LOS ANGELES, CA. (Top40 ChartsWarner Bros. Records/ BB Gun Press) The Darren Aronofsky-directed video for "The View," from
Lou Reed and Metallica's album Lulu, will premiere exclusively this Saturday, December 3rd at 10 AM on IFC.com and will be promoted on the IFC television network. Although the original plan was to shoot a performance video of "Iced Honey," when everyone got together, it became obvious "The View" was the way to go.
"The first time I heard 'The View' I was stunned," said Darren Aronofsky. "I had never heard anything like it. Half was all Lou. The other half all Metallica. It was a marriage that on the surface made no sense, but the fusion changed the way I thought about both artists and morphed into something completely fresh and new. I couldn't stop listening to it. Lou's crushing lyrics, and the band's incredible licks. It's so original and that's why I wanted to work on it."
"I am very excited about working with Darren Aronofsky on our powerful video 'The View,'" said Lou Reed. "I feel Darren understood the power and range of the emotions fueled by the fire of Metallica. His strength and spirit are on display in every frame and I think he has caught the anger, rage and anguish at the bottom of the soul of real rock. A literate man for a literate song. As exciting as the music and that's a big compliment. Possibly the best video ever made. Black and white filmic noir."
"To have a song like 'The View' visualized through the eyes and magic touch of Darren Aronofsky is beyond my wildest dream," said Metallica's Lars Ulrich. "The marriage between images, music, and words in this video is indescribably thrilling and I am so next level psyched to be involved in a project that brings together the creative minds of Darren Aronofsky, Lou Reed ... and The 'Tallica."
A collaboration between Reed and Metallica, Lulu includes a set of extended songs inspired by German expressionist Frank Wedekind's early 20th century plays Earth Spirit and Pandora's Box, and were a rewrite of Edgar Allan Poe's, The Raven, which emerged as a graphic novel on Fantagraphics Press. Rolling Stone has called Lulu "one of the season's hottest albums," while the New York Times called it "a set of wrenching, astonishingly profane songs. Beneath Mr. Reed's searing vocals, Metallica's serrated guitars and drums churn like a torture device." ARTISTdirect dubbed Lulu "the ultimate 21st century rock opera," while CBS Sunday Morning called it "a testament to brains AND brawn."
About Lou Reed: The king of New York avant-rock, Lou Reed made innovative, iconoclastic music with the profoundly influential The Velvet Underground before "Walk On The Wild Side" gave him 1972's most unlikely pop hit. He reacted to this development with admirable perversity; releasing a stream of diverse and challenging solo albums, from the macabre, monumental Berlin to the subtle, seductive Coney Island Baby, from the wallpaper-peeling Metal Machine Music (Cash Box review: no stars) to the punk pivot Street Hassle. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in 1996. Recent years have seen his always-present literary bent come increasingly to the fore on works like New York, Magic And Loss, and The Raven.
About Metallica: Formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by drummer Lars Ulrich and guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield, Metallica have become one of the most influential and commercially successful rock bands in history, having sold 100 million albums worldwide and playing to millions of fans the world over. They have scored almost a dozen multi-platinum albums, including 1991's Metallica (commonly referred to as "The Black Album"), which is the best selling album in history of Soundscan scanning almost 15.7 million albums in the United States alone, and over 25 million worldwide. In October 2008, their latest album, Death Magnetic, debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart and in 27 additional countries around the world. It was certified platinum in the United States just six weeks later. Metallica have also garnered numerous awards and accolades, including nine Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, and multiple MTV Video Music Awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009.
About Darren Aronofsky: Darren Aronofsky's films Black Swan, The Wrestler, The Fountain, Requiem For A Dream, and Pi have earned the Brooklyn native a number of honors including Academy Award and Golden Globe wins and nominations, three Independent Spirit Awards, plus various international film festival prizes. His honors also include the American Film Institute's prestigious Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal and the Golden Horse Visionary Award presented by the Stockholm Film Festival.
