New York

New York was the comeback album of Lou Reed after several mediocre albums in the late 1970s and 1980. The singing of Lou Reed has become some form of talk-murmuring with hardly any melody. The songs are not that melodic either and sound a bit similar and long. Strange thing is that it works. New York and his later works are not his greatest, but the combination of great lyrics with monotone music give it a spoken word vibe that enlarges the focus on these lyrics.

Rock. Vinilo.

He never lost his touch, did he? He must have been worth a fortune at this point, but it feels like he's still got an ear to the ground and he knows what's going on. I guess some of the attitude might seem a bit dated and offensive now, but he was laying the foundations of progress. Love the artwork as well! 1989 was the single best year for album art.

Rock: Art Rock, Rock And Roll, Pop Rock. Un 5, por supuesto. Debería haber estado en la lista inicial de los 1001.

Rock. Vinilo.

Love me some Lou Reed, and this is a fantastic album, a return to form in a way (though it's hard to say that Lou Reed ever had a "form" as he was constantly evolving and experimenting). 5 stars.

I’m fairly certain I listened to this album when it came out… and that cover seems somehow imprinted on my brain. I didn’t remember listening to this. Loved it now though!

Excellent.

Good pick. 1989 was a stack year for 60s/70s artists doing a good comeback album (Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Alice Cooper, etc.).

For me Lou Reed was one of those turning point artists that put a permanent kink in my cognitive development on exposure in my early-mid teens. I really like this album though it drops a point for just being so preachy at points. He's mostly not wrong (by my lights) in his politics but he could be an arrogant dick and that leaning is on its most obnoxious display in several of these songs.

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Romeo had Juliette, There is no time, Good evening Mr. Waldheim

Love Lou Reed, on the orginal list I gave 5’s to Berlin and Transformer and two of the VU albums. I’d put this down as my 3rd favourite solo album, a great comeback album. Not sure if it’s quite a masterpiece though. But still one I return to frequently

I'm not the biggest fan of slam poetry 3 2 3 4 Does pick up speed though

Lou Reed's comeback album at the tail end of the nineties, reminding everyone how pivotal his influence still was for rock music at large (especially for the decade that was about to follow). In a fistful of tracks, the production values sound a bit dated in an eighties-gated-drum-fashion, sure, and the record is not as brilliant overall as *Transformer*, *Berlin* or *Coney Island Baby*, but it's still an excellent outing, allowing Lou to display his unique singspeak skills and songwriter chops. Probably his fourth best solo album. If only "What's Good", a stellar single from a lesser subsequent LP, had been recorded for this one... *New York* fortunately harbors the fantastic "Dirty Blvd.", which is close enough to the mark aimed at by said later single, and is also graced by iconic lyrics about the plight of immigrants in Big Apple. Likewise, the sardonic thoughts expressed in "Sick of You" would serve as a perfect soundtrack for early 2026. Such concerns haven't aged a day, have they? A couple of heavyhanded misfires, like the hard rock pastiche of "There Is No Time", could easily have been left on the cutting room floor, but their presence is often automatically erased by the cuts that follow them, such as the atmospheric, moody, surreal and -- again -- oh-so-topical "The Last Great American Whale", -- whose postmodernist / magical realist contents actually deal with indigenous persecution -- or the insanely catchy "Hold On", painting a vivid picture of NYC emphasized by an instantly lovable vocal hook. Lou Reed here mocks the "Statue of Bigotry" again, tying up threads displayed in other songs in the tracklist. The result feels cohesive AND instinctual all at the same time. To sum up what the lyrics are all about, let's just say that the former Velvet Underground frontman never got so political in any album before. Too bad he can't avoid the "old man yells at clouds" stance at times, as in "Good Evening, Mr. Waldheim", which sorts of unfairly snarls at Jesse Jackson in his defense of the Palestinian cause (all because the Civil Rights Movement leader supposedly prioritizes the issue over domestic ones). To be honest, this type of whitesplaining and ignorance over certain aspects of the Israel - Palestine conflict haven't aged so well, at least in my humble opinion. Yet I also recognize that Reed has a knack for expressing his views in a striking manner, even if I disagree with him here. And when he does side with progress -- always with a cynical grain of salt, and yet never forgetting to shed a tender light on his characters, whoever they are -- his lyrical skills are undoubtedly powerful, almost matching those of Bob Dylan. As Pitchfork's Daniel Felsenthal put it, New York is "a record of unmistakable conviction, one so direct and literary, erudite and rageful that it resembles no protest music written before or since." What also redeems the arguable moments in the album is a welcome sense of self-irony, never better expressed that in yet another musically heavyhanded cut named "Strawman", fortunately saved by its biting lyrics. "Does anybody needs another self-righteous rock singer / Whose nose he says has led him straight to God?" asks Lou with a huge wink on that one. What's funny here is that the next song and closer "Dime Store Mystery" indeed leads Lou straight to God, thanks to its gritty brand of mysticism reaching the heights of songs written in the Velvet Underground era -- featuring Moe Tucker on drums, just as that other clear VU-adjacent cut "The Last Great American Whale". A great man is often the sum of his own contradictions, a popular saying goes. And Lou Reed was certainly one of the great statesmen of rock'n'roll history, as this album proves again. 4/5 for the purposes of this list dedicated to essential albums. 9/10 for more general purposes (5 + 4) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 85 (including this one) Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 108 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 219 ---- Émile, j'ai vu ta dernière réponse. J'essaie de trouver le temps de te laisser la mienne dans les jours qui viennent. Désolé, ça fait longtemps que je te dis ça, mais la situation est un peu compliquée par chez moi en ce moment... Rien de grave, mais je trouve pas beaucoup de temps pour moi. Porte-toi bien

By 1989, Lou Reed had achieved the best of what he was going to achieve. All that's new in this album is a country-ish lilt that I cannot get behind. Other than that, it's a continuation of his earlier work. That's not to say it isn't good. It is good. But it isn't great.

Lou Reed isn't the best singer. And the music is not extraordinary. The lyrics are very good though

Sounds like Lou Reed. I've got to give him credit in that he has such a unique sound unto himself, he was so influential, and also I generally *like* his sound. But also if you've heard one Lou Reed album you've ABSOLUTELY heard 'em all.

Hey it sounds like Lou Reed!

Not bad

New York, new york

We've had other Lou Reed albums on here, this one specifically didn't blow me away. But it's still a Lou Reed album.

I want to really like Lou Reed but something stops me.

I mean, if you want to be a singer songwriter, be a friggin boss at it like Lou Reed. He owes the Wild Side on which he walks

Not my thing. Feels very undercooked and boring. The talk singing doesn't work for me. And it's too long. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No.

Feels somewhat tired and uninspired compared to the pulsing energy beneath 'Berlin' and 'Transformer.' The guitar parts are pretty-run-of-the-mill, and Lou's lyricism feels way off his usual creative mark. A decent listen but doesn't feel necessary or special like his other LPs.

Not a fan of this one. Compared to something like "Berlin", this just sounds like pretty generic hard rock with Lou Reed reading me a bedtime story overlaid over it.