Berlin

Dreary

Not for me. 1/5

Ewww.

Meh

Weird start and it progressively got weirder but overall on a compositional level it's good but it was not for me.

Depressing and a bit crass even. I don't want to listen to songs where someone slits their wrists. I just don't.

Lou Reed is okay, but nothing on this album stood out.

Man, I’ll give it another shot sometime, I either reaaalllyy love Lou Rees or really don’t. Despite the one star, idk where I stand.

Lou Reed and the Bad Seeds

I don't get the hype.... The lyrics are not well written, and I found this very boring.

can't handle this today...boring

Terrible rhymes, no melody, wandering rhythms with no energy. After 519 albums, this is easily in the bottom three. I am so tired of singers that can't sing.

I find this album to be all the bad part of Velvet Underground. It’s like the irritating part of cool. There are parts that are somewhat enjoyable, but overall I am just very annoyed by it. I keep wishing I were listening to something else. 1/5

A concept album where the concept is shit music.

Oh boy. I mean, it's Lou Reed, he's gonna do what he does. I'll pass on this one. The kids crying out for mom was an especially unnecessary touch.

Hyi

Did not like this at all.

Meh.... No me gustó mucho

not my thang

Not the worst but i didnt like ti

very boring

i did not like

Christ.

I'm not sure we needed 2 Lou Reed albums on this list, and his other one is better. Overall he's just one of those artists that is for other artists.

I love Lou Reed and I hate this album. Cold, depressing and annoying. Can’t think of a circumstance when I would want to throw this on and listen to it.

At least it’s not Robbie Williams

First time listening to Lou Reed (apart from Walk on The Wild Side). I'm not a fan of his voice so I didn't gel with the album. It's also very depressing.

Apparently I do not like Lou Reed. To add insult to injury, I have to listen to a song with babies crying. This album was barely bearable.

Not for me

Berlin – Lou Reed — Speak‑shouted delivery, songs blend together, story doesn’t land until the end; “Sad Song” is the standout.

Strike 1: talk-singing Strike 2: the storyline Strike 3: babies crying in the background

2/10

I'm was never a Lou Reed fan and an album about drug addition just a turn off.

kling klong

Remarkable that Lou Reed chose to follow up on the likes of “Walk on the Wild Side” and “Satellite of Love” with Berlin, which is a goddamn mess and a massive step backward. It has the feel of a musical, but it’s tuneless, depressing and flat, as if Reed wanted to double down on his tales of the dark side but forgot how to write a hook, a clever turn of phrase or a memorable melody. The audio of the young child crying during the dismal “The Kids” is the fucking coup de grace. Brutal choice.

Bleak orchestral art rock built on slow piano, somber strings, minimal rhythms, and weary, restrained vocals unfolds at an almost glacial pace. Listening feels like sitting in a dim, empty room where time barely moves and every moment lingers too long. The result is emotionally heavy but extremely slow, mostly crossing into boredom.

I can’t believe that the song called sad song is the one where Lou actually puts in some energy into his singing. Total tonal drag that ruins some nice lead guitar.

so fucking ass like hell no bro wtf

Lou Reed sucks

My unpopular music opinion? I’ve always found Lou Reed to be hugely overrated. I do enjoy Transformer, but much of his solo catalogue leaves me bored and wanting it to end. Maybe Berlin might change my mind. It didn’t. This is clearly meant to be a dark, theatrical concept album but I found it relentlessly bleak and, at times, bordering on self-indulgent. The storytelling feels heavy-handed rather than profound, and the atmosphere, while intentionally oppressive, becomes monotonous. There are moments that work. “Caroline Says I” and “Caroline Says II” are easily the strongest tracks here, stripped back, direct, and genuinely affecting. They hint at the sharp songwriting Reed was capable of. Unfortunately, much of the rest of the album drags. The title track “Berlin” did little for me, and “Sad Song” lives up to its name in the least compelling way possible. Favourite tracks: Caroline Says I & II Least favourite tracks: Berlin, Sad Song Album artwork: A cool, striking cover arguably more engaging than parts of the record itself.

Just don't like this style of music. Utterly boring.

weak

This was not good.

I’m not entirely sure what to make of this. I studied a lot of German theatre in college and played a bunch of Brecht/Weill roles in small German theatre companies throughout the late 1990s, so I am not immune to the charms of the format. But again, this hangs on the centrality of Lou selling things and well, no go.

don't like

I meant it in my last Lou Reed review when I said I never want to hear Lou Reed again. Unfortunately I still slogged my way through this 50 minute waste of tape. Nice piano playing. I don’t think I can think of a single other nice thing to say here.

This was the closest I've come to just straight-up skipping an album that's been generated for us because, really, I think we've endured enough Lou Reed at this point. But we're barely a quarter of the way through this project so to already start skipping albums before even starting them seems to be in poor form. I thought of all the Lou albums we've been made to rate, this one was the least bad. I found it to only be distasteful and uninspired rather than actively terrible. I was waffling between 1 and 2 ⭐️ and actually inclined to round up until the gratuitous extended children crying sounds on "The Kids". No thank you.

tbh I don't really like this but whatever. also holy shit lou reed you cannot sing</3 his voice on How Do You Think It Feels drove me crazy in particular, because the arrangement and guitar was great, but then he'd open his mouth and like bro SHUT UP

Zzz

You've really got to win me over with the instrumentation and singing if you're doing a dour concept album, and Lou Reed is never going to offer those to me.

I don't really like it, it's repetitive and weird, but not in the good way

I actually hated this album so fucking much

Weird

I was between ratings but the baby crying during The Kids sealed the deal.

This felt like circus music

Tried to like this one but ended up finding it very blah. His voice was putting me to sleep.

More like “1001 albums you must hear before you die and one album that will make you want to.”

Like most of Lou Reed's music, there're plenty of mediocre songs, a few terrible songs, and no shortage or lousy singing. It's not his worst work, but it I definitely doesn't excite me. With all of the VU albums on this list and Transformer, this album has a hard time justifying its place here.

I couldn’t even finish this album. It was like Bob Dylan but more monotonous and more depressing. He was edging me the whole time; every time I thought the album was gonna get good, it would never happen. The penultimate song? Fucking weird. I audibly exclaimed “what the fuck?”. It was like the Blue Jean Committee but it wasn’t satire. 😰 Best Songs: Oh Jim Caroline Says II Worst Songs: The Kids The Bed

I can see why this album was considered a mess when it came out. It kind of is. I'm sure it has a lot of meaning, but I can't get past the odd singing voice and lack of emotion. The words might have emotion, but he voice just doesn't.

Not a fan. Too monotonous.

Like a watered down then bland imitation of Frank Zappa’s work.

Okay, unpopular and contrarian opinion I know. I have always felt Lou Reed is hugely over-rated, and this sucks. This is the sound of neck-beard dudes in black turtle neck sweaters drinking super hoppy IPA and eating fried kelp sandwiches and pretending it’s good. Just go away with your rolled-up jeans and clunky boots. You are annoying. But not as annoying as this album. If you like it, great. Don’t play it when I’m over please and thank-you.

I don't often rate anything this low, but I was already struggling to enjoy this album when I was startled by the screams of a baby. I understand this style of music (lyrical) is and was super influential to music, but this album was a slog to get through.

Cool but not that good

Hard to get through. Didn’t finish.

Meh, 1 star

Why is he talking to me with music. nothing crazy musically, artsy but not good like David Bowie. Agree with rolling stones initial declaration of it being a disaster. Skipped many halfway through. Jesus my least favorite song has a part II, like a worse reprise of beating his wife. Don't care if it's about struggling with drug abuse, not my vibe

The meandering carelessness of this 50-minute question mark gave me the sense that Lou Reed really wants the listener to feel something, but lacked the musical prowess and vision to follow through on it. I wonder if the lackadaisical performance was meant to edge the listener into manifesting their own frustration on his behalf. Regardless, he failed spectacularly to produce anything of value with this "effort". If he is playing 4D chess by intentionally withholding any sort of sonic engagement in the face of strong subject matter, he has betrayed the purpose of music in its delivery. On the other hand, if this was intended as an authentic, intentional musical accompaniment for said subject matter, it demonstrates his lack of direction, ambition, and understanding of the intersection of music and lyrics. If there was enough reason on Reed's part to develop this conceived idea into a piece of artistic self-expression, he probably should have chosen literature as his medium here.

Second album proposé avec Lou Reed, le premier étant 'Velvet underground' où le groupe éponyme jouait avec Nico (noté 2/5). Pour ce nouvel album je suis d'accord avec les critiques du 'Rolling Stone' de 1973 : un désastre. Il ne génère qu'une 'émotion' : une ennui complet. Je n'aime pas le 'chant' de LR, et il est omniprésent. Il faut attendre les 5eme/6eme morceaux pour avoir des chorus de guitare. Pas désagréable, sauf 'the kids' et les pleurs à la fin que j'ai passé et qui lui font perdre le point durement gagné par les chorus... =>1/5

Lou Reed makes me wish that zero stars was an option

1. berlin - 2 2. lady - 1 3. fortune - 1.5 4. caroline - 1.5 5. feelz - 1 6. jim - 1 7. zayz - 2 8. kidz - 1.5 9. bed - 2 10. zad - 1.5

Very dreary. The song with the crying children was particularly horrible. Not my cup of tea

I never really understood the point of any Lou Reed solo thing. It's nothing special. Really nothing.

Sad Lou reed is sad

Lou Reed: A guy you really want to like but who disappoints you more than impresses. This album was tedious and boring.

Meh. Not my jam.

1/5

This ain't it. Too much of nothing and too little of anything

What the bleep was this. I know Lou Reed, and I like some of his songs, but did this album have any good ones? Just seemed to ramble through randomness, like some of the worst folk/alternative albums of today. I'm not saying artists don't have those, especially ones that experiment, but why was this on the list????

Weak vocals, discordant instrumentals, depressing lyrics - not for me.

# 411 - Can't Listen, don't like it. Sometimes this list feels like things are included just because they were popular at the time, or they're by a big name artist, but does anyone actually still listen to this album?

Always thought Lou Reed was overrated. This album confirmed my thoughts.

Aside from the music and the singing, this is quite nice.

Boo this man

Confused about how bad this is. You’re telling me multiple people voted for this album to be ranked on 1001ATLTBYD?? Bullshit. Impossible. Not to mention that there’s a song about cutting yourself, which is followed by “Sad Song”. Dude I’m trying to have a good time.

I gave this a couple listens to try to understand what was going on. There's a couple moments I like near the start but most of the vocals are essentially spoken word rambling and it takes me right out of it. It's not like the sparse music itself really makes up for it. I just can't.

First album where I saw no justification or reasoning to give it another listen, just dull.

Songs sound too much alike

So dull

Too watery

Not my style

Terrible.

Not my jam... bekke te sim...

Puha.. Det var en hård omgang. Det er et farligt drænende tempo. Især sangen sad song blev trukket alt for langt ud.. Vil gætte på at den i lp udgaven kun fylder én rille, som så skipper indtil man selv slukker lortet...

Do people listen to this for fun?

this ain't it, chief

Pre-listening thoughts: I know Lou Reed from Walk on the Wild Side. I don’t like that song (controversial I know). I didn’t know Lou Reed was part of the Velvet Underground but I’ve also never listened to their stuff so I’m really ill informed on this artist. Post/during listening thoughts: Lou Reed does this sort of talk/sing thing that I don’t really enjoy. It makes it sound like spoken word and I’m not really rocking with spoken word like that. The instrumental tracks are great (ie Sad Song) but man I cannot get over this talk singing. Im convinced people who enjoy this just like to be pretentious. Why are there KIDS CRYING whoever made this record HATES ME. I’ve got nothing more to say 2/10 DID I NEED TO HEAR THIS BEFORE I DIE: absolutely! Not Fav tracks: Caroline Says I (I guess), Sad Song if Lou Reed could find the beat Least fav tracks: the rest

Nope

Didn't get this

This shit sucks

Apart from Walk on the Wild Side and Perfect Day, I could never really take to Lou. I think he always tried to be too artistic - too beyond his capabilities Berlin - waste of a track Lady Day - odd, but still half decent Men of Good fortune - crap Caroline - another odd one. Bit over theatric. How do you think it feels - Nah Oh Jim - Oh No Enough... it's 1/5

Absolutely shite

Music to jump out of a window to.

Cannot believe just how bad this is. Almost unlistenable. I have nothing good to say

Love Lou Reed. But this is rubbish.

blerherhwnergcuiosehng NNNNNNNN

Boo

I did not enjoy this album at any level.

I love Lou Reed. I love the Velvet Underground. I have never heard this album before. ….aaaaaand I will never hear it again. This album was, for lack of a better word, cringy. I felt like I was listening to a Jackie Rodgers Jr skit. I expected him to break out with “Meshugana! meshugana! Gerr, gerrr, gerrr” Weirdly, one bright spot “Caroline Says 2”. All of the sudden it sounded like Lou Reed again. Then it went away.

Sounds a lot like Tom Waits in places, but it just didn't have the same impact to me.

Lou Reed sucks

One of the most boring and utterly mind numbing things I have ever listened to. Ptew!

DNF’d

I can appreciate a concept album, but this is just too slow and depressing for me. The music is actually pretty good, but the long drawn out depressing voice cancels out the music. Listen again: no Purchase for my collection: no Favourite Song: none

first half of the album was meh and to quote my notes directly after finishing the second half: "What the hell was this album, it's depressing AF and the songs are not even good."

Terrible.

Ugh won't be listening to this again

I went into this album with high expectations. I always love concept albums, and I expected this one to be no different. But it was just so underwhelming. I didn’t care for most of it. There were always elements that ruined each song for me. For example, The Kids was an alright song for the most part. A bit too long, but it was going well enough until about 5 minutes in, where you can hear a crying baby for about a minute. This is the most uncomfortable I’ve been so far on this 1001 albums journey. Just such an uninteresting album. Maybe if I go back and listen again with the lyrics, I’d have more of an appreciation for it, but my first impressions are that it’s just not a good album. The opening track gave me hope, I did like it quite a bit. But after that, there were really only a couple highlights. The last track had some beautiful music, but I just wasn’t interested in the lyrics or how they were sung. Especially the repeating of “sad song”. I don’t see myself ever returning to this album, and maybe not even returning to Lou Reed in general, unless another of his albums is in this list. 3/10, rounded down to 1 star. Top 1: 1. Berlin

This album does absolutely nothing for me. The vocals seem very dry and boring.

This album gets worse as you listen through it. I managed to make it through, but I wouldn't recommend it.

how do you think it feeeels, working all day at harveys? up all night watching reels, no butter is not, a, veg-etable, ro-bert

I really dislike this, it’s a 1 or a 2. The question is do I hate it or not? Like the smell of petrol, I keep coming back from more. I had it over a weekend so had plenty of opportunity to listen. It’s got all the annoyances of Transformer or Banana but non of the stand out tracks. The music sounds less amateur though with Jack Bruce and Steve Winwood in the squad. I like Lou’s tone, he’s got a soothingly smooth singing voice. But the lyrics and rhyme schemes are just so bad, it’s like my toddler is making it up as he goes. I hate it. But I kind of love to hate it.

Was going to rate two stars by way of it being very unspectacular folk, but then they added crying children. Don't put crying children in your music

Not a fan

I hate every thing about Lou Reed. End of story.

I fking hate everything Lou Reed. Get bent with this drug-addled pompous mumbly dogshit. 1/10 0 stars.

Not for me It's a bit to slow to really kick off

Did not like this one at all.

Not my jam

Life is too short and there's too much good happy music out there to put myself through more than 2 tracks of this shit

Pretty boring l. Don't understand where the charm is

Not great

Maybe years of watching toks damaged my brain but I can't recognize this as music

I like the flutes in the last song this was just a bad album

I just do not care about Lou Reed. Boring album

Not for me

Look, I love Lou Reed, but this felt like over self-indulgence or a lack of editing. Not a fan of most of the record. I’m sure they were very pleased with themselves for making it, but much of it is just… too much. Caroline Says II is good. Kid is really good until the actual kids come in. I don’t want to hear babies crying when I’m listening to music. Nope. I was sad that Sad Song didn’t end 3 minutes earlier.

1/5. Not a very enjoyable album. Boring and uninteresting.

Lou Reed you are literally evil for making me listen to this

09/12/2022 Bruh….just finished listening to this in studio and what the fuck. I will never be listening to this album again. It’s so ridiculously depressing. The Kids is just heartwrenching for no good reason. As fucked up as this sounds, this sounds like the music that would be the soundtrack for a movie for the virgin suicides or one of those extremely bleak and hopeless movies. Saw that Bob Ezrin was connected to this and then it all made sense. (The Wall by Pink Floyd says hello). End of the night update: can’t see why anyone would voluntarily listen to this album. This shit is glorified trauma porn, seriously. Idc if I’m being dramatic, this shit put me in a dark and down mood for the rest of the day. — Got back in from SA this morning. Went straight to school. Studio is going slow today. Feeling really frustrated with my pavilion design, but am praying that I will get it all figured out in the coming days.

This one was garbage. 1/5

Meh

Depressing

Ik kan echt helemaal niets met die gast.

Man I love transformer and Velvet Underground. Ans you know I get it was a concept but it really did sound like someone od ing and throwing up in an alleyway. Absolute Jizz.

No

Not really enjoying this. Disappointed. Thought it would be a blinder, but average at best. Lou Reed sounds bored mist of the time. Some half decent choons but generally pretty dull and body

"Paranoia, schizophrenia, degradation, pill-induced violence and suicide" and Reed's "spoken and shouted" performance.”

Is there a zero?

What a disaster. It starts off bad then gets a little better only to spiral back down. I did not care for this album. It was not enjoyable. I skipped a couple of songs because I was over the album by that point.

I've heard this name before. Always thought he was a producer. Nope, just a boring jazz slug or something. Awful.

neej, sinds LULU kan ik echt geen Lou reed meer horen.. It's a no for me

dont know if i can listen to this. cannot make out what hes saying thank god for spotify lyrics. caroline says i is so embarrassing. well its over, ended up not hating it THAT much, but i cant get into the lyrics and the way he sings.

Strange different. Interesting to listen to once

Lou Reed meeh

They can’t all be einners

This wasn’t music, it was a monotone dirge *

I hated this.

I really wasn't a fan of this one, I'll have to agree with the early critics and call this hot garbage and wtf was up with the lyrics, especially at the end and then the part where it just sounds like everyone's dying??

Meh

Meh - Lou isn't even singing. He's speaking along with the music. 3/10.

Epitome of white people music. Uhmmm beginning was slow, then the end gets really dark... I was expecting too much yet again. Looked up the album, apparently it was commercial flop.

Quite boring

Miserable chatting man with noise

Lou Reed. Licht. Viel Schatten. Und dann dieses Album, bei dem ich nicht weiß, was es mir sagen soll. Vielleicht verstehe ich es auch einfach nicht. Ich habe mich dabei kolossal gelangweilt. Muss ich nicht noch mal haben.