Songs for Drella

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2007-12-08 rating:
Starkly confessional songs in this homage to Andy Warhol
Songs for Drella is a concept album written and performed by Lou Reed and John Cale in the wake of the death of their early mentor, cult pop-artist Andy Warhol (Drella was a nickname given to Warhol - an amalgam of Dracula and Cinderella; he wasn't fond of it). Warhol had died suddenly from complications following gall bladder surgery in February 1987; it is said that his death caught Reed off guard. In Warhol's posthumously published diaries, the artist describes his hurt at not being invited to Reed's wedding and his gradual estrangement from the Factory scene. Reed, of course, notoriously fired Warhol in 1967 as manager of The Velvet Underground because, apparently, Warhol was not investing enough time and effort into promoting them. It would seem, then, that the two ex-Velvets have created the fifteen songs here as a kind of catharsis - an opportunity to air grievances, express guilt and mourn his passing. br / br /The tracks are generally low key, taking place in a stripped-down, minimalist atmosphere with Reed on guitar and Cale on keyboards and the viola. Placid lo-fi songs ('Faces and Names', 'Slip Away (A Warning)') are juxtaposed with ones of thundering guitars and disharmonies ('Images', 'Trouble with Classicists'); Reed's boyish, half-spoken vocals are often set against songs sung by Cale in smooth baritone (they do not sing together). Not all songs are easy to digest - 'Work' and 'Images' revel in driving, repetitive riffs, probably intended to sonically evoke Warhol's use of repetition in his most famous silk screens (the Liz and Marilyn prints, Double Elvis). Lyrically, there is fury: of Valerie Solanas, the crazed radical feminist who shot Warhol in June 1968, Reed sings, "I would have pulled the switch on her myself" ('I Believe'). Warhol is defended against accusations of exploiting the female superstars in his Factory, failing to pay them and riding on the waves of their hellraising, wealthy lifestyles ('It Wasn't Me'): "I never said slit your wrists and die," he sings probably in reference to the suicide of the beautiful Andrea Feldmann in 1972; "The problems were there before you met me," is a scarcely-masked allusion to the rich socialite Edie Sedgwick, who also came to an early, self-destructive end in 1971. br / br /There is much poignancy, too. Reed sings sincerely about being deeply hurt by the comments made about him in Warhol's diaries. They are quoted directly in the spoken word song performed by Cale from Warhol's point of view ('A Dream'): "You know I hate Lou / I really do / He won't even hire us for his videos / And I was proud of him". On the album's most moving track, 'Hello It's Me', Reed candidly acknowledges that he has "some resentments that can never be unmade" and that "you hit me where it hurt, I didn't laugh / Your diaries are not a worthy epitaph". Both of these affecting songs help to humanise the album and prevent it from becoming an uncritical hagiography. br / br /Definitely recommended! br / br /Standout songs: Hello It's Me, A Dream, Small Town, Style It Takes, Nobody But You

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review by: We're all Frankies' date: 2003-08-24 rating:
Elegy to Warhol
Songs for Drella (1990) remains a highlight in both Cale and Reed's lengthy careers- it forms part of Reed's strongest trilogy of albums since the Velvets demise (the others being New York, 1988 MagicLoss, 1992) Reed Cale had infamously fallen out when in The Velvet Underground had not worked together since- this collaboration, along with Moe Tucker's contribution to New York, would lead to the VU temporarily reforming (the resulting live album containing some wonderful takes on classics like Beginning to See the Light Femme Fatale). Songs for Drella is one based around a limited musical soundscape (Reed on Vocals/Guitar; Cale on keyboards/vocals/viola) one that has a sense of improvisation. It was a work primarily written for performance- like Tom Waits recent Alice/Blood Money setz- so perhaps some of the songs are more theatrical than melodic; but I like the whole journey around a fictional take on Warhol's life from people who were once close to him...(the final track on New York leads here...)pThe tracks with Cale on lead vocals stand out- Style It Takes (wonderfully performed on Fragments for a Rainy Season),Trouble with Classicists (great guitar from Reed), A Dream (especially) Forever Changed stand out. Reed also gets to sing some great songs- the amusing Smalltown, the ethos of Work (up there with There is No Time), the spleen-venting I Believe (Valerie Solanis surfacing...) especially the touching Hello It's Me- which shows that its possible to continue discourse with the dead: "I know it's late in coming but it's the only way I know/Hello it's me- goodnight Andy.../Goodbye Andy"- pSongs for Drella is a more experimental/improvisational work- unlike albums like White Light/White Heat, Berlin, Paris 1919 which all sounded crafted and meticulously arranged. Songs for Drella isn't as quite out there as Cale's work with EnoNico or Reed's recent The Raven (or Metal Machine Music for that matter...)- it looks back not only at Warhol, but a now mythic period of cultural history. It also warrants its recent inclusion in Paul Morley's series of lists that conclude his book 'WordsMusic'; one of the highlights of the 1990s...

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review by: Toypom date: 2001-04-06 rating:
LUKEWARM
Cale Reed being amongst my favourite artists of all time, it grieves me to report that I do not consider Drella to be amongst their best. I think it's to do with the instrumentation, but even after many years of trying hard, I still do not enjoy this album except for A Dream and Hello, It's Me. The first, spoken by John Cale, sounds like an excerpt from Warhol's diaries (although I'm not sure it really is) whilst the second is a very poignant and tender epilogue with a beautiful melody. The biographical lyrics of all the songs are very good, but somehow, something's missing. I am very pleased, though, that many other fans regard it highly by giving it five stars!

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review by: date: 2000-12-10 rating:
a must-have for all serious VU fans
Something of an oddity, this is largely a lyrically-driven album - some of the tracks feel more like poetry with musical backing than actual songs. Most of the time this works, but in places it gets a bit shakey. That said, there are several tracks of absolute genius that make this album a must-have for all serious VU fans. My favourites are 'a dream', which is a hauntingly beautiful interior monologue read by John Cale (that voice!) to a marvellous ambient backing track, and 'forever changed', which features an awesome, driving piano-riff (reminiscent of 'all tomorrow's parties', but more angular) and some lovely, harsh guitar work from Lou Reed. Other stand-out tracks are 'trouble with classicists', 'slip away' and 'hello it's me'.


review by: date: 1999-11-15 rating:
absolutely gorgeous
their styles are so opposite (Reed so confrontational and frank, Cale much gentler and more evasive) that they are perfect foils for one another, creating this nearly perfect whole. It's so wordy, so concept heavy and referrential - yet absolutely without elitism or art-snobbery. You don't have to know anything about Warhol to love this album - though it helps. More than once I have found myself in tears somewhere between "slip away" and "dream"... but "smalltown", "trouble with classicists" and "work" are pure joy, bewilderingly funny. I can't say enough about it.

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