Lou Reed: Transformer & Live at Montreux 2000

This nicely matched set combines a 2000 concert and 2001 documentary featuring rock icon Lou Reed, who succumbed to liver failure in 2013. Looking hale and hearty during the Montreux concert—Reed's only performance at the Swiss jazz festival—the singer-songwriter is on tour in support of 2000's Ecstasy, serving up material from the new record along with selections from New York, Songs for Drella, and the legendary Transformer, his second solo recording. Reed's sidemen include Mike Rathke on electric and acoustic guitar, Fernando Saunders on electric and acoustic bass, and Tony “Thunder” Smith on drums. The 16-song set begins in perfunctory fashion, but builds intensity as it powers along, although the crowd has trouble catching up with the musicians. When Reed sings, “It's all downhill after the first kiss” from Ecstasy's “Modern Dance,” he expects a reaction. “No? Yes?” he asks, but receives no answer. Still, like a true professional, Reed forges on, winning the audience over by the end, despite the slightly muffled vocals during louder songs like “Small Town.” The 2001 Transformer documentary, part of the Classic Albums series, features Reed, producers David Bowie and Mick Ronson, engineer Ken Scott, and the London session musicians who played on the album (Ronson died in 1993). Since Andy Warhol exerted a major influence, Factory denizens Gerard Malanga, Joe Dallesandro, and Holly Woodlawn show up to set the scene, while Reed performs several songs acoustically, including the hit “Walk on the Wild Side.” Presented in DTS-HD 5.1 (Montreux) and LPCM stereo (Transformer and Montreux), this is recommended. (K. Fennessy)