YMMV / Metal Machine Music

• Audience-Alienating Premise: Over an hour of guitar feedback and screeching noises. That is all. The album was Reed's first to not chart at all in any country since his days with The Velvet Underground (even his first solo album just barely made the Billboard 200), and RCA Records deleted it after just three weeks. From AllMusic's review:
  "Metal Machine Music seems a bit less startling today, now that bands like Sonic Youth and The Boredoms have created some sort of context for it, but it hasn't gotten any more user friendly with time — while Thurston Moore may go nuts on his guitar like this for three or four minutes at a stretch, Metal Machine Music goes on and on and on for over an hour, pausing only for side breaks with no rhythms, melodies, or formal structures to buffer the onslaught."
• Bile Fascination: A possible reason for selling somewhat well (a reissue claims 100,000 copies). Lou Reed even mentioned that "Well, anyone who gets to side four is dumber than I am."
• Genius Bonus: The original cover has the subtitle The Amine β Ring. This is an actual term from organic chemistry, referring to a structure that among other things is found in many nervous system stimulants. Including amphetamine, which has often been credited/blamed as an inspiration for the album.
• Nightmare Fuel: In addition to being just unpleasant to listen to, this album has something of a Nothing Is Scarier vibe. The entire thing feels like it's building up to a Jump Scare that never happens.

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