The one album that hurt Lou Reed: “It just got fucking slammed”
If Lou Reed hadn’t possessed experimental instincts, he’d never have become revered as a great. This element of his personality helped make The Velvet Underground trailblazing pioneers who laid the blueprints for indie music as we know it today. Reed never followed the trends but instead created them by following his rebellious spirit wherever it may take him.
However, as much as Reed found great success with his experimental tactics, it also came with a risk. By being prepared to ignore the well-trodden path and create his own route, Reed put himself up to scrutiny on many occasions throughout his career. It was part of the territory of being an avant-garde musician, yet, for as much as he tried to put a brave face on, feeling creatively misunderstood was still a sour pill to swallow.
While he was a musical contrarian, Reed was also accustomed to being treated as though he walked on water by critics. Undoubtedly, this was a richly deserved position of privilege he’d earned himself through decades of innovative craftsmanship that made Reed feel untouchable — until he came crashing down to Earth.
Although an artist as mercurially talented as Reed shouldn’t necessarily need affirmation from others, it’s human nature to want positive feedback. Reed’s ego had been stroked since the days of The Velvet Underground. Still, he didn’t want to live on past glories, and it greatly saddened the musician when his collaborative album with Metallica was given an unwelcome reception. Unbeknownst to the general public at the time of the album, Reed’s health had declined due to hepatitis and diabetes, illnesses that eventually developed into liver cancer. He didn’t have the luxury of avoiding the thought of his mortality – which confronted him every day – and Reed likely knew the album with Metallica would be his grand farewell.
Until the end, Reed delivered the unexpected, and nobody foresaw him releasing Lulu with Metallica. The project was almost universally chastised upon its release, with many concluding that Reed had lost his magic touch, which was understandably tough for him to take. According to Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, Reed was extremely proud of the record and adored the chemistry he shared with the band. Therefore, he was devastated when fans and critics felt differently despite having a carefree public persona, which suggests otherwise.
“It was hard for him because he was so proud of that record,” Ulrich said in a conversation with Iggy Pop. “He felt we had some sort of spiritual connection with him, and he kept talking about that, how we were finally the right band to back him up, how he’d been looking for decades for somebody with the power and so on. Then the record came out, and as you may know, some of the critics were not particularly … kind to this record … And he was, I mean, he was really hurt”.
On the other hand, Metallica were unfazed by the criticism. The band had received unfavourable reviews throughout their career, and the reaction to Lulu was like water off a duck’s back. Ulrich added: “We’re pretty thick-skinned. We’ve been through ups and downs for years, and if we like something we’d done and we enjoy the experience, that’s what matters to us”.
The drummer continued: “But I think he was really saddened by the response to [Lulu] and I felt … it was weird. The roles changed at the end where I became almost more maternal to him, and had to like sort of comfort him through this very difficult month when the record came out and it just got fucking slammed”.
Despite his pride in the album, the response to Lulu was justified, and it was a disappointing way for him to bow out. Although the late David Bowie believed it to be the greatest work of Reed’s career and predicted it would later be seen as a masterpiece, his prophecy is yet to come to fruition. If people were aware of Reed’s health struggles, Lulu would likely have been seen in a different light, but he was an artist who would have hated his work to be judged on anything apart from merit. At every step of his career, he made bold risks, and while his final gamble failed to deliver, nothing could undo his contribution to music.
