Janitor of Lunacy: Live at the Library Theatre Manchester

AMG Review of Janitor of Lunacy: Live at the Library Theatre Manchester

William Ruhlmann
All Music Guide

Released on Visionary Records in September 1996, Janitor of Lunacy (named after a song on Desertshore) chronicles a performance by Nico in 1983 at the Library Theatre in Manchester, England, where she was living at the time. The recording is a step above an audience tape, but it still isn't very good quality, and the sound deteriorates noticeably during the show's final song, a cover of David Bowie's "Heroes." So, this disc must be considered, in essence, a legal bootleg rather than a legitimate live album. That said, Nico offers a good selection of songs from four of her six studio albums as well as the Velvet Underground favorites "Femme Fatale" and "All Tomorrow's Parties" (the latter rendered a cappella).