Loutallica — Lulu

Metallica and Lou Reed didn't do themselves any favors by pushing one of the most awkward and pretentious songs on this album as it's first public release, and I think that after most people heard 'The View' they were done with this thing. I felt that way, but thanks to a free stream of the whole album on the web I changed my mind as soon as I heard the first song, 'Brandenburg Gate.'

"I would cut my legs and tits off when I think of Boris Karloff and Kinski in the dark." That Lou's opening line, and as soon as I heard that I realized that this wasn't such a humorless ego trip as it might have seemed. Then Hetfield comes in with his bellowed "small town gir-r-uh-l!" This is an ego trip with a decent sense of humor, roaring, feral guitars, and really hard drum hits. This is weird. This is like Bob Seger if he grew up with 80s metal and punk albums instead of Motown and CCR.

Almost none of the reviews that I read had much to say about the source material, a Weimar-era drama about a seemingly soulless manipulative woman who navigates through the social and financial chaos of the time with her wits and powers of seduction. It was later adapted into a brilliant opera by Alban Berg. Less still was said about the way that Lou and the gang updates the themes of 'Lulu' and adds his own layers through allusions to horror movies. Most internet music reviewers are lazy jerks. But most of them probably got paid the same as what I'm getting for this review (close your eyes and summon the void.)

I guess late-era Metallica isn't for everyone, but to me the guitars sound nice and saturated, Hetfield's singing is the same as ever (for better or worse,) and there are some tough riffs to be found here. Lou made a lot of weird albums at the end of his career, and this is definitely one of them, but if you're a little forgiving of the excesses, his experimentalism and voice are here, same as ever.

Here's the fateful meeting that initially inspired the collaboration: