Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse

'Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse' is the audio release of Reed's 2006 performances of his classic 'Berlin' album from 1973. Upon the original release of Berlin, Lou Reed's controversial successor to the wildly popular 'Transformer', Rolling Stone's Stephen Davis described it as one of "certain records so patently offensive that one wishes to take some kind of physical vengeance on the artists that perpetrate them...a distorted and degenerate demimonde of paranoia, schizophrenia, degradation, pill-induced violence and suicide." A earnest pan, yes, but also a fabulous pull quote. Thirty years later, the magazine named it one of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Staging 'Berlin' had been discussed for over 30 years, and in December of 2006 it became a reality, over four days at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn. It was the first time Reed performed the album live. The New York Times said that Reed "wasn't revisiting these songs as oldies or artifacts; he was reinhabiting them...Berlin carried Reed's music to an ornate extreme, but now its trappings are secondary. What comes through is the way it feels." Though the album's harrowing qualities are well documented, the experience of seeing and hearing it brought to life was invigorating.

Produced by Bob Ezrin and Hal Willner, and featuring musicians like Fernando Saunders, Antony, Steve Hunter, Rob Wassermann, Rupert Christie and Sharon Jones, a seven piece orchestra (including Eyvind Kang and Jane Scarpantoni), and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, this recording magnifies the cinematic quality of the original album. It also includes the three encores, "Candy Says," "Rock Minuet," and "Sweet Jane."

'Berlin' remains one of the most alarming and frank highlights of a career marked by innovation and candor. Just as Schnabel's effort is far more ambitious than your average concert film, this release stands as a majestic and poignant re-imagining of one of the 20th century's most powerful works.