"The View" is a single by American singer Lou Reed and American heavy metal band Metallica. It is the only single taken from the studio album ''

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, ...

'', released on September 27, 2011.

Critical reception

"The View" was released for streaming online in late September 2011. Examining reaction to the track and a previously released 30-second preview of the same, ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspaper ...

'' reported that there was much negative reaction by fans online, and that the song had about twice as many "dislikes" as "likes" on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

. Not all reaction to the song was negative; ''Rolling Stone'' gave "The View" a 4 out of 5 star rating while the same song was rated 4.5 out of 5 by Artist Direct and positively by One Thirty BPM.

Music video

The song's music video was directed by

Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films are noted for their surrealistic, melodramatic, and sometimes disturbing elements, often in the form of psychological fiction. Arono ...

and released on December 3, 2011, with cinematography by

Matthew Libatique Matthew Libatique (born July 19, 1968) is an American cinematographer. He is best known for his work with director Darren Aronofsky on the films '' Pi'' (1998), ''Requiem for a Dream'' (2000), '' The Fountain'' (2006), '' Black Swan'' (2010), ' ...

and produced by Scott Franklin through Protozoa Pictures, his and Aronofsky's production company. Originally it was planned that Aronofsky should helm a performance video for the album's second single "Iced Honey" but "when everyone got together, it became obvious 'The View' was the way to go."

Track listing

Personnel

* Lou Reed – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, Continnum * James Hetfield – vocals, rhythm guitar, the Table *

Kirk Hammett Kirk Lee Hammett (born November 18, 1962) is an American musician who has been the lead guitarist and a contributing songwriter for heavy metal band Metallica since 1983. Before joining Metallica, he formed and named the band Exodus. In 2003, ...

– lead guitar *

Robert Trujillo Roberto Agustín Miguel Santiago Samuel Trujillo Veracruz (; born October 23, 1964) is an American musician, best known as the bassist for heavy metal band Metallica since 2003. He first rose to prominence as the bassist of crossover thrash ban ...

– bass * Lars Ulrich – drums

References

2011 singles Lou Reed songs Metallica songs Songs written by Lou Reed Songs written by James Hetfield Songs written by Lars Ulrich Songs written by Kirk Hammett Songs written by Robert Trujillo Alternative metal songs Doom metal songs 2011 songs Warner Records singles Internet memes {{2011-single-stub