Mojo - The Music Magazine

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• New York. Lyrical masterpiece.

  Posted by Steve Carroll at 11:14 AM GMT 25/07/2006 Report Abuse

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• Magic & Loss:
  a much ignored tribute to Doc Pomus and Andy Warhol, tackling the subject of death with great care and respect.

  Posted by Satellite Of Wigan at 2:07 PM GMT 25/07/2006 Report Abuse

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• Wow, pretty tough question for me as just about ALL of Lou's work from 1972' Berlin to 1989's New York are great albums with a particular nod to his 80s work. my top 5:

  Transformer 1972
  The Blue Mask 1982
  Legendary Hearts 1983
  New Sensations 1984
  New York 1989

  
  2nd 5

  Berlin
  Rock N Roll Heart
  Coney Island Baby
  Street Hassle
  Rock N Roll Animal

  Posted by Dale Spear at 3:52 PM GMT 25/07/2006 Report Abuse

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• Street Hassle...the sound of a derelect control freak recycling ideas but through the ears of Connie Plank, so there's some krautrock edge that makes it a magical album.

  Posted by Mr Duul at 3:21 AM GMT 26/07/2006 Report Abuse

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• STREET HASSLE 1978

  The one Lou album that stands up to the velvets legacy. Dark, compelling, arrogantly beautiful rock and roll music. This is the real walk on the wild side.

  Posted by Bryan Shore at 2:24 PM GMT 27/07/2006 Report Abuse

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• 1. Rock N Roll Animal. Screaming double guitars, classic songs stretched out and loosened up, and, as a bonus, Lou almost sings!
  2. Coney Island Baby. Scary and sick (Kicks), goofy (A Gift), rockin' (Ooh Baby), Reed's most "human" output.
  3. Transformer. Essential as both a document of the times and for "Walk on the Wild Side". Visits all of his favorite themes (read obsessions).
  4. New York. A return to form after the muddled period Lou and contains some real poetry (before the pretense, the mythmaking, and the "high art" Reed output of the 90s to present).
  5. Sally Can't Dance. Danceble

  Posted by Randy Fife at 6:21 PM GMT 28/07/2006 Report Abuse

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• Its got to be magic and loss, hard work at times but has such a depth of feeling that is uncanny, for me its his most complete album, musically and emotionally.

  Posted by Dean at 12:57 PM GMT 29/07/2006 Report Abuse

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• Berlin,
  depression and beauty in the shape of 33.

  Posted by bengt at 7:39 PM GMT 29/07/2006 Report Abuse

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• Dear Mojo,

  "Metal Machine Music" remains a firm favourite in the House of Electrofried.

  I have long used it to test out a succession of ear-trumpetry for the terminally befuddled, of which I am one.

  For her part, mrs electrofried often plays it out during her regular dj slot at the local Womens' Institute ("Loud, Proud and Home-baked!"). Invariably, it brings proceedings to a rousing and successful conclusion, clearing the cake-stand in a matter of seconds.

  Keep up the good work.

  best regards

  electrofried (mr)

  Posted by electrofried (mr) at 10:54 PM GMT 29/07/2006 Report Abuse

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• He is routinely groundbreaking. But lately I've skipped over "Transformer" "Berlin" & "New York" in my collection for "Ecstasy" It is a great album from beginning - Paranoia Key Of E to the end - Big Sky.
  That is not to leave out "The Raven" either with two of his best songs. "Who Am I" & "Guilty"
  His recent stuff is just as vital - if not more so - than his classics.

  Posted by DrGeorge at 2:49 AM GMT 31/07/2006 Report Abuse

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• New York: Our man lets a little Springsteen tub thumping into his world and comes good with a rockin bit of all-American poetry.

  Posted by Geezer at 11:18 AM GMT 31/07/2006 Report Abuse

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• Transformer is kinda obvous but New York is the one for me. Street poetry is a kinda overused term but if you looked up that term somewhere the lyric sheet should be there.

  Posted by cathalp at 5:46 PM GMT 31/07/2006 Report Abuse

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• I'll chime in the chorus with my Top Lou Reed post Velvets LP as METAL MACHINE MUSIC.

  (*Like you couldn't guess if you didn't know me already.*)

  It works on any level you approach it: as an attempted contract breaking kiss off to his label, as a rockist reflection of the New York art/minamalist/fluxus crowd, as an effort to shake off the yoke of expectation from critics and fans that his career had developed by that point, and simply as a statement of freedom from the thinking man's jaded reporter rock star. I know this LP tends to cut a dividing line through his fanbase, and for an already provacative artist such as Lou this is really saying something. Let's just say that even just a week ago I heard (and immeadiately recognised: it's the most distinctive and identifiable 'noise' recording ever) Metal Machine Music playing before a performance somewhere in the middle of Nowwhere, NH, USA. So you can't say it doesn't have it's fans. I recommend buying it for the original liner notes alone!

  After that, the only Lou's I've ever owned/heard were the following:

  Berlin (a dramatic masterpiece of downcast balladry with evocative Bob Ezrin production... even non-Lou devotees in my circles dig this slab).

  Transformer (it's the yardstick by which all his other albums get measured... beyond comment and beautiful reports from the wild side).

  Rock N Roll Animal (uh... hard rock live renditions of his catalogue to that point... some say it's his Get Yer Ya Ya's, but I'm left scratching my head).

  Street Hassle (Uneven but often BRILLIANT in capitol letters, particularly the title track).

  Live Take No Prisoners (Just live Lou unsentimentally recorded through his favorite center head, so a headphone experience for certain).

  Ecstasy (Uneven but often BRILLIANT in capitol letters, particularly Like A Possum that reminds me greatly of Major Stars).

  New York (I've always considered this his Springsteen record... you can shoot me now).

  The Raven (what a mishmash, the WTF quotient can be high but I dig the Ornette Coleman collaboration... and so did Lou).

  Posted by Scorpiomoon at 7:58 AM GMT 01/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• 1. Berlin
  2. New York
  3. Transformer
  4. The Blue Mask
  5. Street Hassle

  Posted by Neil at 7:49 PM GMT 01/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• Conet island baby is my absolute favourite. Charlie's girl is such a pretty groovy piece of listening. But when I'm sad then it comes to Who am I from the raven. It's a number with so much emotion. i WANT THAT MY FAMILY PLAY THAT SONG WHEN IT'S MY TIME AND I HAVE TO SAY GOODBY TO THE WORLD.

  Posted by ger arkestee at 6:32 AM GMT 02/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• Street Hassle
  and
  New York
  are the most reedians albums.

  
  marcos
  Sao Paulo,Brazil

  Posted by marcos david at 1:14 AM GMT 03/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• 
  Transformer: The dark side of glam.

  Rock and Roll Animal: Lou ditches glam for metal, and produces one of rock's greatest live albums in the process.

  Street Hassle: A punk-influenced return to the streets.

  The Blue Mask: Poetry-fired garage rock, with Lou and Robert Quine trading guitar pyrotechnics.

  New York: Lou gets political on your ass.

  Posted by Mike, Chicago at 1:56 AM GMT 03/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• 1.Street Hassle
  2. The Blue Mask
  3. Berlin
  4. The Bells
  5. Transformer

  Posted by Dan at 5:42 AM GMT 03/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• BERLIN is the one. beautiful. then transformer, new york, blue mask, sally cant dance, street hassle, coney island. but berlin is the best

  Posted by waha at 1:32 PM GMT 03/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• New York is truly his last masterpiece. It is one of the best albums about that city ever!

  Posted by gautxos at 3:22 PM GMT 03/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• Which Phase of Lou?

  Berlin is Brilliantly sad and affecting. Lou's Lyrics and Music meshes with Bob Ezrin's production to paint a bleak picture of desolation and bleakness matched only by Joy Division's Closer.

  Rock n'Roll Album is one of if not the best Live Albums of all time with it's searing guitar and great collection of early solo and Velvet songs.

  Blue Mask is his coming to terms with Middle Age. Understated in music, but again excellent songs like The Day John Kennedy Died and Blue Mask.

  Songs for Drella, while not technically a solo is my favorite for the picture it paints of Andy Warhol as each song leads you through his life.

  Posted by John Harju at 4:11 AM GMT 04/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• Berlin is my absolute favourite. Though most of the songs are reworkings of older Velvets material (perhaps a reason for its greatness). It's the darkness of that album that makes it the quintessential Lou album. The drama and atmosphere are not matched by any of his contemporaries or subsequent albums though Magic & Loss comes close.

  Posted by kaspar at 1:10 PM GMT 04/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• how to buy?
  i´d usually direct towards a record that´s easily approachable,in lou reed´s case transformer(which is my second fave),but now it´s new york
  it´s not hard to get into,but after that it´s easier to get into his more difficult stuff.
  lyrically it´s dark.not forgetting humour.
  not exactly laughing but atleast there´s a grin.

  avoid metal machine music,it´s not music
  and lou himself said "if you get past side two you´re even more stupid than me"
  better listen to lou.
  fave 5
  new york
  transformer
  coney island baby
  berlin
  set the twilight reeling

  Posted by pasi kolehmainen at 7:04 PM GMT 04/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• berlin,greatest rock record ever made

  Posted by steve at 5:53 PM GMT 05/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• 3. Magic & Loss: A stark and harrowing reflection on death.
  2. New York: Cinematic, literate and melodic.
  1. Berlin: In a career of bleak moments, the bleakest of the bleak.

  Posted by Steven Bailey at 9:15 PM GMT 06/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• The question I ask myself at least once a week...!

  Its too easy to dismiss Transformer as it is obviously his most popular album, but I am not going to include it in my top 5.

  Also do I include a live album...? My favourite is Animal Serenade as not only are the performances superb, but it acts as a career spanning document, with songs from VU & Nico (Sunday Morning - beautiful) through to The Raven (Call On Me - again beautiful).

  I have however decided not to include this, so my top 5 are:-

  1 Berlin - perfect songs and production
  2 Magic and Loss - very moving and timeless
  3 New York - lyrically and musically brilliant, maybe just a touch dated now in parts
  4 Blue Mask - when Lou decided to pick up a guitar again in anger. Reed/Quine/Saunders/Maher; what a band!
  5 Street Hassle - patchy, but contains the peerless title track.

  Posted by Mark Jones at 12:36 PM GMT 07/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• the raven- comeback to emotions
  new sensations- underrated,but ruined with bad production
  blue mask-mass destruction anger
  berlin- that beautiful yearnin' for pain
  berlin-best buddy for late drink

  Posted by nenad at 7:43 PM GMT 14/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• for me "Street Hassle" from Street Hassle is worth the price of admission alone. It's the centerpiece of the album and never fails to pack an emotional wallop. The trance inducing cello lines, the intensity in Lou's voice, the Springsteen guest slot, it's all there.

  I have a soft spot for New York because it's the first solo Lou album I ever bought. 3 or 4(maybe) chords + newswire lyrics = an intelligent and brilliant rock and roll album.

  Songs For Drella is another favorite.

  Magic and Loss is also in my top 5. A sad, personal tribute to friends and loved ones that has universal appeal.

  Posted by youthelectronix at 5:38 PM GMT 16/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• Buy the Best: Rock ´n´Roll Animal. It has been rolling in my recordplayer most often. Then the artistic records, Berlin and Street Hasstle come next.

  Posted by Kira Zaitsev at 8:18 PM GMT 18/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• Berlin. As grandiose and majestic this city has survived the 20th centure, so has Bob Ezrin's production. Reed's persona aren't so lucky- an in- and in-tragic story. The true tale surrounding The Kids is enough to make any parent cringe.

  Posted by maarts at 10:55 AM GMT 22/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• transformer. o diskos gamaei...

  Posted by fangyuan at 1:39 AM GMT 23/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• There were times I thought that the only thing I would regret about being dead would be the loss of music and Lou Reed and Velvet's albums!

  Anyway if I have to decide it would be Berlin, outstandingly beautiful.

  Posted by António - Portugal at 5:26 PM GMT 23/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• In order:

  Coney Island Baby (Way under rated. Every song on this album is briliant)If Bowie had produced this they would call it a masterpiece

  Transformer

  Street Hassle

  Rock N Roll Animal

  Posted by Jack at 1:23 AM GMT 28/08/2006 Report Abuse

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• Thanks for information.
  many interesting things
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  Posted by celpjefscycle at 7:45 AM GMT 12/01/2008 Report Abuse

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