Berlin: Live At St. Ann's Warehouse [Live]
by Lou Reed
  • Record Label: Matador
  • Release Date: Nov 4, 2008
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 10 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 10
  3. Negative: 2 out of 10

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  1. Ricko
    Jan 20, 2018
    8
    With a notorious reputation for being depressing, Lou Reed's "Berlin" is revisited her and doesn't disappoint. One of the most incredible things about the album is that it was the direct follow up to his career resurrecting "Transformer" album. "Berlin" is the complete antithesis of "Transformer". While the songwriting is equally great on both albums, where "Transformer was vibrant,With a notorious reputation for being depressing, Lou Reed's "Berlin" is revisited her and doesn't disappoint. One of the most incredible things about the album is that it was the direct follow up to his career resurrecting "Transformer" album. "Berlin" is the complete antithesis of "Transformer". While the songwriting is equally great on both albums, where "Transformer was vibrant, catchy, punchy and most of all, fun, "Berlin" is downbeat, slow, dour and less fun than emptying a mouse trap. It's a tough listen especially if your reading the lyric sheet as you listen. This live version has a slightly different feel and is an easier listen. Many of the songs are upbeat on the surface but if you listen at all to the lyrics your exposed to the horrors of the albums protagonists Caroline, Jim and their kids. Not exactly an album to enjoyed with repeat listens but still an album to be appreciated both musically and particularly lyrically.… Expand
  2. sbahre
    Nov 26, 2011
    9
    Lou Reed never got to perform Berlin in it's entirety when he first released it in the 70's. By 2007 public opinion had changed and Lou staged this performance of his dark, sad opus. This is a worthy companion to the original album, even though he's aged the songs still have the same intensity.

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. AllMusic
    70
    Berlin was a work of tremendous ambition that didn't quite live up to its own high standards, and this live recording seems to trade a roughly equal number of new flaws for those of the original album, but this performance sounds like a legitimate attempt by Reed to revisit his past without being shackled to it, and on that level it's a brave and compelling experiment that (often) works.
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  2. Drowned In Sound
    70
    Berlin: Live At St Anne's Warehouse is basically one of the most creepily eloquent records of Lou Reed's career, tarted up in the sort of bombastic style that ironically may see it received better in the classic rockin' days of 1973.
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  3. musicOMH.com
    100
    This mature, nuanced performance of Berlin communicates the human tragedy of the story, leaving behind the chilliness of the studio and using the medium of the stage to its full dramatic advantage.
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