From Amazon.co.uk
John Cale has one of the richest CVs in pop, with experience in avant-garde music even before he met
Lou Reed and they formed the
Velvet Underground. His record productions include such landmarks as the
debut by the Stooges and Patti Smith's
Horses. But as a solo artist, Cale has often seemed caught between his sophisticated leanings and his fondness for punky attitudes. Two early albums,
Vintage Violence and
Paris 1919, were the work of a highly developed pop musician; later albums found Cale the pop provocateur dominating the show. Cale's a fairly deadpan singer, but the sweet mix of rock band instrumentation and fuller orchestration make
Paris 1919 one of his strongest efforts, and the lovely "Andalucia" one of his very best songs. If the righteous boogie of "Macbeth" sounds familiar, that's because Lowell George and Richie Hayward, guitarist and drummer of
Little Feat, formed the core of Cale's studio band.
--John Milward