The Raven (Special Edition)

構成数 : 2枚
合計収録時間 : 02:05:11
Lou Reed's THE RAVEN is based on and inspired by the Edgar Allan Poe story of the same name. This single CD features highlights from the complete 2-CD set also titled THE RAVEN. Personnel includes: Lou Reed (vocals, guitar, bass, electronics); Laurie Anderson, Antony, David Bowie, Steve Buscemi, The Blind Boys Of Alabama, Kate & Anna McGarrigle (vocals); Elizabeth Ashley, Willem Dafoe, Amanda Plummer, (spoken vocals); Mike Rathke (guitar); Friedrich Paravinci (cello, piano, Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards); Jane Scarpantoni (cello); Paul Shapiro (alto, tenor & baritone saxophones); Ornette Coleman (alto saxophone); Doug Wiselman (tenor & baritone saxophones); Steve Bernstein (trumpet); Fernando Saunders (bass, background vocals); Tony Smith (drums, background vocals). Recorded at Sear Sound Studio, New York, New York. Includes liner notes by Lou Reed. Lou Reed's THE RAVEN is based on and inspired by the Edgar Allan Poe story of the same name. Personnel includes: Lou Reed (vocals, guitar, bass, electronics); Laurie Anderson, Antony, David Bowie, Steve Buscemi, The Blind Boys Of Alabama, Kate & Anna McGarrigle (vocals); Elizabeth Ashley, Willem Dafoe, Amanda Plummer, Kate Valk, Fisher Stevens (spoken vocals); Mike Rathke (guitar); Friedrich Paravinci (cello, piano, Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards); Jane Scarpantoni (cello); Paul Shapiro (alto, tenor & baritone saxophones); Ornette Coleman (alto saxophone); Doug Wiselman (tenor & baritone saxophones); Steve Bernstein (trumpet); Fernando Saunders (bass, background vocals); Tony Smith (drums, background vocals). Recorded at Sear Sound Studio, New York, New York. Includes liner notes by Lou Reed. Edgar Allan Poe was a man who usually looked on the dark side of life, had more than a few less-than-healthy romantic and sexual obsessions, was known to dabble in dangerous drugs, and was fascinated with the possibilities of the English language, so it's no wonder why Lou Reed regards Poe as a kindred spirit. In his liner notes to the album The Raven, Reed touches on the parallels between their work when he writes, "I have reread and rewritten Poe to ask the same questions again. Who am I? Why am I drawn to do what I should not?...Why do we love what we cannot have? Why do we have a passion for exactly the wrong thing?" Reed's obsession with Poe's work found a creative outlet when visionary theatrical director Robert Wilson commissioned Reed to adapt Poe's works to music for a production called POE-Try, and The Raven collects the material Reed wrote for this project, as well as a number of dramatic interpretations of Poe's work, featuring performances by Willem Dafoe, Steve Buscemi, Elizabeth Ashley, Amanda Plummer, and others. The limited-edition two-disc version of The Raven gives a nearly equal balance to words and music; while the single-disc edition is dominated by Reed's songs, the double-disc set features a much greater number of spoken-word pieces, most of which have been filtered through Reed's imagination, with a more intense focus on sex, drugs, and conflict as a result. While the condensed version of The Raven sounds like one of the oddest and most audacious rock albums of recent memory, the complete edition feels more like a lengthy performance piece (albeit a rather unusual one), and while it lacks something in the way of a central narrative, the focus on the letter as well as the spirit of Poe's work seems a great deal clearer here. The pitch of the acting is sometimes a bit sharp (especially Dafoe, who seems to be projecting to the last row of the balcony), but the con brio performances certainly suit the tenor of the material and Poe's writing style. Musically, The Raven is all over the map, leaping from low-key acoustic pieces to full-bore, window-rattling rock & roll, with a number of stops along the way. Reed also touches more than casually on his own past as well, with new recordings of "The Bed" and "Perfect Day" added to the sequence, and for a man not known for his
録音 : ステレオ (Studio)