My Metal Machine Music

Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music set the precedent for unformed, harrowing distortion. At the time of its release in the mid-70s, the album was considered an act of career suicide, yet its philosophy has been sung by many successful acts since. The two most apparent of these acts are My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth. By draping their songs in mind-bending distortion, it elevated the sonic ambiance to that of something akin to a natural force, like a tornado. Yet even Machine Music's screech is strongly felt in the Beach Boyish pop tunes of the Jesus and Mary Chain, stabbing out amongst the hummable melodies. How MBV and SY are different are that they made the noise an integral and cohesive part of their sound, so that if you stripped away the chords and melody you would have Metal Machine Music, the raw genetic material of such noisy records.

This is not to in any way undermine to fantastic songwriting chops of both MBV and Sonic Youth. Its just so ironic that MMM was deemed such a failure, or at possibly some sort of stunt. Lou Reed recently talked about the earnestness in which this record was produced, how he could only have made such a piece of art only if it really moved him. This seemed to come as a shock to some, yet it never seemed like people were questioning whether or not MBV or Sonic Youth were pulling any stunts. Yet MBV plays shows that end in 20 minutes of shattering noise, and on Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation, considered by many to be their most popular and accessible album, a majority of the tunes devolve into pure noise at some point or another. At that point MMM is being reiterated straight up.

That's not to suggest that having song structures doesn't help the noise go down easier. It's just that while MMM isn't the most listenable album, its "difficulties" have been reused in different contexts much to the gain of those who reused them. Pure noise isn't really something to be judged, anyway. Its ever present, like adding gain to the buzz of your fridge. And it can make for some great music.