Lou Reed: A Micro-Review

I listened to Walk on the Wild Side a lot back in college, but I never progressed much beyond that in the works of The Poet of Destruction, probably because I was vaguely aware of Reed’s biography. Lou Reed was

“the guy that gave dignity and poetry and rock ’n’ roll to smack, speed, homosexuality, sadomasochism, murder, misogyny, stumblebum passivity, [Bud Lite], and suicide, then proceeded to belie all his achievements and return to the mire by turning the whole into a monumental bad joke with himself as the woozily insistent Henny Youngman in the center ring, mumbling punch lines that kept losing their punch.” Lester Bangs (John Leland, Hip: The History (2005), 270)

Nonetheless, I’ve been listening to Reed and The Velvet Underground lately. Especially recommended:

Charley’s Girl

Dirty Blvd.

Vicious

I’m Waiting for the Man

Sweet Jane

Cool It Down

Rock & Roll

I Love You, Suzanne

Foggy Notion