Live In Berlin by Manuel Graziani - RUMORE

Walter Lure non ha bisogno di presentazioni per chi mastica il punk newyorkese dei ‘70. Agli ignari è doveroso ricordare che è stato il secondo chitarrista degli Heartbreakers e che (anche) alla penna di questo tizio si devono pietre miliari come One Track Mind e Get Off The Phone dal capolavoro punk L.A.M.F. Pare che il vecchio e sopravvissuto Walter si diverta ancora a rivangare il passato sui palchi di mezzo mondo, come dimostra questo album dal vivo tratto da un concerto berlinese del 2007. In poco più di 40 minuti Mr. Lure cala una quantità spropositata di assi: dai due pezzi sopraccitati a Chinese Rocks, Born To Lose, Too Much Junkie Business fino al superclassico sixties Do You Love Me? di Berry Gordy Jr. che chiude la scaletta nel comprensibile tripudio generale. Fossero tutte così le operazioni nostalgia.

Live in Berlin by Oscarkotj - oscarkotj.blogspot.com

Hubo una epoca en mi ciudad que entraras en el bar que entraras habia un disco sonando en todos ellos. L.A.MF. acababa de tener su segunda oportunidad con una reedicion que daba grima gracias al sello Twins. Este recuerdo llega hoy a mi cabeza cuando pongo este cd y empiezan a sonar varios de los temas que venían incluido en ese MITICO álbum y uno de los supervivientes de aquellos Heartbreakers que sin duda nos rompieron el corazón a mas de uno sigue recurriendo a temas con tirada a pesar de los años. Walter Lure era el acompañante de Johnny Thunders, Billy Rath y Jerry Nolan en plena vorágine punk en 1977 y co-autor de algunos de los inolvidables temas que estos punks de la gran manzana hicieron. Tras la muerte de J. Thunders, Mr Lure colaboro con los Ramones e intento sobrevivir con bandas como The Hurricanes, The Heroes o The Waldos esta ultima con un lp producido por Andy Shernoff (The Dictators), la experiencia de todos esos años resuenan en este Live in Berlin, que sin duda no va a ser el disco de cabecera de nadie, pero quien es capaz de resistirse a la revisión de manera contundente de una colección de temas que fueron parte de la banda sonora de mi caminar por el final de la adolescencia y mas siendo tocados por uno de los autores principales que se fogea con entrega por temas como “One Track Mind”, “Get off the Phone”, “London Boys” , “Let´s Go”, “I Wanna be Loved” “Born to Lose” , “Chinese Rocks”, “Too Much Junkie Business” o un “Do you love me?” que pone a todo el mundo patas arriba, con una banda de acompañamiento que no decae y con la Les Paul sonando a rock and roll sin trampa ni carton, Salud Mr Lure!!!!!!!!.

Live in Berlin by Ramon - www.lukinzine.se

Walter Lure behöver egentligen inte någon närmare presentation, då han rätterligen borde ha en någorlunda legendarisk status vid det här laget. Han var med och startade The Heartbreakers tillsammans med Johnny Thunders (New York Dolls) och Richard Hell (Television, The Voidoids) 1976, vilket faktiskt borde räcka för att skapa både kredibilitet och nyfikenhet.

Senast jag hörde något från Walter Lure var för några år sedan när han spelade tillsammans med New York-bandet The Waldos, vilket kanske inte var det bästa som hade hänt rockscenen. På soloskivan "Live In Berlin" släpper dock Walter alla tyglar och bjuder Berlin-publiken på den ena Heartbreakers-klassikern efter den andra. Eller vad sägs om tidslösa pärlor som "Let go" och "Born to lose"? Visst förlorar låtarna lite kraft utan Johnnys röst och gitarrspel, men Walter lyckas ändå framkalla en ärlig pub- och gubbrockskänsla och verkar framförallt ha riktigt kul medan han gör det. Skivan är lite för lång för sitt eget bästa eller så är jag helt enkelt för nykter för att uppskatta helheten, men i vilket fall som helst är det roligt att den här rockgubben återigen försöker göra sig hörd.

Live in Berlin by Laurent - Veglam

Mostly known as a member of The HEARTBREAKERS, Walter Lure decided to come and rock Europe in 2007 and this wasn't a bad idea! With the help of a solid backing band from Belgium, Walter toured the old-school way in most European rock'n'roll clubs.
This live album was recorded at the famous Wild At Heart in Berlin, Germany and allows us to hear kick ass live versions of classics such as « One Track Mind », « Chinese Rocks », « Born To Lose », « I Wanna Be Loved », « London Boys », « Too Much Junkie Business » among others. And yes we'll never get sick of hearing these tunes! You'll also find an amazing wersion of « Cry Baby » on this CD.
Fans will love it and if you just need a good compilation of these songs, then this can be for you too.

Live in Berlin by The Barman - www.i94bar.com

Achtung! If the name Walter Lure doesn't ring bells, jump right out of the steeple, ya heathen. Taken from a German show in 2007, this is the liveliest of live records. No surprises but no prisoners taken, either.

Walter once was a Heartbreaker where he was the slightly more precise foil to Johnny Thunders' slip-slidey six-string attack. He also played most of the memorable lead guitarwork as a session guy for the Ramones on their latter-day recordings. So he has form.

When, after numerous reformations, the Heartbreakers finally expired (along with their founder, quickly followed by their drummer) Walter had already made sensible lifestyle choices. He'd carved out a day-time career on the money markets in the Big Apple, moonlighting with his own band The Waldos who remain a "brand" with differing personnel to this day. The latest Waldos evidently couldn't make it when Walter got the call to go to Europe so he recruited a pick-up band - allegedly Belgians, but the surnames of a couple beg to differ - and this album on the always interesting Italian label Nicotine is the result.

The fact a live CD exists now makes you wonder why The Waldos didn't do another studio recording after their wonderful "Rent Party". That was way back in 1995, for chrissakes. Walter Lure still plays those piercing, spiraling leads and drawls out the same call-to-order vocals like a Little Italy waiter telling his pizza chef to hold the anchovies. Put his absence from the CD racks until now down to him being too busy or record companies being too clueless to ask.

You'll easily guess the content of the live show. Half the set is Heartbreakers standards (mostly originals, a few of their usual covers) while "Sorry", "Cry Baby" and "Busted" from "Rent Party" all rate a place. They've delivered raucously and true to their ragged spirit. It should be mentioned that Walter was the consistent songwriter in the Heartbreakers, finishing tunes his distracted band-mates couldn't complete.

So the Heartbreakers weren't the world's rehearsed band and on an especially chemically-assisted night were about as tight as a Times Square hooker's handbag. Junk rock cliches to one side, they also just happened to be one of the two or three most dangerous rock and roll acts on the planet. This record doesn't have that same air - how could it? - but nor does it fall apart at every change. Lure's band sounds like they're starting to hit their straps and his playing is brutal. The recording quality is boomy enough to impart a measure of that good ol' live ambience, and if things get a little messy in the vocal trenches sometimes then that just adds to the thrill. Rock and roll should never be antiseptic and the odd bump in the road keeps you awake behind the wheel.

Live in Berlin - Planettrash

Voor het gemak was ik er vanuit gegaan dat de beste man ondertussen al een tijdje onder de groene zoden lag. Het was dan ook wel een hele tijd geleden dat er wat werd vernomen van de nog altijd in levend zijnde legende Walter Lure. Zijn laatste plaat dateert uit 1995 en de laatste keer dat hij in Europa was dateert nog van de periode voor die laatste plaat. Als de wenkbrauwen worden gefronst bij het horen van de naam Walter Lure dan mag er even schaammoment worden ingelast. Lure was de gitarist van The Heartbreakers en heeft op de nodige Ramonesplaten gitaar gespeeld. De man mag dan bijna vergeten zijn, dood is hij allerminst. Zijn vorig jaar opgenomen album Live In Berlin is daar het bewijs van. Live In Berlin haalt overigens geen moment het niveau van Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers ook al worden er veel Heartbreakersklassiekers gespeeld, maar het doet goed om te horen dat Walter Lure nog bezig is met zijn roestige riffs en ranzige rock. Nicotine Records heeft er goed aangedaan deze plaat uit te brengen.

Live in Berlin by Simone - www.lamette.it

I più ricorderanno Walter Lure come secondo chitarrista degli Heartbreakers e braccio sinistro di Johnny Thunders (il destro era notoriamente Jerry Nolan). Non senza necrofilia, purtroppo, possiamo affermare che Lure è anche l’unico superstite del terzetto. Thunders e Nolan sono morti da oltre quindici anni, e Waldo – come lo chiamavano loro – continua a portare in giro per il mondo la loro musica e la sua, nel nome dell’unico, vero punk’n’roll che ha fatto la storia mondiale del genere. Una cosa che ci tengo molto a sottolineare subito, è che Lure non è mai stato un gregario, né nel ‘77 né dopo. Gran parte dei pezzi del capolavoro assoluto “L.A.M.F.” li ha scritti anche lui, e lui li canta nei solchi del leggendario vinile. Ecco perché, oggi come oggi, è il miglior coverizzatore degli Hearbreakers esistente al mondo.
14 pezzi di scalettone dal vivo, divisi tra tantissimissimi cavalli di battaglia (“One track mind”, “Get off the phone”, “Let go”, “London boys”, “Take a chance” – con cui Jerry Nolan fece un 45 giri solo, “I wanna be loved”, “Born to lose”, “Chinese rocks”, “Too much junkie business” – celebre rilettura eroinica di Chuck Berry – e la cover di “Do you love me?” dei Contours), originali di Lure e cover mai udite prima. Una chicca assoluta è la sua versione di “Busted”, che tutti ricorderanno nell’epica interpretazione di Johnny Cash durante il concerto alla prigione di Folsom.
Proponendomi una produzione del genere, Alberto e Gianfranco della Nicotine sfondano una porta aperta. Ho goduto come pochi nell’ascoltarlo, lo consiglio pure alla vostra nonna, e sono semplicemente orgoglioso che questo disco esca nel mio paese anziché in un altro.