Paul Nelson of Rolling Stone magazine was in attendance that night. Writing about Rock 'n' Roll Animal and its sequel, Lou Reed Live, which were both recorded at the same show, he recalled: "As it happens, I had seen Reed and a mediocre pickup band at Lincoln Center some months earlier in his first New York non-Velvets appearance and he was tragic in every sense of the word. So, at the Academy, I didn't expect much and when his new band came out and began to play spectacular, even majestic, rock & roll, management's strategy for the evening became clear: Elevate the erratic and unstable punkiness of the centerpiece into punchy, swaggering grandeur by using the best arrangements, sound and musicians that money could buy; the trimmings, particularly guitarists Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter, were awesome enough so that if Reed were merely competent, the concert would be a success. And it was, as one can judge from the resultant albums. The band does not emulate the violent, hypnotic, dope-trance staccato power and subway lyricism of the Velvet Underground, but rather opts for a hard, clean, clear, near-royal Mott the Hoople/Eric Clapton (Layla) opulence and Reed sings out most of the songs in his effective street-talk style. Animal, coming first, naturally contains the best performances ("Intro/Sweet Jane," "White Light/White Heat," the first half of "Rock 'n' Roll")."^[8]

Rolling Stone editor Timothy Ferris described Rock 'n' Roll Animal as "a record to be played loud", continuing: "As background music it isn't much, but powered up on a strong system loud enough to make enemies a quarter-mile away, Rock 'n' Roll Animal... is, well, very fine."^[16]

Paul Morley, writing in NME in 1979, said, "Rock 'n' Roll Animal and Lou Reed Live were the ultimate insults, Reed wrecking the rare beauty and affirmation of his greatest songs by turning them into cliché ridden hack heavy metal mutations."^[17]

Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau said, "At its best, Reed's live music brings the Velvets into the arena in a clean redefinition of heavy, thrilling without threatening to stupefy. 'Lady Day,' the slow one here, would pass for uptempo at many concerts, the made-in-Detroit guitars of Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner mesh naturally with the unnatural rhythms, and Reed shouts with no sacrifice of wit. I could do without Hunter's showboating 'Introduction,' and I've always had my reservations about 'Heroin,' but this is a live album with a reason for living."^[11]

A remastered version was released on CD in 2000. It featured two tracks not included on the original LP or 1990 CD release.

Further excerpts from the same concert were released in 1975 as Lou Reed Live (between the remastered Rock 'n' Roll Animal and Lou Reed Live the entire show has been released, albeit in a different order than the original concert). "Rock 'n' Roll Animal"'s stereo mix isolates guitarist Steve Hunter on the right channel, and Dick Wagner on the left; this arrangement is reversed on Lou Reed Live.

Adapted from the Rock 'n' Roll Animal liner notes.^[18]

• Lou Reed – vocals
• Steve Hunter – guitar
• Dick Wagner – guitar
• Prakash John – bass
• Pentti "Whitey" Glan – drums
• Ray Colcord – keyboards

Production

• Steve Katz – producer
• Lou Reed – producer
• Gus Mossler – engineer
• Bruce Somerfeld – production assistance
• Ralph Moss – production assistance
• Acy Lehman – art direction
• DeWayne Dalrymple – photography

• Rock 'n' Roll Animal at Discogs (list of releases)