Lou Reed and Metallica’s ‘Lulu’ is a complete stiff.
Lou Reed and Metallica - Lulu
Now in its second week, the album has sold just 16,470 copies in America, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Sales for ‘Lulu’ in week 2 were 3,150.
‘Lulu’ debuted at no. 34 last week in the USA. That was Metallica’s worst debut since their first album but not a bad result for Lou.
This week ‘Lulu’ (in its second week) fell completely out of the Top 100 from no. 34 to no. 149.
So what went wrong? Probably the biggest issue is that Lou Reed fans are not Metallica fans and that Metallica fans are not Lou Reed fans.
The experiment started a few years back when Metallica inducted Lou Reed into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The original concept may have worked. Originally, the idea was for Metallica to back Lou on an album of Lou Reed remakes. Lou changed his mind and went down the ‘Lulu’ track with the album based on stories based on Edgar Allan Poe poems.
Even if you hate the album, you have to credit Lou Reed and Metallica for giving it a go. I’m in the minority that actually liked the record.
You never know, years from now it might he hailed a classic. Stranger things have happened and with Lou it happened with his bizarre instrumental album ‘Metal Machine Music’ that was rediscovered by a German orchestra in recent years and performed as an orchestra piece.
Check back in the year 2050. I’ll reserve any further comments on ‘Lulu’ until then. As they say, time will tell so lets let time tell.
