The Bells (album)

Infobox Album |
Name = The Bells
Type = Album
Artist = Lou Reed


Released = April 1979
Recorded = 1979 Delta Studios, Wilster, West Germany
Genre = Rock
Length = 40:37
Label = Arista Records
Producer = Lou Reed
Reviews = * Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:23120r1ac48n link] "
* Rolling Stone" (not rated) [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/loureed/albums/album/210478/review/5942978/the_bells link]

Last album = "" (1978)
This album = "The Bells" (1979)
Next album = "Growing Up in Public" (1980)

"The Bells" is the ninth album by Lou Reed. Arista Records released the album in 1979. It is recorded in binaural sound. "City Lights" is a tribute to Charlie Chaplin. "Disco Mystic" is indeed played in a disco style, and the lyrics consist of those two words repeated. "Families" is an explicitly personal entreaty to his own parents and sister, with the closing line "Families that live out in the suburbs often make each other cry". "I Want to Boogie With You" has a doo-wop flavor (even if underneath the horns are the synthesizers which permeate this album), a I-to-IV Plagal cadence repeated throughout. The title track is said to be a favorite of Reed's, and he claims the lyrics were made up extemporaneously.

Track listing

All tracks written by Lou Reed; except where indicated

#"Stupid Man" - 2:33 (Reed, Nils Lofgren)
#"Disco Mystic" - 4:30 (Reed, Ellard Boles, Marty Fogel, Michael Fonfara, Michael Suchorsky)
#"I Want to Boogie With You" - 3:55 (Reed, Michael Fonfara)
#"With You" - 2:21 (Reed, Nils Lofgren)
#"Looking for Love" - 3:29
#"City Lights" - 3:22 (Reed, Nils Lofgren)
#"All Through the Night" - 5:00 (Reed, Don Cherry)
#"Families" - 6:09 (Reed, Ellard Boles)
#"The Bells" - 9:17 (Reed, Marty Fogel)

Personnel:

*Lou Reed - vocals, electric guitar, synthesizer, bass
*Ellard "Moose" Boles - 12-string electric guitar, synthesizer, bass, background vocals
*Don Cherry - African hunting guitar, trumpet
*Marty Fogel - ocarina, soprano & tenor saxophones, Fender Rhodes piano, guitar on "The Bells"
*Michael Fonfara - electric & Fender Rhodes pianos, keyboards, Orberheim synthesizer, background vocals, Executive Producer
*Michael Suchorsky - percussion