LOU REED Metal Machine Music 1975 RCA 2 LP UNPLAYED/MINT

£ 56

$ 74

£ 56 Sold For

Oct 10, 2013 Sold Date

Sep 30, 2013 Start Date

£ 26 Start price

3 Number Of Bids

Great Britain Country Of Seller

eBay Auctioned at

save auction

Description

LOU REED Metal Machine Music 1975 RCA 2 LP UNPLAYED/MINT

FIRST US PRESSING OF LOU REED'S INFAMOUS 1975 OPUS

LOU REED
Metal Machine Music (The Amine ? Ring)

ORIGINAL USA RCA (CPL2-1101 ) FIRST PRESSING (July 1975) OF LOU REED'S INFAMOUS "Metal Machine Music" DOUBLE LP SET (unissued at the time in the UK and only available on import)
ONE OF THE MOST NOTORIOUS RELEASES IN ROCK HISTORY AND IN GREAT CONDITION (looks unplayed) DELIVERING PERFECT SOUND THROUGHOUT - easy to understand why its unplayed as it would take a very brave soul to sit through this challenging/uncompromising record in one sitting - AND AS REED HIMSELF WRITES IN THE LINER NOTES "No one I know has listened to it all the way through, including myself."
THE GROOVE AT THE END OF SIDE 4 IS LOCKED SO THE LP PLAYS ENDLESSLY (timed: ?)

MATRIX NUMBERS: (Side One is backed with Side Four, Side Two with Side Three)
RECORD ONE: CPL - 2 - 1101 - A - 1 / CPL - 2 - 1101 - D - 1
RECORD TWO: CPL - 2 - 1101 - B - 1 / CPL - 2 - 1101 - C - 1

As a radical departure from the rest of Reed's catalog, Metal Machine Music is generally considered to be either a joke, a grudging fulfilment of a contractual obligation, or an early example of noise music. Reed himself has said of the album "I was serious about it. I was also really, really stoned."
According to Reed the album entirely consists of guitar feedback played at different speeds. The two guitars were tuned in unusual ways and played with different reverb levels. He would then place the guitars in front of their amplifiers, and the feedback from the very large amps would vibrate the strings — the guitars were, effectively, playing themselves. He recorded the work on a four-track tape recorder in his New York apartment, mixing the four tracks for stereo. In its original form, each track occupied one side of an LP record and lasted exactly 16 minutes and 1 second with the last track timed, and playing to infinity - as the groove is locked (16.10 or ?) - the music has no beginning or end and can be started or finished anywhere (see photo of liner notes)
A major influence on Reed's recording, and an important source for an understanding of Reed's seriousness with the album, was the mid-1960s drone music work of La Monte Young's Theater of Eternal Music (whose members included John Cale, Tony Conrad, Angus Maclise and Marian Zazeela). Both Cale and Maclise were also members of The Velvet Underground (Maclise left before the group began recording). The Theater of Eternal Music's discordant sustained notes and loud amplification had influenced Cale's subsequent contribution to the Velvet Underground in his use of both discordance and feedback. Recent releases of works by Cale and Conrad from the mid-sixties, such as Cale's Inside the Dream Syndicate series (The Dream Syndicate being the alternative name given by Cale and Conrad to their collective work with Young) testify to the influence this important mid-sixties experimental work had on Reed ten years later.
In an interview with rock journalist Lester Bangs, Reed claimed that he had intentionally placed sonic allusions to classical works such Beethoven's Eroica and Pastoral Symphonies in the distortion, and that he had attempted to have the album released on RCA's Red Seal classical label; however, it is not clear if he was being serious, though he has repeated the latter claim in a 2007 interview.

Record One; Side 1: Metal Machine Music (A-1) 16.10
Record One; Side 2: Metal Machine Music (A-4) 16.10 or ?
Record Two; Side 1: Metal Machine Music (A-2) 16.10
Record Two; Side 2: Metal Machine Music (A-3) 16.10

LABELS: MINT
An immaculate set of labels which show no spindle traces or signs any of the four sides have ever been played
VINYL Visual: NEAR MINT
Some audibly harmless in-vinyl pressing blemishes here and there
VINYL Audio: MINT
I listed to all 60+ minutes of this work from beginning to end (honestly) and the audio reproduction is perfect throughout - no clicks/pops or surface noise - although it would be pretty hard to detect any as this is a real aural assault with barely any let-up.
But far from being totally unlistenable, after a while I found it becomes incredibly hypnotic and the dense layers weave in and out of each other to fascinating effect (although I must admit I won't be sitting through it all again anytime soon).
An essential record for any serious collection (even if you only ever listen to it once)
SLEEVE: EXCELLENT
One of the best examples I have seen as these heavy card sleeves are commonly split and/or heavily rubbed but this one has no splits and very little surface rub and the spine is strong with all text clear and bold. Imported into the UK it has an impost clip to the bottom opening edge which is reflected on the inner sleeves confirming they are original to the set

POST & PACKING:
A PROTECTIVE POLY SLEEVE, NEW ANTI-STATIC LINERS, QUALITY BOX (NOT ENVELOPE) MAILER AND AMPLE STIFFENERS ARE ALWAYS USED TO ENSURE THAT YOUR RECORD ARRIVES SAFELY
UK: Free (Recorded Delivery) or £9.00 (1pm Next Day Royal Mail Special Delivery)
EUROPE: Airmail: £13.00 (International Signed For delivery)
INTERNATIONAL: Airmail: £17.00 (International Signed For delivery)
PAYMENT IS BY PAYPAL ONLY SO IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PAY BY SOME OTHER METHOD PLEASE CONTACT ME FIRST

I will combine postage (normally £2 or £3 per extra record) for items purchased within any 10 day period.
However, at the end of each 10 day period, all outstanding items will need to be paid for in full and will be posted to you.
Any items purchased after payment will be included in the next 10 period.
I am continually adding new items which may be of interest to you and it is impractical for me to allow payment to be postponed indefinitely in the expectation that you might wish to bid on future items.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation
Guarantee: The record is unconditionally guaranteed and I will offer a complete, no quibble refund upon return of the item should you not be pleased with it in any way I will email you when payment has been received to let you know when the item will be posted. Please leave feedback upon receipt of the item so that I know you have received it safely. Any problems please email me. Thanks 525 (GS 6.6.5 (525))

price rating