Maturity is accepting your initial taste and thoughts on the solo works of Lou Reed thoroughly missed the mark. Say what you will about his latter-day projects, but the man hit it out of the park time and time again. These moments make up the core of The Power of the Heart: A Tribute to Lou Reed – with the likes of Keith Richards and Joan Jett keen to pay their respects by offering a version of a classic song from the backlog. Quality artists are in no short supply for this one and the pick of material is equally strong. What goes wrong for The Power of the Heart, then? It fails to mount the one constant trouble of tribute albums, the sense of bettering the original or changing it so totally from its starting point to give listeners a reason to tune in. Neither happens here.
Solid works throughout at least. Richards in his 80s sounds close to Reed in his 30s. Punchy work from Maxim Ludwig and Angel Olsen has a sliver of straight rock to build from on I Can’t Stand It. Tepid qualities like this are the trouble with cover albums and artists reflecting on the work of their contemporaries or influences. It all falls apart by Perfect Day, a rushed and hushed Rufus Wainwright cover brings out nothing but the man himself and a guitar. Replacing the hope slowly crushed under the boot of reality on the original recording with an out-of-step lead vocal and the occasionally heard backing work is a kick to the head. A sad shame considering the clear love spread across the project. As it turns out, Reed had most of his songs nailed down as he intended them to sound and no amount of meddling from those who mean well will change this.
I’m So Free, the Joan Jett feature buried on this album is a lacklustre affair. So too is Sally Can’t Dance in the hands of Bobby Rush. All of it feels lifeless and a little jerked out of place. The Power of the Heart provides a weak pulse for those hoping to extend their love for Lou by covering his works. To violently shake up the foundations of the Reed classics or to stick with them rigidly and offer an underwhelming vocal performance is no choice. But The Power of the Heart features both and tries to turn Walk on the Wild Side into a piece of lounge pop. I Love You, Suzanne feels empty and heartless under The Afghan Whigs’ forgettable watch though Mary Gauthier does well to steady the ship. A sinking vessel nonetheless that preys on fans of Reed and snatches at their hard-earned cash before they have time to process anything following the solid Richards opener.
A tribute within a tribute is marked on Coney Island Baby as Gauthier is given the chance to pay her own, independent respects to the late Reed, despite featuring on an album set up to do just this. The Power of the Heart has a credible selection of legendary musicians, and it is a shock to hear how little they are capable of. Reed likely would have enjoyed so many coming around to showcase their love for him but enough of it happened when he was around to thank the likes of Nick Cave and Shane McGowan for paying tribute. There is no ripping the influence of Reed away from artists hellbent on covering his work, but The Power of the Heart is a keen example of how few can tap into the stream of quality and thought Reed was working with, and how easy it is to misinterpret his message.
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