New York is the fifteenth solo studio album by American rock musician Lou Reed, released in January 1989 by Sire Records.
The album received universal critical acclaim upon release, and is widely considered to be among Reed's strongest solo efforts. It is highly regarded for the strength and force of its lyrical content; Reed stated that he required simple music so that it would not distract from his frank lyrics. The single "Dirty Blvd." was a number-one hit on the newly created Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for four weeks.
Reed's former band, the Velvet Underground, were at the peak of their cult popularity in the late 1980s, but his solo career had hit several lows during the 1980s. The widespread popularity of New York reignited his career to the extent the Velvet Underground were revived for a world tour.
Velvet Underground drummer Moe Tucker played percussion on two tracks.
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.
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.
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.
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