john cale v. lou reed

I'd say the chemistry of all members is what made the Velvets great. Even Moe Tucker was essential.

Nicoooooooo!

I dunno - I prefer the later Doug Yule era stuff.

as solo artists...i much prefer "vintage violence" and "paris 1919" to what reed did. however in vu you can't even compare them. both added so much

agreed, very underrated album

Lou Reed's best work is better than John Cale's.

John Cale's had a far more impressive lifetime career than Lou Reed.

And it was a mistake to have Cale leave the band.

If anything, John Cale has shown that he's able to work in a wider array of contexts than Lou Reed, especially as a producer. In the last few years, Cale has sometimes only been playing piano in performances, which I think is kind of interesting in that he effectively gives up the ability to do the swaggering-with-guitar schtick that Reed loves so much.

I like Lou Reed better.

Yeah, actually, the swaggering-with-guitar schtick really works.

She also had hits prior to VU with Jimmy Page and an extensive, interesting solo career in which she did in fact compose and play her own songs with an impressive outcome. So she wasn't just some glamorous bitch who showed up out of the mist and disappeared in to drug obscurity.

Lou Reed has made a bigger name for himself and personally I prefer him to Cale. Lou Reed's work at times was poor however he did bring alot to the world moreso than Cale, in my opinion. They are so different it makes it hard to compare.

Who would win in a fight? Well, they're both sissies... so I'm gonna have to say Nico.

I've found with most Velvets fans, they realize her role was minimal and regard her more for her solo career. I honestly would have a hard time listening to anyone else other than Nico singing lead on "All Tomorrow's Parties" though.

Lou Reed is to Jagger/Richards as John Cale is to Brian Jones.

I'll sometimes lull myself to sleep with Cale's "Sun Blindness Music," the recently uncovered pre-Velvets recording where he performs variations on a single organ chord/drone for 43 minutes.

I dont find John Cales solo work accessible or inspiring.

I love 80% of Lous work - his concerts last year were simply sublime and one of the best shows i have ever seen.

I luv 97.5% of the Velvets work.

Cale produced the first Stooges album ++ points there...
Reed is a great guitarist and an excelent songwriter who's married to Laurie Anderson (or at least seeing her)...

winner = Lou Reed.

(Cale's first solo album was garbage)

Cale gets points for being Welsh. Reed gets points off for that curly mullet he had for years (although he has since apologised). Overall, I'd say Lou just edges it musically, but in a fight, Cale all the way...