a spoken-word performance of Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" during which Reed "came to understand it in a way I never had before." Accordingly, The Raven may strike Reed's longtime fans in a way the artist never has before. Although dark, the music is stylistically all over the place--from Velvet Underground-like rock instrumentals to actor Steve Buscemi's creepy lounge-lizard take on the anti-showbiz "Broadway Song," to moments that recall such diverse past Reed ventures as Metal Machine Music and the Bells . He even reprises two classics--"Perfect Day" and "The Bed" from Transformer and Berlin , respectively -- in almost unrecognizable forms. Ornette Coleman and David Bowie drop in, and actors read text in which Reed mixes Poe's poems and stori...  (less)