Unless I’m mistaken. What answer do you want?

I want to know how you feel
about the way you might be
perceived.
You’re talking about critics and
journalists. Listen, you’re not
talking about music. I don’t want
to get into this stupid subject
with you. You brought it up. You
shouldn’t have. We had a good
conversation, and now we’re done.
You feel better now? Did you find
your angle? Do you think you did a
good job?

The question wasn’t a trick.
I didn’t think you were trying
to trick anybody. This is the kind
of shit you wanted all along, and
you saved it for last. What should
I say?

I’m not looking for any
particular answer.
You could’ve talked music, but this
is what you wanted.

Haven’t I been asking about music this whole time? You’re not interested in music. We’re done talking.

DISCOGRAPHY LOU REED

AN OPINIONATED OVERVIEW OF REED’S SINGULAR SOLO CAREER

LOU REED
Transformer
HHHH½
RCA, 1972
Coproducer David
Bowie gave Reed’s
swishy reportage a
commercial touch-
up, but radio candy
like “Walk on the
Wild Side” and
“Perfect Day” cut
through the glam.
Reed’s giddiest,
goofiest collection.

LOU REED
Berlin
HHHH
RCA, 1973
This emotional
cesspool of a
concept album is, in
its decadent way, as
lacerating as Metal
Machine Music.
Catchier, though.
Finding yourself
singing along to the
story of fiending
lovers is one of rock’s
weirdest gotchas.

LOU REED

Metal Machine
Music
HH
RCA, 1975
An hour of
screeching, curling,
buzzing guitar
feedback, this album
has been held up
as everything from
a cynical put-on
to an avant-garde
masterpiece.
Melodies are
discernible, or are
they mirages?

LOU REED
Street Hassle
HHH½
ARISTA, 1978
A deliberately
awkward jumble
of baiting lyrics (“I
Wanna Be Black”),
neurotic vocals
(“Leave Me Alone”),
and grinding
rhythms (lots), the
album has also got, in
the swirling, vicious
11-minute title track,
Reed’s greatest long-
form venture.

LOU REED
The Blue Mask
HHHH
RCA, 1982
Guitar guru Robert
Quine’s perfectly
gnarled six-string
forays spurred
Reed to his most
emotional and
exploratory guitar
playing since the
early Velvets. The
unflinching songs
alternate between
fists and whispers.

LOU REED
New York
HHHH½
SIRE, 1989
Stretches of New
York’s lyrics might
be lost on anyone
without an intimate
knowledge of late-
’80s Gotham, but the
mix of sharp detail,
righteous anger, and
razor-wire rock was
Reed’s best of the
decade.

LOU REED &
JOHN CALE
Songs for
Drella
HHHH
SIRE, 1990
Reed and Cale
reunited for this
bittersweet guitar/
piano/viola elegy
to Andy Warhol.
Forgoing their
mentor’s ironic
distance for warm
reminiscence,
the duo scored a
triumph of empathy.

LOU REED
Ecstasy
HHH½
WARNER BROS., 2000
Reed still rocks
(“Paranoia Key
of E”) and freaks
out (an 18-minute
drone orgy titled
“Like a Possum”)
like he means it.
That he does so
successfully on only
about two-thirds of
Ecstasy is testament
to ambition, not
ossification. D.M.

CPZKG [