Picaresque

Ahh, album reviews! Seems like ages since I've done one! Here we are, my review of Picaresque, by the Decemberists. And man, is it long. I spent way too much time on this.

Picaresque by the Decemberists

9.5/10

A Picaresque novel is a story of a young roguish character who gets by based on their wits. If that’s the case, then where is that theme on the album Picaresque? The album is filled with narrative-based songs, with only two exceptions, and none of them fit the title.

But that doesn’t matter. What does matter are the lyrics, compositions, melodies, and overall quality of the album. Many Decemberists fans declare it their best album. Does it hold up to this reputation? Personally, I prefer The King is Dead, but it’s still incredibly well put together.

The music on Picaresque varies widely. The opener, “The Infanta,” is bold, loud, and grand. Then the songs change their dynamics, from the muted “Eli the Barrow Boy” to the dreary “For My Own True Love.” One interesting track is “The Sporting Life,” which bears little resemblance to the rest of the album in both lyrical themes and sound; its percussion takes the lead. Perhaps the most interesting song in terms of composition is the mammoth 8 minute “Mariner’s Revenge Song,” with mandolin, violin, upright bass, and various other instruments falling in step behind accordions and guitars. It churns forward, constantly changing, enhancing the narrative it presents. The album’s conclusion is the brief “Of Angels and Angles,” which is a short arpeggio-based song with nothing but acoustic guitar and Meloy’s vocals.

However, this is a Decemberists album, so the focus is on the lyrics. Every song on the album constructs a scene, narrative, or explicit message.  Every song on this album is dark. From monarchs to suicide pacts to personal failure to lost love to government conspiracies to personal struggle, there is not one cheerful song on this album. That’s not to say that every song paints a dreary picture, or that the album is overly depressing. The songs focus on much more than depression. Colin Meloy is a fan of historical narratives (“Decemberists”, wonder where he got that!), and he sets several songs in the 1800s, such as “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” and “We Both Go Down Together.” Some, like “The Bagman’s Gambit,” are set in semi-dystopic settings. “16 Military Wives” is an all-out protest song. However, “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” has the most intense story of all, with an 8-minute narrative of revenge against a conman. While the stories widely vary, and can seem jarring at times (a story of how boy commits suicide is juxtaposed with a song about a boy who falls down at a sports game), sometimes they blend beautifully(a song about a widow is juxtaposed with “16 Military Wives”).

The album is dense, dark, and hard to get into, but if one is committed enough, you won’t ever put it down.

1. The Infanta – 8/10 A loud and intense opening with middle eastern elements. It describes a royal procession, focusing around a child monarch, the titular Infanta.

2. We Both Go Down Together – 9/10 Set in the 1800s, this song follows a young couple as they form a suicide pact on the cliffs of Dover. The song has a swift tempo and violins drive the verses, which lead into soaring choruses. The song goes into expository detail: the boy was rich, the girl was poor, his parents forbade it. It ends with them leaping off the cliffs: “We fall, though our souls are flying.”

3.  Eli the Barrow Boy – 10/10 This song is depressing. Incredibly depressing. A quiet acoustic song, it only has Meloy’s voice, an accordion solo, and the guitar. The lyrics follow Eli, a young poor boy who pushes a wheelbarrow into town to sell coal. He is trying to buy a dress for his lover when she dies. Eli commits suicide, though his ghost is said to still push the barrow. The song works extremely well with its quiet atmosphere. The guitar and Meloy’s vocals are unnerving, and the vocals feature a female harmony. One of the highlights of the album.

4. The Sporting Life – 8/10 A bit jarring, really, to come to this song. It’s a percussion based song, with most of the instruments taking back seat until the chorus. It has a driving riff below the drums, giving them an extra rhythm. The lyrics describe a boy who has fallen down on the playing field of his championship game. He sees his humiliation and laments that he’s entered the “sporting life” Something tells me that Meloy has personal experience with this.

5. The Bagman’s Gambit – 10/10 This is a very interesting song. The lyrics tell the story of a young woman who kills a plainclothes cop and is tortured by the federal government. It is told from the perspective of a government agent, who remembers an affair they had. It doesn’t seem to be set in the real world, favoring a more dystopic feeling for the government, and it clearly takes place in D.C. The song has two distinct sections. The verses are quiet and acoustic, with dyads on the high E and B strings. The choruses, by contrast, are loud and full, with a wall of sound and emotion. The song climaxes with a distorted cry from Meloy, lost in a sea of distorted violins. It’s very intense and confusing. The coda is in the style of the verses and concludes the story like an epilogue.

6. For My Own True Love – 9/10 This is a dreary little depressing song. A woman lives alone in a small town. She constantly asks the postman for a letter, one from her own true love, lost at sea. This is likely a dig at the song “Please Mr. Postman,” which has very similar lines about waiting for letters from your lover; the difference is wonderfully dark. The song is composed in C minor, and has a very recognizable repeating melody. It’s slow, repetitive, and carries a great deal of emotion. Paired with the lyrics, it works beautifully.

7. 16 Military Wives – 10/10 The only non-narrative song. This song is a protest song, directing its anger at both the American invincibility: “America can, and America can’t say no” and the media response to Iraq: “And the anchor person on TV goes la-di-da-di-da.” It’s a little hard to pin a genre on it. It’s got saxes and trumpets on it, as well as organs and an upright bass. It’s fast, loud, and focused. It also fits well after “My Own True Love,” as 5 of the 16 wives lose their husbands.

8. The Engine Driver – 11/10 My hands-down favorite song on the album, and a very fun song to play on the guitar. This song is a little puzzling. The lyrics describe professions and loss, and the narrative seems to follow characters who seem frustrated at stagnation, with the whole song being tied together by the chorus: “I am a writer, a writer of fictions.” This makes the song seem to be one character, describing personalities he writes trying to rid his former lover “from my bones.” The song is composed in E minor/G major, and follows a simple progression of minor chords-major chords, reversed for the bridge, and shuffled for the chorus. This gives it a consistant and stable sound, but keeps it dynamic, despite the song lacking major changes. With the melody, lyrics, and its general catchy sound, it’s my favorite by far.

9. On the Bus Mall – 10/10 This song is very well written. The lyrics describe two teenagers from broken homes. They find each other in the streets and alleys, and build a life for themselves. It’s pretty clear that the couple are gay, as there’s the hint of male prostitution and the lack of femininity to the song. That being said, it is ambiguous, as no pronouns other than “you” are used. The song’s composition is well put together. The song’s verses trade back between two chords with electric guitar riffs in the background, and the choruses keep the same mood while building beautiful melodies. The song is set at a moderate tempo, and at 6 minutes, it’s long. However, the song does not drag. It has motion, and the narrative is engaging. Many people consider this the best on the album, and for me, it’s definitely a highlight.

10. The Mariner’s Revenge Song – 10/10 I love this song. It’s over the top, loud, engaging, and extremely interesting. At 8:45, it’s long. LONG. But every note of it builds up a narrative, conveys emotion, and makes it seem like the audio to a play. The story is the most fleshed out of the entire album. It starts with two mariners in the belly of a whale, and one relates to the other how their histories are connected. The other mariner married his widowed mother, swindled her, left the family destitute. His mother dies, telling him to take revenge. Years later, the narrator gets a job at a priory, where he learns that the man is now a captain with privateers after him. He joins a privateer to hunt him down, and when he finds him, a whale comes up and destroys their boats. Here the two men find themselves together, and the story ends with the narrator declaring his mother’s last words at the man. The song is incredibly well written. It starts with an a minor chord on the accordion, setting a dark scene. Then the song builds slowly, the instruments coming together for mood underneath Meloy’s vocals. The best examples of how the music adds to the story come from the bridge, which comes during the narrator’s voyage with the privateer, and the cacophony of screams and chaos as the whale attacks.

11. Of Angels and Angles – 11/10 A quiet acoustic closer to the album. The lyrics seem to recall “We Both Go Down Together” – two lovers are drowning. The lyrics aren’t explicit about anything; this makes the song sound pleasant instead of haunting. The composition is based around arpeggio-esque patterns that flow up the strings as Meloy sings. It would give a haunting affect if it didn’t sound so calm and pleasant. It’s another favorite, and it’s an excellent end to the album.

The King is Dead

The King is Dead by The Decemberists
9.1/10

Four years ago, if you told me that at age 16 anything resembling country would be my favorite genre, I'd probably slap you. And yet, through the jangly sound of Clearwater, the classic sound of the Eagles, and the warbles of Conor Oberst, Americana is my hands-down favorite genre. So when my dad got the new Decemberists album and told me it was Americana, I couldn't resist.
The Decemberists are known for their much more ornate albums and historical lyrics. I didn't know anything about them before this album, but after listening to The Mariner's Revenge song and 16 Military Wives a few times, I got a sense of how different this album is, and why the reaction was so mixed.
The King is Dead is a straightforward country-rock album in the same vein as Being There or Mermaid Avenue. Starting with a loud harmonica and a roaring beat, the album explores multiple sounds and themes, but nothing strays far out of the rootsy sound. Lyrically, the album ranges from doomsday to miners to simple hymns about months and the seasons. REM's Peter Buck joins in on the REM-esques Calamity Song, but the band seems to keep to one style for the most part. Another important note about this album is that it's a collection of songs. There's nothing like The Crane Wife's meandering themes and narratives, and the whole album has no theme.
It's actually hard to write a full review of this album. Unlike something like I'm Wide Awake It's Morning, there's nothing to really gush about, or to critique. It's so straightforward that it's nearly impossible to say anything. Every song is great, but the album isn't spectacular, and there aren't any huge faults to find. It's just a great album.

1. Don't Carry It All - 9/10 A loud and uplifting country rock song. It features a harmonica and loud, beating drums. The guitar is toned down to give the drums full center, and they punctuate every word Colin Meloy sings. The only break from this is a sudden string-filled bridge.
2. Calamity Song - 11/10 The doomsday song. It starts with a catchy riff by Peter Buck of REM, and adds on layers of instruments. Colin sings of a chaotic apocalypse with a gleeful tone, adding a Summerteeth style dichotomy. This song ranks at number 2 for my favorites on the album.
3. Rise to Me - 10/10 A calmer folk song. I have no idea what the lyrics mean, but they are quite poetic. The song is calm, soothing, and features Colin harmonizing with Gillian Welch. The song is folky with a touch of steel guitar.
4. Rox in the Box - 9/10 The historical song. This one follows miners working on a "grey granite mine." The song paints a bleak picture, and the track relies on accordion and a guitar riff.
5. January Hymn - 10/10 One of my favorites off the album. This song is slow, calm, and beautiful. It's folk, with a repetitive riff and Colin singing softly and melodically. The song is about the feelings of January, regret, and bleakness, yet the song is anything but stark. Again, the dichotomy recalls Summerteeth.
6. Down By the Water - 11/10 The hit, and for good reason. This song marks a departure from the calmer folk and country that preceded it. It's an emotional song, with chiming vocals and a roaring chorus. The song is layered, with guitar and accordion providing a backbone while the drums and vocals take center stage. Lyrically, I have no idea what it's about, but it does seem to hint at nostalgia.
7. All Arise - 8/10 I love and hate this song. It's a simple three-chord country song with chiming violins, cheesy lyrics, and goofy banjo/piano. It's just so odd that I hate it, but it's so catchy that I love it. The chorus is without a doubt the highlight, although I have no clue what "shotgun shy" means.
8. June Hymn - 9/10 A soft song based around harmonica and guitar. Like Rise to Me, the guitar drives the song. However, there are no drums. It's very near acoustic, yet it doesn't seem like it.
9. This is Why We Fight - 7/10 My least favorite on the album. That being said, it's still an excellent song. This song is loud, upbeat, and pounding. It has a feel that sticks out of the album, invoking a vigor and emotion that not even Down by the Water possesses.
10. Dear Avery - 10/10 My third favorite on the album. An acoustic song with a strange chord progression,  this song features Colin Meloy singing in a Conor Oberst style, with heavy emotion and warble. The lyrics describe a letter written to a man named Avery. The song ends with a beautiful coda, with drums, steel guitars, and humming vocals all blending together into pure Americana bliss.

Sky Blue Sky

Sporting a muted vibe, soft to crazy guitar solos, and a strange sense of longing, Sky Blue Sky is unlike any other Wilco album. The album is quiet, though it sports a fire that seldom erupts. The lyrics are more straightforward here than anywhere else. Gone are the protools, synthesizers, and chaos. In their place is simple instrumentation and long prog-rock solos. This is truly a dramatic shift for Wilco.
As one would expect, critics were polarized. Some panned it, as they expected wild experimentation, while others lauded it as Wilco’s maturing form. Personally, I don’t care either way. Sky Blue Sky is a good album. It’s not great, but it’s not boring. If anyone wants to judge the album, ignore all the madness from the media outlets and just sit back and listen.
Sky Blue Sky might be mellow, but that doesn't mean it's dull. The music can rise and build to rough heights at whim. This is due to the new guitarist, Nels Cline. Coming from the prog-rock arena, Cline is the most talented guitarist to join the band, though he lacks the songwriting abilities of Jay Bennet. Cline shows off his impressive skills on track three, the gentle Impossible Germany, and on the bluesy Side With the Seeds.
Of course, the dominating force of this album is Jeff Tweedy, the principle songwriter. The songs are driven by Nels Cline, but Tweedy makes them far more ornate than mere folk. The two of them form a kind of partnership, with each taking a different piece of the song. For example, on Impossible Germany, Tweedy dominates the first half with a soft ballad, then turns it over to Nels Cline, who bursts into a three minute solo.
However, Tweedy controls all the words, and he pens lyrics that are completely different from the last three albums. They are incredibly direct and soft, which is very strange coming from a man who once sang a ten minute song about spiders and Lake Michigan. That doesn't mean that they lack emotion. The title track mirrors an earlier Wilco tune, Far Far Away, by showing contemptible relief. The closer is an emotional throwback to Tweedy's childhood, and Hate it Here, which seems to be mere comic relief, shows a deeper understanding of loss. Stripping away the cryptic puzzles Tweedy penned for previous albums, Sky Blue Skyshows him at his core.
Sky Blue Sky also displays Wilco’s wonderful trait of making music that grows with each listen, with Impossible Germany becoming almost as strong as Misunderstood, and the title track as gentle and caring as Far Far Away. Even the weaker songs grow, though none are true masterpieces. The last third of the album seems almost like filler the first few listens, but it grows very well, with the listener often discovering new emotions buried within the songs.
Sky Blue Sky is a great addition to Wilco’s discography, adding a great mellow folk sound to their long list of achievements.

Either Way - 10/10 A very gentle opener. The song is direct and the lyrics meander among possibilities. The song grows slowly, adding instrument after instrument, then slowly shrinks. It's a very beautiful song.

You Are My Face - 10/10 A much fiercer verision of its predecessor. This song begins slowly, adding instrument after instrument. Tweedy brings back the cryptic lyrics, discussing ordinary beehives and screaming doors. The song then builds as Nels Cline takes it over, and one almost expects the fuzzy guitar to be accompanied by saxophones. 

Impossible Germany - 11/10 Best song on the album. This song is really two songs, one by Tweedy and one by Cline. Tweedy starts it with a gentle ballad, tying the Axis Powers as a metaphor for confrontation. Then Cline takes it over, starting with a gentle bridge with two guitars repeating a melody. Then one guitar takes over, the other joins in, and the listener is carried through a blissful musical landscape.

Sky Blue Sky - 11/10 A close second for best song. This song finds Tweedy reflecting on a time of depression, one that mirrors an earlier song, Far Far Away. The narrator is watching a parade in a small town, and he longs for something more. But then he realizes that he's alive and well, and that's good enough for now. This song is brilliant, and I love it.

Side With The Seeds - 10/10 A considerably harsher song. Tweedy sings with a foggy emotion, and the song meanders repetitively through a soul-style melody. Then Nels Cline comes in and whisks the song into a chaotic series of screaming guitars. 

Shake It Off - 4/10 The clear weakest song. This song took a long time for me to get used to it. It has a repeating melody, crashing guitars, and borders on the annoying. Tweedy sings with a much more muted vioce here, then shouts the title several times. The instruments crash and moan, and the song ends.

Please Be Patient With Me - 10/10 After two noisy tracks, here we have the gentlest song on the album. This song is a quiet speech from one lover to another, with only Tweedy's sad voice, guitar, and bass. The result is a muted and sad tune that stands out on the album.

Hate It Here - 9/10 This is a puzzling song. It sounds like comic relief, as it describes a man learning chores after a breakup, but underneath this there seems to be a much deeper sense of loss and longing. The song is brilliant in this regard. Musically, it's similar to You Are My Face, but it brings in a much jazzier feel for the chorus.

Leave Me Like You Found Me - 8/10 Another gentle song. Upon first glance, I felt that this was dull, with a repetitive style and Tweedy singing like he's reciting a lullaby. But this one grows, as does the album, with each listen. True, it's not a standout track, but it's still a good song.

Walken - 8/10 A much more upbeat song. This song is a gentle piano-driven romp that describes a narrator who is walking along, singing about his lover. This songs seems to be much more optimistic than its predecessor, and it might be the most shallow song here.

What Light - 8/10 Tweedy obviously learned something from Woody Guthrie. Here he sings about popularity and the artistic style, saying that "What was yours is anyone's from now on." The song seems to be set on the concept of a light that drives emotion.

On And On And On - 9/10 A sad piano driven ballad. Tweedy wrote this about the death of his mother when he was a child. It describes a speech his father gave him saying that people are designed to die. The song builds to a climax with strings, guitar, bass, and piano all forming a sort of symphony. Then everything strips away to reveal Tweedy's lone voice. The album ends with that somber note.

Bonus Tracks:
Itunes carries two bonus tracks for the album. Both are phenomenal, and I'll include them in this review.

Let’s Not Get Carried Away - 10/10 A loud rocker that describes the resentment that Tweedy feels from being a musician. Tweedy screams with anger in the song, begging the listener to not get carried away. The song is much harsher than the rest of the album.

The Thanks I Get - 11/10 I consider it a crime that this song was cut from the album. A soft folk-rock song, this is a beautiful piece of music. It's simple and catchy, describing a man asking his lover if her actions are the thanks he gets from falling in love. This song is unbelievably good, and as to why Wilco left it off the album, I have no idea.

Standing on the Shoulder of Giants

This album is said to be Oasis's worst album. After hearing Heathen Chemistry, I knew that it had to be bad to beat that disappointment. But that album has nothing to compare. This album is without a doubt the worst Oasis album, and it's honestly hard to listen to at times.
This album was being recorded when the band lost two founding members, "Bonehead" and "Guigsy." As a result, Oasis rerecorded the album as a three-piece, and added electronic elements to the music. The album sounds entirely different from their earlier work, and almost comes off as an attempt for the band to completely expand. This album utterly fails in that regard.
The result of this turbulence is a mediocre to awful album that stands out as the worst Oasis album. The fault here comes from both bad songwriting and Be Here Now-esque indulgences. The entire album is filled with experiments that go nowhere and overly simplistic songs. It has a disconnect to it, and yet it seems to flow because every song is similar in some regards. But the dichotomy of this album is unintentional, and comes off as faulty. Albums that have working dichotomy can intrigue the listener, like Wilco's Summerteeth. But this album merely bores or annoys the listener.
Unless you are a committed Oasis fan, you will not enjoy most of this album. And even if you are a committed Oasis fan, some of these songs will test your patience.

1. F**king in the Bushes - 7/10 A strange opener. It's an instrumental that features a loud blaring riff, chaotic drums, and screaming background voices saying "kids are running around f**king in the bushes!" The song gets too repetitive, which is where I dock the points, but it does have a lot going for it.
2. Go Let it Out - 10/10 A very Beatle-esque song and the best on the album. This song sounds like a basic softer Oasis song that was embellished with electronic sound, and it works incredibly well. The song has a hypnotizing sound to it, being somewhat repetitive, but it doesn't go to any extreme.
3. Who Feels Love - 4/10 A lousy Indian style song. It's got lousy lyrics and an incredibly repetitive sound. The song has been so over-embellished that it just sounds clunky. The best part is a looping melody that acts as the bridge. It might have been sampled at the start of Bender's Game.
4. Put Yer Money Where Yer Mouth Is - 1/10 A loud, steamy pile of garbage. Featuring a heavy distorted sound effect and punk-esque vocals, it's repetitive and goes on and on, never getting out of the same few lines.
5. Little James 1/10 Crap. A big fat pile of crap. This is the vocalist Liam Gallagher's first song that makes it on an Oasis album, and it's just bad. Repetitive, simplistic, and hard to listen to, it's the worst song on the album, and according to a majority of fans, the worst in the entire Oasis catalogue.
6. Gas Panic 7/10 One of the more renowned tracks on the album, this song has a lot going for it. Featuring a repetitive series of beats, an eerie synthesizer, and Liam's haunting vocals, this song is a standout on the album. But there's two things that undermine it. One is the length. Clocking in at six minutes, it drags on. And that ties into the other problem. It's too repetitive. If it was whittled down a bit, this would be the best song on the album.
7. Where Did It All Go Wrong 7/10 A classic sounding Oasis song that gets put through the same electronic filter. Like Gas Panic, there's a lot going for it, but it gets cut off at the knees, this time due to overproduction.
8. Sunday Morning Call 9/10 A close runner-up for best song on the album. This song, like Gas Panic, is crippled by length, but unlike Gas Panic, this song survives and thrives. Built around Noel's gentler vocals and an electronic melody, this song is catchy and enjoyable, even at its 5 minute length and lack of dynamic qualities.
9. I Can See a Liar 2/10 Ever listen to one of AC/DC's early albums and completely forget about a few songs? This song is an homage to those. It's got an Angus Young riff and goes absolutely nowhere, and at its end the listener didn't get anything out of it. Forgettable nonsense.
10. Roll it Over 4/10 A long, slow, repetitive closer. It's got power to it, but unlike Champagne Supernova or Gas Panic, there's no direction. The song is aimless, meandering along, never finding its voice, and finally it peters out. If this song had a better melody and direction, it would be a shining star in the Oasis catalogue. As is, it's barely passable.

ACS Repost: White Light/White Heat

Whenever I publish an album review for ACS, I'll post it here.

White Light/White Heat by the Velvet Underground

7.5/10

An unfortunately large number of people disregard the Velvet Underground as an avant-garde bunch of nonsense-makers, like Captain Beefheart and others from the 60s avant-garde movement. The main reason for this assumption is their second album, White Light/White Heat.

This album is unbelievably loud, noisy, and nonsensical. It borders on the edge of musical acceptability. Featuring wild experiments, endless improvisation, long jams, nonsensical instrumentation, and innuendo-layden lyrics, this album is a great look at the strange, twisted, fucked up landscape of the 60s avant-garde underground.

This album breaks dozens of musical rules. The opener descends into chaos. The second song has a story in it, which is incredibly disturbing. Another tells a sick story of a botched operation. And another acts as a homage to the early 1900s classical music with an atonal guitar solo that drowns everything out. But the closer is the strangest. 17 minutes of endless improvisation, disobeying the goals of jazz artists, who aimed for harmony, by creating a chaotic cacophony of noise.

White Light/White Heat is not impossible to listen to, however, if one keeps an open ear. The mainstream listener will listen to one second of much of this album and throw it out, but if one enjoys the strange and nonsensical, this album is for you. This is why the album has such a legacy. The insane rule-breaking styles have influenced dozens of artists in the years since its release, who are intrigued by the strange and somewhat hypnotizing sounds of White Light/White Heat.

1. White Light/White Heat - 9/10  An upbeat opener that sounds like an avant-garde version of their earlier song "I'm Waiting for the Man." This song is a loud piano-base romp that describes the effects of amphetamines that were popular in the underground at that time. It ends after a descent into chaos. 
2. The Gift - 7/10  This song is really two different things entirely, spit into the different ears. One ear hears John Cale, the violist, telling a story written by Lou Reed. The other hears a loud feedback-saturated jam that's less than spectacular. The story is where all the attention is. It describes Waldo Jeffers, a man from Pennsylvania who pines for his lover Marcia in Wisconsin, and, unable to go there in a conventional way, decides to mail himself there. But he seals his packaging too tight and Marcia, unable to open it without a sharp pike, sends the pike into Waldo's skull.
3. Lady Godiva's Operation - 5/10 An incredibly fucked up song. Like The Gift, this song has two distinct parts, but they come as stages in the song. The first stage describes a promiscuous woman named Lady Goldiva. The second stage describes a back-alley operation that fails. It's incredibly disturbing and messed up, great for any fan of the twisted and macabre.
4. Here She Comes Now - 8/10 The calmest and most direct song on the album. A quiet 60s-style song, it's short and is entirely innuendo, punctuated by Reed's moans.
5. I Heard Her Call My Name - 3/10  Out of every song on this album, not one is anywhere near as grating as this one. It starts with feedback exploding into the listeners ears and Reed screaming "Wait a minute!" Reed then shouts out a series of nonsensical yells that are so distorted it's hard to decipher them. The track's feature is an atonal guitar solo that's almost exclusively feedback. Every now and then the song descends to the brink of madness before returning over the edge. The feedback finally ends it.
6. Sister Ray - 7/10 This song is unbelievable. Based around a simple three chord pattern and repetitive melody, the song is 17 minutes of endless improvisation that ranges from coordinated noise to sheer chaos. The track features three distinct elements. One is an organ that fills in gaps and is the most melodic. Second is an electric guitar that's played with chords and cadences half the time, and is just atonal nonsense the other half. The third element is Lou Reed singing a tale of debauchery, warning that "You'll stain the carpet" and repeating that "She's too busy sucking on my ding dong" and that "It's just like Sister Ray says." The song changes from near harmony at its start to chaos several times. The three main elements battle for supremacy, with Marie Tucker drumming quietly off in the corner. The song finally concludes with a crescendo and a sudden yell from the guitar.