For anyone who
ever wondered how Lou Reed went from his chaotic 70s character to his
professorial late 80s/early 90s character, 1982’s The Blue Mask may reveal the
answers. On this album Reed is playing
the character of husband. It starts
gently with the gentle, middle-aged electric strum of My House. Reed’s guitar combines well with Robert
Quine’s throughout this album, on heavy workouts and also gentler tracks such
as Women which features some really gorgeous instrumental passages.
It has to be
said that the lyrics are a little trite on this album. As a newly-wed (to Sylvia Morales) he
embraces the concept of marriage – “I’ve really got a lucky life, my writing,
my motorcycle and my wife” also “I love women I think they’re great”, neither couplet likely to win a Booker prize.
However the
music is so strong the album succeeds, after the gentle, vaguely threatening
The Gun we get the full-on assault of the title track which sees Reed and
Quine’s guitars go completely into overdrive, rocking like crazy on this track,
Reed barking threatening lyrics like “make the sacrifice, mutilate my face, if
you need someone to kill I’m a man without a will” over feedback squeals. Waves of Fear is in a similarly powerful vein.
But quieter
tracks are more the norm, The Heroine and The Day John Kennedy Died. Not all the tracks work – Average Guy is far
too repetitive and banal (“I’m just your average guy trying to do what’s
right”), while although Heavenly Arms has a decent melody, lyrically it’s
cringeworthy, the chorus merely features the name Sylvia sung over and over. However these tracks don’t detract from what
is one of Reed’s stronger albums.
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