LOU REED : LOU REED'S BERLIN

  1. Intro
  2. Berlin
  3. Lady Day
  4. Men Of Good Fortune
  5. Caroline Says, Pt. I
  6. How Do You Think It Feels
  7. Oh Jim
  8. Caroline Says, Pt. II
  9. The Kids
  10. Sad Song
  11. Candy Says (with Anthony Hegarty)
  12. Rock Minuet
  13. Sweet Jane

Label : Artificial Eye

Venue : St. Ann's Warehouse, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Recording Date : December 14, 2006 - December 17, 2006

Release Date : 2007

Length : 81:06

NTSC : 16:9

Review (AllMusic) : At a time when the price of concert tickets is rising sharply and public demand is shrinking, a number of veteran artists have sought to make their shows seem more like events by performing one of their more celebrated albums in full as part of the concert, with the All Tomorrow's Parties and Pitchfork music festivals making this gambit a regular part of their annual programming. Lou Reed is an old hand at this game - when New York was released in 1989, Reed performed the album in full and in sequence each evening on tour, and he followed suit for the shows supporting 1992's Magic and Loss. But it was a collaboration with artist and director Julian Schnabel rather than anything so crass as economics that prompted Reed to revisit his 1973 concept album Berlin for a series of multimedia concerts, with Reed and his band joined by a vocal chorus (including guest singers Antony and Sharon Jones) and a small orchestra directed by Bob Ezrin, who arranged and produced the original album. Schnabel filmed two of the Berlin concerts staged in New York City for a documentary, and Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse is essentially the soundtrack album to Schnabel's film. While in many respects these performances honor both the sound and the intent of the 1973 studio album, the Lou Reed who walked on-stage in New York in 2006 sounds recognizably different than the man who recorded these songs 33 years earlier. Reed didn't play electric guitar on Berlin, but he does here, and the elegant brutality of his soloing adds a new flavor to the melodies, and while three decades of wear and tear on his voice bring a welcome character to "The Kids" and "The Bed," the curious timing of his new phrasing doesn't serve his lyrics especially well. But Reed and his band (including Steve Hunter, another veteran of the original recording sessions) perform this music with skill and empathy, and while the highly polished production of the original album sounded a bit chilly, on-stage this music reveals a warmth and a damaged yet unaffected humanity. As an encore, Reed performs an additional three songs, and while "Rock Minuet" doesn't fare much better here than it did on the flawed Ecstasy, his umpteenth recording of "Sweet Jane" is full of life and Antony's guest vocal on "Candy Says" is a thing of rare beauty. In its original form, Berlin was a work of tremendous ambition that didn't quite live up to its own high standards, and this live recording seems to trade a roughly equal number of new flaws for those of the original album, but this performance sounds like a legitimate attempt by Reed to revisit his past without being shackled to it, and on that level it's a brave and compelling experiment that (often) works.

Review (Vintage Rock) : The idea of revisiting an album in a live setting is certainly nothing new, but it's especially tricky if said album fell flat upon its release. Still, if you believe time heals wounds and badly received records, then you have to appreciate the revival of Berlin, Lou Reed's doleful concept album from 1973. Even if you can't quite wrap yourself around Reed's monotone, the arrangements and players the singer surrounded himself with tend to lift any lingering doubts about the power of the piece. For director Julian Schnabel, an Academy Award nominee for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Berlin deserved an on-stage resurgence he wanted to film. When it actually happened in December 2006 at the St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York, the results exceeded everyone's expectations. Berlin is the story of Jim and Caroline, a drug-addicted couple with a one-way ticket to nowhere. Reed has said each of the songs on Berlin is a character study that comprises a loose, shadowy concept - perhaps more of an in-the-moment, stream-of-consciousness, slice-of-life examination than a anecdote with a moral and purpose. That really explains a lot of what Reed writes about - the underbelly, the seedy, life's demented and outcasts who dangle over the edge. Clearly, in 1973, it was taboo to venture into these areas, and it most certainly didn't provide the idle enjoyment and introspection music fans were seeking in those days. This was Schnabel's challenge - and he seized it with empathy, conviction and an artist's eye. By assimilating dramatized film visages, a wash of colors on a backdrop, and a stoic group of musicians and singers, Berlin rises from the catacombs to become a visual and aural spread of unimaginable power. Having a clutch band that includes guitarist Steve Hunter, who played on the original record, along with bassists Fernando Saunders and Rob Wassermann, singer Antony, pianist Rupert Christie, a seven-piece orchestra and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus didn't hurt in presenting the piece as full and realized as possible. Reed leads the way, paying his respects in "Berlin," before getting down and dirty on ditties like "Men Of Good Fortune," "Caroline Says I" and "How Do You Think It Feels." After Reed mumbles through an encore duet with Antony on "Candy Says," from the Velvet's third, self-titled album, you can tell he's thoroughly enjoyed the ride. To settle the score, he finishes up with the more recent, unexpectedly provocative slap of "Rock Minuet" before going long with "Sweet Jane," which jams away as the credits roll. What a beautiful ending to a tragic story.

Review (Wikipedia) : Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse is a concert film and live album by Lou Reed released in 2008. The concert film was directed by Julian Schnabel, live at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn 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 disappointment (in spite of it being a top 10 album hitting #7 in the UK and going Silver). Individual songs had been played, but not the whole thing.[7] The concert film and album both feature three non-Berlin songs as an encore, "Candy Says", "Rock Minuet" and "Sweet Jane".