“I was trying to do the ultimate guitar solo”: Lou Reed once recorded a double album consisting solely of guitar feedback – but his label took it off sale after three weeks
Metal Music Machine nearly cost Reed his reputation… over the years, it became a source of inspiration for Sonic Youth and Neil Young
(Image credit: Barbara Alper/Getty Images)
In 1975, Lou Reed crafted what can be best described as a very avant-garde double album. Metal Machine Music, his fifth studio album, featured no songs and structured compositions. Instead, Reed opted for modulated feedback, white noise, and noise music guitar effects. Reed's reasoning? “I was trying to do the ultimate guitar solo.”
“I didn't want to be locked into a particular drum beat, or pattern or a particular key or beat that was the idea. Just guitars, guitars, guitars,” said Reed in a 2013 interview with The Quietus.
The actual recording process involved Reed, his guitars, amps, a couple of microphones, and a tape machine. He experimented with different settings and guitar placements, which he then mixed into four 16-ish minute tracks.
“I used to live with my amps. It's a good title for something. I had a loft in the garment district and would record at 5am in the morning when no one was around. I would set the guitars up to feedback and then the two waves of sound would hit each other causing a new sound and then another and then another...
“Across these, I played various melodies and manipulated the speed they were recorded at. I thought of it as energy music and a continuation of my work with The Velvet Underground.”
While it's widely speculated Reed created this album to get out of his record contract with RCA Records, Reed revealed in a 2007 Pitchfork interview: “The myth is sort of better than the truth. The myth is that I made it to get out of a recording contract.
“OK, but the truth is that I wouldn’t do that because I wouldn’t want you to buy a record that I didn’t really like, that I was just trying to do a legal thing with. I wouldn’t do something like that. The truth is that I really, really, really loved it.”
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The record label took the record off the market after three weeks. However, over time, the unlikely record became a source of inspiration for many left-field artists.
Sonic Youth claimed to have been inspired by the album. Neil Young put out Arc in 1991, which consisted of 35 minutes of edited feedback, while Sonic Youth also put out their own "cover" of Reed's album under the title Silver Session (For Jason Knuth) in 1998.
Glenn Branca went as far as to say, “I think Metal Machine Music is one of the great classics of late-20th century music. Certainly, if Lou Reed had decided to pursue a career as a serious composer, he would probably be one of the best composers in the world today.”
Loud Reed's ultimate guitar solo also got the live treatment in March 2002. It was performed in Berlin, alongside the 10-member German avant-garde classical ensemble Zeitkratzer, in an arrangement by the contemporary composer Ulrich Kreiger.
In a news conference celebrating this moment, Reed said: “I find it very, very thrilling. I've always loved Metal Machine Music," Reed said during a news conference in Berlin. “I think, after 27 years, it's time to let some other people into it.”
The Power of the Heart, a tribute album dedicated to Lou Reed, was recently released on Record Store Day (April 20). The names featured in the album include Joan Jett, Rickie Lee Jones, Angel Olsen, The Afghan Whigs and Keith Richards.
Unlike many previous Lou Reed tribute albums, which focused mainly on Reed's work with The Velvet Underground, The Power of the Heart pays homage to Reed's solo career.
Janelle is a staff writer at GuitarWorld.com. After a long stint in classical music, Janelle discovered the joys of playing guitar in dingy venues at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Janelle has written extensively about the intersection of music and technology, and how this is shaping the future of the music industry. She also had the pleasure of interviewing Dream Wife, K.Flay, Yīn Yīn, and Black Honey, among others. When she's not writing, you'll find her creating layers of delicious audio lasagna with her art-rock/psych-punk band ĠENN.
