''Rock 'n' Roll Animal'' is a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

by American musician

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

, released in February 1974 by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

. In its original form, it features five songs, four of which were initially recorded by

the Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...

. Reed's band included

Pentti Glan Pentti "Whitey" Glan (July 8, 1946 – November 7, 2017) was a Finnish-Canadian rock drummer, best known for his work with Alice Cooper and Lou Reed. Musical career Glan's first serious band was the Canadian soul band The Rogues (later called M ...

(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 Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

solo band, beginning on '' Welcome to My Nightmare'', which also features Glan and John.) The album was recorded live on December 21, 1973, at Howard Stein's Academy of Music in New York City. A

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game or other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release, but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have ...

, 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 The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

gold certification in 1978.

Background

Paul Nelson of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' 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:

Critical reception

''Rolling Stone'' editor

Timothy Ferris Timothy Ferris (born August 29, 1944) is an American science writer and the best-selling author of twelve books, including ''The Science of Liberty'' (2010) and ''Coming of Age in the Milky Way'' (1988), for which he was awarded the American I ...

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."

Paul Morley Paul Robert Morley (born 26 March 1957) is a British music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983, and has since written for a wide range of publications and written his own books. He was a co-founder of the reco ...

, writing in ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' 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." Reviewing in '' Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981),

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

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."

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). The stereo mix on Rock 'n' Roll Animal isolates guitarist Steve Hunter on the right channel, and Dick Wagner on the left; this arrangement is reversed on ''Lou Reed Live''.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the ''Rock 'n' Roll Animal'' liner notes. *

– vocals * Steve Hunter – guitar * Dick Wagner – guitar * Prakash John – bass * Pentti "Whitey" Glan – drums * Ray Colcord – keyboards Production * Steve Katz – producer *Lou Reed – producer *Gus Mossler –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

*Bruce Somerfeld – production assistance *Ralph Moss – production assistance *Acy Lehman –

art direction Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to super ...

*DeWayne Dalrymple – photography

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control Albums produced by Lou Reed Lou Reed live albums 1974 live albums RCA Records live albums Albums recorded at the Palladium (New York City) Protopunk albums Live protopunk albums