According to Blabbermouth.net, Metallica and former The Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed performed live on Friday, November 11 for a special radio broadcast in Germany on 1LIVE that was also webcast on www.einslive.de and www.metallica.de. Four hundred lucky fans were in the audience, some even getting a chance to ask the guys about their collaborative project, "Lulu". The broadcast also aired on a number of Germany's public broadcast network stations (either live or at a later point), and all participating stations also hosted the live stream on their web sites.
Video footage of Metallica and Reed performing the songs "The View", "Dragon", "Iced Honey", "Mistress Dread" and "Junior Dad" off "Lulu", plus a cover version of The Velvet Underground classic "White Light/White Heat", during the above-mentioned radio broadcast can be seen below. Also available is an interview with Metallica and Reed.
"Lulu" sold 13,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 36 on The Billboard 200 chart. By contrast, Metallica's last studio effort, 2008's "Death Magnetic", sold 490,000 copies in just a three-day sales window after it came out on a Friday, with sales tracked through the following Sunday.
Even Metallica's controversial 2003 set, "St. Anger", moved 418,000 copies in its initial week of release, which was also shortened to four days.
Metallica's "Re-Load" album sold 435,000 units during its first week in 1997, while 1996's "Load" opened at 680,000. 1991's self-titled "Black Album" debuted with 598,000 and has since gone on to sell more than 15.7 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Already polarizing fans around the world and earning some of the most scathing reviews of their career, "Lulu" features the former The Velvet Underground frontman's spoken-word poetry and lyrics combined with Metallica's musical assault for a jarring experience that doesn't sound like anything Metallica has ever attempted before. A concept album based on two early 20th century plays by German author Frank Wedekind, the CD was co-produced by Reed, Metallica, Hal Willner - who has produced albums for Reed, Marianne Faithfull, and Laurie Anderson, among others - and Greg Fidelman. Fidelman also mixed the record.
The collaboration between Metallica and Reed was sparked by their performance together of Reed's "Sweet Jane" and "White Light/White Heat" at the 25th anniversary of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at Madison Square Garden in October of 2009.
The songs were all written by Reed with extensive arrangement contributions by Metallica.
Only two songs on the album are under five minutes in length, while two are more than 11 minutes long and the closing cut, "Junior Dad", clocks in at 19 minutes.
Both Metallica and Reed have downplayed the scathing reviews that the album has gotten, with Reed saying that Metallica fans are "threatening to shoot me". Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich defended the project, saying, "It's not for everyone, but I think it's a fantastic record."
How much more Metllica/Lou Reed news are they going to give us? I mean, how much more can they even cover about them?
Presumably, as long as they keep doing things, people can continue to report about them. If you're tired of seeing Loutallica news, here's a thought: don't read it.
Havnt seen James so emotionally invested in a performance for a while, seeing him fight back tears on Junior Dad, and even giving that kind of energy around the bridge on The View especially on the Jools performance
Seeing him enjoy the songs so much kinda makes me enjoy it more as well
I actually think these live performances are an improvement compared to the studio recordings. i dont know why maybe its cause lou isnt trying too hard or something... but yeah, not bad.
What I have gained from that interview is that Lou's an absoulute ass... Kindly take your wrinkly ass and **** off back to the elderly home you untalented waste of time.
did ultimate guitar just copy and paste the text from another article? i felt like i was rereading something...
Every article theyve written since the album was released has been the same as the last but with an added paragraph at the top, as if we dont know how they got the idea to collaborate
