'' is a
Two-disc LP (now
Audio CD ) by
Lou Reed . It was released by
RCA Records in
1975 . The album was re-released by
BMG in
1998 and again by
Buddah Records in
2000 .
''Metal Machine Music'' is generally considered to be either a joke, a begrudging fulfillment of a contractual obligation, or an early example of
Noise Music . According to Reed (despite the original liner notes), the album entirely consists of
Guitar Feedback played at different speeds. He recorded the work on a
Four-track Tape Recorder in his
New York apartment, mixing the four tracks for
Stereo .
In its original form, each track occupied one side of an LP record and lasted around 16 minutes, though the fourth side was specifically cut to repeat the last few seconds endlessly. The rare
8-Track Tape version has no silence in between programs, so that it plays continuously without gaps on most players.
In an interview with
Rock Journalist Lester Bangs , Reed claimed that he had intentionally placed sonic allusions to classical works like
Beethoven 's ''
Eroica '' and ''
Pastoral '' in the distortion. It is not clear whether or not he was actually being serious.
The album was ranked number two in the for having to listen to the album in its entirety. In 2005,
''Q'' Magazine included the album in a list of "Ten Terrible Records by Great Artists".
Comedian
Gilbert Gottfried sometimes used the record as audio backdrop, when he hosted
USA Network 's ''
USA Up All Night '' in the
1990s .
# Metal Machine Music, Part 1 (16:10)
# Metal Machine Music, Part 2 (15:53)
# Metal Machine Music, Part 3 (16:13)
# Metal Machine Music, Part 4 (15:55)
:
Sony 1/2 track
:
Uher 1/4 track
:
Pioneer 1/4 track
:5 piggyback
Marshall Tube
::Amps in series
:Arbitor
Distortor (Jimi's)
:
Marantz Preamps
:
Marantz Amps
:Altec Voice of America
:Monitor Speakers
:
Sennheiser Headphones
:
Drone cognizance and harmonic
::possibilities
Vis A Vis
::
Lamont Young's Dream Music
:Rock orientation, melodically
::disguised, i.e. drag
:Avoidance of any type of
Atonality .
:
Electro-Voice high filter
Microphones
:
Fender Tremolo Unit
:
Sunn Tremolo Unit
:
Ring Modulator /Octave Relay Jump
:
Fender Dual Showman Bass Amp with
::
Reverb Unit (Pre-Columbia) white
:No
Synthesizers
:No
Arp
:No
Instruments?
:— 10
Db + 57
Db
:— 20
Hz — + 30,000
Hz
:— 12 kz — +28,000 kz
:Distortion 0.02 bass and
::treble ceilings
:Combinations and Permutations
::built upon constant harmonic
::Density Increase and Melodic
::Distractions.
:STRICT
STEREO SEPARATION
:No
Panning
:No
Phasing
:No
