Some call it a contract ending or breaking recording project turned in to his record label.  Lester Bangs referred to it as garage electronic rock.  Whatever Lou Reed’s intention, Metal Machine Music is pretty much a consistent recording: It all pretty much sounds the same after 5 minutes but there is over an hour of material on the record/CD to “indulge” in. What we hear are moments of interest, maybe even melody seeping briefly out of the multitracked noise sludge before being sucked back in by the feedback monster.  I remember listening to this sort of thing being hungover.  What’s a few more brain cells going bye-bye by that point?  Best to avoid prolonged headphone usage on this one.