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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Transformer

Lou Reed

1972

Buy At Rough Trade
Transformer
Album Summary

Transformer is the second solo studio album by American recording artist Lou Reed. Produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson, the album was released in November 1972 by RCA Records. It is considered an influential landmark of the glam rock genre, anchored by Reed's most successful single, "Walk on the Wild Side", which touched on then-controversial topics of sexual orientation, gender identity, prostitution, and drug use. Though Reed's self-titled debut solo album had been unsuccessful, Bowie had been an early fan of Reed's former band The Velvet Underground, and used his own fame to promote Reed, who had not yet achieved mainstream success.

Wikipedia

Rating

3.69

Votes

12254
Genres
Rock
Psychedelic Rock

Reviews

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Fri Feb 05 2021
5

Just a perfect album Drink sangria in the park And then later, when it gets dark We go home Just a perfect album Feed animals in the zoo Then later a movie, too And then home Oh, it's such a perfect album I'm glad I spent it with you Oh, such a perfect album You just keep me hanging on You just keep me hanging on

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Mon Nov 01 2021
5

I've found that pretty much anything David Bowie touched as a producer turned out to be among the best, if not the best, material that artist would ever put out. This album is no exception. Some nearly timeless and beautiful songwriting here presented with the perfect atmosphere and arrangements. Such a tight little package that still manages to cover many moods. Bowie does such a good job of sweetening Lou up without completely removing his bitter edge. Sounds effortlessly brilliant.

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Fri Feb 05 2021
4

Cool glam rock album. I liked it when he rhymed 'nose' with 'toes'. 7/10

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Wed Jan 13 2021
5

Such a wonderful, cozy album. Makes me want to stay inside with friends and kiss a boy and dance around.

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Wed Sep 22 2021
5

I was familiar with Lou Reed to an extent, but hadn't listened to this entire album before. I was really blown away by it. Perfect Day is a perfect example of what makes Lou Reed great. On the surface it's a nice, pleasant sounding song, but there is this dark, ominous feeling that pervades it. Lou Reed lets us take a walk on the wild side just by listening to his music. I wasn't expecting to going into it, but I'm going with 5 stars for this one.

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Sat Dec 11 2021
2

I'm guessing it's considered a great because of the lyrics and the people involved, but purely musically, it's an absolute borefest.

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Mon Aug 16 2021
5

Totally seductive. Somehow he makes living on the wild side feel glamorous. I thought I’d get tired of his delivery which almost sounds bored, but it fits the music and lyrics well

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Thu Mar 04 2021
4

David Bowie has never been shy about acknowledging his influences, and since the boho decadence and sexual ambiguity of the Velvet Underground's music had a major impact on Bowie's work, it was only fitting that as Ziggy Stardust mania was reaching its peak, Bowie would offer Lou Reed some much needed help with his career, which was stuck in neutral after his first solo album came and went. Musically, Reed's work didn't have too much in common with the sonic bombast of the glam scene, but at least it was a place where his eccentricities could find a comfortable home, and on Transformer Bowie and his right-hand man, Mick Ronson, crafted a new sound for Reed that was better fitting (and more commercially astute) than the ambivalent tone of his first solo album. Ronson adds some guitar raunch to "Vicious" and "Hangin' Round" that's a lot flashier than what Reed cranked out with the Velvets, but still honors Lou's strengths in guitar-driven hard rock, while the imaginative arrangements Ronson cooked up for "Perfect Day," "Walk on the Wild Side," and "Goodnight Ladies" blend pop polish with musical thinking just as distinctive as Reed's lyrical conceits. And while Reed occasionally overplays his hand in writing stuff he figured the glam kids wanted ("Make Up" and "I'm So Free" being the most obvious examples), "Perfect Day," "Walk on the Wild Side," and "New York Telephone Conversation" proved he could still write about the demimonde with both perception and respect. The sound and style of Transformer would in many ways define Reed's career in the 1970s, and while it led him into a style that proved to be a dead end, you can't deny that Bowie and Ronson gave their hero a new lease on life -- and a solid album in the bargain.

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Wed Jul 07 2021
5

The high water mark for glam. clever tunes, smart lyrics dealing with the underbelly of society and Bowie on production duties. One of my favourite albums of all time

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Mon Dec 06 2021
5

So many stunning tracks. I think I held off on Lou Teed because of the hype around how he was the start of indie… but it’s all there. The Strokes, Radiohead, Jack White… I can hear so many garage rack bands in this album. And hearing Perfect Day in its original environment (rather than the Trainspotting soundtrack) was fun. This was a LOT better than expected.

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Wed Jun 30 2021
2

I'd say this is actually a bad album. It's quite arch, and a lot of the songs are stupid. Two bangers though.

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Mon Dec 13 2021
2

I expected to like this as I'm generally a fan of the Lou Reed-fronted Velvet Underground. But I didn't. Reed's performances here are utterly boring and uninspired, the lyrics are extremely repetitive, and there's a saxophone solo (automatic one-star deduction). And then a tuba solo (there goes another star). And then there are jazz flutes... it's just an unredeemable mess, to be honest. Which is a shame because I had such high hopes.

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Wed Sep 23 2020
5

Lou Reed made better records before and after, but ‘Transformer’ has a hold of my heart. From the stellar glam rock production contributions of David Bowie and Mick Ronson to Lou’s subversive tales of the early 70s glam/gay scene, this album is a landmark in queer art.

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Mon Dec 13 2021
5

Super stuff and a worthy addition to anyone's vinyl collection. So many classics on this one. Produced by Bowie and Mick Ronson you can really hear Bowies' influence on his own influencer. Without Lou and the Velvet's their would be no Ziggy, Punk or Grunge I believe. Where so I start with favourite tracks here? "Viscious", "Perfect Day" The Jaques Brel-like "Make Up" "Walk On the Wild Side" "Satellite of Love" and "New York Telephone Conversation" are highlights for me. Definitely worthy of this list and in the top 100 I think. Love it!

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Thu Jan 21 2021
1

I dislike him so so much I have no idea why

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Fri Jan 15 2021
5

Thought this was really good. I will listen to more of this chap.

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Wed May 19 2021
5

Znany album artysty niezbyt znanego ze swojego samodzielnego dorobku artystycznego, bo jednak najwiekszym komercyjnym suksesem muzycznym pana Reeda byl velvet undergound, zwlaszcza z niko, po rozpadze bandy Reed musial jakos zrestartowac kariere, debiutancki solowy albmers nie przyjal sie zbyt dobrze, tym bardziej sprzedal, ale jak czesto w takich sytuacjach pojawia sie aniol stroz w postaci bowiego, ktory postanowil wykerowac Reeda jako fan velvetow, tak w wielkim skrocie wyglada orgin story transformera, nazwa calkowicie na miejscu, bo pod dowodctwem bowiego zostal stworzony kolejny album bedacy ikona rokowosci, w tym wypadku jest to dosc glamowe brzmienie, mocno nawiazujace do stylu boweigo, a czas nagraniowy pokryl sie z ziggowa faza, wiec jak dla mnie zloty okres jego tworczosci, slychac to nie tylko na produkcji i typowych zabiegach, jak zabawy tonami, uciekajacy przy napychjacymi na twarz dzwiekami, ale nawet w samych instrumentalach, czy wokalach, bo samego boweigo mozna uslyszec na niejednym chorku jak na Im so free, ale pajaki z ksiezyca rowniez sie tu pojawiaja, a nawet sam ronson uzyczyl gitarki i skilsow pianinowych, tak bardzo spiderowych, kontent liryczny mozna interpretowac jako punkt zwrotny w karierze i ucieczke przed velvetowym famem czy niefamem, o wiele mniej perwersyjne i kontrowersyjne tektsty, kilka bezposrednich aluzji do warhola i jego wplywu na wczesniejsza tworczosc, dodatkowo wspolnym mianownikiem bedzie kobieta, bo jakas zawsze sie pojawia posrednio lub bezposrednio jako adresat liryki badz glowna postac balladowania, jak na traku walk on the wild side, gdzie przejawia sie kilka portretow roznych ludzi w roznych sytuacjach, dziwnym uczuciem jest to ze ta produkcja bowiego o wiele lepiej sie zestarzala, niz niektorego jego wlasne albumy, mniej skomplikowane aranzacje, nieraz na dwa instrumenty i spokojny baryton Reeda z instynktem studyjnym boweigo stworzylo cos unikalnego jak na album lat 70, polowe albumu juz mam na plejce, wiec dodam tylko Im so free, cala plyta ma tylko 36 minut, wiec i tak po pierwszym traku ciezko wylaczyc przed koncem

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Fri Jun 25 2021
5

Outstanding, still sounds as cool as you can imagine it did in 1972. Proper forward thinking lyrically as well.

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Thu Jul 15 2021
5

How am I only hearing this album now? I've heard the hits, but this is fantastic. I expected VU kinda stuff. But this really good.

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Sun Sep 12 2021
5

Lou Reed just had a way of writing a great song. I don't want to get too pretentious about it, but I really like Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground. Highlights: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 11.

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Wed Nov 03 2021
5

One of the best rock albums of all time. End of.

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Wed Nov 10 2021
5

Great way to jump things off. I have forgotten how much I enjoyed this. This album has created echos in almost everything I have listened to since.

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Mon Jan 03 2022
5

Some incoming personal bias here... I've long been a fan of "Transformer", which sees Lou Reed getting his act together for the first time since leaving Velvet Underground and channelling Bowie's Ziggy-era glam rock (with Bowie and his guitarist Mick Ronson handling production duties). Bowie and Ronson's production is married perfectly to Reed's laconic delivery, to the point where I find myself singing along to a string, piano or guitar part just as often as Reed's vocal. Listen to the acoustic demos (Perfect Day and Hanging Round) and you can hear the impact Bowie and Ronson had on Reed's songs. Without the full production, the songs lack finesse, accentuation- but fully arranged, they are exquisite and often beautiful. The end result is Lou Reed at his most accessible, whether through the out-and-out glam rock of "Hangin' Round", "I'm So Free" and "Wagon Wheel", the effortlessly cool "Walk on the Wild Side" and "Andy's Chest", or the heart-aching ballads of "Perfect Day" and "Satellite of Love". The latter, one of the most plaintive and sweet songs Reed ever wrote, is my highlight on this record: its outro is sheer magic. "Make Up" and "New York Telephone Conversation" are the experiments that don't quite land, but I can't fault Reed for trying something different: at least they stretch the album's sonic mould in an unexpected way with tuba and music-hall piano. "Goodnight Ladies" is a delicious ending track, using the above to full effect for a lounging curtain call off-Broadway. The songs zip by and the whole ride is so enjoyable, so effortless, that it's hard for me to put this anywhere below "classic".

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Wed Jan 12 2022
5

One of the greatest albums of all time, whimsical, fun and whilst on the surface seeming like a well packaged pop-album it takes on a range of sounds to create a unique sonic texture with masterful production from Ronson and Bowie.

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Thu Feb 17 2022
5

Is this the most technically proficient album ever made? The most beautiful? Is it even that good musically? No, not really. But that doesn’t matter. I love this album for its unique NY charm and sense of detached cool, carried a lot by the awkward vocals. “Perfect Day” is the song that, for most people, rises above the rest of the tracks, but for me, it’s just part of the suite. Reed certainly had a knack for writing a melody, especially when it came to the chorus. If you haven’t yet, babe, take a walk on the wild side.

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Wed Apr 06 2022
5

Transformer is a huge departure from Lou Reed’s work with the Velvet Underground. While it still focuses on the transgressive elements of New York City, this album is driven by a very camp aesthetic that reminds me of the Kinks more experimental work. Perhaps this can be explained by its British production and recording. David Bowie’s production lends a glam rock feel, but there are jazzy American elements here as well that ground it as definable Lou Reed.

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Thu Apr 14 2022
5

Never have heard this album before, but obviously knew a few of the hits. Apparently all of the Lou Reed songs I know are on this album. When is the last time you've heard a tuba as a bassline? I loved this album.

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Mon May 09 2022
5

One of my favourite albums. Pretty much anything Bowie produced was amazing. Love Lou Reed's dry sarcastic wit and lyric delivery. Some of the best glam rock has to offer.

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Thu May 26 2022
5

Man, there's just something about this album that made me fall in love with Lou Reed. So many great songs that are just catchy and meaningful and... comforting? His voice sounds totally disassociated from what he's singing, but he makes it work. The instrumentals are nice and varied and used perfectly. Just one of those albums that comes together in its entirety and clicks on every level.

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Sun Jun 19 2022
5

A brilliant solo offering from Lou Reed. I fucking love this record. There’s no denying the amazing Bowie influence and production here, but it still has the dank New York stink of Lou’s piss all over it. It’s spectacular. The clever and biting lyricism meshes beautifully with the vulnerable moments of introspective poetry sprinkled throughout. The musicality steers further into the rock n roll vein but retains elements of the avant-garde Velvet Underground style, and that fusion begets Lou’s acquaintance with early glam rock in a truly glorious way. Oh, it’s such a perfect album! It just keeps me hanging onnnnnnn.

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Mon Jul 11 2022
5

Another perfect album, with banger after banger. Lou Reed (alongside Iggy Pop, Marc Bolan and Leonard Cohen) have produced some of my favourite ever music. Like his Velvet Underground output - this is the epitome of sleaze New York cool, as a solo act a bit more intimate then the whirlwind of the band Lou Reed fronted. Among the gorgeous melodies, arrangements, horns and keys - there's a seedy underbelly while being lucidly open minded lyrically, which puts to shame many other artists for decades after this album was out.

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Tue Jul 19 2022
5

I'm going 5 stars on this one. Some of the best NYC rock to come out of the early 70s. 3 of my top 50 songs of all time too

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Sat Jul 30 2022
5

Louche and prissy, it's still great.

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Tue Aug 02 2022
5

One of the all-time classics. And Reed’s best. Bowie’s involvement in this is probably no coincidence. A distillation of his best late Velvets sound with some superbly crafted rock n roll songs.The fact he also sidesteps this with songs like Perfect Day and Walk On The Wid Side make this album far from a one-trick pony. I love the different moods and tempos, but it all hangs together beautifully to evoke New York life and style at the time. And Satellite Of Love is one of those recordings that can’t fail to make you feel better, no matter your mood when it starts. A 10/5 for me.

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Tue Aug 30 2022
5

Classic rock is classic but goddamn Perfect Day and Walk on the Wild Side are such exquisitely-presented moods. I really enjoyed some of the other lesser-known songs on the album as well, but the real reason that this is a 5 star album for me is the gutsy and healthy gender diversity portrayal (even if grimy).

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Tue Sep 13 2022
5

I thought I wasn't cool enough to like Lou Reed. I was wrong. This album is fantastic.

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Sun Dec 11 2022
5

Classic Lou Reed. Quirky, odd, melodic, silly, brilliant

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Wed Dec 14 2022
5

I was pursuing tertiary education in Newcastle but travelling to Sydney by train every Friday afternoon on the so-called Flyer. I still remember rushing from Central to the nearest record shop to buy Transformer, all because I’d heard Walk On The Wildside & just had to have it. I’d heard nothing else on the album & was thrilled when I first played it & realised it was so good. Vicious is one of the great opening tracks. Perfect Day & Satellite Of Love are among Lou’s best. There are only 2 of his albums that I ever play regularly - this and the live album that followed it - Rock & Roll Animal. And further proof of Bowie’s greatness that he brought out the best in Reed. A truly great record.

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Wed Dec 14 2022
5

Circa 1974-5 every house I walked into to hang out had this album, the tracks are tattooed on my brain. Mick Ronson is the unsung hero of this record, he had a fine ear and knew how to get the best out of Lou. This record made in the US would have been ok, but in the hands of the English session crew bomb squad, Lou's basic tracks are, pardon the pun, transformed. I love the eclectic mix of players, Klaus with his signature Fender bass lines, Herbie scamming an additional studio fee and laying out the best double bass/electric bass lines ever transposed..Lou is in fine voice and Bowie has got him a beautiful sound. I love every part of this album, songs like Satellite of Love, Goodnight Ladies et al are great tunes, and then there is the classics. He never bettered it.

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Thu Jan 19 2023
5

What's this, are you allowed to include Greatest Hits albums?

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Thu Feb 02 2023
5

There are two examples on this album where, rather than finding words that rhyme, Lou just uses the same word twice. The first everyone knows: “But she never lost her head even when she was giving head” and the other from Vicious: “Hey, why don't you swallow razor blades? You must think that I'm some kind of gay blade I understand he would write lyrics very quickly and not go back to make any changes. This is consistent with his persona of not taking himself too seriously. Why not use the same words? They rhyme with each other - lol. Anyway, both are excellent songs from this excellent album and the title is fitting since it transformed Lou.

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Tue Feb 14 2023
5

Fivety five stars. Take away (deep breath) Vicious, Perfect Day, Wild Side, Satellite, NY Telephone and play the other six tracks and they are all uniformly amazing. For an artist whose vast solo output can mainly be described with the word patchy, this is an incredibly consistent album. That Bowie, he was quite on it in the seventies wasn't he?

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Sat Feb 18 2023
5

Ooh come on. Surely everyone's got this one. Complete classic, absolutely 5 stars.

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Sat Mar 18 2023
5

Not enough time to write much. I love this album. :(

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Wed Mar 22 2023
5

always appreciate lou reed's work. it's really hard to sound as ahead of your time as velvet/lou's solo career.

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Fri Mar 31 2023
5

Great snarky lyrics. Groovy.

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Fri May 26 2023
5

5.0 + I love the reviews that are like, “Besides ‘Walk on the Wild Side’, ‘Vicious’, ‘Perfect Day’ and ‘Satelite of Love’, this album sucks!” Music critics are such bitches sometimes (myself included). In addition to the aforementioned songs, I’d also add “Goodnight Ladies” and “Andy’s Chest” to the list of standouts. So pretty much all of this is at least good and some of it is downright spectacular. One of the better examples of Lou Reed’s uncanny ability to blend sounds.

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Tue Jul 18 2023
5

It's a perfect day to listen to Transformer. This was one of my more informative albums coming up. It taught me what glam rock could be, and what good songwriting actually looked like. I don't collect a ton of vinyl, only albums that I feel are going to be be consistently important to me in 10+ years...I bought this record in 2011. It's still important to me. Obviously the big tracks here are, well, perfect. Perfect Day and Walk On the Wild Side are pretty untouchable in rock history, but I'd challenge you to dig deeper into some of the lesser known tracks like Andy's Chest or I'm So Free.

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Thu Jan 18 2024
5

I had thought this was gonna be just another velvet underground kinda sludgy mess - but I actually loved it - Satellite of Love is still crap thouhh

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Sun Apr 04 2021
4

This record is cool as sh!t! Only 2nd listen I believe but forgot how bad ass!

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Sat May 27 2023
4

It’s alright. Lou Reed is very lucky to have been famous cause he can’t sing and some of his lyrics are questionable. However the music is pretty good over all. I can see why people like it but don’t think it quite deserves the hype.

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Sat Jun 17 2023
4

Has anything aged worse than the cabaret and music hall inspired songs that rock bands liked to record in the late 60’s and early 70’s? Other than those two or three detours, this is a pretty great rock record.

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Thu Jan 11 2024
3

This was fine. I liked the production and the extra instrumentation, and I like Reed's voice, but the song writing didn't really grab me.

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Wed May 12 2021
2

Couple of good tunes but the pseudo poetry and nonsensical lyrics on the other tracks detracted from the overall album.

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Fri Jan 07 2022
2

I've never liked Lou Reed. I don't like this early 70s glam rock stuff in general. This album is no exception to either of those things. 2/5.

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Sun Feb 04 2024
2

Honestly I’m not a fan of this. While I don’t think it’s unlistenable or one of the worst things I’ve ever heard, it’s still sounds dry to me. Nothing really stuck out all that much.

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Mon Jan 04 2021
5

A classic album. Reed's best collection of songs, in my opinion, combined with perfect balance of art-rock and pop.

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Wed Sep 16 2020
5

I have listened to this album MANY times these past few months. Underrated, indeed.

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Wed Mar 10 2021
5

Better than I would have expected. Had a thought his voice would be unappealing to listen to and I enjoyed this.

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Mon May 24 2021
5

Awesome album. Heard it multiple timen and can't get enough.

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Wed Jun 16 2021
5

Mixed feelings about this one. Full of massive tunes but I’ve always found the lyrics to be a bit childish or sort of half though out. Don’t think I can give less than 5 stars though.

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Fri Mar 05 2021
5

Really nice! Another where I discovered - oh hey, he sings that song.

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Mon Apr 05 2021
5

Incredible from start to finish, the 70s had so many bangers. Perfect Day is one of my favourite songs of all time I think

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Mon Apr 05 2021
5

This has been my favourite one we've had so far. I find it such an original album unlike anything else, even Velvet Underground. It's got some ultimate bangers on it.

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Thu Apr 08 2021
5

It’s all over the place and everything works out. Love it.

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Fri Feb 05 2021
5

oh this is goooooooooood. the last one was so great i almost lost my head.

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Tue Jul 06 2021
5

could pick holes but it's just great music

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Mon Apr 05 2021
5

“Well you know what they say about honey bears, that’s when you shave off all their baby hairs you have a hairy minded pink bad bear.” Yeah I really like this album. Lots of bangers including “satellite of love” I didn’t realise that was Lou Reed

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Mon Apr 12 2021
5

Speaking of loo reads. I was reading 'Being Freddie' by Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff whilst squeezing out the most painful, dark, foul smelling, Guinness shit yesterday. I must say, what a funny and articulate young man he is. To be a world class cricketer, who goes out on the lash at the drop of a ball, try your hand and boxing and they become a national tv treasure, you really have to hand it to the man. I bet he gets the Guinness shits a lot too. By jove, it was brutal, it felt like molten lava pouring out of my soul.

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Sat Mar 06 2021
5

Also in the NME list | I love this album

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Thu Feb 18 2021
5

There is really nothing that needs to be said here. One of the greatest of all time

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Tue Mar 02 2021
5

Wie selbstverständlich das anders sein sein kann, meine tiefe Verehrung für diesen Meilenstein, der auch 2021 noch frisch und anders klingt.

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Wed Mar 10 2021
5

Really nice listen. Had some classic songs and some songs I wasn't familiar with, but all were enjoyable.

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Mon May 17 2021
5

Way better than I thought it would be. Loved almost every song.

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Mon May 31 2021
5

Really liked this. All the way through. 5 stars.

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Sat Jul 24 2021
5

What’s left to say? Sublime … everytime … Hit me with a flower …

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Tue Aug 10 2021
5

This is the album my Dad would have made. Vicious is maybe the best first track I’ve ever heard - just in how it sets up the rest of the album. Blues, rockabilly, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, beatnick poetry - I heard it all in this one. Music a good, lyric are maybe even better. Great album

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