, the "Roland Drums" used by Saunders are synthesized drums, not an actual drum kit. There is also "piano," which is Rathke playing a guitar synthesizer. Except for the excellent cello (see "Venus In Furs"), vocals, and Lou's guitar, most of the music here is synthesized, albeit played live on stage, not recorded or programmed.

Some seem vexed by the lack of drums on the album (not a lot of bass here either; but that's what the cello's for, right?). I find what makes this album so special is that this has caused Reed to completely rethink his arrangements of tunes old and new. It's the twenty-first century, and Reed shows that his music can be effective in any musical language at any time.

The cello and lack of drums allow many of the songs to reach much deeper psychological spaces than in the original versions. Lou's guitar can still come screeching to the fore much as he used to do in the Robert Quine-era band. "Ecstasy" especially gains from the contrast of subtle rhythmn with searing lead. And the band does rock out when it wants to, but with an interesting, unique sound due to the odd combination of instruments.

As for Lou's vocal abilities, he's not the young man unabashedly belting out "oh baby" at the end of "Rock and Roll" any more. His smoking and lord knows what else has pretty much ravaged his voice, much like Bob Dylan. Sure, he's missing notes, letting his voice croak as often as sing, but that's Lou now. Personally, I think you can hear him putting effort into his singing, and it shows with emotional and effective (if not technically perfect) readings of most songs here.

True, I'd rather have a new album of all-original material, but this is no "holding-pattern best-of" live disc, but a vision of Lou Reed doing what he does best: evading people's expectations and finding something new and exciting in the process. This is proof that MIDI and synthesizers don't always equal cold and mechanical. After forty years in the music business, Lou shows he's still a vital creative force (see also his "Ecstasy" album). This is his best live work since "Live In Italy" twenty years(!) ago.