Lars Ulrich Says Lou Reed was “Really Saddened” by Backlash Against Lulu
Lulu: then, now and forever a hot, steaming turd.
Amongst its most staunch — and only — defenders: those who played on the record. Kirk Hammett recently defended Metallica’s ill-fated collaboration with Lou Reed, and now it’s Reed’s turn to do so — from the grave, via Lars Ulrich.
Ulrich and Iggy Pop sat down together for one of those “two rock stars interview each other” type chats, and Ulrich offered the following when the moderator asked the pair about the late Reed:
Lars Ulrich: But it was hard for him because he was so proud of that record. He felt we had some sort of spiritual connection with him, and he kept talking about that, how we were finally the right band to back him up, how he’d been looking for decades for somebody with the power and so on. Then the record came out, and as you may know, some of the critics were not particularly…
Iggy Pop: And I know all about it.
LU: …particularly kind to this record.
IP: [Chuckling] Gotta love ‘em!
LU: Yeah. And he was, I mean, he was really hurt.
IP: Sure. Of course he would be.
LU: We’re pretty thick-skinned. We’ve been through ups and downs for years, and if we like something we’d done and we enjoy the experience, that’s what matters to us. But I think he was really saddened by the response to [Lulu] and I felt…it was weird. The roles changed at the end where I became almost more maternal to him, and had to like sort of comfort him through this very difficult month when the record came out and it just got fucking slammed, you know.
The saddest part of all of this is that Reed died shortly after Lulu was released — almost exactly two years later — and was already sick throughout the making of Lulu. So I certainly understand why Ulrich and Hammett would defend the work extra vigorously, on top of the simple fact that they’d defend any of their work, I’m sure.
But here’s the thing: Lulu being a terrible album doesn’t diminish Reed — or Metallica’s — legacy. Those are both set in stone. It would be totally OK for those involved to admit and accept the collaboration just didn’t work out and move on.
Read the full chat between Iggy Pop and Ulrich at Metallica.com. Thanks to Loudwire for the link.
