Goodnight Ladies: Lou Reed Has Died

I was 17 when I first listened to Lou Reed's Transformer album. The 17 year old me had side stepped albums by The Velvet Underground for fear of it being too artsy for my tastes that at that time were rapidly evolving around Best Of's by The Smiths and The Cure, so I remember thinking the Transformer album would be a safe start to exploring the work of Lou Reed.
Hearing the opening strums of Vicious on this album can only be compared to the excitement felt when I first heard Starman by David Bowie or I Want You by Bob Dylan. Instant.
I then quickly delved into the discography, picking up a copy of Velvet Underground & Nico and an adoration for Reed's output was sealed. Incidentally, if my top 10 musical artists entered an Olympic event for my adulation, Velvet Underground/ Lou Reed (yes, they can both represent one place) would proudly take a Bronze medal (R.E.M and The Smiths taking Gold and Silver respectively).
So it is with deep regret and sadness that I heard the news of Lou Reed's death on Sunday.
Those of you still only on the Best Of's stage of music knowledge, may still be yet to understand that Lou Reed is one of the greatest musical artists of all time, deserving to be heralded in the same light as those other "so talented it is surreal" rock poets Dylan and Bowie.

 You can hear Reed's influence in much superb American alt rock, from The Replacements, Violent Femme's, Sonic Youth and Husker Du. Like them since, Reeds work is often noisy and distorted yet always passionate and authentically heartfelt.
His songwriting is so deeply rich and important, I often feel shaken after listening to some of his albums. While always entertaining to listen to, the content and themes are often rotten to the core.
Two of my favourite albums ever: the eponymous The Velvet Underground and the twistedly good New York are fine examples of this darkness.
His death is MASSIVE news to music, but a perfect opportunity for you to relish in his work, either for the first time or just as you would have as normal before his death.
Here, I would like to share the albums I have been playing over the last week to commemorate the work of this remarkably good musician.

Picking out the best Velvet Underground album is almost literally impossible, feeling that you are somehow putting the others down by omitting them.
In truth, I would say that the Velvet Underground is the only band, in which it is genuinely essential to own their entire collection. Each album is so uniquely terrific, if you don't hear them all you will still be missing something. From the jagged onslaught of styles on & Nico, to the deceptively upbeat Loaded, each of the Velvet's four official studio albums has something that must be heard.

But for me personally, it has to be the constantly brilliant self titled album: The Velvet Underground.
There is nothing but great music on this album, one highlight being I'm Set Free, a terrifyingly uplifting song that would be top in a book called 1001 Songs To Die To Before You Die, if that weren't so impossible or tasteless in practice. The album is clearly crowned by the astonishingly good Pale Blue Eyes. I don't know what the proper meaning of this song is, but when taken literally as a tale of a faltering love it is devastatingly sad, and truly one of the best songs of all time. When it comes to VU albums you should own them all, but for me this is the finest.

From the one hour of static noise arrangements on Metal Machine Music to meandering poetry with Metallica on the Lulu album (both albums being highly difficult to actually like) the solo career of Lou Reed was not without its bogeys. However, when it was done right, few other artists manage to capture perfection so well (Check out Pink Floyd and Simon and Garfunkel for some other examples).

 Transformer is a perfect album: the excitement never dips, and the creativity never wanes. Perfect Day, Hangin' Round and Satellite Of Love are amongst the best songs here. Hangin' Round just sounds incredibly cool as Lou Reed has an outstanding talent to being able to sing like he really is not bothered, yet still sound totally emotive and serious. Check out Transformer if you have not already, as I said, it was my starting point and it could be yours too.

 New York is an outstanding album both in sound and content. My favorite Lou Reed solo album, each song tells a different story about untold life in "The City That Never Sleeps", each a stroke of desolation and despair on a very mucky canvas.
New York reminds me of the atmosphere of the book Last Exit To Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr, each strand a small window into New York life, showing a scene just as unpleasant as that before it.
The album according to Reed, is supposed to be taken in one sitting, like a movie or a storybook. If this was his intention, then it has been remarkably achieved.
With every cynical line and barbed lyric, the album does for New York City what The Smiths eponymous album did for the North West of England; paints a picture of a community that is as much on the brink of collapse as it is on a revolt its people are too fatigued to even begin. The final line of Last Great American Whale demonstrates little hope for America's social infrastructure: "Stick A Fork In Their Ass and Turn Them Over. They're Done.".
The surprisingly bombastic penultimate song Strawman, is no less unforgiving, and ruthlessly deliberates the point of much that America has an abundance of: million dollar movies, maverick politicians (yet another), innovations in space travel (another faulty rocket) and skyscrapers (blank).
Whereas Dylan and Marley proposed uprising and protest, Lou Reed amplifies the realistic voice of the Western World: "Even though your dissatisfied with society, what the fuck could you do to change it?". The atmosphere of the album is bleak and miserable, but brilliantly layered and forever listenable.
So there you have it, that is what I have been listening to in audio tribute to Lou Reed. His discography truly is outstanding, and any accolades you hear spilled out from critics and fans in the following weeks are most deserved. I find the most satisfying accolade for Lou Reed was from David Bowie, who said,
"He was a master".
And when Bowie says that about you, we can only nod in humble yet absolute agreement.
Rest In Peace, Lou Reed.