Rock 'n' Roll Animal

Rock 'n' Roll Animal is a live album by American musician Lou Reed, released in February 1974 by RCA Records. In its original form, it features five songs, four of which were initially recorded by The Velvet Underground. Reed's band included Pentti Glan (drums), Prakash John (bass), Ray Colcord (keyboards), and Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter (guitars). (The two guitarists would later form the basis of the first Alice Cooper solo band, beginning on Welcome to My Nightmare, which also features Glan and John.)

Rock 'n' Roll Animal
Live album by
Lou Reed
ReleasedFebruary 1974 (1974-02)
RecordedDecember 21, 1973
VenueHoward Stein's Academy of Music, New York City
Genre
Length40:32 (original)
48:12 (remaster)
LabelRCA
Producer
Lou Reed chronology
Berlin
(1973)		 Rock 'n' Roll Animal
(1974)		 Sally Can't Dance
(1974)
Singles from Rock 'n' Roll Animal
  1. "Sweet Jane (Live)"
    Released: 1974

The album was recorded live on December 21, 1973 at Howard Stein's Academy of Music in New York City. A sleeper hit, it peaked at No. 26 in the UK and No. 45 on the Billboard 200 album chart during a 28-week stay before earning Reed's first RIAA gold certification in 1978.[3][4][5]

Background

Paul Nelson of Rolling Stone magazine was in attendance that night. Writing about Rock 'n' Roll Animal and its sequel, Lou Reed Live, which were both recorded at the same show, he recalled: "As it happens, I had seen Reed and a mediocre pickup band at Lincoln Center some months earlier in his first New York non-Velvets appearance and he was tragic in every sense of the word. So, at the Academy, I didn't expect much and when his new band came out and began to play spectacular, even majestic, rock & roll, management's strategy for the evening became clear: Elevate the erratic and unstable punkiness of the centerpiece into punchy, swaggering grandeur by using the best arrangements, sound and musicians that money could buy; the trimmings, particularly guitarists Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter, were awesome enough so that if Reed were merely competent, the concert would be a success. And it was, as one can judge from the resultant albums. The band does not emulate the violent, hypnotic, dope-trance staccato power and subway lyricism of the Velvet Underground, but rather opts for a hard, clean, clear, near-royal Mott the Hoople/Eric Clapton (Layla) opulence and Reed sings out most of the songs in his effective street-talk style. Animal, coming first, naturally contains the best performances ("Intro/Sweet Jane," "White Light/White Heat," the first half of "Rock 'n' Roll")."[6]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Chicago Tribune[8]
Christgau's Record GuideA−[9]
OverdoseA[10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[11]
Spin Alternative Record Guide7/10[12]
Uncut[13]

Rolling Stone editor Timothy Ferris described Rock 'n' Roll Animal as "a record to be played loud", continuing: "As background music it isn't much, but powered up on a strong system loud enough to make enemies a quarter-mile away, Rock 'n' Roll Animal... is, well, very fine."[14]

Paul Morley, writing in NME in 1979, said, "Rock 'n' Roll Animal and Lou Reed Live were the ultimate insults, Reed wrecking the rare beauty and affirmation of his greatest songs by turning them into cliché ridden hack heavy metal mutations."[15]

Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau said, "At its best, Reed's live music brings the Velvets into the arena in a clean redefinition of heavy, thrilling without threatening to stupefy. 'Lady Day,' the slow one here, would pass for uptempo at many concerts, the made-in-Detroit guitars of Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner mesh naturally with the unnatural rhythms, and Reed shouts with no sacrifice of wit. I could do without Hunter's showboating 'Introduction,' and I've always had my reservations about 'Heroin,' but this is a live album with a reason for living."[9]

Re-releases

A remastered version was released on CD in 2000. It featured two tracks not included on the original LP or 1990 CD release.

Further excerpts from the same concert were released in 1975 as Lou Reed Live (between the remastered Rock 'n' Roll Animal and Lou Reed Live the entire show has been released, albeit in a different order than the original concert). This live album's stereo mix puts guitarist Dick Wagner on the right channel, and Steve Hunter on the left; this arrangement is reversed on Lou Reed Live.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Lou Reed, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Intro/Sweet Jane"
7:55
2."Heroin" 13:05
Side two
No.TitleLength
3."White Light/White Heat"5:15
4."Lady Day"4:00
5."Rock 'n' Roll"10:15
Remastered release
No.TitleLength
1."Intro/Sweet Jane"7:48
2."Heroin"13:12
3."How Do You Think It Feels"3:41
4."Caroline Says I"4:06
5."White Light/White Heat"4:55
6."Lady Day"4:05
7."Rock 'n' Roll"10:21

Personnel

Adapted from the Rock 'n' Roll Animal liner notes.[16]

Production

Charts
Chart (1974) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[17] 20
UK Albums (OCC)[3] 26
US Billboard 200[4] 45

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
France (SNEP)[18] Gold 100,000[19]
United States (RIAA)[5] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "Lou Reed and the Tots – Walk On The Wild Side". Paste. Archived from the original on January 1, 2017. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  2. May, Stephen (July 14, 2014). "Lou Reed: Animal Serenade". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  3. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  4. "Lou Reed Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  5. "American album certifications – Lou Reed – Rock 'n' Roll Animal". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved October 9, 2020. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  6. Nelson, Paul (June 5, 1975). "Lou Reed Live". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  7. Deming, Mark. "Rock N' Roll Animal – Lou Reed". AllMusic. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  8. Kot, Greg (January 12, 1992). "Lou Reed's Recordings: 25 Years Of Path-Breaking Music". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  9. Christgau, Robert (1981). "R". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor and Fields. ISBN 0-89919-026-X. Retrieved March 10, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  10. Hull, Tom (April 1975). "The Rekord Report: First Card". Overdose. Retrieved June 26, 2020 – via tomhull.com.
  11. Coleman, Mark (1992). "Lou Reed". In DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James; George-Warren, Holly (eds.). The Rolling Stone Album Guide (3rd ed.). Random House. pp. 582–84. ISBN 0-679-73729-4.
  12. Strauss, Neil (1995). "Lou Reed". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 325–27. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  13. "Lou Reed: Rock 'n' Roll Animal". Uncut. No. 39. August 2000. p. 94.
  14. Ferris, Timothy (March 28, 1974). "Lou Reed: Rock 'N' Roll Animal". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  15. Morley, Paul (April 21, 1979). "Lou Reed: I Love It When You Talk Dirty". NME. Retrieved December 27, 2019 – via Rock's Backpages.
  16. Rock 'n' Roll Animal (CD booklet). Lou Reed. RCA Records. 1974.CS1 maint: others (link)
  17. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 249. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  18. "French album certifications – Lou Reed – Rock 'n' Roll Animal" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved October 9, 2020. Select LOU REED and click OK. 
  19. "Les Albums Or" (in French). InfoDisc. Archived from the original on February 13, 2013. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
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