Sally Can't Dance

by Lou Reed

Overview

On the live album Rock N Roll Animal, Lou Reed showed he'd learned how to give his audience what they wanted, and do it well. Sally Can't Dance, on the other hand, was the polar opposite, a remarkably cynical album that pandered to the lowest common denominator of the market that had bought Transformer and Rock N Roll Animal, and didn't even do it with much flair. Reed's performances here are limited to vocals, except for some sloppy acoustic guitar on one track (this from the man who helped reinvent electric guitar with the Velvet Underground), and the sodden, overblown arrangements sink most of these tunes before they get past the first chorus; much of the time, Reed sounds like an afterthought on his own album. And while Reed's best songwriting ranks with the best rock of his generation, Sally Can't Dance is cluttered with throwaways that reach for the boho decadence of Transformer and come up empty (with special recognition going to the bizarre and truly puzzling "Animal Language"). Side two does offer two worthwhile songs: "Kill Your Sons," a powerful and deeply personal remembrance of Reed's bouts with shock treatment and brutal psychotherapy, which he would revisit in a much stronger performance on 1984's Live in Italy, and "Billy," a witty and surprisingly poignant remembrance of an old friend and how their paths in life diverged. But otherwise, Sally Can't Dance has the distinction of being the worst studio album of Reed's career; Metal Machine Music may have been a lot more annoying, but at least he was trying on that one. ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	03/29/2019
Label:	Sony Legacy Mod
UPC:	0190759536124
Rank:	43624

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Lou Reed   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards,Guitar (Acoustic)
Jon Faddis   Guest Artist,Horn
Michael Fonfara   Vocals (Background),Keyboards,Mellophonium
Michael Wendroff   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Alex Foster   Horn
Trevor Koehler   Horn
Ritchie Dharma   Drums
Steve Katz   Harmonica
Prakash John   Bass,Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Lou Marini   Horn
Alan Rubin   Horn
Whitey Glan   Drums
Danny Weis   Guitar,Vocals,Tambourine,Vocals (Background)
Joanne Vent   Bass,Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Paul Fleisher   Saxophone
Doug Yule   Bass
David Taylor   Horn

Technical Credits

Mike Stone   Engineer
Steve Katz   Producer,Horn Arrangements
Prakash John   Horn Arrangements
George Semkiw   Mastering
Danny Weis   Horn Arrangements
Victoria Sarro   Project Director
Mick Rock   Photography
Acy Lehman   Art Direction
Paul Williams   Reissue Supervisor
Michael Hill   Liner Notes
Lou Reed   Composer,Producer,Horn Arrangements
Lew Soloff   Horn Arrangements
Michael Fonfara   Horn Arrangements
Bob Ludwig   Remastering
David Byrd   Cover Art