here is a review from bravewords...
LOU REED’s always been a beacon for pretentious dicks, especially the hipsters who valiantly slather the VELVET UNDERGROUND with saviour status without ever actually listening to that toneless band. So it’s sort of a surprise that post-Death Magnetic METALLICA – the band that has apparently ‘returned to the roots’ – would pull such a 1996 Alternica move and join Reed on this record, an album that is bizarrely ‘highly anticipated’ despite the very healthy skepticism from both the metal and indie-rock camps. Lulu, not surprisingly, is as bad as we thought: it’s Lou Reed’s ridiculous half-talk rambling (this guy makes Anders Friden’s half-talk/half-sing sound credible) over overtly stock Metallica riffs, the whole mess caught up in some conceptual piece about 19th century... whatever. It’s pretentious. And an idea that probably seemed like genius during a late-night Jager session, but should have been discarded come hangover time the next afternoon. Lou Reed has gone to the press saying that Lulu is so awe-inspiring it could “create another planetary system” and, oh boy, has Reed ever exaggerated and over-exaggerated there. On the other end, Metalllica gained impressive political capital and sympathy from its fans in the wake of Death Magnetic’s critical success and the band has, of course, squandered it in the name of credibility with other people and their scenes. Again. Which isn’t surprising. This is the group that sacrificed us all for the shaky house that Load and Reload built, a home that was, rightly, subsequently foreclosed and disregarded: how many Load/Reload tracks is Metallica playing live these days? Look, no one listening to this record is going to get it: metal fans are going to be very annoyed with Reed’s faux intellectual, pretentious half-talk, while indie-rock fans are going to cower in the face of Lars’ double-bass (!) during Lulu’s best moments. Lulu, Reed's concept and all, reeks of art-house golf claps and light pats on the back, the sort of "aren’t we clever" that we thought ‘That Was Just Your Life’ signaled was a closed chapter of the increasingly bizarre Metallica saga, even if they only helped to arrange it. Rating 4/10
LOU REED’s always been a beacon for pretentious dicks, especially the hipsters who valiantly slather the VELVET UNDERGROUND with saviour status without ever actually listening to that toneless band. So it’s sort of a surprise that post-Death Magnetic METALLICA – the band that has apparently ‘returned to the roots’ – would pull such a 1996 Alternica move and join Reed on this record, an album that is bizarrely ‘highly anticipated’ despite the very healthy skepticism from both the metal and indie-rock camps. Lulu, not surprisingly, is as bad as we thought: it’s Lou Reed’s ridiculous half-talk rambling (this guy makes Anders Friden’s half-talk/half-sing sound credible) over overtly stock Metallica riffs, the whole mess caught up in some conceptual piece about 19th century... whatever. It’s pretentious. And an idea that probably seemed like genius during a late-night Jager session, but should have been discarded come hangover time the next afternoon. Lou Reed has gone to the press saying that Lulu is so awe-inspiring it could “create another planetary system” and, oh boy, has Reed ever exaggerated and over-exaggerated there. On the other end, Metalllica gained impressive political capital and sympathy from its fans in the wake of Death Magnetic’s critical success and the band has, of course, squandered it in the name of credibility with other people and their scenes. Again. Which isn’t surprising. This is the group that sacrificed us all for the shaky house that Load and Reload built, a home that was, rightly, subsequently foreclosed and disregarded: how many Load/Reload tracks is Metallica playing live these days? Look, no one listening to this record is going to get it: metal fans are going to be very annoyed with Reed’s faux intellectual, pretentious half-talk, while indie-rock fans are going to cower in the face of Lars’ double-bass (!) during Lulu’s best moments. Lulu, Reed's concept and all, reeks of art-house golf claps and light pats on the back, the sort of "aren’t we clever" that we thought ‘That Was Just Your Life’ signaled was a closed chapter of the increasingly bizarre Metallica saga, even if they only helped to arrange it. Rating 4/10
