Review by ZeroSymbolic7188 for Metallica - Lulu (2011)

Alright, so I am the odd duck that actually likes this album. I will try my best to explain. 

First off if you are coming to this album as a Metallica fan, hoping for the next headbanger anthem... yeah it's not on here. You are going to be disappointed. However, if instead you come to this as a Lou Reed fan... well there is still no guarantee that you will like it, but it will make more sense. So... what is this thing and why do I like it? 

Lulu is based on the "Lulu" plays by Frank Wedekind, and the two pieces tell a continuous story of a sexually enticing young dancer who rises in society through her relationships with wealthy men but who later falls into poverty and prostitution. The album is heavily inspired by those works, but I have not read them so I can't say for sure if it is a literal retelling of that story or if it just heavily inspired by it. I can say that it has a lot of lyrics that seem to be spoken through that type of character, and yes it comes across oddly when spoken by a 70 year old man. Also the production on this thing could have been better. 

What? You aren't sold on it after that juicy insight? I don't blame you this was not an album that was going to work for everybody... most people... some people... anybody? It works for me because I like weird things, I like Lou Reed, and I like poetry. This album is simply spoken word poetry set to music, and I like the poetry within. There are definitely some offputting lines, some outright misses, and some extremely awkward and uncomfortable moments, but there is also a lot of heart break and beauty. Good art is sometimes uncomfortable and offensive.

Perhaps for me this album is as much about what it isn't as what it is. I've already talked about what it is; awkard, uncomfortable, poorly produced, yet also incredibly poetic and artistic. It isn't commercial, easy, sold-out, or concerned with pleasing anyone. People often say that they want honest output from an artist, and there is much talk of "evil record companies" that don't allow an artist to produce the product they want to make. This is an album free of any such restraints, and expectations it is a genuine piece of art made by artists who sincerely wanted to pursue this project. Everybody says they want it, but we all have seen how it was received. Personally, I like what it stands for. I also think that "Iced Honey" is an awesome piece of work. 

I have defended this album for ten years at time of this posting. I will continue to defend  it for at least the next ten years, probably longer. What I hoped to achieve with this review is to get across the idea that I don't just like the album as a symbol of unfiltered art, I also genuinely enjoy the music and lyrics within-the good and the bad.