1001 Albums Summary

Rock solid through 9 songs, then weakens. Not just a singles album but an incredible work of embodied sincerity, top tier production, and vocal performance that innovates through today. We need an artists like Alanis today. What we have are self-aware, meta, and irony layered confessionals that arent

An album that is still underappreciated for its complexity and sophistication. Of particular interest is the drum machine tinkering in which Prince tuned drums low enough to make them harmonic. Trent Rezno4 ane David Bowie have both acknowledged the influence and brilliance of the album.

The highs on the album are exceptionally high, with Perfect Day being the peak. It is the most painful, ironic, poisoned song mistaken for a loving ode ever put to tape. It also highlights the best of Ronson and Bowie's contributions. After all, more than Reed, this is a super group album in which the arranging of the trio matters more than the compositions themselves. Imagine Vicious without that Ronson guitar scratch, imagine PD without the strings, imagine Walk on the Wild Side without the double bass and chorus. When the trio clicks they create a mesmerizing and insightful landscape of theatrics that would go on to influence music forever. Im convinced that we can witness a Dylan-Reed-Dylan pipeline. Listen to Hangin Round and then Tangled Up In Blue. The person-to-person episodic structure that Dylan takes in Tangled was likely inspired by Reeds Street life stories just the same way that Reeds storytelling was given permission by earlier Dylan. Compare the two songs structurally and you will see what I mean. Dylan admitted to loving Reed in '87 and buying all his albums. The last 4 tracks are the weakest, despite the ironic humor of Im So Free which shows Reeds inherent conservative disposition- He may have participated in the counter-culture but he was never blinded by it. The back portion of the album also show the weakness of the trios tendency towards theatricality. Make Up didnt need the tuba. It would have been a standout track with Reeds voice alone and the tuba takes the already campy, boundary phasing writing of Reed and makes it grotesquery. Like having two voices sing; one tonally aware and the other deaf. Wagon Wheel never gets past being a mean spirited joke about beating a girl up. And New York Telephone Conversation may as well be a bad Broadway interlude. But overall the album is a must listen and the tracks that work will change and sharpen your perception. The ones that dont will still make you smirk.

Conceptually strong but the execution is lacking.