Taken from the same concert as Rock 'n' Roll Animal—Dec. 21, 1973, at New York’s Academy of Music—Lou Reed Live further fulfills Reed’s transformation from Velvet Underground undergrounder to ‘70s hard rock champion. The stars here are guitarists Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner, who bring an arena-rock intensity to songs that sounded much humbler in their original settings. Only one Velvets tune appears this time: "I'm Waiting for the Man" retains its jittery impatience as keyboardist Ray Colcord sparks up an unforeseen funkiness. Three tunes from Transformer are expanded on, with "Walk on the Wild Side" sounding more spirited than sly and "Vicious" and "Satellite of Love" sounding livelier. The remaining two tracks stem from Berlin, an album that specialized in claustrophobic feelings. In the live setting, "Oh Jim" is epic: nearly 11 minutes showing why Reed is considered one of the all-time great rock 'n' rollers.