What's your top 3 favourite Lou Reed (studio) albums?

Got Animal Serenade at RSD 2018, really amazing, BUT, super annoying that "Sweet Jane" was left off of the recording. You can check it out on Spotify, or buy it from Amazon as a digital download, but they really should have made another disc and put Sweet Jane, Perfect Day and The Last Shot (the three missing tracks) on the record.

 

Had no idea songs like The Last Shot and Perfect Day were cut, love this live album (LR made the best live albums in all of rocknroll) and now I want a deluxe version bad.

 

Same as everyone else.
Transformer
Berlin
New York

 

Transformer
Sally Can't Dance
New York
(couldn't Take No Prisoners count because of the way it was recorded?)

 

Coney Island Baby
Transformer
Street Hassle

 

New Sensations-the most underrated in the catalog, my favorite
Blue Mask-Robert Quine and Fernando Saunders at their best
New York-cohesive

 

Three is too little, I voted MMM Lulu and Street Hassle but I need Coney Island Baby, Legendary Hearts and Set The Twilight Reeling in there and that doesn't even include Berlin!!!

 

I voted three and when the results appeared they were the most voted three. I'm very average when it comes to Lou Reed I suppose.

 

I don’t think I gave Magic & Loss a proper listen when I voted before, might have to change my vote... Absolutely love Power & Glory and Warrior King among others. Similar to NY and Drella but more focused.
I wanted to vote for The Bells too. The singing is ... odd... but I love the songs. I Wanna Boogie With You is one of my favourites, with a cool dark sleazy wall of sound thing going on.
What the hell I even want to vote for Mistrial on the basis of No Money Down alone. What a crazy video. And the song itself is a bop that gets stuck in my head a lot.
Pretty impressive to have genuinely good albums throughout your entire multi decade career. I know people like to call his catalogue spotty or inconsistent but I like/love a good 2 out of every 3 albums, I don’t think that’s too bad at all.

 

I really like Rock and roll heart, but I know I'm minority

 

You're not, there are excellent songs on that album, some of Lou's best.

 

I love so many of these

Tough to choose just three. I went with:

Lou Reed - self titled debut with all the leftover VU songs

Berlin - Ezrin strings and junkie abyss

Street Hassle - if just for the perfect title track

 

Transformer
Sally Can't Dance
New York
With The Blue Mask just missing out

 

That one's in my top 5. It's great me thinks.

 

So tough:

Berlin
Metal Machine Music
Street Hassle



But I guess I could include any trio of his albums up to "Mistrial" depending on the day

 

I wouldn't go that far, Lou himself said it is "stupid music".
I can see it and I'm aware it's a consciously lame half hearted work but hey, I enjoy this record

 

That said my top 3 is

Take no prisoners (not included in this poll)
Street Hassle
Coney Island Baby

 

love temporary thing, (lou at his most vicious), vicious circle (paranoid), senselessly cruel (bitter), ladies pay (very underrated with lous trademark squealing feedback) all work for me, follow the leader is fun.....I dig it!

 

Transformer
Berlin
New York

 

its a race for last between mistrial and hudson river....

 

New York
Transformer
Berlin

and I suspect I'm not alone in that choice

 

Somehow, the only 3 I have ever owned, or listened to in full are Transformer, New York, + Magic and Loss.

I have Rock n Roll Animal, + Walk on the Wild Side: The Best of Lou Reed, but those aren't on the list/don't count.

I guess I'm just a filthy, casual fan! Yikes

Okay, where do I go next? I have always wanted to listen to Metal Machine Music...

 

then go chronologically......you'll hit MMM in a few albums