Street Hassle [Import]

The lilting rocker Gimme Some Good Times opens the album with a series of sarcastic comments and a compelling melody line that becomes ever more gripping as Lou wails out the poetry of cynicism and despair, equating pleasure and pain, in his most world-weary voice ever. The mood becomes even darker on Dirt, where the acerbic lyrics incorporate snatches of the song I Fought The Law by Bobby Fuller, before it is given a humorous twist by the girl choir chanting "Sweet, sweet, uptown dirt" in a typical Motown way, all of this over the band's loose and intentionally messy playing.

These brilliant tracks are followed by the masterpiece of a title track, a movement in three parts sketching a tragic situation and its resultant emotions in some of Reed's most poetic lyrics. Part one: Waltzing Matilda introduces the girl meets boy scenario in Reed's monotone over ominous cello. This is followed by a moment of silence and then Genya Ravan's ghostly chant of impending doom gives way to Reed the observer of an erotic encounter, a drug death and the complications arising from it.

Most chilling is the brutal & indifferent attitude of the host when confronted by the death on his property; this second part ends in Bruce Springsteen's melancholy monologue where he twists his own famous lyric to "Tramps like us, we were born to pay." The final movement, Slipaway, has a more human Reed lamenting the loss of life and love in a moving & tender way: `Love has gone away/Took the rings off my fingers/And there's nothing left to say.' Wow, this is strong, emotionally harrowing stuff.

I regret to report that the rest of this 1978 album (with the possible exception of the satirical I Wanna Be Black with its funky beat) doesn't appeal much to me and I seldom listen to it. Some of these sound like badly recorded live performances. Real Good Time Together, for example, has a strange arrangement that just doesn't work. So this is the best and the worst of Lou Reed, but Street Hassle merits four stars for the sheer brilliance of the first three tracks.

Gimme Some Good Times introduces the album with a series of sarcastic comments and compelling melody line that becomes ever more gripping as Lou wails out the poetry of cynicism and despair, equating pleasure and pain, in his most world-weary voice ever. The mood becomes even darker on Dirt, where the bitter lyrics incorporate snatches of the song "I Fought The Law" by Bobby Fuller, before it is given a humorous twist by the girl choir repeating "Sweet, sweet, uptown dirt" in a sort of Motowny way, all of this over the band's loose and intentionally messy playing. This is followed by the title track masterpiece, a movement in three parts sketching a tragic situation and its resultant emotions in some of Reed's most cinematic lyrics. Waltzing Matilda introduces the girl meets boy scenario in Reed's monotone over ominous cello. This is followed by a moment of silence and then Genya Ravan's ghostly chant of impending doom giving way to Reed the indifferent observer of a drug death and the complications arising out of it, ending in Bruce Springsteen's sad monologue where he twists his own famous lyric to "Tramps like us, we were born to pay." The third movement has a more human Reed lamenting the loss of romance and love in a most moving and poignant way. Wow, this is strong stuff. I regret to say that the rest of the album doesn't appeal much to me and I seldom listen to it. Some of these sound like not-too-inspired live performances. So this is the best and the worst of Lou Reed, but this album merits four stars for the sheer brilliance of the first three tracks.

In my opinion Street Hassle is a masterpiece. The album delivers everything that makes Lou a great musical artist- street-wise lyrics, sleazy rhythms and an attitude to kill. How many listeners out there know about Bruce Springsteen's cameo on the title track? And the way Lou nails the vocal after Bruce's spoken word delivery. "I Wanna Be Black" is hysterical. "Dirt" is a wonderfully raunchy put-down of someone who obviously got on Lou's bad side. And there's even a tribute to Phil Spector called "Wait" with a subtle Crystals reference. But note this album does not offer instant gratification- it takes a while to sink into your pores, but once it does your hooked. If it ain't the rock n roll animal himself!