Legendary Hearts

One of Lou's VERY best 80's albums - I think it's way better than BLUE MASK. The best song on the album is the drug song, The Last Shot. It is extremely powerful! But the whole album is great Lou! Don't understand why it's not available!

If you're only a fan of 1970s Lou Reed then you're probably reading this review with a sneer.For those of us who don't have our heads in the sand, this LP is better than Growing Up In Public and Mistrial but not as good as New Sensations. That super-clean studio technique is at the fore, certainly and if you dig this side of Lou then you should own Legendary Hearts.

Excellent Disc, the entire album is an easy listen

It's Lou Reed. If you are a fan of Lou Reed then why are you even reading this....buy it already.

Lou Reed may not be everyone's cup of tea, but those who have warmed to his flat, half-spoken singing, terse guitar playing and the poetic insights that have typified his style since the early eighties could do little better than to own a copy of "Legendary Hearts" (1983). This is Lou Reed at his most focused: newly sober and reveling in his ability to write and play about his personal experiences in such a direct, conversational manner that it seems as though he is a very good friend who has come over for an evening and is telling you about what he's been going through lately.Confessional writing is a tricky thing in that it can be embarassing for the artist if done poorly and can indulge a listener's most voyeuristic tendencies even when done well. It is Reed's sense of humility in many of these songs, though, that saves them from bathos. Some of his best writing is to be found here, specifically the title track, which nails a profound (really, I'm not kidding, it's profound) truth about love and the way we see ourselves, all of which is accomplished in three and a half minutes. Much of the self-reflection found on this album came as the result of therapy and Alcoholics Anonymous; anyone who has ever invested time in either will find something familiar in "Make Up My Mind," "The Last Shot," "Betrayed" and "Bottoming Out," the last of which takes a pass at self-destruction and anger with a clear-eyed poise that few songwriters (or the rest of us, for that matter) can manage.These are heavy subjects, make no mistake, but the tight ensemble playing (two guitars, drums and Fernando Saunders' singing fretless bass lines) makes the best of these songs move so that you can tap your foot while Reed is passing on his little revelations. (One thinks that Phil Spector would be proud, too: the way the album is mixed, it's almost in mono, which gives the songs quite a punch.) Songwriters who aim for depth within the confines of the rock song take note: "Legendary Hearts" is a model of precision, both well-observed and heartfelt. Put it on and turn it up - it may give you something to think about.

This is a much leaner album than its predecessor Blue Mask, utilizing traditional 4-chord rock with hummable tunes to explore similar themes. The title track deals with love and its complications as does Bottoming Out with its dark edges hinting at frustration and a longing to escape: "I am that bike at that fat pothole/Beyond that underpass."Alcoholism surfaces in this track and again in The Last Shot: "When you quit you quit/But you always wish that/You knew it was your last shot." Make Up Mind is a lovely, swaying ballad with a hypnotic chorus surfacing towards the end, while Turn Out The Light has Reed's echoic vocal over a moody guitar riff, like a miniature snatch of Street Hassle.But the highlight of the album is Betrayed, a chilling vignette from the bedroom: "Three of us lie in this bed/Night of infamy/Her father's in her head/And quick she turns and slaps my face ..."Rooftop Garden ends the album on a more optimistic note with its description of domestic bliss - it is High In The City (from New Sensations) without the threat of violence. I don't think Legendary Hearts did well when released in the early 1980s, but in retrospect it is a very good album and a pointer to his well-received New York classic later that decade.

With THE BLUE MASK, Lou Reed had exorcised all his demons that songs as early as "Heroin" could not have done. He was sober, but not exactly at peace it seemed. LEGENDARY HEARTS is an album of a 40-year old man who's sort of been reborn, but memories of his past still haunt him from time to time. This album gives the full range of identities that Reed has explored in his long career: laid-back with "Rooftop Garden", paranoid with "Bottoming Out", and the appropriately titled "Betrayed". The last song would be blown up into a full-scale album with ECSTASY. While Reed may not have been the most successful artist of the 1980s, on LEGENDARY HEARTS he accurately captures the cynicism that defined the decade. Political commentary like "Don't Talk To Me About Work", "Martial Law", and "Home Of The Brave" are enough to make the listener question whether or not they're really proud to be an American. And was the jingoistic patrioitism of the Reagan era genuine or a big sham? Questions like these are raised on LEGENDARY HEARTS and there are no easy answers. THE BLUE MASK was Lou Reed's darkest album since BERLIN, and some of those dark hues persist on LEGENDARY HEARTS. But a few glimmers of hope do shine, and would foreshadow the full-blown happiness of NEW SENSATIONS.

Lou is one of the greats no doubt bout that, to me anyway, first heard white light, nearly 50 years ago and he's been with me ever since for better for worse.this LP follows on from blue mask(great LP) and is just as good, but I would love to hear it with Robert quine's guitar that Lou for whatever reason took out of the mix. I will drink to this anyway.

Brilliant Album - But I am a big fan.

LEGENDARY HEARTSParce que j'adore LOU REED ! et que je voulais connaitre sa vie . Merci POR LA RAPIDIT7 DE VOS SRVICES

一聴して地味だが中々繰り返し聴くに値する作品だ。バンドはＮＹパンクからの例の３名。前作はスタジオライヴだったので音質はラフだったが、この作品はスタジオ録音で、コロンビア／ソニー系列の凄い録音技術が発揮された音質。パンク以降のシンプルなサウンドと編成でこれだけいい音のアルバムは少ないと思う。最小限のオーヴァーダブで殆どスタジオで一発で録音した感じだが、要所でエフェクトが効いてたりしてヒリヒリした感じのある、しかし乾いた落ち着きも感じられるもの。成熟してゆくパンクスピリットというのが何となく矛盾はしてるが適当な表現かもしれない。最新のバージョン（米国版でIcon Classic 1013と明記されたもの）がサウンド面では文句なしだ。４．Martial Lawでぶっ壊れているクワインのデ・チューンなギター、２．Don't talk to Me about work以下、全編でエネルギー放出型のフレッド・マーのドラムが、全体的には静かな曲が並ぶこのアルバムを徐々に尋常でないものに仕立てていく様が聴き所だろう。ルー自身もパンクマナーの彼らの音に大いに刺激されたらしく、生音に近いギターのカッテイングがいつもより立っている様に感じるのがこの時期の特徴だ。彼のギターだけに注目して聴いているとタイトル曲がヴェルベッツと重なって聴こえたりして、相変わらずルーの色がしっかりあるのが魅力だ。歪んでないサウンドで歪んだ世界を描く。クリアだが重く淀んでいる。そんなアンビバレントなルーの面白さがよく出た作品だと思う。