John Cale
Real Name:
John Davies Cale
Profile:
Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer (born 9 March 1942, Garnant, Wales, UK), best known as a co-founder of The Velvet Underground with Lou Reed. He has worked with Theatre Of Eternal Music and produced the seminal debut albums for The Stooges, Patti Smith, and The Modern Lovers.
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John Cale
Marketplace 41,470 For Sale
Reviews Show All 10 Reviews
telexandroid
December 4, 2016
edited over 5 years ago
One of the most rewarding discographies to get lost in. Fear(the title track is his absolute masterpiece in my opinion, and the rest of the album travels from gorgeous to insane and back again), Music For a New Society(beautiful and devastating, some brilliant lyrics and improvisation along with fragile and gorgeous arrangements), and Fragments of a Rainy Season(a brilliant compilation tracklist in itself that just happens to be brilliant solo performances of some of his best songs/covers) are my absolute essentials. There's also the lush, nostalgic, 70s pop of Paris 1919 and Vintage Violence or the trashy glam pastiches of Slow Dazzle and Helen of Troy. His semi-punk period of Sabotage and the Animal Justice EP is also essential with ragers like Mercenaries and the proto-Birthday Party raver Chicken Shit. The more overlooked (in an already all too overlooked discography) 80s albums like Honi Soit and Artificial Intelligence have their great moments as well (ie Wilson Joilet, Dead or Alive, Dying on the Vine, or Black Rose). He has his misses as well but they are absolutely outweighed by a career filled with fantastic composition, songwriting, and forward momentum. Not to mention his great work in the 21st century that has continued in 2016 with the M:FANS album and performances at the Bowie Proms and the Velvets anniversary concert in Paris. In a year where we've lost too many legends it's worth remembering those we still have and hopefully will have for years to come. John Cale's a musician's musician and honestly a perfect subject for the devoted music fan.
nagyphilip
November 20, 2016
Highly underrated artist! No comments yet? FEAR is one of the greatest albums ever recorded. Better than any Lou Reed if you ask me. Also recorded other classics for the ISLAND label.
sunset123
January 3, 2021