1. Vicious 2. Andy's Chest 3. Perfect Day 4. Hangin' 'Round 5. Walk On The Wild Side 6. Make Up 7. Satellite Of Love 8. Wagon Wheel 9. New York Telephone Conversation 10. I'm So Free 11. Goodnight Ladies 12. Hangin' 'Round (Acoustic Demo) 13. Perfect Day (Acoustic Demo)
Sweet Lou rides Ziggy's coat tails to the big time Submitted on: 2009-05-10
It's no secret that Lou Reed was pining for commercial success and recognition long before this album was released. After the failure of the first two Velvet Underground albums to make an impact on a commercially and monetarily rewarding level, Reed softened his touch with the self titled third album. This meant that much of what was important about the Velvet Underground was thrown out, but there was still solid songwriting. Louis was still writing quality songs that he would have probably written anyway, they were just arranged and performed in a more user friendly way due to the absence of John Cale and Reed's desire for commercial success. He had not yet pandered to popular taste in a blatant effort to have a hit single and album and was at this time still only willing to meet the mainstream halfway. By the final VU album, Loaded, he had dropped this proviso and was now fully prepared to write commercial music to appeal radio stations and the average rock fan circa 1970. This is why Loaded is easily the weakest of the VU albums. What was unfortunate was that even Louis was fully prepared to sell out on the audience, the radio station, and the record label's terms, the first two still weren't buying. That changed in 1972 when Louis was taken under the boney wing of David Bowie, in the prime of his rock stardom at the time. Louis finally had the right connection, the right contact, and maybe most importantly, a scene to pander to, to bow, to sell out to. Unlike Frank, he didn't do it his way.
Bands such as the Kinks for example, who after having already tasted success and understanding the formula by which to maintain it, nonethless turned their backs on it in pursuit of more serious, intelligent songwriting and as a result made the best albums of their career (though certainly far from the most comercially successful). Radiohead achieved success on their own terms. They made the music they wanted to make and it happened that people really responded to it. Unlike these bands, Louis created music to fit with a ready made audience, the short lived Glam rock fad of the early 1970's spearheaded by Bowie. Without Bowie's patronage, I doubt very seriously that this album would have had the same impact. Many reviews at the time mentioned Bowie and Ronson as much if not more than Lou Reed. This of course has to do with Bowie's celebrity, always much greater than Reed's, but also for the more legitimate reason that Ronson's touch is all over this record.
Lou's bisexuality has been well documented, although he has at times lied about this, preferring to pretend his homosexual relationships never existed which actually makes him seem even more of a contrived, fradulent hack on this particular album. I have nothing against homosexuals, but this album has gay themes running throughout it that are both tiresome and seem insincere. The gay image, Lou in make up, Lou with black nail polish, Lou singing about make up, were all designed to cater to Bowie's glam rock audience. Aside from that, excessive themes of gayness are just boring. Imagine making an album in which you referred to various aspects of your skin color throughout. It's equally daft and tedious.
The songs themselves are mostly weak and uninpisring. The vocals are perhaps the worst in Reed's career and that's really saying something. He seems to be going out of his way to sound camp on most of these tracks, which becomes annoying and embarrassing. Of course the hit, Lou's only one, "Walk on The Wild Side" is a fan favorite. In the catalogue of his work, it is not only not the best of his songs, it's actually not even good. It's poor. It's a second rate version of what Reed did much more effectively with the Velvets, observationalist songwriting. The same formula is here, but unlike songs with the Velvets or "Chelsea Girls" from Nico's first album, "Wild Side" is musically weak and obviously trying to hard to paint an explicit picture of the gay, junkie, drag queen scene Reed ecountered in his Warhol days. It is simply second rate compared to an observationalist song such as "Chelsea Girls" or the Velvet Underground's "Run Run Run", reinforcing my personal view that by the age of 30 Reed has already become a parody of himself. And not even a good one.
"Make Up" is probably the most embarrassing song on here. The most blatant effort to appeal to the audience Bowie has procurred for him.
"Hangin' Round" is almost as embarrassing. It's lyrically inane, but add the peculiar irony that Lou in his supposed wisdom and maturity is looking down his nose at the people doing the things he put down years ago. Given his speed addiction at the time (documented in Victor Bockris' Transformer biography) and penchant for simulating shooting up on stage, this track becomes laughable.
"Andy's Chest" and "Satellite of Love" are recycled songs from the Velvet era that that band had never released. This is something Reed did throughout the 70's and these like most, are superior in their original Velvet form. Seek those early versions out.
"Vicious" blithely bounces around until it wears itself out, ultimately going nowhere. This is probably the best example of Reed trying to sound camp and looking instead like an a$$ clown of the highest order.
"Perfect Day" is the one highlight on here. I would advise fans to skip this album and instead pick up a compilation that will treat you to this and "Satellite Of Love" although unfortunately "Wild Side" will probably come included in the package.
In the aftermath of this release, Reed attempted to undo the damage this album had done to his credibilty by releasing the masterful "Berlin". This album though not on the level of the Velvet's musically, was his finest creation in terms of lyrics at the time (maybe still is). It was a rare occasion when the "story" form of a concept album succeeded. But not comercially. Now that Reed had a ready made audience (compliments of Bowie) he perhaps he felt he could turn them on to the music he really beleived in, the music he really wanted to make. He was wrong. "Berlin" was largely condemned by both fans and critics alike and what followed, "Sally Can't Dance", an album that restored Reed to commercial prominence again causing him to quip (and I paraphrase) "This is great. The worse I am, the more it sells. Maybe if I'm not on the next one at all, it will reach number one". This was the sad state of Reed's commercial success. He still has acolytes due to "Transformer", who I'm willing to wager either don't know or can't stand his serious albums and he is forever obliged to play songs like "Wild Side" to expectant audiences. He built his house of fortune with straw and it was no surprise at all when it went up in flames.
My Ever-Changing Moods Submitted on: 2009-02-19
Released in December 1972 and produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson, the sophomore solo effort by Lou Reed delivered an incredible array of material, several quickly becoming signature themes to what was an already legendary career.
Each of the 11 songs (clocking 36:40) of mostly new material - some had been demos for the Velvet Underground - is Reed as an expert storyteller, with the urban street being the scene after the 9-to-5 masses are home in the suburbs.
The singles were Walk on the Wild Side (#16 on the 1973 Billboard Pop Singles chart) and Satellite of Love - with Vicious, Perfect Day, Hangin' Round and I'm So Free showing Reed's ever-changing moods.
The band consisted of Ronson (g), Herbie Flowers (b), John Halsey (d) and Ronnie Ross (sax), with Bowie and several others on backing vocals. The album peaked at #29 on the Billboard 200 chart.
This edition includes demo tracks for Hangin' Round and Perfect Day, with a hidden promo for the album. There are some highly-frustrating aspects to Reed's career, but the only drama here concerns the gamut of emotions he conveyed through the brilliant lyrics.
Lou's masterpiece Submitted on: 2009-01-08
Transformer is just fantastic from beginning to end.
Compared to other glam rock albums such as Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and Electric Warrior, I feel Transformer is slightly better than those (particulaly because T-Rex and David Bowie have better albums than the two mentioned above, but the same can't be said for Lou Reed, though one can argue Berlin comes close).
Glam rock can be an absolute delight to listen to when done right, and Transformer is just highly enjoyable songwriting the entire way. Just great, that's all I can really say about it. Buy it now. I can't really pick a favorite song, but "Andy's Chest" and "Vicious" jump out to me immediately as being highlights.
Overrated certainly, but... Submitted on: 2008-08-07
Okay..."Walk on the Wild Side" is a great song, even if it's a crime that it's so much better known than any other Lou Reed song. "Satellite of Love" is also great, and the deceptively happy "Perfect Day" is of his all-time greats, featuring the legendary line "you made me forget myself/I thought I was someone else/someone good." "I'm So Free" and "Vicious" are also great. Most of the other songs, though, while deserving credit historically for being so openly "gay" really aren't so great. For that reason, while I dig this one out often, I rarely listen to the whole thing. [...]
Happy dead anniversary, dear Submitted on: 2008-05-13
Cameron Crowe meets Lester Bangs and, natch, they discuss, what else, Lou Reed.
"Goodnight Ladies" (only 2nd, maybe, to Yoko's "We're All Water" as a 'song of the decade' {70's}) invented Tom Waits in a NY minute, so there. Transdressers, alcoholics, cokewhores, jus' good folks. Sandy my bestest friend, ever. But, also, it's May 12th, so I remember my 1st marriage, 29 years ago, too bad my husband died in a highway fireball 5 years ago. What else? Well. Lou Reed was my Carpenters' B-side back in the day, as they say. No old ladies, ladies never age, just ask Blanche DuBois. Ah anyway, my TV dinner's almost done.
Meanwhile, I'm almost 10 at the time (1970) and I'm at the St. Louis Crestwood Mall with my parents. There's a shop, called "Size 6." What's 'size 6,' I ask. My father says "it's the cute, young girl size for dresses." And I think, "Wow, that's great. That's what I want." Oops, but neverless. So, you see, size 6 (my size, babe) has always been in my heart, a very magical number. That's why I diet so fearlessly. Ah anyway, my TV dinner's almost done. I remembered that number for decades, it took decades to get it. I earned it.
May 12th. So sorry, Carrie, you demised. That haunted honeymoon house, some abandoned farmhouse out in the woods where we all got high, made for a brilliant metaphor, cobwebs and rusted tins, pure funk, a classic Stones cut between hits, hitchhiking foolishly, fearlessly, we did "it" outside the HoJo's NY before the cops came and shooed us away, bad coffee and skanky pancakes. And turning tricks. Of course, every time I begged for it, I really wanted to be the girl doing it. Transformer, that. I bet you knew all along.
Sweet Lou rides Ziggy's coat tails to the big time
My Ever-Changing Moods
Overrated certainly, but...