Buried underneath the radio-friendly exterior lie coded confessions of the subversive, wounded intelligence that gives this album its staying power as a work of art.Here Lou Reed managed to make a fun, accessible rocknroll record that is also a troubled meditation on the ambiguities-sexual, musical and otherwise-that defined his public persona and helped make him one of the most fascinating and influential figures in rock history.
Through close listening and personal reflections, songwriter Ezra Furman explores Reeds and Transformers unstable identities, and the secrets the songs challenge us to uncover. Please note you need to add our email km0bookmail.org to approved e-mail addresses. ![]() ![]() Manufactured for Marketed by Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group Company. 1989 Warner Records Inc., a Warner Music Group Company. When he came around, things could be exciting and a little uncomfortable, and even though youve never really known him very well, his legend loomed large. It was the first Lou Reed album that Gen X could justifiably claim as their own; released in early 1989, it was really more of a 90s album as it definitively put the 80s in the rearview. Lou Reed Transformer Zip Trial And MoreThe bite of Lou Reeds lyrics was nothing new of course, but the generation coming of age in the late 80s had never had a new Lou album to attach themselves to; New York was released three years after the old-fart-trying-new-things vibes of Mistrial and more than eight years after The Blue Mask, the last Reed album to completely abandon contemporary sounds in favor of back-to-basics musicianship, crisp production, and strong, unforgiving lyrics that spoke directly to the spiritual affinities of a cynical generation. From the first notes of Romeo Had Juliette, Reeds sonic mission was clear: By stripping his band down to two guitars, an electric upright bass, and a simple drum kit (played by co-producer Fred Maher and occasionally augmented with percussion by Mo Tucker), the attention was to be focused on the lyrics. Delivering a clear-eyed assessment of how devastating the 80s had been to the city he was so closely associated with, the lyrics on New York drop the listener into a city that is ravaged by AIDS, proto-gentrification, rampant inequality, and the Statue of Bigotry, but still in touch with its expansive, egalitarian, no-B.S. While todays ears may flinch at some of the lyrics (spic and homeboys particularly bristle), ears then flinched too. ![]() Its debatable whether New York actually needed a remasteringits sharp-edged mix was perfectly suited to a late 80s CD master and already was given plenty of air to breathe by the spare arrangementsbut this new mastering does open up the album a bit more, mitigating some of the CD-era sheen while not muting any of Reeds slicing guitar work. The unreleased tracks are a similarly mixed bag, as the material is in various states of completion. Dirty Blvd, for instance is presented in both a work tape that is little more than a riff memo as well as a rough mix that presents a meatier, more substantial version than the final album version that manages to somehow put Reeds voice even more in the listeners face. Meanwhile, non-LP track The Room is a disappointing, all-guitar instrumental piece thats out of context on such a lyrical album; it winds up sounding like leftover material used in the dissonant coda of There Is No Time. The live material sounds like one of the all- New York sets that Reed performed around this time, but it is in fact culled from multiple concerts. While completists may balk at this, the final result is a quite strong collection of live performances. Manufactured for Marketed by Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group Company. Warner Records Inc., a Warner Music Group Company.
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