Lou Reed - Rock n Roll Animal

Rock n Roll Animal is the first live solo album by American musician Lou Reed, originally released in February 1974 via RCA Records.

The live tracks for this album were recorded live on 21 December 1973, at Howard Stein's Academy of Music in New York City. For this live show, Reed used a band of superb musicians; Pentti Glan (drums) and Prakash John (bass), Ray Colcord (keyboards), and Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter on guitars. Wagner and Hunter would go onto form the basis of the second Alice Cooper band, beginning on the Welcome to My Nightmare album, which also featured Glan and John on that classic album.

The album featured five songs, of which four were songs performed in The Velvet Underground.

Many reviewers attending the show were blown away by the power of the backing band, which was much more energetic than previous musicians used by Reed to back him performing live as a solo musician.

The album was a sleeper hit, peaking at #26 in the UK and #45 on the US Billboard 200 Albums charts during a 28-week stay before earning Reed's first RIAA gold certification in 1978.

A second live album Lou Reed Live was released in 1975, recorded from the same live concert in December 1973. The second album included songs from Reed’s album Transformer.

Check out the tracks:  “Intro / Sweet Jane”; “Heroin”; and “Lady Day”.

This LP record is a 2018 reissue on black vinyl featuring remastered audio under Lou’s direct personal supervision, housed in a gatefold sleeve with reproduced artwork, pressed in Europe.