LOU REED: ROCK AND ROLL HEART [DEU 1992] CD/RE EN GIRONA

LOU REED: ROCK AND ROLL HEART [DEU 1992] CD/RE LOU REED: ROCK AND ROLL HEART [DEU 1992] CD/RE (Arista - BMG)  1992  made in Germany cat. num.  262 271 #rock   1 I Believe In Love 2:42 2 Banging On My Drum 2:09 3 Follow The Leader 2:09 4 You Wear It So Well 4:47 5 Ladies Pay 4:17 6 Rock And Roll Heart 3:02 7 Chooser And The Chosen One 2:44 8 Senselessly Cruel 2:04 9 Claim To Fame 2:48 10 Vicious Circle 2:52 11 A Sheltered Life 2:17 12 Temporary Thing 5:12   Rock and Roll Heart  was  Lou Reed 's first album for Arista Records, and one senses that he wanted to come up with something saleable for his new sponsors. Uptempo numbers with pop hooks dominate the set, the 12 songs zip by in an efficient 38 minutes, and instead of  Reed 's trademark meditations on the dark side of life, the lyrics are (for the most part) lean bursts of verse and chorus, in which the artist sings the praises of good times in general and rock & roll in particular (then again, on "I Believe in Love,"  Reed  pledges his allegiance to both "good time music" and "the iron cross," a bit of perversity to remind us whose album this is). But if  Rock and Roll Heart  sounds like " Lou Reed  Lite," there are more than a few flashes of  Reed 's inarguable talent. His band is in fine form (especially  Marty Fogel  on sax and  Michael Fonfara  on keyboards). "Banging on My Drum" is a crunchy rocker that recalls his work with  the Velvet Underground; "A Sheltered Life" is an amusing bit of  VU  archeology (the Velvets demoed the song, but this marked its first appearance on record); and the closer, "Temporary Thing," is a bitter, haunting narrative that foreshadows  Reed 's next album, the harrowing masterpiece  Street Hassle.