In the ‘80s, Lou Reed toured with an outstanding backup combo featuring the brilliant Robert Quine on guitar. Live In Italy captures the contentious chemistry within the group as they barnstorm their way through a well-chosen batch of Reed signature songs and lesser-known gems. Prior to joining Reed’s band, Quine’s dissonant, jazz-influenced style earned him renown on the New York punk scene. In this live set, he helps Reed recreate the ferocious spirit of the Velvet Underground with playing that’s both brutally lean and deadly accurate. For his part, Reed sounds fully engaged (and enraged!) as he tears into tunes extending from his Velvets days (“Heroin,” “White Light/White Heat”) into his solo years (“Walk On the Wild Side,” “Waves of Fear,” “Martial Law”). A medley of “Some Kinda Love” and “Sister Ray” achieves a particularly smoldering menace. Fernando Saunders’ bass flexes and slithers as Fred Maher lays down punishing drum lines, lending weight to the guitar pyrotechnics.