I am so jealous you thought to write about this album (and Cale in general) before I did. "Paris 1919" is one of my all time favorite albums, with "Fear" not far behind. Also love "Vintage Violence." And "Fragments" is probably my second favorite live album by any musical artist other than Talking Heads "The Name of this Band is" which I love even more than "Stop Making Sense" (though the concert film for that album really is mind blowing). Bottom line: I agree that Cale beats Reed in the 70s. And while "Transformer" is way up there for me, Bowie co-wrote two of its best songs ("Perfect Day" and "Satellite of Love") and produced the album. So even if someone wants to argue that it's the most amazing post-Velvets solo album, they'd be wrong, because Reed/Bowie making a glam rock album together is less a solo album and more like a band created by two geniuses for the purposes of making that one unforgettable album.
Of course you love this album and John Cale. Cale didn't like Vintage after he released it. That is crazy to me. Such a great album. Though Paris is my fave.
I so agree with you on Name Of This Band . . .
I love Fragments more than that album, but it's absolutely superior to Stop Making Sense.
Thanks for writing this. Ever since watching the Todd Haynes movie I’ve wanted to check-out some of Cale’s solo work, but there’s a lot to consume and I wasn’t sure of the best starting point. I’ve only ever listened to Paris 1919, but now I have another album to listen to. Also, I’ve read elsewhere that Buckley’s cover of Hallelujah is really of cover of Cale’s cover.
It can be an imposing catalog to dive into, but it's very much worth the effort. Paris is my favorite of his solo stuff. Songs For Drella, the album he made with Lou Reed about Warhol is also terrific.
Wait, I'm wrong. Bowie did not co-write "Satellite of Love" and "Perfect Day." I always thought he did, but I learned that he did not when I read Ezra Furman's excellent book about the album for the 33 1/3 series. My bad.
I am so jealous you thought to write about this album (and Cale in general) before I did. "Paris 1919" is one of my all time favorite albums, with "Fear" not far behind. Also love "Vintage Violence." And "Fragments" is probably my second favorite live album by any musical artist other than Talking Heads "The Name of this Band is" which I love even more than "Stop Making Sense" (though the concert film for that album really is mind blowing). Bottom line: I agree that Cale beats Reed in the 70s. And while "Transformer" is way up there for me, Bowie co-wrote two of its best songs ("Perfect Day" and "Satellite of Love") and produced the album. So even if someone wants to argue that it's the most amazing post-Velvets solo album, they'd be wrong, because Reed/Bowie making a glam rock album together is less a solo album and more like a band created by two geniuses for the purposes of making that one unforgettable album.
Of course you love this album and John Cale. Cale didn't like Vintage after he released it. That is crazy to me. Such a great album. Though Paris is my fave.
I so agree with you on Name Of This Band . . .
I love Fragments more than that album, but it's absolutely superior to Stop Making Sense.
Thanks for writing this. Ever since watching the Todd Haynes movie I’ve wanted to check-out some of Cale’s solo work, but there’s a lot to consume and I wasn’t sure of the best starting point. I’ve only ever listened to Paris 1919, but now I have another album to listen to. Also, I’ve read elsewhere that Buckley’s cover of Hallelujah is really of cover of Cale’s cover.
It can be an imposing catalog to dive into, but it's very much worth the effort. Paris is my favorite of his solo stuff. Songs For Drella, the album he made with Lou Reed about Warhol is also terrific.
Wait, I'm wrong. Bowie did not co-write "Satellite of Love" and "Perfect Day." I always thought he did, but I learned that he did not when I read Ezra Furman's excellent book about the album for the 33 1/3 series. My bad.