User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 9 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9

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  1. augustusw
    Mar 24, 2004
    9
    How ever you slice it, Lou Reed is a singularity. As his stated mission was to inform Rock'n'Roll with the same depth as great liturature, one can conclude that he has succeeded here. Sure, his guitar playing isn't to all tastes but neither was Carl Sandburgs. Nevertheless it is effective...and that voice is that of the Big Narrator. Songs of Expirience indeed! Mr.Fripp-the How ever you slice it, Lou Reed is a singularity. As his stated mission was to inform Rock'n'Roll with the same depth as great liturature, one can conclude that he has succeeded here. Sure, his guitar playing isn't to all tastes but neither was Carl Sandburgs. Nevertheless it is effective...and that voice is that of the Big Narrator. Songs of Expirience indeed! Mr.Fripp-the Band as mobile intellegence unit is here...and Lou Reed has it! Expand
  2. brent
    Aug 11, 2004
    10
    Listen to this record despite the list of "professional reviews" compiled above. Lou Reed is an aquired taste and an iconoclast, therefore, doing something so foolish as using conventional pop standards to judge him is impossible. Even without drums this 2003-edition Lou set is hypnotizingly intense. This is his artsy-fartsy side, and for a change, he pulls it off brilliantly. I like Listen to this record despite the list of "professional reviews" compiled above. Lou Reed is an aquired taste and an iconoclast, therefore, doing something so foolish as using conventional pop standards to judge him is impossible. Even without drums this 2003-edition Lou set is hypnotizingly intense. This is his artsy-fartsy side, and for a change, he pulls it off brilliantly. I like feedback-drenched Lou myself, but he never cared what any of us liked anyway. More power to him. Collapse
  3. RicardoS
    Mar 25, 2004
    7
    30 years after Rock n'Roll Animal, Lou Reed proves he's still an animal on stage - though tamed and less ferocious. Still, Reed at his (almost) best, apart from some very strange versions of his Velvet themes and an unnecessary Fernando Saunders song.
  4. Shake
    May 24, 2004
    9
    A great artist shows his non-rock 'n roll-side and plays instead a strange but beautiful serenade...
Metascore
71

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 11
  2. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. 70
    It’s worth ploughing through the strange to get to the beautiful, disturbing, fucked-up ‘Venus In Furs’ though, worth the full five stars all by itself.
  2. Entertainment Weekly
    83
    As usual, his ego rages, but so, thankfully, does his guitar. [26 Mar 2004, p.72]
  3. The Wire
    60
    Beautifully performed, but otherwise unadventurous. [#243, p.69]