There have been some dodgy, not to mention forgettable, musical collaborations over the years. The Girl is Mine and Dancing in the Street to name two, but at least Jacko and Sir Paul, and Mick Jagger and David Bowie had the courtesy to stick to doing just one (or two) tracks. Lou Reed and Metallica have gone and done a whole album together - and the result is difficult, hard-going, and often harrowing listening.
Sometimes, when it comes to these two acts especially, harrowing can be a good - or, at the very least, fascinating - thing. More than 20 years on, Metallica's One remains a beautifully brutal and uncompromising listen (even though it's as catchy as hell too), and one of music's ultimate challenges is wrapping your ears around Reed's 1975 double album Metal Machine Music.
Yes, it's easy to put the boot into these two big names of music, but while this oddball pairing coming together on Lulu might sound intriguing on paper, in reality it is incongruous and doesn't work.
But Metallica are metal's mega band and Reed is one of the most revered rebels in music, so they can both do what ever the hell they like. And there needs to be more enterprise and willingness to try something different in music these days - even if there's no guarantee it will be a success.
It was Reed's idea to collaborate with Metallica, apparently. They had teamed up to play Velvet Underground's Sweet Jane and White Light/White Heat at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame 25th anniversary concert in 2009 - and the plan to work together was broached then. Lulu was eventually recorded over 10 days in the middle of this year.
