Live in Italy (Lou Reed album)
{{Infobox album
| name = Live in Italy
| type = Live album
| artist = Lou Reed
| cover = Vinyl_album_cover_of_"Live_in_Italy"_by_Lou_Reed.jpg
| alt =
| released = January 1984
| recorded = September 7, 1983, Verona
September 10, 1983, Rome
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Rock
| length = 75:19
| label = RCA Records
| producer =
| prev_title = Legendary Hearts
| prev_year = 1983
| next_title = New Sensations
| next_year = 1984
| misc = {{Extra chronology
| artist = Lou Reed
| type = live
| prev_title = Different Times: Lou Reed in the '70s
| prev_year = 1996
| title = Live in Concert
| year = 1996; reissue
| next_title = Ecstasy
| next_year = 2000
}}
}}
Live In Italy is an album by Lou Reed recorded live over two nights in September 1983 (on the 7th in Verona and on the 10th, at the ruins of Circus Maximus, in Rome) using the Rolling Stones Mobile Unit.[http://www.discogs.com/Lou-Reed-Live-In-Italy/release/4439791 Discogs - Live in Italy 2012-07-24th reissue CD Italy] It was issued on vinyl only in Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan. At the time, Reed and his band were on a world tour to promote the album Legendary Hearts. A live video, A Night with Lou Reed, filmed at a New York concert, was also released to coincide with the album. The video omitted the songs "Betrayed", "Sally Can't Dance", "Average Guy" and "Some Kinda Love"/"Sister Ray" from the 10th show, while adding "Don't Talk to Me About Work", "Women", "Turn Out the Light" and "New Age" from the 7th.
In 1996, the album was reissued under the title Live in Concert.
Reception
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{Allmusic|class=album|id=r47736}}
| rev2 = Chicago Tribune
| rev2Score = {{Rating|4|4}}{{cite news|last=Kot|first=Greg|authorlink=Greg Kot|date=January 12, 1992|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1992/01/12/lou-reeds-recordings-25-years-of-path-breaking-music/|title=Lou Reed's Recordings: 25 Years Of Path-breaking Music|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|access-date=July 29, 2013}}
| rev3 = The Philadelphia Inquirer
| rev3Score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite news|newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer|title=Albums|date=March 30, 1984|page=26|last=Tucker|first=Ken|authorlink=Ken Tucker|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52152660/the-philadelphia-inquirer/|accessdate=May 26, 2020}}
| rev4 = The Village Voice
| rev4Score = B+{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|authorlink=Robert Christgau|date=April 24, 1984|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv4-84.php|title=Christgau's Consumer Guide|newspaper=The Village Voice|location=New York|accessdate=July 29, 2013}}
}}
From contemporary reviews, the NME wondered why the majority of the songs came from Reed's Velvet Underground years, asking if it was, "because in Robert Quine, Lou Reed has at last found another simpatico guitarist, and he's just delighted to spar with him on "Sister Ray" and all those other great old songs which, frustratingly, just haven't been played right for years?"{{cite web| work= Rock's Backpages | title=Lou Reed: Live in Italy|author=Mat Snow | url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/lou-reed--live-in-italy}}{{subscription required|s}} Ken Tucker of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave Live in Italy a five out of five star rating, declaring it "a wonderful encapsulation of Reed's career" finding Reed's vocals "tart and witty" and that "his phrasing loses very little subtlety in this huge-arena context."Tucker also praised Robert Quine who "delivers some of the finest, roughest, most caustic rock guitar playing I've ever heard."
Track listing
All songs written by Lou Reed except as indicated.
=Side one=
- "Sweet Jane" (3:46)
- "I'm Waiting for My Man" (4:00)
- "Martial Law" (4:06)
- "Satellite of Love" (5:06)
=Side two=
- "Kill Your Sons" (5:35)
- "Betrayed" (3:05)
- "Sally Can't Dance" (3:24)
- "Waves of Fear" (3:16)
- "Average Guy" (2:54)
=Side three=
- "White Light/White Heat" (3:10)
- "Some Kinda Love / Sister Ray" (Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker) (15:30)
=Side four=
- "Walk on the Wild Side" (4:28)
- "Heroin" (8:34)
- "Rock & Roll" (6:10)
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.{{cite book|title=Live in Italy liner notes|year=1983|publisher=RCA Records}}
- Lou Reed – vocals, guitar
- Fred Maher – drums
- Robert Quine – guitar
- Fernando Saunders – bass guitar
Production
- Pietro Di Silvestro – artwork
- Rossella Antonelli[http://www.discogs.com/artist/2335460–Rossella–Antonelli Discogs – Rossella Antonelli profile and discography] – cover artwork
- Fabio Berruti – Artwork, Graphic Design
- Piero Nannucci[http://www.discogs.com/artist/420814–Piero–Mannucci Discogs – Piero Mannucci profile and discography] – mastering and cutting engineering, RCA Studios, Rome
- Guido Harari[http://www.discogs.com/artist/420475–Guido–Harari Discogs – Guido Harari profile and discography] – Photography
- Luciano Viti[http://www.discogs.com/artist/2246392–Luciano–Viti Discogs – Luciano Viti profile and discography] – photography
- Antonio La Rosa[http://www.discogs.com/artist/466644–Antonio–La–Rosa Dicogs – Antonio La Rosa profile and discography] – remastering[http://www.discogs.com/Lou–Reed–Live–In–Italy/release/4858308 Discogs – Live in Italy 2001 CD Europe]
- Toshikazu Ohtaka[http://www.discogs.com/artist/1825339–Toshikazu–Ohtaka Discogs – Toshikazu Ohtaka profile and discography] – liner notes[http://www.discogs.com/Lou–Reed–Live–In–Italy/release/2744713 Discogs – Live in Italy 2006–09–20th reissue CD Japan]
- Carlo Basile[http://www.discogs.com/artist/483074–Carlo–Basile Discogs – Carlo Basile profile and discography] – executive coordinator, RCA Italiana
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Lou Reed}}