Transformer

Oh so this is what Tribe Named Quest sampled from

What an album to start with. The sound of the album is very strong for its time, and was fundamental to a lot of modern rock. The influence of Bowie as the producer can be heard, but the most striking thing is obviously Reeds distinct vocal performance. I'm still not 100% sure I like it, but its obvious its key to the success of the album. It's hard to not let walk on the wild side overshadow everything else, but there are some solid others in sons like satellite of love or vicious. Overall a solid listen, fundamental to the genre.

His most popular work for sure, not necessarily my favorite of his. I do like Lou Reed, but I am never overly convinced by listening to him. There's some good songs but I don't think the entire album is that strong. There's mainly a few big hits here like Vicious and Perfect Day that make this a good album.

I’ve not listened to much Lou Reed before, just the hits. I like the whimsical energy of this album. Not every song is great, but there’s enough to keep me interested.

Not quite sure yet, will listen again. Obviously the well known singles off here are classics.

High 4, real favourite

Transformer lays claim to the best double A side single release of all time in the form of ‘Perfect Day’ and ‘Walk on the Wild Side’. The latter song has the best vocal effects of all time (the way those “doo do doos” creep into the mix is incredible!) The rest of the tracklist doesn’t quite live up the high bar of quality those singles set. ‘Make Up’ is possibly the best example of this, but I bet it influenced Adam Green’s entire career (which is definitely worth it). ‘Satellite of Light’ is a brilliant track, it’s definitely got some of David Bowie (the producer) in it. It's also nice to hear plush studio versions of those old Velvet Underground tracks like ‘Andy’s Chest’. The final string of tracks like ‘Wagon Wheel’, ‘I’m So Free’ and ‘Goodnight Ladies’ drag like hell. They are definition of okay. Because of this it’s not a classic in the way a Velvet Underground LP is, but the best bits make a very solid and memorable release.

Going low 4, the visconti and bowie production elevates the songs that aren't as strong as the best ones

I think I was supposed to like this more than I did. Obviously a few classics on here but mostly forgettable

I'm no fan of Reed (or VU), but I must admit that there are some pretty good tracks on this album.

Really not a fan of the vocals. This was not for me.

4/10

Lou Reed is one of those musicians I’m in the vast minority on. I appreciate his influence, but how do people listen to these rinky dink ass songs and like it? I dislike the sparse sound and the lyrics. I hate his vocal delivery.

New York sad-masochistic wit finds its pop representation on Lou Reed's #2 solo release. 'Yesterday, Daisy Mae & Biff / Were groovin' on the street / & just like a movie / Her hands became her feet.' Unlike Iggy's The Idiot, a very good record but ultimately touched up too much by Bowie's visions, Transformer enjoys Bowie as a producer but not necessarily as a visionary: this is Reed on full blast. +, it boasts his biggest hit e'er. Look, it's totally unfair to compare it to the work he did with The VU, which is a touchstone of twentieth-century art as far as I'm concerned. Transformer is not, in the end, a transcendent opus. It's just a solid, sometimes moving, often times clever, portrait of New York that oddly melds Paul McCartney & Tom Waits.

“Our culture has made us feel like we're not a part of it, like we're minor. It's a conspiracy of the majority, really. Fear is always the excuse.” A Single Man (2009)

Вот это другой разговор. После вчерашнего недоразумения в виде альбома The Residents, нестареющая классика Лу Рида. Чудесная пластинка. Вишенка на торте для меня как для фаната – это то, что альбом продюсировал Боуи

1. Vicious - 6/10 2. Andy's Chest - 7/10 3. Perfect Day - 8/10 4. Hangin' 'Round - 8/10 5. Walk On The Wild Side - 6/10 6. Make Up - 5/10 7. Satellite Of Love - 6/10 8. Wagon Wheel - 5/10 9. New York Telephone Conversation - 4/10 10. I'm So Free - 5/10 11. Goodnight Ladies - 7/10 OVERALL - 6/

Lou Reed Transformer: Mostly notable for it's content with stories and references from Reed's time in Andy Warhol's Factory, singing about homosexuality, transvestism and drug use in a time when it was revolutionary. I think the music is middling, personally, but the better songs are definitely buoyed by some of the best production Reed had on any album (by David Bowie and Mick Ronson). It's interesting that for such revolutionary content, Reed's delivery method has been largely tame for most of his career. His music should have taken more of a walk on the wild side. *Looks at Metal Machine Music.* Not like that.

*1972. Glam rock, sort of. *For some reason I didn't know Lou Reed was in Velvet Underground. Oops. *This feels like a 70s version of Weezer (but with David Bowie flair) - catchy, fun, upbeat songs with very little depth. *Walk on the Wild Side and Perfect Day are the only songs I know. *Definitely an enjoyable, short listen. *Apparently David Bowie was a producer on this album, which is not the least bit surprising - his sound absolutely comes through. RATING - 7/10

Lou Reed is one of those performers that I have never been able to get into. The songs aren't bad, necessarily, I just don't care that much about them or his voice. Walk on the Wild Side is cool, no doubt. I enjoyed Perfect Day and Vicious as well. Others, not so much. A solid place in history though, so paying deference with a higher rating than I should probably give.

Best described as yeah those sure were songs! Has banger moments, telephone and the song directly after were highlights and walk on the wild side rules; huge important song and it’s good. Not sure they eek this thing into 4 territory though. Probably if I sat with it a lot longer it would.

Quirky rock

Later stage Lou Reed

Perfect Day is just a perfect song...

I really love so much of this album. I feel strangely warm and comforted when listening to it. Lou Reed sounds great on it and it is incredibly consistent unlike some other of his records that are a bit more hit and miss. The bass lines are great, and the piano segment on "Perfect Day" has got to be one of my favourite 15 seconds of music - chills. Unfortunately there are a couple of tracks that stop me from giving this 5*. Favourites: Vicious Perfect Day Satellite of Love

Perfect Day is really a perfect song! The album brought me back to some old childhood cozy, bitter-sweet feelings. Would surely recommend it for understanding the whole path of rock and roll.

Influential albumn that generated more great art.

A couple of classic songs, but overall I like him better with the Velvet Underground than solo.

I liked it. Favorite track was satellite of love.

much better than his other album on the list

Это был интересный опыт,но слушать было тяжело.Что-то отправилось в лайки,но...

Actually a massive start for this long ass project. There are hardly any tracks I’d skip—it’s a really fun album. I didn't know about this before, but thanks to this project, I added “Walk on the Wild Side” and “Perfect Day” to my playlist right away. vicious→10/10 Andy's Chest→ WOO。8/10 Perfect Day→10/10 Hangin' Round→9/10 Walk on the Wild Side→10/10 Make Up→8.5/10 Satellite of Love→10/10 Wagon Wheel→9.5/10 New York Telephone Conversation→ 6/10 I'm So Free→10/10 Goodnight Ladies→7.5/10 best→ Perfect Day worst→ New York Telephone Conversation overrated(AOTY)→ Andy's Chest underrated→ I'm So Free overall→86/100(amazing)MUST HEAR

It’s not my favorite I can’t lie…

I liked the album. Perfect Day is an all timer. I’m still not sold on Lou Reed. There is no life in his performance. It’s like he doesn’t want to be there. 3 stars

The good songs were good! The rest were fine. Solid middle of the road for me 2.5

What a weird album. Lou Reed can't sing for shit, but I kind of love it. Even before seeing the list of producers, you can just tell by how bizarre it is that Bowie had some influence here. Like, I have no idea what is going to happen from song to song, and I love being along for the ride. The songwriting itself is spectacular, and I liked a lot of the instrumentals too. Would definitely listen again, and there's a good handful of songs that I could see myself listening to on the regular. 3.5/5 rounded up Favorite tracks: Vicious, Walk On the Wild Side, Make Up

cannot believe i used to listen to this gleefully. should be a 2 but perfect day carries

1972 -- 2nd studio album (produced by Bowie) -- glam rock -- received well -- wrote some of these songs while in velvet underground; strong connection to andy warhol (woof) - NY Telephone Convo sounds like a 2 minute impersonation of him; "songs on the album are now among Reed's best-known works, including 'Walk on the Wild Side', 'Perfect Day' and 'Satellite of Love'"; "I don't think it's nearly as good as he's capable of doing. He seems to have the abilities to come up with some really dangerous, powerful music, stuff that people like Jagger and Bowie have only rubbed knees with." I can hear that Bill Callahan (Smog) has listened to a lot of Lou Reed, has emulated his delivery. Ryan Adams - Wagon Wheel. This list is full of brilliant work but this is brilliant to me personally. Repeat listens for sure. I'm interested if there are other albums of his or Velvet's that would hit me at the five-star level. This feels close but not quite there; it's got some weird tracks and I include "Walk on the Wild Side" in that.

Lou Reed is such a talented songwriter. Sometimes his not-really-singing is a little much. But I enjoyed this album. 3.5/5

i already loved a couple velvets albums going into this, so i knew i'd get something out of 40 odd minutes of lou reed no matter what a lot more fun/goofy than i expected it to be. the rockier stuff is just picking up where he left off with the later velvets stuff. lou sounds hilariously out of place with some of the more grandiose moments on here, and there's some absolutely ridiculous lyrics across the album but no matter what was happening at any given time, it was always an enjoyable experience favourite songs: perfect day, satellite of love, goodnight ladies least favourite song: none

The hits were fine, but in general, Lou’s schtick of sing-talking lyrics in a bored way doesn’t do very much for me. I do like A Perfect Day, though, so there’s that.

perfect day is a top 10 song of all time

What I've done

Perfect Day and Walk on the Wild Side - just two complete bangers. For the rest - maybe you had to be there...

A couple of all time brilliant songs and a couple of all time lows (wtf is New York telephone conversation Jesus) make for an album I’ll never listen to again voluntarily

I'm familiar with Lou Reed and am aware he came from the Velvet Underground. I have 4 songs already liked from his solo work with 2 of those songs on this album - "Perfect Day" and "Walk On The Wild Side". I've heard Walk on the Wild Side tons of time - it was ubiquitous on the radio when I was a kid - or at least in the NYC area. Thoughts after listening a few times... I mean.... A lot of this isn't very good - right? What am I missing? "Vicious" - didn't grow on me even after repeated listens. "Andy's Chest" - what? Not good "Perfect Day" - still good, lyrics carry this one and they go great with the music and the vocal delivery. "Hangin' 'Round" - kinda forgettable "Make Up" - this one was kinda torturous to get through. Is that a tuba that is the main instrument on this? "Satellite of Love" - kinda dig this one. The lyrics seem more interesting than most of this. I'll add this to Liked songs. "Wagon Wheel" - don't need to hear this again. "New York Telephone Conversation" - seems like a throwaway joke/goof song. Don't need to hear this again. Voice on this one reminded me of Violent Femmes. "I'm So Free" - seems like another throwaway song. Guitars do have a similar feel to T-Rex. "Goodnight Ladies" - The olde timey ragtime feel is not good I feel like if you're NOT gonna focus on being a good singer you should at least have interesting music and interesting lyrics. Most of this does not meet that low bar - except for the 3 I liked. I think I don't understand what Glam Rock is. T-Rex "Electric Warrior" is considered Glam Rock but that is so much better than this. I was expecting so much more given the Bowie production and Lou Reed coming from the Velvets. Oh well, we can't all like everything. Liked songs on Spotify: 3/11 Rating: 2/5

So ahead of its time.

Vicious, Perfect Day and Walk on The Wild Side are among Lou Reeds greatest songs. Perfect Day is in fact a song I want played on my funeral. The rest of the album is hit and miss with a couple of regrettable tracks. It still warrants four stars if course. This is an essential album.

Nice, a bit more pleasurable than most TVU albums, but still not blown away by it. Standouts are Perfect Day and Walk On The Wild Side.

Not bad.

I used to love this record, but it must have been 25 years since I listened to it. For some reason I decided that he was a bit of prick (looking like a tortoise didn't help) I wonder if my thoughts have changed I'm the intervening years.. Nope it's still a cracker, Perfect Day remains as beautiful as it ever was, it would get 4 stars for that tune alone.. An overall 4 stars, had to remove half a star for Walk on The Wild side. It's much tougher for me to describe why I love something than why I hate something. I hace always liked this one, bit sure what else needs to be said

So I hadn’t heard this album for a while so it was a decent opportunity to reassess whether I still thought it to be as great as I used to. And the answer is a resounding yes. I loved every minute of listening to this again and surprisingly still knew most of the lyrics to the songs. It has 3 absolute classics in Perfect Day, Satellite Of Love and Walk On The Wild Side and the remainder is wonderfully bonkers whilst also being musically diverse and on point. An album that is the perfect antidote to a world full of depressing news. High five Lou!

Another tricky one to rate. Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground are the absolute staple of boring middle class kids going to university and briefly growing their hair long, smoking weed and debating the relative merits of Satre and Proust, whilst bandying their seed about like a cross between Koresh and Don Juan, before turning up to graduation in expensive suits and haircuts, and decamping to an internship at KPMG and a housing estate on the outskirts of Basingstoke. Also Reed's brand of art-rock is undeniably hugely influential, albeit influenced in turn by Bowie, so being objective is really hard. Stripping away the mystique we have an album of well produced, beautifully executed music that's genuinely hard to categorise. I'd go with "cabaret pop" but it's mostly stripped bare, in turns playful and soulful, and I'm so Free is probably the only moment that qualifies it as rock in any meaningful way. Also, for an American album it's suprisingly whimsical, even if that whimsy is expressed through the life of the seedier leftfield of New York than Britains penchant for surreal suburbia. There are three undeniable stone cold classics in Perfect Day, Satellite of Love and Walk on the Wild Side. It's probably harsh to describe the rest of it as filler (although New York Conversation doesn't even qualify for filler it's so irritating), engaging as it is, but, well, it's not really brilliant either preventing this from being a classic in my book even if there are accountants in Hampshire having to suppress an atavistic urge to give me a darn good telling off deep in their mediocre hearts. 3.5, will lean towards a 3.

Not into it. Melodies had promise but the vocals and the lyrics are active detractors on most of the songs. A little bit of cred for the sample from can I kick it

This is the Lou reed that actually had recognizable songs on it. Like what was Lou reed. Was he like a tough guy? Was he like a poet? Does anyone regularly listen to Lou reed? Why did Metallica make that lulu record with him? I don’t get Lou reed.

Automatic 1-star deduction for how he pronounced sangria

Varying styles and captivating lyrics. Solid 3.8/5.

Love Lou Reed, especially when he gets a little weird.

Some really great songs, rides a really solid line and never really gets dull

Some good some bad

A mixture of some of my favourite songs and some real crap. Gotta love the uniqueness though

An incredible album unfortunately let down by a couple duds on the second half

Partly heard before Saved 5/11 Top track: Walk On the Wild Side

Some classics on here

What a great, great album. It’s an odd thing, I really don’t like The Velvet Underground. I think they are the most pretentious bunch of art-school wankers, and every one of the albums I’ve rated has been mid to low. Individually, however … individually they are great. All of them. John Cale is great. Lou Reed is great. Even Chelsea Girl by Nico is great. And this is probably the best of the lot. Brilliant.

Good glam

Good album

Y'know, if you look close enough, Transformer can be summed up as being VU-lite. Not in terms of it sounding subpar and inferior to the Velvet Underground, but more so being a bit more rooted in commercialism closer to Loaded than an avant-garde art exhibit like White Light / White Heat or the debut. Both obviously exuding the New York spirit. Transformer boasts some heavy hitters and some of the most known Lou Reed songs like Walk On The Wild Side and Perfect Day, but numbers like Vicious, Wagon Wheel and Hangin Round are also really infectious and beautifully crafted. No wonder this guy started as a jingle writer.

Amazing!

This is a grower!

I genuinely love The Velvet Underground, but this is the second Lou Reed album that I haven’t been sold on. I did enjoy it more than I did Berlin and there are a couple standout tracks. Overall, though, I can’t really get into the more glam/cabaret side of Reed’s work.

There is nothing worse in music than albums where nothing happens and you bore yourself to death. I'd much rather listen to a complete shit record so i at least remember it for how shit it was. This I will not remember even if I listened 100 times. This album is super overhyped only because Bowie and Ronson worked on it. Boredom.

Hit right. Got me through a really shitty day. I needed it

This album feels aggressively steeped in sepia. Lou Reed talk-sings his way through a collection of strange little vignettes over mostly simple, fairly uninteresting songs. The lyrics can be bizarre (which is interesting if nothing else), but I kept waiting for the music to give me something more. Most songs get better right before they end. Something would show up (saxophone, tuba, reverb, or a more interesting guitar/drum section), and then 30 seconds later the song was over. I understand the historical context, but none of that makes me particularly interested in hearing it again. If this was playing quietly at a restaurant or dentist’s office, I wouldn’t mind it at all. I also can’t imagine voluntarily putting it on again. 2/5

I don't love the guys voice. he feels like its off rhythm maybe that was just andy's chest - i like perfect day a lot he sounds like a dude singing karaoke to his own songs I got bored. It was fine, but didn't love it 2.8/5

Has to be a 5.

- Just about a perfect album. -

I’ve never fully listened to Lou, but this wasn’t bad at all. Interesting lyrically.

Starscream.

awesome dude.

A few notable tracks that I knew right away. Perfect Day always makes me think of Trainspotting and Walk on the Wild Side is usually a fun one. I hadn't heard many others, but Bowie's assistance is fairly obvious to this listener.

This album, like the Velvet Underground albums always make me think that I’m getting introduced to some sketchy drug and sex underground shit. Love it.

Dnf, inte min grej

I think this is just a 3, but wild side is so so good.

Unfortunately I love everything David Bowie touches. However while this was good, it got to be pretty repetitive

After approx 10 days of the Velvet Underground album featuring the beautiful Pale Blue Eyes, Transformer is dropped, one of the most well known Lou Reed albums. Nice opportunity to give the cd from my collection a spin. I discovered I own the " Original Masters" re-release from 2002 with a nice booklet with essay from a Rolling Stone reported and contains 2 bonus tracks (original demos of "Hanging Around" and "Perfect Day" and also a radio advertisement from the original release. This album is mainly known for hosting "Walk on the Wild Side" but also contains the hits "Vicious", "Satellite of Love" and the beautiful "Perfect Day". Very well produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson, which influences are also clearly heard. It was great experience to listen to it again after quite awhile. love the record. I like the combination of glamrock with cabaret elements.

Number: 268 Familiarity: Extremely (5) Rating: 4 Before: ======= Probably going to be a 4 or 5. There are several great 5 star songs on this album. After : ======= On a song by song basis, it comes out right at 4.0.

Classic rock sound — if you like the nonsense lyrics of the B-52s then you’ll like this one

a very New York take on glam. i hate how New Yorkers have cultural main character syndrome, but it must be noted that NYC in 1972 was a lot less gentrified and actually had the intrigue to back up the attitude. Walk On the Wild Side may have been the hit, but Goodnight Ladies is my favorite song by a good margin. deserves to be one of the 1001? sure

Lou Reed and his „Walk on the Wild side“…yep the one song 🎵 I think I will give a 5*, nothing for this song … I think a whole generation was listening to.

Favourite songs: - vicious - perfect day - satellite of love

didn't find this album to be groundbreaking by any means. Not disappointing, but I didn't feel like I left with much to latch on to. Rating: 6.5/10 faves: satellite of love, walk on the wild side

The schtick got old after the first few songs

not as good as Joni Mitchell’s Blue

Lou Reed sounds so cool. The kind of music I like listening to all day while relaxing on the porch, moving a plant from one spot to another... to another... to another...

So confused through the entire album?? This is the epitome of someone barely changing their vocal pitch and still making an album. I did like the big band brass though

love itttt muy cozy las lyrics… se nota mucho a david bowie, un 4 pq me sobra alguna que otra tuturututuruturu

I like the different genres that are played I like his sound, its really relaxing

Everyone has got to listen to some Lou Reed. This one is my fave with Vicious, Satellite of Love, Walk on the Wildside and Perfect Day. 4.5/5

Looks like Frankenstein to me, not the movie one but the (super literate) book one. A paean to the New York demimonde. The talk-singing makes it seem he's reporting, not songwriting. Warhol the looming presence here, I guess. NYC a pretty dirty place (just look at that boulevard!) in the early 70s, Lou its poster child.