| · One of the most infamous bootlegs in history finally made legal.
You can talk all you want about the historical significance of actually getting these three artists on the same stage together considering their oft-documented stormy relationships both in and out of the Velvet Underground, but it’s the music alone which should have prompted a full-scale restoration and re-master of these scratchy master tapes ages ago. Instead, Reed and his Sister Ray Enterprises in all their wisdom have decided to dump the performance directly to CD without even bothering to ensure it was mastered at the right speed.
Lame liner notes proclaim the trio "angels of perversity," and "the beacons of bleak." Reed introduces his newly-written "Berlin" as, "my Barbra Streisand song" in a voice sounding even lower and smokier than usual because of the wrong pitch. Cale sings his Velvets satire "The Biggest, Loudest, Hairiest Group Of All" seated next to Reed (sporting the biggest hairdo in the history of the world). Nico sits at the sidelines waiting for her turn to sing or do anything. When they do "Heroin," "Femme Fatale," and "Candy Says," everything becomes perfect again (if a little slow).
Given that the entire show was filmed for French television, it shouldn’t have been this difficult to get things right. What we get instead is one of the most sought-after recordings in the history of rock, nearly ruined by an error that should never have gone out unnoticed. Talk about frustrating.
SHOULDA, COULDA, WOULDA BEEN A 5/5
INSTEAD, IT’S REALLY MORE OF A 2/5
MARK HAMILTON
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